We're All Okay (part 6)

CW: Language, underage drug use

*Note, this is part six of my Cameron & Archer series, please read at least part 3 up before reading this. None of the songs in here are mine.

The two of us jump and I felt my heart jump inside my chest. I look at the medical machinery, listening to it's unusual sound. Immediately hospital personnel, including that one guy, burst into the room. "Wait-" I say quickly standing up. "What's going on? Is he okay?-"

"Victoria let-"

"No- is he okay-" That one guy walked up with his hands up.

"Let's do what your dad says, okay? I promise you he'll be fine. We recently found out what else he's taken. This is simply that reacting with the medicine we've given him." 

I froze, and in the smallest voice I've ever heard myself say I ask: "Can I stay here?"

I sat on my bed staring at the floor. They didn't let me stay, or even be in the hospital, and so naturally, I was panicking. I leaned against the wall, breathing in and out trying to calm down but I couldn't. It was easier when I didn't know him- or couldn't talk to him, to handle my thoughts, my fears. My nightmares. But now he's here- now that he's more real. I just couldn't. How long are you going are you going to haunt my thoughts Tsu-san? I thought biting my tongue, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes when I heard how shaky my breath was. Maybe if I do a story in my head- maybe that'll help me.. I thought. So I tried it. I started a story about a girl, ten or eleven. She had this weird dark honey brown hair with tiny gold threads. Her eyes pure white, and tiny little freckles dotting her face.

She was in a huge forest, skipping and collecting berries. She didn't have a basket, but a small little cloth. She looked nice, humble and thoughtful there. Until she past the cave. She would drop her little cloth and let out an ear piercing scream. The bats and family of bears within the cave would storm out into the night. She would grin. She would ki- I shook my head quickly getting off of my bed. I grabbed my mushroom themed tote bag, searching for my phone and headphones. I opened Spotify scrolling through my liked song playlist. I couldn't think of anything to listen to, so I just hit play on my "comfort songs" playlist. 

I set my phone in my pocket listening to music. The first song was Caterpillar by Hollow. It was nice, calming and empowering. I inhaled deeply looking around. Tsu.. Please be okay.. I thought to myself laying on my bed. Hours past and soon, I ended up falling asleep listening to Head & Heart by Joel Corry.

I wandered around my house, one earbud in my ear, listening to music. I ended up making my way to my mom's room. I stood straight, maybe dad was updating her on the case? I slowed down and was about to knock when I heard voices. "You have to tell her."

"Jack- why can't you?"

"You know Vic more than I do." My dad says.

"I-"

"Winnie." My dad said softly. I paused. My dad usually was the one being guided- not the guider. I inhale deeply before opening the door.

"Tell me what?" I ask plainly, pulling out my earbud. My dad tensed, and my mom seemed to wilt.

"Yo-your… Your friend-" My mom starts. My shoulders drop. Last night- the beeping I heard in my dream- the haunting whispers- My chest dropped.

"What happened?" I ask sharply. "What happened to Tsu? Mom- mom! What happened to Arche-"

"They think he's dying, Vic." My dad whispered. I felt like a switch was flipped. 

All those nightmares.

I cried. 

After all that time.

Like a train hit me. 

I just got him back- I screamed. "You're lying! No-" My dad hugged me. I froze. My voice felt broken. Ripped from me. I clenched my jaw. "No- no.. He.. He's.." I hid myself in my dad's arms. Not now- Tsu- you.. You're strong. You can do this. Don't leave me. We- we just came together again. I- you're a rock. Please don't die. Don't die on me. 

I leaned against the tree staring off into space. My chest felt a little sore, meaning I was going to have to take off my bidner soon. I sighed heavily. I don't want to do that… I groaned. I stood up, shoving my hands into my pockets. Soon enough I heard the sound of a car, I checked to see if it was a blue Ford. It wasn't. I clenched my jaw.

An hour ended up passing before that blue Ford arrived. I walked up to it, grabbing the twenty bucks from my pocket. I handed it to her. "Hey- you're Kasen's friend yeah?" I look at her with a raised brow holding my hand out for the bag. She tilts her head. "Oh- Archer." She says. My eyes widen, and I nod.  She nods, handing me the bag. "Be careful kiddo." She says. "I know it's just weed but Archer's always talked abou-" I walked away.

"Thank you ma'am."

"Oka- er.. Your welcome."

I took off my jacket, wrapping it around the small package of shit before I opened the door. "Hey mom." I say closing the door behind me.

"Hey Vic. Did you and J have fun?" I faked a smile.

"Yeah, we did. We played a bit of dodgeball with a few other of the neighbor kids." I reply heading into my room.

"That sounds fun." I heard my mom reply. I set my jacket onto my bed, hiding that underneath the blanket. I headed back to the living room hanging out with the family.

"How's Tsu doing, V?" My brother asked when he saw me. I paused, swallowing down some guilt.

"Jason!-" My mom barked. I gave her a glare before looking at my now tense little brother.

"He might die." I respond plainly. He lets out a little small: "Oh" before coming to sit next to me. My mom started a small little rant about how he's strong and how he'll live, and for a moment I expected Jason to do that too. But instead, he just wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close.

"It'll be okay." He whispered. "It'll be okay." I bit my tongue, feeling like crying again. I leaned closer against him. Mom immediately stopped hearing this, and I felt my heart go "Fuck yeah, finally". And while a little bit of me felt bad, overall.. Her being quiet was nice. After all, she didn't know him, and until now, she didn't care about him. I glanced at Jason. I smiled a little. He knows about him a bit. 

I sat on my bed, staring at the mound between my legs. I inhaled deeply, eyeing my brother's bed. He was past asleep. I look at it again, carefully moving a hand into the package. I quietly opened the package of one of the "candies" before slipping it into my mouth. I rose a brow, flipping it around my tongue. It tasted like watermelon- usually I hated watermelon. This though, it was kinda good. I shrugged, leaning back onto my bed. I grabbed my phone, continuing my usual activities: scrolling through my favorite app and responding to those who'd DM me.

About an hour past of me doing this went by, and soon I felt a little warm and fuzzy. I inhale deeply turning my phone off. Simply letting the music play. I knew what this would do, hearing it from Tsu and a few others. A few minutes later, I was a little cold. The skin around my eyes stretched outwards like I had caffeine. I let out a sigh, touching both hands to my cheeks. I shifted a little, closing my eyes. My torso got warm, switching back and forth. I bit my lip, and somehow that was funny- I chuckled a little. I opened my eyes, looking at the sky. I tilted my head a little staring at the ceiling. I chuckled again seeing little faces in the weird bumps. 

I rose my arm to trace it- but I stopped, letting it fall. My eyes were wide. Why did it feel- I blink. I turn my gaze at my arm, slowly raising it. How can something feel so heavy yet so light?! I thought. I smiled a little, watching it fall before raising my arm again. I let out a sigh turning my head the other way. I felt my eyes stretch again, except inwards this time. Tears welled up in my eyes and I bit my tongue. 

For some reason I thought of Tsu, and I brought my knees to my chest, crying. I brought the package close to me, hiding it under my pillow. I inhaled deeply closing my eyes instinctively turning up my music. I ignored my tears as soon, I fell asleep. 

I yawned, stretching my arms and legs. I smiled a little feeling my back pop, very satisfying. "Vic-.." Jason says. I turn over to face him, glaring at him a bit.

"Wha-" I froze. He held up the package. I then realized my headphones weren't in too. I glanced at my nightstand. My phone and headphones were there, neat and tidy. My shoulders drooped, and I met Jason's eyes. He didn't look sad, or mad, not disappointed or upset. He looked confused yet.. Understanding.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks quietly, kneeling besides my bed, sliding the package of shit underneath my bed. I look at him in confusion, and he lets out a slow quiet exhale as a response. 

"You wanna get into psychology, you know why one would turn to shit." He says quietly. I let out an exhale, scooting away so my back was against the wall. I pat next to my bed. Confusion flashed across Jason's face. I give him a look.

"Come on, Jason." I say softly. His lip quivered a little, and immediately he climbed into bed. I smiled a little, wrapping my arms around him. He hid his face between my shoulder and my pillow. "What's up, little dude?" I ask rubbing his hair. The room was silent for quite awhile, and just when I opened my mouth to say something, Jason turned over, falling onto the bed. I quickly sat up looking at him. Sometimes we just randomly fell- but other times.. Times like this, it meant we needed a serious talk. He reached underneath his bed pulling out a box. 

He handed it to me. "Look at it later, okay V?" He asks. I lean forward, slowly sliding the box underneath my bed. "When he's better, kay?" He looks at me.

"You're scaring me Jason." I whisper. He smiles a little.

"I'm better- just- ya know.." He stands up. "Later, okay?" And with that, he left. My shoulders dropped, and I glared at him. The fuck Jason? I roll my eyes getting off my bed. I grab my old purple jacket putting it on. I glare at the zipper. I forgot it's been a year since I've last worn this. I've had it since fourth grade too. I let out a sigh before unzipping it. I shove my hands into the pockets, heading out of the room. 

"Both of you are up?" My mom commented, shock clear in her voice and expression. I offer a weak smile.

"That does happen ya know- I slept good." I say. And I realized, I did. I wasn't lying. It felt like a sleep in the car, the ones you get when it's night and your driving home from a family trip… And it's like it was a second but it was pure utter heaven. Jason looked at me before nodding.

"Yeah, we both slept pretty good." He says looking at mom with a smile. She nods, a little weirded out, but she seemed happy nonetheless. She looks at me and blinks a little.

"Oh wow!" She exclaims. "It's been awhile since I've seen you wear that." She says with a laugh, getting off of the couch. 

"Yeah- I think I might give it to Zizi." My mom rose a brow. 

"Tsu's sister." I answer. Her eyes widen and she was going to say something before Jason walked in front of me. I tilted my head, not sure what he did, but as he passed, heading to the bathroom I saw mom's plain expression before she went to the kitchen. I comb a hand through my hair, sitting on the couch. "Criminal Minds?" I ask a bit loudly.

"Sure!" My mom answered. I went onto Netflix clicking on Jason's profile. He didn't care about crime shows, and thus never watched them. Understanding us disturb our progress, he let us use his profile to watch some shows. A few minutes later, Jason ended up plopping down onto the couch next to me. Playfully, he rolled his eyes.

"Criminal Minds, again?" He asks with a laugh. "Haven't you watched that twice already Vic?" I grin.

"Yeah- so?" He laughs.

"Fair enough." Jason wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. I smiled a little, wrapping one around him. Our heads leaned against each other, and naturally the two of us made fun of the people in the show. A few seconds, half way through the episode, I heard the familiar soft click of mom's phone. I laughed as Jason turned around to face her, to complain. She chuckled a little.

"What?" I tilt my head to look at the two, and smile a little, sadly. Please be okay Tsu...