Checking in | Phone call with drcampbell

[pullmysteth]

Riley lit up a smoke from where he was sitting on the hood of his car. They were stopped in a rest area to stretch their legs when Riley realised he hadn't heard from Lachlan when they'd been flicking text messages back and forth during the whole trip

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[drcampbell]

Lachlan clutched his hand around his phone in his pocket as if squeezing the fucking shit out of it would stop it ringing. He jumped up and ran from the room, figuring that was quicker to get the ringing away from Tara and not wake her than trying to order his shaky hands to pull the phone from his pocket and answer it without bursting into tears.

He got out into the hospital corridor and yanked the phone from his pocket to flip open and answer it. "Aye, hello?" he said distractedly.

[pullmysteth]

Riley frowned. "Lachie, it's Riley. Are you okay, man?" Lachlan didn't sound right. In fact, he sounded downright off. "Are you losing your voice?"

[drcampbell]

Lachlan sat down on the bench just up from Tara's room and put his head into his hand. "Aye, great. Nay, no voice losing. How's the trip?"

[pullmysteth]

"Yeah, it's really great!" Riley said, smiling. He looked over at Tab who was singing some random song with her guitar at the picnic table nearby. "It's done some good to get away and clear my head."

[drcampbell]

"Aye? And, um..." Say something happy! Anything! "How's the, um... weather?"

[pullmysteth]

"The weather? You're asking me about the weather?" Riley stubbed his cigarette out and slid off the car. "What's going on, man?"

[drcampbell]

Lachlan was silent, staring at the floor in front of him. He literally had to remind himself to open his mouth and talk. "Nothing... just... you know, the trial shit and... and all that shit." His words hitched at the end and he coughed to clear his throat.

[pullmysteth]

"Bullshit," Riley offered in return. "Something's wrong. What's happened?"

[drcampbell]

"Nothing!" Lachlan snapped. "I've got to go, Riley. I'll speak to you later." He flipped his phone shut and ended the call abruptly. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't pretend he was okay anymore.

[pullmysteth]

Riley stared at his phone in shock, the faint monotonous tone beeping to signal Lachlan had, indeed, hung up. He tried to tell himself he'd just gotten his friend at at bad time but something didn't feel right. He put his phone back in his pocket and scratched his head, knowing that if Lachlan didn't want to talk, he didn't want to talk.