I Don't Think He'll Make It Through The Night - Chapter Twenty
Title: I Don't Think He'll Make It Through The Night
Chapter: I Look Forward To Breaking You
Author: tothebatcaveO_o
Pairing: Alex/Zack (Rian Dawson/Cassadee Pope & Jack Barakat/Tay Jardine) Alex/Jack
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Since his brother died, things at home haven't been good for Alex. His mother became overly controlling of him, and his parents continue to argue, all the time. Alex turned to his demons to help resolve the conflict, but now, Zack's suffering too, the only difference is, Zack's problem can be hidden
Disclaimer: Everything's extracted from my imagination
A/N:
[Warning, this A/N has spoilers]So, explanation for how Alex could receive information such as Jack's current situation and May's death. His mum is talking to him in his unconscious state, it's a form of sensory input whereby the sensory gating is still operational during sleep. Alex slept the whole night, but his Mum continued to tell him things, he invented the conversation in his dream. This chapter will prove lighter than the one that follows
Masterpost
‘It’s OK. We’ll get you through this again, we can sort you out.’ Zack whispered down to Alex. Alex stirred beneath him.
Alex opened his eyes to see his ex-boyfriend smiling down at him. Alex blinked a few times before absorbing this information.
‘What are you doing here?’ Alex asked him as he leant back, standing up straight next to the bed.
‘I came to apologise, to put everything behind us, because I need you, Alex, I’m not the same without you.’ Zack shifted uncomfortably.
‘B- But I-’ Zack shushed him, placing a finger to Alex’s lips,
‘Rest. You’re exhausted.’ Alex stared around the room, smiling at Zack every time he caught his eye. The curtain was shut, stopping people from seeing in, but Alex could hear the voices of nurses and doctors, as well as other patients.
Zack stared at the thinner boy for what seemed like hours, until he stood up and leant down to Alex, placing a kiss to his cheek, ‘I have to go, now. I’ll be round yours later, it seems you can be discharged if your blood levels return OK this time.’ Alex nodded and watched him leave, the curtain slid shut after him.
‘Alex?’ Kath opened the curtain and closed it behind her. Alex smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back. ‘Alex what happened?’ His smile faltered,
‘I- I don’t know.’
‘Alex, we were doing so well. At least you’re OK now, it seemed you had only fainted - your blood sugar levels were extremely low.’ Alex nodded; confirming that he had figured it must have been something related to that. ‘You have another session booked for Tuesday; do you think you’ll come?’ Alex nodded and looked up at Kath,
‘I will, I’m sorry.’ She shook her head, a smile tugged at her lips,
‘Don’t be, I have faith in you.’ She waved goodbye to him and walked out. He heard her talking to someone else, hearing her mention that he was awake.
‘Alex!’ Alex’s Mum came rushing in. She arrived at his bedside.
‘Mom,’ Alex felt his eyes prickle, ‘Mom I-’ She shushed him and ran her hand down the side of his face, ‘I’m sorry, Mom.’
‘Don’t be, baby, I’m the one that’s sorry - I’m the one that needs to be.’ Alex’s arms wrapped around her waist and he began to sob hysterically. She cried quietly too, staying strong enough to not let her son know. The occasional tear fell from her eyes and hit his thin, greasy yet brittle hair. She took in a deep breath and rubbed his back as his sobbing ceased.
‘I love you, son, and I’ll be a better Mum. I can’t wrap you in cotton wool like I’ve been trying to, because it’ll only achieve the opposite results, I can see that. Baby, I need you to promise me you won’t be as reckless as your brother was.’ Alex pushed up slightly and looked into her glistening eyes,
‘Mom I-’ Alex stopped as his mind began to tick again, ‘Where’s Jack?’ Alex’s Mum swallowed and looked down at her brittle child,
‘He’s having the bullets removed from his body as we speak.’ Alex bit his lip, ‘Honey, I don’t know if I should say this, but I don’t think he’ll make it through the night.’
‘W- What do you mean?’
‘Bullets are the worst thing. They ricochet throughout the body. When Jack was shot the first time it seems it ruptured his right kidney, but it was a through-and-through. The second shot pierced his right lung and ricocheted off of his rib-cage, breaking through his stomach and liver and lodged somewhere in his body - they think intravenously.’ Alex’s bottom lip began to quiver,
‘What about Sandy?’
‘He’s with Rian.’
‘I mean what about Sandy? Jack can’t die, he cannot die. He can’t do that to his child.’
‘I think it’s something beyond his control, darling.’
‘How do you know so much about this?’
‘The doctor had to tell me so that I could inform his parents. They might lose their second child in two days.’
‘What? Second?’
‘May was fatally injured at the scene, Rian knows more about that than me.’ Alex bit his lip and stared in front of him, almost deadened from the news. Shit had hit the fan and there was nothing he could do about it.
***
Sitting at home with Rian and Cassadee was something Alex didn’t really fancy doing at this moment, but the doctor’s had advised that Alex shouldn’t be left alone for extended periods of time - his Mum had work, and thankfully being the holiday’s, Rian and Cassadee had no other plans. It was eleven in the morning, twelve hours after the homicide at Jack’s house.
‘I don’t want this, guys.’ Alex said, holding his cup of tea in his palms and sipping the hot liquid.
‘You don’t have a choice. I’m sorry, Alex, but we need to be here.’ Cassadee said to him. He sighed and sipped once more.
‘Hey, why don’t we go out?’ Rian proposed,
‘I want to wait to hear from the hospital.’
There was a knock at the door. Alex stood up to walk towards it.
‘I don’t think we’ll hear from the hospital.’ Alex opened the door and revealed a smiling Zack behind the door.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t come over as soon as they let you out. What time did you get out?’ Zack asked the confused and shocked Alex.
‘I- um, it was eight this morning when I was discharged. Mom had work at seven, so Rian picked me up.’ Alex answered Zack’s question, extremely lost amongst the goings on.
‘Did you have a good rest, a nice night’s sleep?’
‘What?’ Alex turned his nose up at this, before relaxing again, ‘I- I don’t know. I don’t remember.’ Alex let Zack in and closed the door.
‘Ri, Cass!’ Zack bounded into the living room.
‘Hey!’ Rian stood up and wrapped his arms around the muscular boy. Zack bent down and gave Cassadee a kiss on the cheek and a one-armed hug.
‘So what have you guys been up to?’ The three began to converse as Alex stood by the doorway and watched. He frowned before making his way upstairs to go to the toilet.
‘Alex! I need to come with you.’ Rian cried out as he made his way out of the living room and followed Alex up. Alex locked the bathroom door,
‘I need the toilet, Ri, I’m not gonna let you be in here with me.’ Alex sat on the toilet and stared in front of him at the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, bubble-bath, and shower-gel surrounding the bath and on the bathroom shelves by the walk-in shower. He tried to read the bottles but found the writing unreadable, blurry and somewhat smudged.
Alex flushed the toilet, washed his hands and left the bathroom.
***
The supermarket was packed with people, but Zack was with him, Rian and Cassadee were also accompanying him. All of his teachers seemed to pass him by, each of them simply ignoring his presence. He picked up all different kinds of food, placing them in the trolley, eating on his way around the supermarket. He picked up ingredients for baking and began to fist handfuls of flour into his mouth, followed by squirting shampoo into his palm and licking it. But everyone passed this off as normal behaviour.
Alex looked at himself as he passed a mirror and stared at the mess in front of him. His hair was flat and greasy. His clothes barely fit over his bulging belly and flabby arms. His tree-trunk thighs shook as he placed his foot against the ground. He took in a deep breath and tipped a packet of chocolate buttons into his mouth.
They walked by the books, but as Alex began to examine them he found himself incapable of reading their names and the names of their authors. He frowned and looked around, seeing that everyone around him were all people he knew, he even saw Jack and May amongst the crowd of people.
***
Alex sat up straight, finding his Mum sat by his side in the curtained off room of the hospital.
‘Alex!’
Chapter: I Look Forward To Breaking You
Author: tothebatcaveO_o
Pairing: Alex/Zack (Rian Dawson/Cassadee Pope & Jack Barakat/Tay Jardine) Alex/Jack
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Since his brother died, things at home haven't been good for Alex. His mother became overly controlling of him, and his parents continue to argue, all the time. Alex turned to his demons to help resolve the conflict, but now, Zack's suffering too, the only difference is, Zack's problem can be hidden
Disclaimer: Everything's extracted from my imagination
A/N:
[Warning, this A/N has spoilers]So, explanation for how Alex could receive information such as Jack's current situation and May's death. His mum is talking to him in his unconscious state, it's a form of sensory input whereby the sensory gating is still operational during sleep. Alex slept the whole night, but his Mum continued to tell him things, he invented the conversation in his dream. This chapter will prove lighter than the one that follows
Masterpost
‘It’s OK. We’ll get you through this again, we can sort you out.’ Zack whispered down to Alex. Alex stirred beneath him.
Alex opened his eyes to see his ex-boyfriend smiling down at him. Alex blinked a few times before absorbing this information.
‘What are you doing here?’ Alex asked him as he leant back, standing up straight next to the bed.
‘I came to apologise, to put everything behind us, because I need you, Alex, I’m not the same without you.’ Zack shifted uncomfortably.
‘B- But I-’ Zack shushed him, placing a finger to Alex’s lips,
‘Rest. You’re exhausted.’ Alex stared around the room, smiling at Zack every time he caught his eye. The curtain was shut, stopping people from seeing in, but Alex could hear the voices of nurses and doctors, as well as other patients.
Zack stared at the thinner boy for what seemed like hours, until he stood up and leant down to Alex, placing a kiss to his cheek, ‘I have to go, now. I’ll be round yours later, it seems you can be discharged if your blood levels return OK this time.’ Alex nodded and watched him leave, the curtain slid shut after him.
‘Alex?’ Kath opened the curtain and closed it behind her. Alex smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back. ‘Alex what happened?’ His smile faltered,
‘I- I don’t know.’
‘Alex, we were doing so well. At least you’re OK now, it seemed you had only fainted - your blood sugar levels were extremely low.’ Alex nodded; confirming that he had figured it must have been something related to that. ‘You have another session booked for Tuesday; do you think you’ll come?’ Alex nodded and looked up at Kath,
‘I will, I’m sorry.’ She shook her head, a smile tugged at her lips,
‘Don’t be, I have faith in you.’ She waved goodbye to him and walked out. He heard her talking to someone else, hearing her mention that he was awake.
‘Alex!’ Alex’s Mum came rushing in. She arrived at his bedside.
‘Mom,’ Alex felt his eyes prickle, ‘Mom I-’ She shushed him and ran her hand down the side of his face, ‘I’m sorry, Mom.’
‘Don’t be, baby, I’m the one that’s sorry - I’m the one that needs to be.’ Alex’s arms wrapped around her waist and he began to sob hysterically. She cried quietly too, staying strong enough to not let her son know. The occasional tear fell from her eyes and hit his thin, greasy yet brittle hair. She took in a deep breath and rubbed his back as his sobbing ceased.
‘I love you, son, and I’ll be a better Mum. I can’t wrap you in cotton wool like I’ve been trying to, because it’ll only achieve the opposite results, I can see that. Baby, I need you to promise me you won’t be as reckless as your brother was.’ Alex pushed up slightly and looked into her glistening eyes,
‘Mom I-’ Alex stopped as his mind began to tick again, ‘Where’s Jack?’ Alex’s Mum swallowed and looked down at her brittle child,
‘He’s having the bullets removed from his body as we speak.’ Alex bit his lip, ‘Honey, I don’t know if I should say this, but I don’t think he’ll make it through the night.’
‘W- What do you mean?’
‘Bullets are the worst thing. They ricochet throughout the body. When Jack was shot the first time it seems it ruptured his right kidney, but it was a through-and-through. The second shot pierced his right lung and ricocheted off of his rib-cage, breaking through his stomach and liver and lodged somewhere in his body - they think intravenously.’ Alex’s bottom lip began to quiver,
‘What about Sandy?’
‘He’s with Rian.’
‘I mean what about Sandy? Jack can’t die, he cannot die. He can’t do that to his child.’
‘I think it’s something beyond his control, darling.’
‘How do you know so much about this?’
‘The doctor had to tell me so that I could inform his parents. They might lose their second child in two days.’
‘What? Second?’
‘May was fatally injured at the scene, Rian knows more about that than me.’ Alex bit his lip and stared in front of him, almost deadened from the news. Shit had hit the fan and there was nothing he could do about it.
***
Sitting at home with Rian and Cassadee was something Alex didn’t really fancy doing at this moment, but the doctor’s had advised that Alex shouldn’t be left alone for extended periods of time - his Mum had work, and thankfully being the holiday’s, Rian and Cassadee had no other plans. It was eleven in the morning, twelve hours after the homicide at Jack’s house.
‘I don’t want this, guys.’ Alex said, holding his cup of tea in his palms and sipping the hot liquid.
‘You don’t have a choice. I’m sorry, Alex, but we need to be here.’ Cassadee said to him. He sighed and sipped once more.
‘Hey, why don’t we go out?’ Rian proposed,
‘I want to wait to hear from the hospital.’
There was a knock at the door. Alex stood up to walk towards it.
‘I don’t think we’ll hear from the hospital.’ Alex opened the door and revealed a smiling Zack behind the door.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t come over as soon as they let you out. What time did you get out?’ Zack asked the confused and shocked Alex.
‘I- um, it was eight this morning when I was discharged. Mom had work at seven, so Rian picked me up.’ Alex answered Zack’s question, extremely lost amongst the goings on.
‘Did you have a good rest, a nice night’s sleep?’
‘What?’ Alex turned his nose up at this, before relaxing again, ‘I- I don’t know. I don’t remember.’ Alex let Zack in and closed the door.
‘Ri, Cass!’ Zack bounded into the living room.
‘Hey!’ Rian stood up and wrapped his arms around the muscular boy. Zack bent down and gave Cassadee a kiss on the cheek and a one-armed hug.
‘So what have you guys been up to?’ The three began to converse as Alex stood by the doorway and watched. He frowned before making his way upstairs to go to the toilet.
‘Alex! I need to come with you.’ Rian cried out as he made his way out of the living room and followed Alex up. Alex locked the bathroom door,
‘I need the toilet, Ri, I’m not gonna let you be in here with me.’ Alex sat on the toilet and stared in front of him at the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, bubble-bath, and shower-gel surrounding the bath and on the bathroom shelves by the walk-in shower. He tried to read the bottles but found the writing unreadable, blurry and somewhat smudged.
Alex flushed the toilet, washed his hands and left the bathroom.
***
The supermarket was packed with people, but Zack was with him, Rian and Cassadee were also accompanying him. All of his teachers seemed to pass him by, each of them simply ignoring his presence. He picked up all different kinds of food, placing them in the trolley, eating on his way around the supermarket. He picked up ingredients for baking and began to fist handfuls of flour into his mouth, followed by squirting shampoo into his palm and licking it. But everyone passed this off as normal behaviour.
Alex looked at himself as he passed a mirror and stared at the mess in front of him. His hair was flat and greasy. His clothes barely fit over his bulging belly and flabby arms. His tree-trunk thighs shook as he placed his foot against the ground. He took in a deep breath and tipped a packet of chocolate buttons into his mouth.
They walked by the books, but as Alex began to examine them he found himself incapable of reading their names and the names of their authors. He frowned and looked around, seeing that everyone around him were all people he knew, he even saw Jack and May amongst the crowd of people.
***
Alex sat up straight, finding his Mum sat by his side in the curtained off room of the hospital.
‘Alex!’