Page 31 of 4-Ever

The room was spinning, but Ronin was here, so I knew I’d be safe. My mouth filled with bitter bile, and I wanted to ask for water, but I couldn’t form the words. Someone was holding me up, both arms, and then I puked again and fuck, it was coming out of my nose and everything.

I came to in a low-lit bathroom, the smell of vomit and air freshener making my stomach roil again. But this time, there was a toilet within reach. One of my arms was still pinned, though, and I started to panic, pulling away.

“Calm down, boo. I’m trying to help hold you up.”

It was Ro. Thank fuck.

“I’m d-done. I’m… good. S’all gone,” I muttered as I made to stand up. “M’ fine.”

When Ronin led me out of the stall, Holls and Brodie startled.

“We need to get him out of here. Now,” Ronin demanded. “Get Van and Dawson.”

“On it,” Brodie replied and turned away.

“I said m’fine. K,” I mumbled. “S-stop t-talking like I’m not here. I’m right here, Ro. Why c-can’t you s-see me?”

Then I looked up and caught my reflection in the mirror above the sink. My face wasn’t just covered in vomit. There were streaks of crimson paint running down my nose, around my lips and chin.

But the overwhelming smell, the copper. No, it wasn’t paint. It was blood. So much blood. But nothing hurt. Not even my stomach. I was floating too high. Beyond pain.

“So f-funny,” I pointed to my reflection. “B-bloody beard.”

No one else was laughing.

“S’ funny, right? I l-look like D-Dawson with the r-red beard. Red face,” I snickered. “But only with Holls.”

“We need to get him to a hospital,” Ronin snapped, his voice cracking.

God, I’d never heard him so angry before. Or scared. Maybe both? I was too high to figure out which. Then the room spun faster and faster, so out of control that I couldn’t see clearly anymore. Or catch my breath.

“I’m gonna… l-lie… d-down.”

Ronin

I sat by Faise’s bedside in the hospital as he lay sleeping. He was hooked up to monitors and machines.

He looked like death and death stared back at me. It was scary as fuck.

Chills wracked my body. The incessant trembling started three hours ago in that club bathroom and hadn’t settled since. Glancing at his face, I noticed a streak of blood on his jaw that the hospital staff had missed. With a gentle hand, I reached for a tissue and wet it, wiping it off, being careful not to wake him.

He was stable now and breathing normally. But doctors had warned me and the guys that it was a close call. A near fatal overdose. His septum was damaged. Which accounted for all the blood.

But it wasn’t just his nose. Doctors suspected he might have a stomach ulcer, since there was more blood mixed in with his vomit.

Jesus Christ, how did we end up here?

Thank fuck Dawson and Van got us out of that club without pause. Vegas had plenty of private hospitals and they’d seen to Faise right away.

But I didn’t know what I was going to say to Faise when he woke up. Partying was all good and fun, but he’d taken it to the extreme this year. His moods were the same way, going from uncontrollable laughter one moment to aggressive anger the next. There was something going on with him. I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at me.

A struggle, a secret. One he didn’t share.

For the first time in seventeen years, I didn’t know what to say to my best friend. How to help heal whatever was going on inside him.

“How’s he doing?”

I turned at Brodie’s voice to find him, Holls, Van, Dawson, and Lennie standing behind me. What had started out as a night to celebrate one of our career milestones had ended up here. I still couldn’t believe it.

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