“He’s so fucked....”

“Seriously.  Look at him.”

“I wish we had magic markers.  We could totally fuck his world up, take some pictures, and sell that shit on eBay.  We’d be millionaires.”

“I know, right?  I don’t know how they consider magic markers weapons...”

“He looks kinda pretty sleeping.”

“Yeah, unlike the McGrumpster he usually looks like.”

“You know, for a popstar he has a pretty bad attitude...If I had that much money and that fly of honeys willing to do A-N-Y-THANG for me, you know I’d be the happiest man on the planet.”

“Mmm...you’d be the happiest man on the planet if he’d fuck you like he did Nurse Jackie...”

“No...he did not!  He really fucked her?  Already?  Man, he’s fast...”

“Sure is.  You wish he’d fuck you that fast...”

“I’ll turn him gay before the end of his stint here...”

I could hear faint voices coming from the corner of the room, my head starting to pound.  I don’t know what happened, and I don’t remember a damn thing about where I am or how I got here, but I do know that I feel like I got hit by a Mack truck.

I tried to open my eyes, but to no avail.  Then I tried moving my arms, and that wasn’t happening either.  My muscles were just too tired to function, as if they were protesting my entire existence.

“Where the fuck am I?” I happen to grunt out.

“Oh shit.  He’s awake.”

“Fuck...we’d better get out of here.”

A few shushed hisses and the voices were gone, and I was faced with dead silence as the door shut behind them.  

“Hello!!!” I try to cry out, but my voice is scratchy, and I feel utterly alone and trapped for the first time in my life.

A few minutes passed, followed by what seemed like hours.  I have no idea how long I was laying there, let alone how long I had been there since before I woke up, but it felt like time was moving at a snail’s pace.  Finally, I heard a click of the door and I grunted.

“Hello?” I asked, my voice meek and quiet, a shadow of my normal cocky self.

“Hey, handsome.”

“Nurse Jackie?” I asked.  I definitely recognized the voice, but my head was splitting so badly that I wasn’t quite sure if my mind was playing tricks on me.

“In the flesh,” she responded.  I heard her feet scuffle over to me, my vision still blinded.  Slowly, she took whatever was blocking my eyes off of my face and smiled down.  I blinked several times to try and readjust to the bright lights overhead, desperately trying to get her face into focus.

“What happened?  Where am I?” starting to panic a little, the realization of the situation starting to hit me.

“Shh, calm down.  You had an attack.  Well....to put it mildly, you ran out of the councelor’s office and attacked me, specifically.  Knocked the chair over and everything.  Then you started humping my leg,” she let out a soft laugh.

“Oh...my,” I mumbled, slightly embarrassed.  I don’t remember that at all.  “Sorry about that.  I don’t know what came over me.”  That was a lie.  I knew exactly what came over me.  It’s what came over me every time this kind of thing happened.

“Don’t worry.  I would have freaked too.  But they did shoot you up with a tranquilizer and have security drag you down here to the “Time Out Room,” as we like to call it,” she giggled again.

For the first time, I look down, noticing that my legs and arms were strapped down, my arms to my side, and my feet spread evenly apart.  I just groaned, letting my head fall back against the pillow exasperatedly as I stare at the ceiling.

“This is so fucked up,” I mumbled.

“I know...it’s procedure, though.”

“It’s not like I’m a fucking murderer.  I didn’t come at you with a pick axe or anything.  They really didn’t need to tie me down, especially not in front of my mother...” I responded, my voice quiet.  “Oh God, my mother...” I whimpered, trying to move my hand to rub my face, but realized I couldn’t with the restraints in place, which just frustrated me more.

“I know you didn’t.  That’s why I’m down here.  If they know I am talking to you, I’ll get fired,” she finished, gently pushing a piece of unruly hair off of my forehead.

“How’s my mom?” I asked quietly.

“She’s fine.  She had to go back home for some chemo treatments, but she’ll be back when she can and we’ll try this again,” she finished as she sat against the edge of the bed.

I felt my lungs constrict.  Chemo....Cancer.   Fuck.

I want to slap myself in the face.  This is the last memory my mother is going to have of me before she goes to get injected with radiation?  What if she doesn’t make it, and I never get to see her again, and this is the only memory she has of me?  The only memory I have of her?  

Fuck, I’m an asshole...

“I just...I need to get out of this place.  Just for a few hours.  You know, clear my head so I can come back and finish out the rest of my time here and get this shit over with,” I sigh.  “I need to get back to my Mom.  Be there for her, you know.  I haven’t done, and I need to.”

“You want to get out?” she asked.

“Not want.  NEED.  I just need time to sort this all out in my head,” I reiterated, being sure to emphasize my point.  “I didn’t know she had cancer.”

“I can help you,” she whispered, gently trailing her finger down my forearm.

“Oh, you can, huh?” I raised my eyebrow, a soft smirk coming to my face.

“Not like that....well, yes like that--anytime.  But I mean...I can bust you outta here.  Get you a car, let you go into town for a few hours.  But you have to PROMISE to come back or I’ll get fired--and I really really need to keep this job right now,” she whispered.

“Really?  You’d do that for me?  Why?” I asked.

“Because.  You seem like you deserve a little help.  Seems to me like your friends aren’t really being your friends.  I mean, I appreciate that they dragged you here because you definitely need the help--but sometimes you just need to work things out on your own.  Sometimes people don’t understand that,” she smiled, and she hesitated a little before she spoke again, a hint of playfulness in her voice.  “And maybe I really enjoyed having sex on the copier.”

“You are such a dirty little tart,” I smirked, enamored by her candor and consideration.  Even my best friend would never say shit like this, and she’s a complete stranger.  Part of me didn’t even know what to say in response.

“So what do you say?  You want to bust on out of here...?” she asked, gently fingering the restraint around my left arm.

“Yes, please...” I whined.

“Let’s do it...” she smiled as she started unlocking me.  All I could do was utter a soft thanks, unsure of how to repay my debt.

"...thank you," I whispered meekly.