When Justin awoke, he was in his room though he didn’t remember how he’d gotten there. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. He felt horrible, a feeling he knew would pass in a little while. Oxy after effects, as he called them. His eyes focused for the first time in about 12 hours and he noticed Joey sitting beside his bed. “Hey Joe,” Justin said and smiled.
“Hey J,” Joey answered back. He leaned forward. “J? Why are you doing this to yourself, you know..” Justin moaned and rolled over in bed. “You know what you’re doing is suicide. You need help.”
“I need sleep,” Justin corrected. “I can’t believe you waited here for me to wake up just so you could lecture me.”
“I waited here for you to wake up to make sure you did. You scared the fuck out of us Justin. You scare us every time.”
“It’s just medicine for my ankle.”
“Yes but you have to use it properly. And I heard you walked to CVS?”
“Yeah. So. No one was home.”
“You did it all on purpose. You don’t really want your ankle to heal do you?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“You want his drug so badly you’re willing to keep your broken ankle so you can keep getting the Oxy.”
“Joey, that is stupid.”
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
“You know what? Fuck off Joe. Just leave me alone. You don’t know what I’m going through and you don’t care so DON’T bother.”
“Justin..”
“Get out!”
In a normal circumstance, Joey would have never let him get away with talking to him like that but he was too concerned to try to show his dominance now.
Lance flipped the page in the book Joey had bought for him called, “So You Want To Be An Astronaut” with a hand written subtitle that read “…and other ludicrous ideas for today’s pop stars.”
Joey soared around the corner and into the kitchen. “How’s J?” Lance asked and closed the book.
“Crazy,” he and said and sat down across from Lance.
“Did you find the Oxy?”
Joey held up a small, half empty brown vile. “Right here.”
“Where was it?”
“In a sock…under the bed, in a box, in the floor.”
“Are you kidding me? He ripped up JC’s floor?”
“Yup.”
“Does JC know?”
“I doubt it.”
Lance took a closer look. “Are you sure this is all he has? It’s half empty and I know he’s crazy with the stuff but do you honestly think he’d take half of the bottle in one night?”
Joey hung his head. “I don’t know. God, he does this every time Chris isn’t around. Well, I mean, it’s never this bad when Chris is here.”
“I know what you mean. When’s he coming back again?”
“Three weeks.”
“Yeah. I was hoping I was wrong.”
Just then, Justin sauntered unto the kitchen, pouting and hungry. Joey and Lance watched as he explored the refrigerator. “Where’s C?” Justin asked with his back to them.
“At the grocery store gettin..”
“Where’s the goddamn milk!” Justin yelled before Joey could finish.
“Milk.”
Justin slammed the refrigerator door shut and leaned against it with his arms folded across his chest. “My ankle fuckin’ HURTS!” he shouted.
“J, take it easy,” Lance said and walked over to his friend. “Calm down.”
“Where’s Chris?”
“Justin, you know he’s in Pennsylvania with his mother.”
“I wanna be in Pennsylvania with my mother!” No one spoke. They all realized how little sense that made but no one quite knew how to react. Justin cracked a smile, “Shut up.”
“We didn’t say anything.” Joey said, finally bursting into all out laughter.
“You know what I mean!”
Lance stopped momentarily. “You know we’re all here for you right?” he asked seriously.
“Yeah, I know.”
“So why do you do this J?”
“It’s my ankle. I swear, the second it gets better I’ll stop. I’m hungry.”
Lance reached into a nearby cupboard and handed him a package of Dunkaroos.
“Don’t make us have to worry about you.”
“I won’t.”
“Justin, why aren’t you on your crutches?” Joey asked from across the room.
“I couldn’t find them. I didn’t put any weight on it though.” Both Joey and Lance were silent. “I’m not trying to sabotage myself, guys come on. I wanna get back to work as much as you guys do. Nothing can happen till Chris gets back anyway.” There was still no response. “Okay listen. I promise that I will be all healed by the time he gets back aiight? I promise. Stop looking at me like that.”
“You mean it?”
“Yes!”
Lance smiled and patted Justin on the shoulder. “I trust you,” he accentuated.
Justin nodded and looked down into the package of Dunkaroos. He could do it, so how come it felt like he couldn’t?
Story Tags: rehab
