TRUE LOVE 3 [Chapter 5: Help]

What the fuck happened? Everything was dark. I heard chaos. There were sirens. Why couldn’t I see anything? There was also sobbing over the commotion. I heard someone screaming my name. There was a rhythm of pressure on my chest. Someone saying, “Everybody stand back! CLEAR!”

            I woke up to the sound of a rhythmic beep. My body was aching. I felt something covering my face. As I forced my eyes to open, I realized I was in a hospital bed. I looked down at my arm to find an IV attached to it. I was hooked up to machines and a breathing mask. I looked to my left to find Cameron sleeping in the corner chair. Before I could try to get up, a nurse walked in.

“Oh no you don’t. You lay right back down.” She said

“What happened?” I asked

“The doctor will be right in to talk to you.” She said writing on her clipboard

“Hey, babe.” Cameron said waking up to our voices

He stood up and walked towards me.

“How are you feeling?” he asked holding my hand

“Thirsty.”

“Here, drink some water.” The nurse gave me a small plastic cup filled with ice water

As I finished the cup, the doctor walked in.

“Okay. Glad to see you awake, Mr. Ramirez. Do you know where you are?” he asked

“The hospital.” I said

“You know who this is?” he pointed to Cameron

“My boyfriend.” I said

“You know his name?” he asked again

“Cameron Harris.”

“How about the day?” he asked

“Sunday night? No…Monday morning?”

“It’s Tuesday.” He responded

“What?” I asked in shock

“It’s okay. I just need you to stay calm. What is the last thing you remember?” he asked

Shit. I’m not even sure. I knew for sure that I had gone to Mike’s house to score drugs. But after that, I wasn’t sure if everything else was just my imagination. Fuck. I kind of remember being on the floor and…oh no. Please don’t tell me that I slept with Mike. I hope I didn’t go down on him. I couldn’t remember.

“Joey?” Cameron urged me

“I went for a run.” I said

“Then what happened?” he asked

“I went to a friend’s house.”

“What friend?” the doctor asked

“Mike.” I said

“Did anything happen at Mike’s house?” the doctor continued

Just as I was about to answer, two officers walked in the room.

“Doctor.” The nurse alerted him

“We’ll take it from here, Doc.” Said one of the officers

“Joey? Joey Ramirez?” the officer asked

“Yes?”

“I’m officer Sheldon, this is officer Kentwood. We have a few questions we’d like to ask you.”

“Okay.” I said flatly

“How do you know Mike?” Officer Sheldon asked

“I ran into him at a club.” I said

“How long have you known him?” he continued

“Not very long.”

“Give us an exact time frame.”

“One day.” I said

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cameron’s head spin directly towards me. Shit.

“What is the last thing you remember at Mike’s” he asked

“We were just sitting around talking.” I could feel Cameron’s hand beginning to loosen its grip

“Did you guys, take anything?” the officer asked

I stayed silent for a minute. I was so scared. What would the outcome be if I told the truth? Would it be worse if I lied?

“We did some coke.” I confessed

“How much?” he asked

“Just one line.” I said

Cameron had removed his hand from mine and stood up beginning to pace. He then pulled out his cell phone and walked out of the room. Oh my God. This wasn’t good.

“Are you positive?” he asked

“I’m pretty sure.”

“Nurse. Do you mind shutting the door?” he asked her

The nurse complied. I was getting nervous.

“Don’t worry Joey. Just stay calm.” The doctor said reassuring me

“Did you and Mike conduct sexual intercourse during your meeting?” through the blinds of my bedroom window facing the hall of the hospital, I could see Cameron turn around to see what my response was. The officer was close enough to the door allowing Cameron to hear what was going on still.

“I’m not sure.” I said shaking my head unsure

“Would you like us to fill you in on what happened?” the doctor asked

“Yes please.” I said as a tear rolled down my face

“It seems that after you had taken your first dose of cocaine, you began to hallucinate. Mike engaged you to perform oral sex on him. By the DNA sample we took from inside your mouth, we were able to determine, that you did in fact have oral sex. Mike explained that you continued to do additional lines of cocaine. While Mike only took one, you seemed to have taken up to three lines. This is a deadly dosage. Not only for a first time drug user, but because the cocaine was laced with other household chemicals making it stronger and more toxic to the brain.”

I wanted to break down in tears. How could I have been so stupid. I held back the tears as they sat in my eyes. My bottom lip began to quiver.

“Mike called 9-1-1 when you passed out and began to have convulsions. Mike called a mutual friend of yours who then called Mr. Harris. The ambulance picked you up and performed CPR on you as it seemed you had stopped breathing. At one point, your heart also stopped.”

“What? I died?” I asked in shock

“Momentarily, yes.”

“Where is Mike at now?”

“He’s being booked.” The officer said

“Will I go to jail?” I asked

The officers looked at one another and then the doctor.

“Since this your first offense and you were not in possession of the drugs. You will not be taken in, however. You will be fined and charged with a misdemeanor crime. You can lower the fine by exercising community service.”

“I’ll do anything.” I said

“The best thing to do now. Is to get on a clean path.” The officer suggested

“Thank you officers.” I said they shook the doctor’s hand and left the room

I noticed Cameron’s eyes were fixed on me. He looked upset, scared and uncertain all at the same time. He then simply walked away down the hall. I wanted to cry. I fucked up. Why was I being so reckless? A few minutes later Cameron returned with his mother, who worked at the hospital with him.

“Oh, Hun. Are you okay?” she asked checking my vitals

“Hi Diane. Yeah. I’m okay I think.” I said staring at Cameron

“What made you do something like that?” she asked

I just shrugged. I heard noise out in the hall. Suddenly Natalie, Phillip, Larissa, Teddy and my mother rushed into my room.

“Joey!” My mother said with tearful eyes

“Mom.” I said with a shaky voice as she hugged me

“Don’t you ever do anything like that again!” she said looking into my eyes

Tears rolled down her face. I was so happy to see her; I was however upset to see my father hadn’t come.

“Where is dad?” I asked

“You’re father had to work.” She made up an excuse for him

“Joey. I’m so glad you’re okay. Larissa said hugging me

“Thank you for coming.” I said

“I can’t stay long. I’m on my lunch.” She said in her bank uniform, “I’ll swing by after work.”

“Okay.” I said as she darted back out of the room

“Cameron called your Job and explained there was an emergency.” Natalie said

“Thank you.” I said holding out my hand for his

He just stood there not moving. He didn’t even attempt to reach for me.

“Why don’t we give the boys some time to talk?” Diane said

“I’ll be in the waiting room.” My mother said waving at me

Diane closed the door behind me. Cameron started to pace in front of the hospital bed.

“Please talk to me.” I said

“I can’t.” He said calmly

“I’m sorry.” I said

“That isn’t good enough.” He responded

“What can I do to make it better?” I asked trying to fight back tears

“Get help.” He said

“I’m not an addict.” I said

He just stared at me. Even I didn’t believe myself at this point. Yes. I only did drugs twice. But if I was so easily attracted to the idea of drugs and thought I could handle it, maybe I was an addict? Or potential addict?

“Please.” He pleaded

“Okay.” I said

“What?” he asked unsure if he heard me right?

“Okay. I’ll get help.” I said

“Good. This isn’t you.” He said

“I know.”

“You don’t even look like yourself.” He added

“I don’t?”

He picked up a mirror from the nurses station and brought it to me. I stared at the person in the reflection. Oh my God. He was pale, had a two day five o’clock shadow, messy hair, chapped lips and droopy eyes.

“Is this who you want to be?” he asked with a tear rolling down

“No.” I said shaking my head

After we talked, Cameron gathered everyone back in the room. He told them that I had agreed to seek help.

“Teddy.” I said calling for his attention

“Yeah?” he asked nervously

If I wanted to, I could put him on the spot. Blame him; tell Cameron that he came onto me, that he gave me ecstasy, that he was my reference in contacting Mike. But instead, I wanted to show my appreciation.

“Thank you.” I said, “When Mike called you, you called Cameron immediately after. Thank you for that.” I said

“Oh….you’re welcome.” He grinned

“I have one more confession to make.”

Everyone looked nervous, especially Teddy.

“I took ecstasy.” I confessed

“What?” Natalie said in shock

“The night I went out with Larissa. I found a pill in…”

“Your wallet.” Cameron finished my sentence

“How did you know?” I asked in shock

“Because I found the empty bag and note in your wallet after you fell asleep. I knew something was up after we had that amazing yet rough fuu…” he stopped suddenly remembering both our mothers were in the room, “uuhfiesta.”

I knew what he was talking about obviously.

“I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“Did you get it at the club that night?” he asked

“No. It was in there when we got back from Newport.” I admitted

“And you held onto it?” he asked

“Yes. I was afraid you would accuse me of using.” I said

“I wouldn’t have been wrong though.” He pointed out

“I know.”

The doctor returned breaking through the crowd of people inside my room.

“Good news. You’ll be released tomorrow morning. The officers will pick you up and escort you to the station to do the paperwork, and then you can get home and get some rest. I’ll write a recommendation for your job that you take a week off work.”

“Thank you doctor.” Cameron and I said

© 2016 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. of Royalty Novels / The True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.

All characters and likeness are pure fiction. Any resemblance is pure coincidence. Models and Actors used in marketing material for the True Love Saga were used as inspiration and to provide readers with an image of what the characters may look like.