Be Somewhere

"Tick Tock
Says The Clock
Before time runs away
I shouted 'Stop!'
Lets take a walk
Before you leave today."

"Danny, I already have a headache... if you don't stop singing that whatever you call it I'm going to kill you," Brad said quietly.

"Is there really a reason that either one of you have to be here?" There were scratches as chairs were pushed back on a laminite floor.

"YES! We have to make sure you don't do any more damage to him then you've already done!" Danny shouted.

Ricky could smell antiseptic and blood. There was a faint aura of disease, but he couldn't place why it was there. There were trees before, where had the scent of the woods gone? He was supposed to be laying on a pile of leaves. He was supposed to be cold and wet from the rain.

It was easy to tell why Richard was here, he had been with him before. Why were Danny and Brad in the woods though? Where had his mother gone? Was she even there to begin with? He blinked to find a blinding light pouring into his retinas.

"AH GOD! Why the fuck is everything so bright?" He screamed, "And why are you all so loud?" Everything stopped for a moment. The silence was quickly filled with cheers and sighs of relief.

"Jesus Christ kid, we thought we'd lost you for sure that time!" Richard grinned.

"If only you could be so lucky, " Ricky hissed, "Now someone tell me whats going on before I decide to throw a tantrum that will have you removed from here." Danny and Brad snuck a sly glare at Richard who was staring at his feet. The silence that returned to the room had reached a peak in bluntness. The clock was making more noise than the people.

"I'm waiting," Ricky said with as much venom as he could muster. Ricky didn't get his answer. Doctors piled into the room one after another and he was forced to answer machine gun questions.

"Do you feel okay? Does your head hurt? Does your stomach hurt? Are you having trouble breathing? Do you remember anything? What happened?"

"No. Yes. No. Yes. No. I don't know," he replied, "Can you leave me the fuck alone?"

The doctors scribbled on their clip boards before sliding out of the room. The door closed with a quiet click. A mosquito was buzzing around the room. Apparently Ricky wasn't the only one who could smell blood. He watched as the pest circled and looped around people and finally chose a victim. Ricky didn't know the victim.

"Why the fuck is he here?"

"Ricky, this is Dr. Marques. He's a social worker and a trained therapist. He's here to see why you jumped out the window," Richard answered "We were all kind of hoping you could explain your logic with that one."

Ricky glared at everyone. They all knew and were hoping that he would spill his guts. All except Richard, anyway. By the look in the damned social worker's eyes, even he knew.

"I don't remember," he murmured, "and you still haven't explained what the fuck is going on."

"Mr. Bofante, i know that this may be hard for you to do, seeing as you're such a caring parent and all, but could you please give us some privacy? It'll just take a moment, I promise." Richard left and the doctor continued "Ricky, could you please tell me what actually happened? The story that your parents gave me doesn't make much sense."

"I'll make you a deal. You tell me what you know, and I'll tell you what I know."

"I know that your parents say you have a suicidal background. I know that you've made no less than 14 hospital trips in the last 6 months. I know that you jumped out your window last night. What I don't know, is why."

"Suicidal tendencies. Case closed. Can you leave now?" The doctor's eyes narrowed.

"Ricky, if you wanted to die from a fall, you would have chosen something higher. The cliffs out of town, maybe, Not your third story bedroom."

"Maybe I was practicing." Dr. Marques started to sigh.

"Ricky, it was your deal, now follow through with it. I told you what I know, now you tell me what you know."

"I know that I was sneaking out to meet someone last night and the landing didn't go over very well. I also know that I shut up in order to keep my parents from finding out. I'm guessing I passed out because I sure as fuck didn't land in a hospital bed when I jumped out my window." Ricky glared at him, "Now can you leave? Please?"

"Okay Ricky, I'll see you next week then." The door shut a bit louder than normal.

"Does someone want to explain to me why I'm actually in the hospital?"

"No," Danny grinned, "Thats what you get for lying."

"You guys are dicks," Ricky groaned, "Will someone at least tell the cripple how badly injured he is this time?"