Spike Me and Save Me

Ray’s P.O.V.

It was Tuesday night – the night off. We all went our separate ways on that day, doing whatever we wanted. I had been to a restaurant with Amy. It was great seeing her again, but already on the first night of having her here, I messed up. After we had eaten practically all the courses on the menu, I had realized that I had forgotten my wallet on the bus. I had already apologized a thousand times, as I apologized once more before parking the car I front of the bus.

“Just shut up and get it already”, Amy said. She was slightly irritated, but I knew she meant it well. She probably just wanted to move on with the night, towards our usual “end of the date”-ritual – so did I.

“I’m sorry”, I said once more, before jumping out of the car and running for the bus door. Once I had opened the door, I practically jumped up the steps and quickly walked for my bunk. As I searched through my sheets and random clothes in my bunk, I heard someone coughing in the back. I wrinkled my eyebrows and leaned back a bit to see if I could spot anyone – I couldn’t. I continued looking for my wallet – this time finally finding it underneath my pillow. How the hell did it wound up there?
I put it in my pocket and turned to the back of the bus to see who was there. I slowly started walking towards the living area – stretching my neck to see if I could spot anyone. No one. We all usually fled away from the murder scene – the tour-site – on Tuesday night, so it seemed weird that someone would still be on the bus.
Someone coughed again – this time followed by a slight echo, so I realized it came from the bathroom. Is someone throwing up?
The door was slightly opened, so it was no problem getting in. I knocked on the door once, before opening it to see who was there.

“Gerard?” He was on his knees with his arm around the plastic toilet seat – his head resting on his arm, while hovering over the bowl. He twitched when I said his name.
“Are you okay, dude?” I asked, as I kneeled next to him and put one hand on his shoulder. Stupid question!
He lifted his head and looked up at me. His eyes were bloodshot and his entire face was completely trashed – much paler than usual. He sniffed before answering.

“I’m cool”, he said. His eyes shot down to my shoes as he swallowed. He was obviously not okay, but I guessed he was better than he had been a few minutes ago. He swallowed once more, before I got up to get him a bottle of water.
On my way back from the fridge, I heard him coughing again. Is he sick or just ill?
I squatted down next to him and rubbed his back, as he threw up once more. I stared at his back, not wanting to see his guts pouring out of him.
Suddenly I remembered the last time I had sat like this with him. It had been on his last wet night, before going clean. He had thrown up so much that he had told me he would never touch another drop of alcohol in his life. Is he drinking again? Has he been drinking?
I silently sniffed, checking if I could smell any alcohol – none.
Gerard spat into the toilet bowl and looked up at me. I removed my hand from his back and opened the water bottle before handing it to him. He took a sip, swirled the water around in his mouth and then spat it out into the bowl. He repeated it once more, before he took a large sip and swallowed it bit by bit.

“Drink slowly”, I said, before pressing the flush button, flushing out whatever had been in Gerard’s stomach just a few hours ago.
Gerard followed my advice and took small sips from the bottle – the water splashing around in the bottle each time he removed it from his lips.
I stared at him for a little while. What if he’s drinking again? Or even worse: What if he is doing drugs again? I don’t think I can handle seeing him like that again.

“Gerard”, I said. He didn’t look at me, so I continued. “Are you drinking again?” His eyes shot up at me – filled with shock.

“No!” he almost screamed as his eyebrows curled up over his nose. I stared into his eyes, looking for any sign of lies – there were none. He seemed to be telling the truth. I tended to detect his lies easily.

“Drugs?” I asked silently.

“No!” he shot back once more, again with no sign of any lies. He started to look insulted, so I looked down at the lit to the bottle, which I was still holding.
“You don’t believe me, do you?!” Gerard moved back a bit, then got to his feet. As soon as he stood up straight, his knees seemed to crack underneath him. I quickly shot up and grabbed a hold of him before he fell. I believe you.
I brought my right arm around his shoulders and held onto his left arm with my left hand. I leaded him out of the bathroom towards his bunk. He was walking slowly while staring at his feet, as if he wasn’t sure whether they were moving or not. He was holding onto me tightly, which made me both worried and appreciated – he needed me, but why?
When we made it to his bunk, I spun him around and placed his left hand on the piece of wood beside his madras. I let go of him and reached in to pull back the sheets. I turned to face him and looked him straight in the eyes.

“I believe you”, I said in a low voice. His eyes seemed to relax and relief shone through – it made me relax. His eyes looked at something behind me.

“You should go. I’ll be fine”, he said. I turned my head to see Amy standing in the other end of the bus. I smiled slightly at her, before turning back to Gerard – slightly smiling at him as well. I grabbed onto his waist and helped him into his bunk. He lied with his back towards me, so I just padded his shoulder before pulled the curtain.
I turned around and looked at Amy, shrugging once before I walked towards her. I put an arm around her, kissed her head and walked out of the bus.
He might just be sick. The flu?