Sugar For The Pill

Chapter One

David awoke with a jolt as his alarm went off. The display on his clock was flashing 5:30 a.m. He was on early shift today in the ED. He lay for a while just thinking to himself. To say that he had only just woken up he felt extremely tired in fact, he was looking forward to finishing his shift so he could flop straight back into bed. He put his lethargy down to the fact that he had struggled to get any sleep, as he was worried about Dylan.

His colleague, and friend, had seemed utterly broken when he saw him yesterday evening at his houseboat. David didn't really want to leave Dylan on his own last night, but the doctor was adamant, so rather hesitantly David went home. It wasn't that David didn't care for the boy, far from it, but he knew that what was best for Sanosi and what Dylan thought was best for Sanosi were two completely different things. It was clear to David that Dylan had become emotionally attached and couldn't bring himself to let go but in the nurse's mind it was just ridiculous to even contemplate Sanosi living his life trapped away with only Dervla and a box of video games for company.

Bringing himself back to the present moment, David hurriedly got out of bed, pulled his dressing gown on and went to make some breakfast. He quite fancied pancakes, but the nurse had not had the heart to make them ever since Olly had left seeing as they used to make them together. So instead, he poured himself a bowl of Cheerios and added some milk. He popped the radio on and sat himself down at his kitchen table to eat them. David had become accustomed to eating on his own like this, but it had taken some time to come to terms to with the fact that Olly was no longer living with him and he had initially struggled when he had been released from hospital. He felt a pang of guilt as he thought of Dylan being alone on his boat. The doctor acted as if he couldn't care less that it was now just him and Dervla back on his boat again, but David saw straight through him.

David finished off his cereals and looked up at the clock. It was now 6:00a.m. He ran upstairs to have a quick shower and get himself changed. The nurse just about managed to get his hair to flatten down (only through using a fair amount of hair gel). He pulled his trousers, shirt and waistcoat on and ran downstairs to get his shoes on. He almost forgot his flat cap but quickly remembered it and, after pushing it down firmly on his head, he threw his long black coat on and left for work, locking his door behind him.

The air was quiet and still as David walked down his garden path. It was still dark at this time in the morning and it seemed even darker this morning, probably because the clocks went back at the weekend. David found his walks to work quite relaxing, particularly when he was on the early shifts. It was like the rest of the world had not yet awoken and the hustle and bustle of everyday life was a million miles away. It was quite misty this morning and as David walked along the pavement, the crisp leaves that had fallen from the trees were crunching underneath his feet. He shoved his hands deeper inside his pockets and started to walk at a slightly faster pace as the cool air cut through his clothes and straight to his bones.

David made a conscious decision to walk the longer way to work as it meant that he could walk past the marina and therefore potentially see Dylan. He had been walking this way for the past couple of months as he often found himself on the same shifts as Dylan so he would walk and pick Dylan up from his boat and they would continue the walk together. It was probably a sign of how far their friendship had come that Dylan (who wouldn't engage in conversation with many people) would often talk David's ear off about several different topics. David was happy to just listen and get a word in wherever possible. David smiled to himself as he remembered the time when Dylan had forgotten his stethoscope and ran, at a full sprint, to the boat and back. David had insisted that he would have been able to borrow one from the ED but Dylan was having none of it. David thought that this was probably something to do with his friends OCD.

David was now level with the marina. The sun was starting to rise and he could see the reflections flickering slightly on the still water. His eyes glazed over the moored boats and picked out Dylan's. He found it odd that the lights were on. Dylan was definitely on the rota for today's shift and after the conversation that had taken place last night; David knew they would not be walking to work together this morning. However, David was running a bit late and he knew that Dylan would have left by know if he wasn't waiting for David. The nurse glanced down quickly at his watch, he could probably spare a few minutes to go and have a nosey and check on Dylan, he was sure that Robyn would cover for him if Mrs. Beauchamp started asking questions. David wandered down towards his friend's boat. As he drew level he realised that the curtains were shut (rather unlike Dylan as he liked to let the natural light in) and he couldn't hear any noise from inside. He leaned forward and knocked three times on the wooden door.

'Dylan' he shouted.

'Dylan, it's me. Are you coming in today?'

David strained his ears and waited a few seconds for any kind of reply but was greeted with no response. Just as he was about to knock again he noticed one of Dylan's neighbours coming back from an early morning run. The neighbour smiled and jogged over to David when he saw him lingering near Dylan's boat.

'You after Dylan?' he questioned David still slightly out of breath from his run.

'Yes. I don't suppose you've seen him?' David replied, almost nervous to hear the response.

'I saw him come in from the shops at about 11 last night. I thought he was having a party!' The man gave a slight chuckle as he said this.

David looked at him in a confused way.

'Sorry. What do you mean you thought he was having a party?' asked David.

'Well he had about 10 bottles of booze in his shopping bag, thought it must have been a get together for all you guys at the hospital.'

David gave a bemused smile.

'Well I'll see you around anyway.' The neighbour continued the short jog back to his boat.

David felt his heart drop and suddenly felt quite sick. He didn't know much about his friends past but Dylan had alluded to the fact that there was a reason why he no longer drank alcohol. The thought of Dylan arriving back at the boat with a bag full of alcohol made David start to panic, he knew damn well that Dylan would not be throwing any kind of party and he was pretty sure that the alcohol was not for Dervla. He gave one last knock at the door, but after being faced with yet another stony silence David decided that if the doctor did not show for his shift today he would have to come back after work.