Chapter 3
Naruto sat down on the couch and held his head in his hands.
*Do I go after him…? Or do I trust him and let him go?*
He stood up and sat down again wondering what the right decision was here.
*If I don't choose soon he'll be gone… And I definitely won't be able to find him…*
He pulled his shoes on and grabbing his keys went out after him, the door slammed closed and a sense of loss and panic swept through him.
The elevator was already going down and Sasuke was probably inside.
Without thinking he took to the stairs, he knew damn well there were twelve floors and that he would probably be exhausted by the time he reached the bottom, but his feet seemed to be moving of their own accord.
Sasuke blinked at himself in the elevator mirrors.
He was still slightly buzzed, but it was fading fast…
Looking into his own dark eyes he realised how bad it could get for him if he didn't find another hit and soon.
But at the current moment he was still too out of it to care very much.
He stroked his chin slowly in thought wondering who would be close enough to buy from before he was completely taken over by the thralls of withdrawal.
*Orochimaru…*
He grit his teeth realising his desperation and almost lost his balance as the lift doors opened on the ground floor.
He took his phone from his pocket and dialled his number.
Hello?
Orochimaru?
Yes?
It's Sasuke…
A noise of surprised delight escaped the throat of Orochimaru.
And to what do I owe this pleasure Sasuke?
The pale man growled inwardly.
Drop it. You know exactly what I want. I have two hundred cash. Where are you?
There was a long drawn out sigh at the other end of the phone.
Oh Sasuke… If only it were that simple… Cash… I have plenty of that…
The dark haired man paced the bottom floor reception of the building.
Fine… I'll do whatever you want… Just… Please…
Orochimaru smiled at the other end of the phone.
Good… Meet me at the usual place.
With that the line went dead and Sasuke put the phone back into his pocket before he walked out from the warmth of the building back into the cold rainy night.
Naruto watched him from his hiding place in the stairwell and followed him from a distance wondering who this Orochimaru was and what it was he planned to do.
Sasuke walked fast, like a man possessed through the rainy streets.
Knowing that every step took him closer to his destination and closer to an amount of heroin he hadn't seen in a long time.
Closer to standing on the edge of oblivion, closer to not caring and closer to leaving this world behind…
If only for a short time, he'd have enough to get himself back up again and stave off withdrawals for a day or two if he didn't go too crazy.
With this in mind his pace sped up…
Naruto wanted to stop him, forcibly drag him back to his apartment and get him to talk about whatever was wrong.
He knew damn well what he was about to witness wouldn't be good…
But he couldn't stop his feet from moving forward across the glistening pavement he needed to find out exactly how bad this situation was…
Sasuke made a sharp turn down a short laneway, Naruto waited at the corner stealing sneaky glances around.
He stopped at the door of a black car which opened as soon as he stopped beside it.
"Nice to see you again Sasuke…"
Sasuke climbed inside and the car started to move, Naruto ran after it.
*Fuck…*
Desperate now he hailed a taxi.
"Follow that car, not too close though…"
The taxi driver looked at him oddly but did as he was asked.
Naruto's eyes were transfixed on the tinted windows, wondering what Sasuke was doing inside, his stomach feeling sicker by the minute.
Finally after almost an hour the car stopped where they had started Naruto threw money at the taxi driver and hopped out of the car hiding again at the corner.
Sasuke seemed to fall out of the car against the wall of the alleyway and something was thrown at him…
His head lolled against his shoulder as if he was barely conscious.
The black car pulled out of the alley leaving Sasuke there.
Naruto waited until the black car was gone and ran to him.
"Sasuke…? Sasuke!"
His hand shakily checked Sasuke's pulse, his heart was beating…
Naruto breathed a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding in; he dragged Sasuke up from the ground far too easily…
He was tall, but he was close to being skin and bone.
Sasuke's head lifted and fell back down to his chest as Naruto pulled him up.
He mumbled incoherently as his feet dragged along the ground, he tried to make his feet meet the pavement, but it just wasn't happening.
His eyelids seemed to be flickering showing him a mirage of car headlights and glistening raindrops…
His eyelashes making it seem all the more blurred and interesting.
Someone's arm was around him pulling him along.
He didn't want to be moved…
He felt safe and warm where he was.
But the person was adamant; he figured it might be a cop…
Then the person leaned him against a wall and looked into his face.
His eyes were rolling back into his head making the world around him seem that much more interesting, but even in the state he was in he recognised those blue eyes.
Sasuke tried to say his name but it wouldn't leave his tongue and instead came out as nonsensical mumbling.
His head rolled forward as Naruto reassured him before leaving him leaning against the wall, the blonde man looked as though he were moving in slow motion.
Lights reflected on his blonde hair as he ran towards the road anxious for some reason.
Sasuke felt himself slide slowly down the wall rather amused by his own body's refusal to stay upright or awake.
Naruto after what seemed like forever managed to hail in a taxi, he moved back to the edge of the lane to find Sasuke's eyes closed and his body slumped against the wall, he was breathing at least.
He pulled him up from the ground and looping his arm around his waist pulled him to the taxi and put him inside before getting in beside him.
The taxi driver looked at Sasuke and back at Naruto.
"I can't take him."
The blonde man's mind was rushing.
*Do I take Sasuke home or to the hospital…? Will he be okay if I take him home? I don't know what to do… What can I do?*
"Did you hear me? I said I can't take him. Not in that state."
Naruto snapped back at the taxi driver.
"I HEARD YOU!"
The taxi driver pulled back just a tiny bit at the sudden volume in his voice.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout. My friend… I need to take him to…"
*Home? Hospital? Home? Hospital?*
"The hospital… I'll pay extra if you can get us there please. I don't even fully know what's going on… I just know he needs medical attention… Please…"
The taxi driver took another look at Sasuke and at Naruto before nodding and pulling off.
Naruto reached across the seats and touched Sasuke's forehead, he was freezing.
The blonde took off his coat and put it over his friend, then noticed something grasped lightly in Sasuke's hand.
He looked forward at the taxi driver before discreetly taking it from Sasuke and putting it into his pocket.
They were at the hospital within fifteen minutes and Naruto gave the man fifty dollars.
It was way more than the fare actually cost…
But he was barely paying attention; his main focus was to get Sasuke seen to.
He pulled Sasuke from the taxi through the pouring rain, into the hospital reception where a nurse noticed him and immediately called for a doctor and a bed.
Naruto was given a blanket and led into a room where he was sat down with a warm drink.
He couldn't even comprehend why he was being taken care of, he didn't need it.
Sasuke did.
He held the warm drink in his hands and started to shiver, his clothes were soaked through…
His t shirt was stuck to his skin; his usually resilient spiked hair was soaked to the point where it was plastered to his forehead and his jeans were so wet they had gone a darker colour.
He stared at the vending machine across the way barely comprehending what it was, he was starving, he hadn't eaten since lunchtime.
He guessed it was easily 11 pm or later by now…
A nurse walked into the room snapping him from his thoughts.
"Hello, my name is nurse…"
"Is Sasuke okay?"
The nurse decided to cut to the chase.
"Your friend is stable yes… We just need some information about him from you if that's possible?"
Naruto nodded putting the tea down on the wooden table in the waiting room.
"Okay, what is your friend's name?"
"Sasuke Uchiha."
"Okay and his age?"
Naruto mentally noted his own age and added on account of Sasuke being a few months older than himself.
"He should be twenty one by now…"
The nurse looked at him confused.
"You don't know his age?"
Naruto licked his lips slowly.
"He's been gone a long time; we've only just met up again."
The nurse nodded in understanding.
"Does he have any next of kin that we should inform?"
*"Don't try any funny shit… No one knows I'm here… I'd like to keep it that way…"
"You have my word."*
"No, just me."
The nurse nodded taking notes.
"Do you know if Sasuke took anything?"
Naruto shrugged.
"I can't be sure, I didn't see him do anything… But…"
Naruto considered handing them over what he'd found in Sasuke's hand…
"He had track marks up his right arm… Also when I found him he was almost unconscious, unable to talk, stand up or even keep his eyes open… I'm not sure if that helps..."
The nurse took notes and nodded.
"That's all we need to know, blood tests will tell us for sure… But we're almost certain this is the result of a heroin overdose."
Naruto gulped inwardly, it was what he had been expecting…
But actually hearing it made it so much more scarily real…
He held his head in his hands the coldness of his body seeming to kick in all at once as he started to tremble and shiver uncontrollably.
"He's stable, we've treated him with naloxone. It's slowly returning his breathing heart rate and body temperature back to normal. He should be okay in a few hours but we want to keep him in until lunchtime tomorrow just to be sure…"
Naruto nodded keeping a straight face.
"We're going to send him home with a prescription for methadone which he will have to take at your local pharmacy under supervision and obviously it would be ideal for him to not be left alone, it's most common for relapses to occur when the person is left alone, or when there is serious emotional upheaval."
The blonde man nodded letting the fact of what had actually happened drift in.
"My advice to you now is to go home and get some sleep you've obviously had quite a scare…"
The blonde man nodded and went to leave.
"Could I just see him before…?"
The nurse bit her lip.
"I'm not going to lie, he looks bad… You got him in just on time… I would advise against it… For your own sake..."
Naruto sighed.
"I'll feel better just seeing that he's alive… No matter what state he's in, it can't be as bad as earlier."
The nurse nodded.
"Well it's your choice. But I wouldn't recommend it."
He nodded and the nurse led him down the hall into a private ward.
Naruto's eyes widened, the nurse had warned him it would be bad but he didn't think it would be this bad.
His pale face was covered with an oxygen mask helping pump air into his lungs, his lips had a slightly blue tinge to them, an IV drip was hooked up into his track marked right arm, tangles of wires were held onto his chest and stomach with stickers keeping track of his vital signs, making sure he was alive.
He wouldn't have believed that Sasuke was alive if it hadn't been for the reassuring beeping of the heart monitor.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he nodded leaving the nurse and that horrendous sight behind.
Nausea started to build up in his stomach and his head swam as he made his way back towards the hospital reception.
The nurse tapped him on the shoulder handing him a piece of paper.
"He'll be ready for you to pick him up at 12.00 pm. I know it looks bad… But it's just a precaution. He's breathing by himself, the mask is just to make sure that he's getting enough pure oxygen plus it helps the naloxone get to work and spread throughout the body faster. Believe it or not Sasuke was actually only in the early stages of overdose, we've had people come to us in much worse states and they've been discharged within the week."
Naruto nodded not making eye contact.
"So I'll pick him up at 12 tomorrow?"
The nurse nodded smiling.
"He's lucky you brought him in when you did."
The blonde man nodded and walked back out into the cold dark night.
Disturbed by what he'd just seen and angered by how anyone could leave another human being in that state he grit his teeth and started walking home.
The rain had almost stopped, not that he cared.
He kept playing the scene of Sasuke falling against the wall in the alleyway over and over again, cursing himself that he couldn't remember that bastard's license plate number.
He questioned himself wondering if he should contact Sasuke's brother…
In his heart and soul he knew he should but he'd promised Sasuke that he wouldn't contact him.
His hands clenched into fists as he found himself in a catch 22 situation.
There was absolutely no way he could win here…
If he did what was right for his friend he'd have to betray his trust…
On the other hand if he didn't betray his trust god knows where Sasuke would end up.
One thing was for certain he couldn't handle this situation alone.
