Ian awoke in a slight panic he wasn't familiar with his surroundings it was confusing for his tired mind and exhausted body. His eyes darted to the usual place to check the clock for the time before he realised he wasn't at home.
Ian fumbled around trying to find his phone and the way to the toilet, waking Mandy in the process. "Ian" she spoke reaching for the bedside light. The room illuminated with a soft amber glow, Ian winced trying to adjust his eyes.
"Sorry I need the toilet, and I can't find my phone" Ian explained rubbing his eyes to help them adjust, he walked towards the ensuite now that he could see where he was going.
"Here I put it on charge after you fell asleep" Mandy replied handing Ian his phone off the opposite bedside cabinet where Mandy lay.
"Cheers" Ian said taking the phone, he entered the bathroom placing the phone on the side and shutting the bathroom door behind him, he approached the large mirror on the wall examining his exhausted appearance, he had large dark circles around his eyes and his mouth was extremely dry, he hadn't been eating or drinking properly the past week, not to mention he'd been skipping doses of his meds, not enough to do any real harm but Ian could feel the effects.
"Shit" Ian mumbled realising he'd missed another dose but it was too late to take it now. Ian picked up his phone checking the time 4 am, he had several missed calls and text notifications but was too tired to check them. Ian sat down on the toilet too drained to stand up.
He let his mind wander again before a familiar feeling of his stomach churning brought him out of his thoughts. Withdrawal from missing too many doses? Maybe a reaction from taking the meds on an empty stomach?
Ian quickly changed his position from sitting to kneeling, he let the contents of his stomach rise and flow freely into the toilet, he gripped the toilet bowl with his clammy palms as his body continued to retch until the rest of his stomach contents and bile was in the toilet.
A knock on the door brought Ian round again.
"Ian?" It was Mandy.
"y-yeah" Ian replied unravelling a length of toilet roll to wipe round his mouth.
"I said are you okay?" Mandy repeated trying to unlock the door.
"Fine" Ian gagged taking a deep breath to try and steady his stomach.
Ian opened the door to greet a worried Mandy. "You look like shit" Mandy said worriedly.
"I'm fine really, I just haven't been taking my meds at the right intervals, all this shit with Mickey, it's just fucked with my schedule" Ian shook his head wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Jesus Ian you know you can't mess up with this kind of stuff, it's not only bad for your condition but it's fucking with your body" Mandy scolded gently.
"I know, I know I'll fix it tomorrow, I'll make sure I take all my doses" Ian huffed laying back down next to Mickey. He lifted his hand to Mickey's using two fingers to check his pulse, he felt it beat steadily and let himself relax a bit more.
He'd check his messages and do a full exam on Mickey tomorrow morning before they left for Mexico. Ian let his eyes shut, the next time he awoke it was by Mandy she was shaking him.
"Ugh, what time is it?" Ian asked the room was flooded with light now.
"Almost 1, here" Mandy said holding out her hand she held several pills and a glass of water.
Ian sat up glancing over a Mickey to make sure he was still okay and to his surprise, he was actually conscious and half sitting up.
"Thanks" Ian smiled taking the pills from Mandy he swallowed them with some water, setting the glass down on the side.
"I checked the bottles for the right dose, I hope that was okay I just want to make sure you take them properly" Mandy smiled.
Ian nodded in appreciation before rolling his eyes as Mickey decided to join in the conversation he wasn't impressed by Ian's lack of self-care.
"E you need to make sure you're looking after yourself!" Mickey said sternly trying his best to sound convincing.
"Mick I'm fine don't worry about me, how are you feeling?" Ian asked.
"I'm okay" Mickey replied putting on his well practised brave face, Ian could see he was clearly in quite a lot pain, but he decided to go along with it.
"I'll get you some pain killers" Ian smiled reaching for his medical kit. He drew up some oxycodone in a syringe knowing Mickey was probably okay to take them orally but it would be much easier to get into his system through a vein.
"Thanks" Mickey breathed letting his head rest back onto the pillow.
"I need to go take care of something I'll be about 20 minutes tops, you think you'll be okay?" Mandy explained putting on her coat. Ian had only just noticed but she was already dressed and ready to leave.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, you mind if I use your shower though?" Ian asked pulling his face at the smell of his own body odour.
Mandy smiled to herself grabbing a fresh towel from the cupboard and throwing it to Ian "Knock yourself out, careful though the water gets really hot" Mandy said smiling again, she left closing the door behind her.
Ian gently shook Mickey's shoulder waking the exhausted boy who groaned in frustration. "Sorry Mick, I'm just in the shower if you need me just shout okay, or I have my phone just ring if your too tired" Ian smiled apologising again before giving Mickey a gentle kiss on the forehead, he grabbed his phone off the bedside cabinet making his way to the bathroom.
He turned on the hot water "Jesus" Ian cussed wincing at how hot it was just like Mandy had warned, it took him several attempts to get the balance between hot and cold just right, finally with the water perfectly lukewarm Ian took a minute to breathe and let all of his worries wash away with the water.
He almost felt like he was being cleansed, his relaxation didn't last too long before he was snapped out of his trance by his ringing phone.
Mickey.
Ian scrambled to his feet slipping on the tiled floor as he tried to reach for his towel, he rushed straight back into the bedroom, shocked to see Mickey fast asleep. Ian took a deep breath wrapping the towel round himself properly, before going back to see who was calling.
Ian picked up his phone off the side, rubbing his palms against the towel to get off any excess moisture. He'd just missed a call from Lip. Ian then scrolled down the rest of his notifications his eyes grew wider as he did.
Ian had completely forgotten to check his messages, he briefly looked last night but was just so tired that he hadn't looked at them properly until now.
Ian hesitantly dialled back Lips number knowing from the missed messages and calls that something had happened, this was all he needed.
"Hello?" Ian said hearing the other end of the line pick up.
"Ian what the fuck, I've been trying to call you!" Lip said angrily.
"I know I'm sorry, I've-
"No don't you dare make fucking excuses, you want help with shit and you want to make all these decisions well how about you take some responsibility for them" Lip continued to yell making it very difficult for Ian to try and get a word in.
"Jesus Lip let me speak, what the hell are you talking about?" Ian asked only realising once the words had left his mouth that he still hadn't heard from Carl.
"Carl's been arrested," Lip said rather calmly making Ian's heart race anxiously.
"Shit" Ian muttered running his palms against the towel again. Ian went silent, his mind wondered thinking about how he could fix this, but apparently, he zoned out again because Lip was trying to get a response from his brother for a good few minutes.
"Ian, Hello Ian? Jesus!" Lip shouted.
"Sorry what?" Ian replied coming back round again.
" I said are you okay?" Lip asked again worried about his brother but still too pissed off to make the conversation about him.
"Yeah fine, ermm, have they set bail?" Ian asked running his hand through his hair again, he was still dripping wet and there was now a puddle of water pooling at his feet.
"Yeah" Lip replied.
"How much?" Ian asked looking over at Mickey who was still fast asleep.
"$5000" Lip sighed knowing neither of them had anything close to five grand.
"Five grand Jesus, what did they even charge him with?" Ian shook his head again trying to fight the urge to pace back and forth it seemed to help him concentrate.
"Assisting an Offender" Lip replied his tone of voice calmer now.
"Okay let me think, I think we can get the money together" Ian said frantically trying to calm his climbing heart rate.
"Ian this isn't just about the money, Carl can't go back to Juvie you know how involved he got with the gangs, and that didn't exactly end well, how do you think he's going to survive in there without some sort of gang protection" Lip replied raising his voice now.
"Fuck your right, okay I'll get the money, and we'll figure out how to fight this" Ian spoke quickly feeling panicked again.
Lip went quiet for a moment thinking. "Right okay text me later" Lip finally said.
"Okay" Ian muttered hanging up the phone, he threw it down in frustration. "Fuck" Ian said to himself just as Mandy came back in the room.
"You going to put some clothes on or just strut around my room half naked" Mandy laughed, excepting Ian to have some snappy comeback but he didn't.
Mandy's face slowly dropped into a neutral expression when she realised something was wrong with Ian. "Are you okay?" she added now taking a seat next to Ian.
"Carl's been arrested" Ian spoke slowly, feeling all the emotion build up inside him, this was all his fault and even Mickey in the state that he was in knew how much of a risk it was trying to break him out.
"Jesus again! What for?" Mandy asked still no knowing the full story of how they got Mickey out of the hospital.
"Long story" Ian replied he let his head bow, he felt like a shit brother, and he knew he was, he had been selfish to make this all about him.
The truth was he knew the risks and the likely hood of something like this happening but he just wanted Mickey out and safe and at the time he couldn't have cared less about who got caught up in the crossfire... even if it was his own brother.
"I have time" Mandy said in a more demanding tone now, Ian knew she wouldn't let up until he told her everything, so he did.
"Right Fuck Ian, well I guess it would be a convenient time to give you this then" Mandy walked over to her coat and pulled out a brown envelope and handed it to Ian.
Ian took it eyeing up Mandy as he opened it, there was cash and a lot of it.
"Mandy I-
"There's Ten grand its for you and Mickey to help you get out of here, buy new ID's, help you get across the border, food, medical supplies, you can even help Carl post bail, whatever you need," Mandy smiled.
"Mandy I have my own money I can't take this!" Ian tried to give the envelope back but Mandy wouldn't take it.
"Yeah, right okay and what's going to happen when you try and draw out some money? There going to trace it right back to you and Mickey and you will probably both end up in Prison" Mandy shook her head, Ian was smart but sometimes he over thought stuff to the point where he made mistakes.
'Mandy... Ten grand... where did you even get this kind of money?, I'll pay you back. Thank you" Ian eventually said.
"Let's just say this kind of business pays well, good tippers" Mandy laughed again.
Ian grabbed his phone and dialled Lip.
"Hey"
"Hey"
"So I've got an idea, I'm going to give you my bank details and I want you to draw everything out, use it to get Carl out, there should be four and a half grand, Mandy will transfer the rest should only be a couple hundred" Ian explained.
"How do you even have that much saved? Wait, Mandy, what is she... I don't want to know, just send me the details" Lip said hanging up.
"He sounded pissed" Mandy stated picking up on Lip's harsh tone when Ian mentioned her name.
"It's because he still loves you" Ian smiled to himself knowing the feeling all too well, this made Mandy blush because she secretly felt the same.
"You think you'll still get out of here today?" Mandy asked looking over at the clock it was now 5 pm.
"We have too, it's risky to stay in one place for too long, were not safe until we cross the border" Ian sighed praying that this would all just be over.
"Okay send me the bank details and I'll send over the rest of the money" Mandy smiled again she would do anything for her brothers, her family, and the Gallaghers were her family once too, they had taken her in when she needed them the most.
"Thank you Mandy, seriously" Ian gave her a hug pulling her close.
"You know you're like a brother to me, and I would do anything to keep you safe, the both of you" Mandy said smiling again this time looking over at Mickey.
A/N: Hey guys so major update with this story! I Obviously want to start off by apologising for not updating for so long, my health has been awful and I've only just gotten out of the hospital after almost 2 months :O So that's why updates have been so slow hopefully they will be quicker now that I'm home, but no promises! Thank you for not giving up on me or this story and as usual your reviews make my day plus help me to improve and they also let me know that you're still enjoying my story! So PLEASE review! 3