Adam chewed on his fingernail compulsively as Judy wheeled him into the room Randy and Jay were already in. She was taking him to see them because she was worried sick about his mental state. She didn't like that he kept talking about Jeff. He didn't understand why. Couldn't she see that he needed Jeff? He had tried to make that clear as he could but it felt like all of his efforts had been in vain. It was terribly frustrating and what made it worse was the fact that he couldn't really do anything about it. He didn't even know where Jeff was. He had been trying to find out but nobody would tell him. Everyone was trying to keep them apart and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.
Jay and Randy looked over at him and Judy as they entered, their faces brightening up quite a bit at the sight of them. Jay looked like he had been through an absolute hell and Randy looked even worse. But they looked so happy to see him yet Adam felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. All he could think about was Jeff. Had Jay and Randy told his mother and everyone else lies about Jeff? Was that why they wouldn't let him see him? That hurt to think about but that was the only logical explanation he could come up with at the moment.
"Hey," Jay said. He reached his hand out and Judy wheeled Adam over to him so he could grab his hand. "I never thought I would see you again."
"They told me you were dead," Adam said, giving Jay's hand a half hearted squeeze just because he knew that was expected of him.
"I almost was," Jay confessed. "I'm lucky to be here at all."
"Me too," Randy added. "Although I'm a cripple now and some people would argue that's a fate worse than death."
Judy shook her head and gave him a big kiss on his forehead. "Sweetheart I know what the doctors told you but I also know you. If anyone here can prove them wrong, its you."
Randy smiled weakly and shook his head. "Judy thanks but I really don't deserve to do that. I deserve this…fuck I deserve worse."
She frowned at that comment. "What do you mean honey? Why would you say that?"
"Because it's the truth," he replied. He glanced over at Jay and Adam before looking away in shame. "This is all my fault. It was my idea to go out to Pine Hills to ghost hunt. If I hadn't thought of that fucking stupid idea none of this would have happened."
"Sweetheart no…"
"My idea got people killed!" Randy said, sounding mad at Judy that she would dare try to take away his sense of guilt. "Ted, John, Cody, Evan-they're all dead because of me! If it wasn't for me they would still be alive! It should have just been me…"
"No," Jay said firmly. "Stop that. Don't talk that way."
"Why not? it's the truth."
"Bullshit. None of us had to agree to your idea. We've told you no before and we could have told you no then."
"You just agreed to go along with me so I would quit bitching," Randy countered, which they all knew was the truth but only Randy was going to say it. "I insisted that we go so we went and look what happened!"
Jay shook his head. "You wouldn't have suggested that idea if you even had had an inkling of what was going to happen," he stated. "I know you and I know you wouldn't have done that to us. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen. That place had been abandoned for years. The only thing that should have been in it were ghosts."
Those words did very little in the way of comforting Randy. The guilt he was feeling was simply too much and it was crushing him with its weight. He buried his face in his hands and tried to hold back the sobs that were trying to get out. Judy immediately wrapped her arms around him and he finally broke down, burying his face against her as he sobbed. Jay watched on sadly while Adam just watched, completely disconnected from the entire situation. The way he saw it, what Randy had done was brought him and Jeff together. Sure he had tried to fight it at first. He had been scared. Jeff's love was so strong that he had mistaken it for something bad and had tried to get away from it. But now he could see the truth. He could see how much Jeff truly loved him. Now he just had to make everyone else see it too.
"Sssh," Judy said, petting Randy's head and rocking back and forth. "It's okay baby. It's okay."
Jay squeezed Adam's hand tightly and Adam just sat there, not saying or doing anything. He knew that he was probably supposed to say something to make Randy feel better but he didn't really feel like it. How was he supposed to know if things were going to be okay anyway? Jeff was gone. They had taken him away and Adam didn't even know if he was ever going to see him again. That very thought made him want to curl up in a ball and die. There was no point in living without Jeff. Absolutely no fucking point. Jeff was his everything and without him there was only going to be pain and misery.
"You can't fucking beat yourself up over this shit," Jay said, looking like he wanted to get up and go over there to comfort Randy too. "It's over now man. It's all fucking normal. The psychos are gone and they're never going to hurt us again." Everyone was so focused in on Randy that they missed the cross look that came over Adam's face because he knew that Jay was calling Jeff a psycho too. They don't understand…they'll never understand…
…
Jeff rocked back and forth, humming a song Matt used to sing to him as a kid in order to try to keep his mind as distracted as possible. The mean doctors and guards were not only keeping him in a tiny room that left him no room to breathe, but they had put him in a straightjacket and they wouldn't let him out except for when he had to eat and go to the bathroom. He had screamed and begged and demanded for it to be taken off but they refused to listen. They were all outside the door, laughing and mocking him because of his situation. They hated him. They all hated him and they were punishing him in the worst way possible because his Adam wasn't in the room with him. They were keeping Adam away, which was nothing short of torture. He needed Adam so badly but nobody would let him see him. It was driving him even crazier than he already was and he spent most of his time weeping and calling out for his beloved pet, hoping that somehow, someway, Adam would come to him. But Adam hadn't come yet and it made him even more upset.
"What did they do to you Addy?" Jeff asked, sniffling and looking around his tiny prison sadly. "Huh? Did they hurt you? They better not have. I'll fucking kill them Addy. I swear to god I'll kill them."
The silence was killing him and he laid down on his back, staring up at the ceiling with teary eyes. "My Addy lies over the ocean," he sang under his breath. "My Addy lies over the sea. My Addy lies over the ocean. Oh bring back my Addy to me. Bring back, bring back, bring back my Addy to me, to me. Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my-"
The sound of gunfire from outside the room interrupted his song and he sat back up, staring at the door hopefully. "Addy?" The only answer he got was more gunfire. "Addy is that you?" More gunfire followed that question and Jeff waited as patiently as he could in hopes that it was Adam coming to be with him again. But when the door opened, it was not Adam coming in. His disappointment over that only lasted a few seconds though because it was still a friendly face in his time of need. "Dr. Stevie!"
Dr. Stevie smiled as he walked over and helped Jeff get out of his straightjacket. "Hello Jeff. Long time no see."
"What are you doing here?" Jeff asked, staring at the older man with a slightly confused look on his face.
"James called. He had a favor to cash in and this was it." Stevie brushed Jeff off and gave him a nod. "By the powers invested in my internet downloaded doctor's license, I pronounced you cured and free to go."
Jeff giggled and rubbed his hands together. Well that was just…neat.
