By the time Jason arrived the next night, Lucas had everything set up. He bought Jason dinner, noticing how exhausted his new friend seemed.
"Hey man, you don't look so good. Everything okay?"
"What? Yeah, I'm just tired. Long day at the set."
"You wouldn't think, from watching, that it took that long."
Jason chuckled. "It takes a lot longer. A couple of weeks per episode, at least."
"Damn, that's got to be tiring. Sorry."
"For?"
"Putting more work on you. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, I can go as myself."
"No, it's cool. I'll be alright. I want to help you. This guy needs to go down."
Lucas nodded and handed Jason all of the information from his notebook that he had deemed pertinent to Jason's participation. Lucas watched as Jason's eyes quickly scanned the pages with an expert eye. "He must have learned this from reading scripts," Lucas thought. In truth, he was fascinated with this process of becoming someone else. He wondered if he could do it.
"Alright, I've got it," he said after about 20 minutes. "Is there anything else I need to know?"
"No, this doctor doesn't know me, so you don't have to act any particular way. There is something you need to know though. The woman that you saw with me at the mall, Ellie, she's not my cousin, she's my mother."
"Wait, the one who died? How…"
"I'm not really sure how it works, but this is for real. I know it's hard to believe, trust me I know, but I have no reason to make that up and I have the DNA tests to prove it."
"Jesus Christ Lucas, that's crazy!"
"Yeah, it takes some getting used to."
"You seem to have adjusted just fine," a soft voice said. Both boys jumped and turned to see Ellie, standing at the door.
Lucas' jaw dropped at the sight of her. She looked totally unlike any other time he'd seen her. She was in a white dress that seemed to barely touch her skin and which flowed around her, the hem falling to just past her knees. Her dark hair was loose, falling in soft curls around her face. Jason couldn't take his eyes off of her.
She came and stood next to them. "All finished honey?" she asked Lucas, who could only nod. "Good. And you're Jason," she said, turning to look at him. "How nice of you to help my son."
"I…uh…I…umm…" Jason stammered.
Ellie laughed. "I'm not a ghost, not really," she said, reaching out and touching his hand to prove it. He nearly jumped out of his chair and it snapped Lucas' attention back.
"Where have you been?"
"Out and about, and none of your business," she replied.
Lucas smirked. "Okay then, be that way."
"Oh, I will." She turned her attention back to Jason. "I'm concerned for you," she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"There is something going on. The stress is too much for you. Maybe you should take a break."
"How did you know that?"
Ellie shrugged. "I just do. I think you'll find a reason to come back once you've visited Lucas. That's where you really belong. Don't worry about your parents. No matter what happens, you'll be okay. You also need to eat more. Coffee is not a food group Jason. It's why you feel like you're going to pass out. You load up on sugar and then crash."
Lucas and Jason both stared at her. Jason spoke first. "I can't believe you know about all of that."
Ellie gave him a soft smile. "Take it how you will Jason. I'm glad that you two have become friends. It's a friendship that will prove beneficial for you both for many, many years to come."
"Stop doing that!" Lucas cried. "You're freaking me out!"
"Sorry," Ellie said.
Jason pulled out a cell phone and punched in some numbers. "Hey Mom, it's me. I don't have call tomorrow, so would you mind if I stayed the night with my new friend Lucas? We have some stuff we want to work on. Okay…okay I will. Love you too. Okay, bye."
Lucas grinned. He'd been thinking of asking Jason if he wanted to stay here tonight. Looked like his question had been answered. Ellie looked down at her outfit.
"No, I'm tired of this," she said. As soon as the words left her mouth, they watched, stunned, as her outfit suddenly was replaced by a new one. Gone was the white dress, in its place was a t-shirt and pajama pants. She opened her hand to reveal a rubber band, and she pulled her hair back.
That done, she flopped down onto Lucas' bed. "So, Jason, tell me about your show."
He didn't need to be asked twice. He began telling her all about the show, its premise, the set, and the characters. Lucas sat down and listened, just as fascinated as Ellie was. With some additional questions from Ellie, they found out about more of his likes and dislikes. He liked the same music Lucas did, but he loved to write, fiction mostly. They liked the same foods, same sort of books, and of course computers.
Soon though, try as he might, Jason's eyes didn't want to stay open. He was absolutely exhausted. Ellie got up and took him by the arm, guiding him to the other bed. He practically collapsed into it and was asleep within minutes. Ellie quietly removed his shoes and pulled the blankets over him. She touched his hair gently and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked.
Ellie walked back to where Lucas was sitting. "Your friend isn't doing very well Lucas. His parents are arguing a lot over the money that Jason is now bringing in. The stress of his newfound fame and his parent's arguments are really getting to him. He's a tremendous actor, I just don't know if he can handle all that comes with it."
"What does that mean?"
"What it means Lucas, is that he has a tendency toward depression, but no one has noticed it. He hides it well, because he doesn't want anyone to notice and refuses to acknowledge that it's a problem for him. I don't know if his mind can handle much more of this, and I'm concerned about what will happen to him. I've seen too many people destroyed by this. In fact, after I died, I learned that someone I knew succumbed to this. He took his own life the year after you were born."
"Whoa. Why?"
"It caught up with him Lucas. He'd hidden it, pushed it away for so long, that it finally just caught up with him, and he couldn't take it anymore. It was a shame too, he was absolutely brilliant."
"And you're worried that Jason might turn out the same way?"
Ellie looked at him, her eyes sad. "I'm not worried that he might Lucas. I know he will."
Lucas sucked in a breath. "You're kidding right? You're saying that he's going to kill himself?"
Ellie nodded. "In about three years he will, if he continues on this path. Help him Lucas, get him out of here. He's too good for this, just like my friend was too good."
Lucas looked to where Jason lay sleeping. He couldn't imagine that in three years Jason might be gone if he stayed an actor. What would cause him to go over the edge like that?
Ellie answered him. "He'll be so depressed that he'll start drinking excessively. One night, he'll get drunk, but not drunk enough to pass out, but it will be enough for him to make his decision."
"Oh my God," Lucas whispered. "I can't, I won't let that happen. I'll try to get him out of here."
"It would be the best thing you could ever do for him Lucas. The very best thing. And you know as well as I do that he'll be 18 in three months. Get him to join up Lucas, get him onto the SeaQuest, where he belongs."
Lucas nodded silently. He was suddenly very thankful for the access to such information. He knew that Ellie wouldn't tell him unless she absolutely considered it necessary. No, there would be no self-imposed death in store for Jason. Not if he had anything to say about it.
A note from the author:
Though some of you may have picked up on this already, the "friend" that Ellie refers to is Jonathan Brandis, who took his own life last year at the age of 27. Though, in some ways, the character of Jason mirrors Jonathan, they ARE NOT the same person, and any life circumstances presented as belonging to Jason did not belong to Jonathan.
Please, if anyone you know shows signs of depression, such as constant sleeping, withdrawing from the people in their lives, or any of the other various symptoms of depression, urge them to get help immediately. You never know, it might just save a life.
Thank you.