Chapter 17
Look Around You, Drake Part Two
…later that evening
Josh was too wound up to sleep after he got home from the Premiere. He quite enjoyed
having the kitchen to himself, as everyone was asleep upstairs except for Walter who
was doing the eleven o'clock weathercast.
He took a can of Mocha Cola out of the refrigerator and it was when he sat alone at the
table that he sighed. He missed having Drake around. Even if he was bugging him with
details over his "latest female conquest" or interrupting him from talking by playing
overly loud guitar chords. Maybe, they'd play a game of cards or just hang out.
Whatever it was, he missed it.
Instead Drake the one who never went to bed early and could be counted on to be out
on most weekends was in his bed with cancer.
That was why he and Emme shouldn't be avoiding each other. They had so many
experiences that they could share and not just in a support group circle, but just alone in
their own private corner.
They needed each other.
Josh crushed the can and put it in the little red recycle bin that was kept under the sink.
And guess who had to take that out on most occasions? He was debating if he should
have a brownie or some special trail mix from the health food store. Mention one thing
to your parents and they hold it over your head forever. Josh decided that he really
wasn't that hungry and decided to go upstairs.
He didn't look at Drake's bed when he turned on the lamp by his bed.
"I won't keep the light on long." Josh said taking off his watch and tossing it on his side
end table.
No answer.
"You must be sleeping." He toed off his white and black sneakers and noticed that
Drake wasn't in his bed.
Well, at least he wasn't rummaging through the trash or attempting to clean his car,
Josh thought noticing that only five markers were in their yellow and green box instead
of six. Did that mean Drake finally opened Emme's card and was replying?
Josh couldn't resist to take a peek and to get his blue marker back. Ick. There was
something sticky on the floor. What in the world? Josh went by the front door to turn on
the main lights. His heart skipped a beat there was a trail of vomit from Drake's bed to
where it stopped before the front door.
"Drake!"
Josh tried to remain calm. He didn't want to worry his mom or Megan. Josh did not
bother to knock on the bathroom door and that's where he found Drake lying on the
floor, drenched in sweat, and slightly moaning.
His PJ's were vomit stained and there was a surprise in the toilet.
"Drake!" Josh laid him on his back, "Oh my God! Drake, you are burning up!" He made
sure there was no waste lodged in his mouth, "I'm going to get Mom, okay?"
The only thing that reassured Josh Nichols was a small blink from his brother as his
moans got progressively weaker.
"Drake! Drake! Honey, can you hear me?" He was able to nod a bit as Audrey cleaned
him up the best she could with the nearest thing available to her which was Megan's
pink washcloth that was draped over the sink.
Megan stood in the doorway, her face expressionless. Was this it? Was this the end of
her brother? The teenager that thought he was teaching her how to shoot darts but who
really did teach her how to ride her bike when she was five.
"MEGAN, WILL YOU GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Josh snapped at her plowing right
through her body.
Megan did not say a word back.
"The ambulance will be coming shortly."
Audrey stared at Josh with a broken face. She turned the washcloth into a cold
compress for his forehead.
"s-sick." Drake started slowly, but was determined to pull himself up,
"s-sick."
Josh continued to watch Audrey grab the small wicker wastebasket and dump all of the
contents on the floor with one hand so that Drake wouldn't have to reach for the toilet.
The other arm around her son. He couldn't help wincing at the disposed of feminine
products that were tangled up in what was once peppermint dental floss.
"Aww, my sweet baby. Let it out, you'll feel better."
"But he already threw up in his room and in the toilet and that didn't make him feel
better." Megan reminded.
"SHUT UP!" Josh said
"fuck you." She whispered in the smallest of voices before silently making her way
downstairs to put the lights on in the living room.
"I'm very worried about this fever. Josh, can you make another cold compress?"
"Of course." Josh grabbed a fresh white washcloth from the small iron rack that was by
the bathtub and went to drench it in the coldest water that would come out of the faucet.
"It's going to be okay, Drake," Audrey kissed his head, "I promise nothing bad is going
to happen to you. I promise." She knew she shouldn't have been making such a
promise, but no parent in their right mind would not be anything but optimistic.
For all of their sakes.
"Mom—" The smell was getting to Josh so he flushed the toilet. He'd take care of the
wastebasket later. After all if it wasn't toilet number three in the men's restroom at the
Premiere, it was cleaning the family bathroom.
"Josh, you stay with your brother. I'm going to wait for the ambulance. I love you,
Sweetie. I'll be back soon." She kissed Drake on the forehead. Audrey didn't know how
she was staying so stoic in the face of all of this happening to her beautiful sweet boy,
the one who was born under a lucky star but she was managing.
Josh kneeled down and put the compress on his flaming forehead.
"Drake," He wasn't as strong as his mom as the tears flowed out of him quite easily,
"Don't give up. Do you hear me? Don't you give up! We all love you." Josh cradled him
in his arms until the paramedics came to take him to the hospital.
"by-e." Drake let his eyes naturally close, but only for a little while.
"No! I LOVE YOU!"
He almost didn't want to give him up to the paramedics. They didn't love his brother
like he did.
"Josh, let them do their job." Audrey wiped at her own eyes. She had to let a little bit of
emotion out when she was downstairs calling the station to talk to Walter who was on-
air at the time and how she hated telling a virtual nobody that to have him go to Sharp
Memorial Hospital as soon as possible.
"I'll get the car ready, Mom." Josh looked down and realized he needed to put his
sneakers back on.
Megan watched from the porch as the paramedics carried Drake away on a stretcher
and onto the ambulance.
"I hope that you don't die." That Boob knew she loved him, didn't he? He just couldn't
die. She swore she'd get a gun and kill all of her classmates if Drake died. Then she
was mildly scared that she even thought that.
"MEGAN, GET IN THE CAR!"
Would this Boob ever stop yelling at her tonight?
Megan ran off the porch to join Josh and Audrey in the light brown Honda sedan as they
followed the ambulance into the unknown.
Audrey had her fingers interlocked and up to her lips. She felt guilty that she didn't ride
in the ambulance with her son.
"Hold on, Baby, everything is going to be all right."
But no one in the car was even sure of that. That was something that they could only
hope for. And they, including Walter who was a nervous wreck as he drove to the
hospital from KDJY, were all hoping.
Author's Note: To be continued…