Chapter One-Hundred and Seventy
Claire called for John as she walked through the house, looking in every room. "John?" She jumped as she heard Chance's deep bark from the backyard, throwing the back door open as she noticed that Chance was acting off. "Where's John?"
Chance barked, bolting to the garage door and jumping on it to tell Claire to open it.
She nodded, twisting the knob and pushing it open. "John!" She rushed to his side, pulling his limp body onto her lap as she noticed the white powder scattered around his work station. "John! Wake up!" She shook his body, smacking his cheek in hopes that the pain would wake him. "God damnit! Wake up!" She forced his mouth open, pinching his nose as she forced air into his lungs. "Breathe!" She pressed on his chest, able to feel his weakening heart under her fingers. "John! Breathe!" She tried again, tears streaming down her cheeks when he took over breathing on his own. "John…" She sobbed, bending her body over his as she squeezed him to her. "What did you do?" She cried, his breath rasping in his throat as his hands felt over her side.
"Claire?" He asked, feeling her hands clutch at his back and her tears on his shoulder.
"What happened?" She asked, pushing his shoulders into the ground. "Answer me!"
He looked around at the white dusting of powder over the floor and his work chair, his pupils dilated and an unnatural electricity stimulating his mind. "Coke…" He breathed, swiping his hand through the powder. "High…"
She choked a sob, bowing her head to his chest. "Why?" She asked, pushing herself up to glare at him. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THIS?" She slapped his chest with her flat hands, leaving red swollen handprints on his skin. "WHY WOULD YOU RUIN EVERYTHING YOU WORKED FOR?"
John cried out in pain, catching the attention of the people inside of the house. "STOP!" He screamed, unable to move away in his high state.
Mary and Thomas paused at the doorway to the garage, taking in the scene before them. "Claire!" Thomas barked, pulling his daughter away from the boy on the floor. "Stop it."
She glared at the crying boy on the floor, throwing her slipper at him. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"
Mary pressed a hand to John's head as Thomas pulled her from the garage, feeling for a temperature. "John, sit up for me." She pushed her hand against his back, forcing him to sit up. "What did you take?"
He leaned on her shoulder, his stomach starting to feel funny as she moved him. "Coke… more… need… more…" His stomach heaved, forcing what little he'd had in him to come up. "More…" He croaked as Mary rushed to get his head over a bucket. "Need…" He gasped between heaves and vomit burning his throat as it was evacuated from his body. "More…"
She nodded, rubbing his back as more vomit left his mouth. "You can't… you can't baby… you can't have more."
He cried as a sharp pain shot through his stomach, a scream ripping from his throat as his body rebelled against him. "MOM!"
Mary pushed her tears down, forcing John's head down as he heaved again. "Johnathan." Her tone changed, knowing that this would be the only way to get through to him. "Johnathan. Look. At. Me."
His dark eyes lifted to look at her, his skin so pale he almost looked as if he were a ghost. "Mom…"
"You can't do this anymore." She rubbed her fingers under his eyes, noticing the dark circles and the bloodshot whites. "If you need to go to a rehab center, we can take you. But you can't do this."
He gave a slow nod, hardly hearing a word she said over the still growing high. "Want…"
She sighed, lifting him to his feet and walking him toward the house. "No." She stopped at the back hose, knowing that Amelia couldn't see him like this. She sat him on the steps to the deck, taking his sweat pants off of him and stripping him nearly naked except for his boxers. "Close your eyes." She ordered, turning on the water and holding the hose over his head. She pushed on his shoulder as he screamed in shock, forcing him to get as cold as he could without the risk of being sick. She had to force her tears back, trying to block out his screams. "Stop it. Just stop."