La Enfermedad Mortal
Chapter 7: Time the Truth be told.
-------
… You know? I can't believe that the violent, reckless, demonically witty and sly teddy-boy, Alex, from Stanly Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is the pathetically insane and patriotic Brit cartoon villain, Mad Mod from Teen Titans. Now, my friends, this is NOT A COINCIDENCE! HOW ABNORMAL IS THAT? PLUS THE FACT THAT I LOVE BOTH WITHIN THE SAME YEAR, EH? Thy find very strange, indeed. Now, on with the show, fellow fictionists. …Is that a word and if so, the one I want to use? …People who write fiction. –Awkward moment-
-------
No gag this time, mate. I just don't own the cartoons, right?
-------
Late December 2005
Noodle ran down the deserted corridors, flying through the doors and bolting across the floor like a cheetah. She finally came to her destination and burst into the bathroom. She staggered into a cubicle and bent down, releasing the vomit from her mouth with a horrible gagging groan. She panted and wiped the bile from her mouth and the sweat from her forehead, her violet hair sticking to her skin. The guitarist weakly walked out to the basins and washed out her mouth of the hot bitter foulness of sick. She glared at herself in the mirror at the state she was in. She didn't look entirely well and neither did she feel that way. She needed help. What started as a little headache had soon transformed into a monstrous disease just under the last week.
-------
Next morning, after a sleepless painful night, Noodle wandered into the kitchen still feeling like death. Russel was at the stove cooking up another delicious breakfast and Noodle sat down at the table behind him and rested her throbbing head on her arms.
"Hey, baby girl, you're up a little early than usual." Noodle didn't reply but just shrugged meaninglessly. Russel frowned at her melancholy form. "Noods, are you ok?"
Noodle lifted her head up and looked to her father figure desperately and in silent tears.
"Russel… I don't feel so good… I'm-"
"Sick. Noodle, you're burning up!" Russel laid a hand against her head and drew back from the heat. Her stared at her worriedly and Noodle nodded gently trying not to make herself nauseous by using slow movements. The overweight drummer rushed to her side and helped her stand up. Noodle looked to him in disorientation.
"Russel?"
"C'mon, baby girl, we gotta get you to the hospital. I knew it was more than just a cold, I could've saved you from this!"
"No, Russel. No one could have figured out that this would happen. It's probably nothing," she replied weakly. Russel led her out of the room like she was frail and fragile.
"No, it's much more serious than that, look at you!"
They walked into the lobby and called the lift. They stepped in after hearing it's endlessly annoying greeting and took it down a level.
"We're gonna wake up 2D and Muds and then we'll leave straight away, alright?" Noodle nodded as the lift doors opened and they made their way swiftly to the carpark. Russel abandoned the sick teen by the Geep and ran to 2D's door. He thumped his large fist upon it repeatedly that echoed throughout the carpark.
"D! Man, get up! We've gotta get to the hospital, now! Noodle's sick! Wake up!" he boomed through the thick hunk of wood. He banged loudly again before storming off to Murdoc. "Murdoc! Get up! Noodle is…" Russel drifted off his yelling as his hands whacked down the Winnebago's front door. It clattered to the ground violently and Russel stared at it in awkward silence. Noodle smiled lightly, she couldn't find the energy to even laugh. She leaned on the Geep for balance and saw 2D's door quietly creep open to reveal the lanky blue-haired singer himself.
"Russ, what's going on? Why'd you wake me, it's practically the middle of the night," he moaned. Russel fumed but then got distracted by the scowls coming from inside the wagon. Murdoc wandered out to glare at Russel menacingly, his teeth bared and fists clenched and shaking with fury. Russel coughed nervously and beamed cherubically at the bassist.
"Opps... We'll fix it later, c'mon, we've got to go!"
"Wait one sodding minute, lards!" Murdoc shrieked.
"No time, man. Tell me on the way," Russel stated quickly and then lunged forward and dragged Murdoc out of his Winnebago by his arm. The reluctant bassist cursed as he stumbled after Russel to the Geep, the dazed singer following on behind.
"Get in the car, ya'll," Russel said as he opened the door and helped Noodle inside to her seat. 2D wandered over to her side and glared at her vacantly, his brain not up to normal speed of interpretation at such an early time in the morning.
"… Is she alright? She doesn't look so good," he stated absentmindedly. Russel froze as if he just got a blow to the head and turned around to cast a thick stare.
"I'm not even gonna bother with you, man, just get in the car."
2D shrugged and jumped in the passenger seat beside Murdoc, hands on the wheel, engine started, ready waiting for his drummer to step in front of the vehicle. Russel got himself settled beside Noodle and closed the door. Murdoc didn't budge, he just sat there with a sour face. Russel glowered at him.
"Murdoc, GO!"
The large drummer leaned forward and slapped the back of his bassist's head. He jolted and then hit his foot down on the accelerator and the Geep zoomed forward complete with squeaking wheels. 2D's face splattered on the (err removable?) window beside him as Murdoc made a violent turn towards the exit.
"Muds! You better start driving sensibly man, or we're pulling over and I'm at the wheel!" Russel shouted over the Geep's roar of the engine.
"It's not my fault that 2D can't buckle up his own seatbelt!"
2D, ignoring this comment, finally made the click of the beat and faced the front snootily like a stubborn 5-year-old. Russel sighed in frustration and held a sickly pale Noodle close to him. She looked up at him with a painful smile and he exchanged it with a heartfelt one.
"Just hang on, Noods, we'll be there soon. You're going to be alright, baby girl. Just hang on."
-------
"I'm sorry, but we're going to need Noodle to stay the night until further analysis."
2D glared up despairingly at the doctor before him with his haunting black orbs, his fingers entwined with Noodle's by her side. The singer stared down at the girl lying in her white bed and she weakly smiled back up at him, tears glistening in her sorrowful eyes. 2D sighed sympathetically and brushed her bangs gently away from her face. He glanced back up at the doctor.
"It's that serious? But… don't you know anything about her sickness?" 2D asked worriedly. The doctor shook his head lightly.
"Nothing seems to make any sense with her symptoms, we need to complete more tests until we can make more progress with her health." 2D jumped up and walked towards the doctor threateningly with a cold expression.
"And how do I know you will actually do your job this time?" The doctor backed away, slightly frightened by his behaviour but a thin white arm reached up and held his warningly.
"2D…" Noodle whispered. He looked back down at her hopeful soul in a deadly state and felt his grief rush back. He sat back down by Noodle's side and his vision flicked at the doctor apologetically while he coughed nervously.
"… It will just be for tonight as far as we can tell. Just a few more tests and she will be less critical for tomorrow."
"Less?" 2D asked hotly. Noodle's grip slightly tightened.
"Like I said, her situation is difficult for us to confirm what she has but I believe a night's stay will help us greatly."
"… Yeah, anything. Just help Noodle, please, would ya, Doc?" 2D pleaded. The doctor smiled warmly.
"Of course." The blue-haired man turned back to Noodle.
"Is that awright, Noods? You don't mind staying one night here?"
"No."
"… Okay… you sure?"
"I'm sure…. I have to… if I want to get better," she whispered in a barely audible voice. 2D bent down and wrapped his arms around her pale fragile body in a loving hug.
"Mr. Pot, you can go back to your home and bring some clothes, toiletries, personal items, just things like that for tonight and incase Noodle must stay for further nights," the doctor instructed. 2D let Noodle go and nodded to the man dressed in white. He picked up a clipboard from the end of Noodle's bed and smiled at Noodle heartily.
"I'll be back in a while."
"Thanks, Doc."
"I'm just doing my job," he said contently and then walked out of the room to give them some privacy. (This part sounds so vaguely familiar…) 2D, again, took Noodle's hand in his.
"You'll be ok, Noods. These people are professionals; they know what they're doing. You'll get better and then you'll be as right as rain… I'll be with you all the way."
"Yeah… Thank you."
"… I need to go and get your stuff now, anything else you want?" 2D got up off the bed but Noodle moaned quietly and reached out to him almost in tears.
"Please… don't leave me."
"I'll be back soon, I've just-"
"Can't someone else go...? Russel or... Murdoc?"
"… Awright, Noodle. I'll stay with you," 2D whispered as he sat back down on her bed. Noodle smiled and a stray tear ran down her face. 2D wiped it away and stroked her smooth skin affectionately as they sat in a heartfelt silence. No one needed to say anything.
-------
Noodle sat on her bed with her legs crossed and back arched over her nintendo, her eyes glued to the screen with the determination of a new high score. Her tedious white curtains were drawn to reveal the light reflecting upon her Asian skin and to bring a certain glow to her private hospital room. Next to her bed, on a small desk kept her belongings and food from which she regained the eating habit of. A shinning glass of clean water and a bottle full of tiny white pills, not prescribed, straight from the Doctor's orders. And below, her leather boots and bag, packed and ready to go. Noodle cursed in her mother tongue as she lost her game and put it down on her bedside table. Her awareness jumped up when she heard a knocking on her door. Her doctor smiled at her kindly and walked into her room. Noodle smiled back lightly.
"Hello, Noodle. Feeling any better?"
"Much better, thank you," she said merrily. The doctor kept the same joyous smile upon his face but his eyes read something else. "Do I get to go home now?"
"Um…" the doctor spoke uncertainly, "Not just yet, Noodle." He shut the door behind him and his smile transformed into a melancholy expression to match his eyes. Noodle gulped nervously and shifted on her bed to face the doctor as he sat down in the empty chair next to her.
"Uh… I'm actually not sure how to tell you this, Noodle…" he hesitated as he bit his bottom lip and the leaned towards her; she too leaned to him to listen intently.
"… We don't know what this… disease is that you have. Nor do we know how you came to catch it or… or how to get rid of it." Noodle's stomach clenched and her heart beat a little faster, unsure what this means and begging for him not to lead down a path of unfortunate destiny.
"So… what does that mean? I'm fine now, those pills you gave me, they made me better and I feel great. The disease just faded away by itself?" Noodle suggested timidly. The doctor sighed depressingly and shook his head.
"No. The pills… are only delaying your symptoms for a few weeks. The disease is invincible… it's deadly… Noodle-"
"Please… don't tell me…" Noodle whispered fearfully as tears started to well in her emerald eyes. The doctor looked down to the floor drenched in his own guilt of how he couldn't even promise one of his first patients that they're fine and will lead a long happy and healthy life. Especially a child. It broke him up inside. It broke them up both. He looked up again, threatening tears himself.
"… I'm sorry…" Noodle moaned and sobbed into her hands as she shed her sorrowful tears. She couldn't believe it… What happened? "There's nothing we can do to help you… only offer you the… limited supply of these pills… If I give you all the bottles, every single one we own… they'll keep you alive and well for 6 months at the least… that's all I can do…"
Noodle didn't speak but cried before him in a total emotional breakdown as her life literally flashed before her eyes. From when she was raised by Mr. Kyuzo and sent to the military compound for training with the other 22 kids The first strum on a guitar that soon expanded to the violent riffs and gentle chords. And of course, Gorillaz. Her band, her friends, her music, her life. She would be gone forever and lose everything along with it. Like falling into a deep black hole as a final revelation to end her life completely. This feeling is just simply unbearable…
"… I'm so sorry…"
The Axe Princess sniffed and breathed deeply trying to catch herself. She rubbed the tears from her eyes viciously and stared up at the doctor accusingly.
"And you couldn't tell me sooner? You've just been keeping me here in the dark?"
"… I… I didn't have the heart to tell you," he mumbled apologetically. Noodle's harsh expression softened up and she turned around to the table and grabbed her bag from the floor. The doctor watched her confusingly.
"What are you doing?"
"You said there was nothing you can do," Noodle started shoving in her personal items from the table and she jumped off the bed to grab her coat. "I don't need your hospitality anymore."
"Noodle, where are you going? You can't go now, your friends aren't here to collect you." Noodle dropped her bag and grabbed her boots not making eye contact with him.
"They don't need to collect me, I'll take myself home, thanks," she snarled as she buckled up her boots. The doctor looked anxious and walked towards her cautiously.
"Come on, now, let's not be irrational, you can't walk home. Just wait here and I'll give them a call to-"
"No! You will not call them!" Noodle yelled at him as she jumped up to her full height. She glared at him with piercing eyes and put on her coat and picked up her bag. She pointed at him patronizingly.
"You will never call them, you will never make contact with them or me ever again. You will give me the pills to keep me alive and then I'm leaving. Living the rest of my life at home with my family where I belong!"
"… Are you going to tell them?" he asked quietly. Noodle mentally hesitated.
"… Of course… why wouldn't I? They'd want to know, would they not? Something as significant as this, they have a right… but the only person who will spread the news is me." She said sternly. The doctor nodded understandingly and walked silently towards the door, Noodle not taking an eye of him for a second. He opened the door out wide and walked out into the corridor calmly. He turned around and stared at her patiently.
"… Alright. As you wish," he said. Noodle raised an eyebrow at him as he just stood out in the corridor waiting for her. After a little pause he coughed for awaking her attention. "Ah, you wanted the pills? I have a small stock… you can take them and you can leave. You were such a lovely patient. So disappointing… Follow me, please."
-------
Noodle screamed in frustration and punched the crumbling wall again and smearing blood all on her knuckles from her fists of fury. She ran to the mirrors and looked at her reflection. Her wild violet hair clung to her face with sweat and her emerald eyes on the verge of hysterical tears. Her nostrils flared and mouth hanging open while she gulped mouthfuls of air. Her clothes dirtied and slightly ripped from her rage-filled outbursts and her skin tainted with blood. She screamed again, not feeling satisfied with the girl's features glaring back at her and she punched the mirror. It shattered in sharp pieces of glass, piercing Noodle's skin and drawing more blood and marking more scars. It was hideous to see her in such a state from a physically and mentally strong young woman. She wiped away the broken parts of glass from her hand and rubbed off the blood. She looked down at the bag on the floor beside her with a murderous glare… a suicidal glare.
Noodle fished down into her bag and then took out what seemed like infinite white bottles of pills. She gathered them in her arms and sprawled them out onto the benches and sinks. She took all she could and with shaking hands, popped the cap off one bottle. She made a cup with her hand and let about a dozen fell out onto her palm. She stared at them hungrily but deep in her mind was unsurely, too blinded by overwhelming pain and confusion. She took a deep breath and then stuffed as many pills as she could inside her mouth. The Japanese teen leaned down and curled her lips around the end of the tap and let the water flood her mouth. She jerked away and swallowed as many pills as she could before she choked and coughed some out into the sink and down the drain. Noodle groaned loudly that echoed throughout the bathroom and she grabbed more in the frightening addiction. She took more and more pills till she had gone through 3 whole bottles, losing most to the drainage.
She breathed deeply and coughed in her stinging throat and foul-tasting mouth of tap water. She leaned over to reach another bottle but slipped on the split water underneath her feet. She fell and bumped her head on the bench before she collapsed weakly onto the disgusting floor in a mess. She moaned and stirred on the floor as her vision started to become a bit blurry and every image before her seemed to merge together like some sort of smudged water-ruined painting. Her mind throbbed sore and loudly and she heard every little sound and movement anything made. Noodle rubbed her head and let the blood drip from her hand onto the ground. She was helpless, she couldn't even function correctly anymore but enough to realize what she had done was a huge mistake. She was beyond the point of no return and no one could help her. So she screamed throughout Kong Studios the loudest her vocal chords could handle, just to get some help.
Soon, she ran out of breath and ended with low quiet whimpers and moans of despair. Then, she heard footsteps… someone approaching the bathroom, the door opened and Murdoc's gasp and words that she couldn't even interpret into language. His misty silhouette walked up to her and spoke something else. She opened her mouth to speak but then felt her body relax and her eyes briefly close… and she passed out.
-------
"… What are these?" Murdoc asked coolly and held one of the bottles up to Noodle's face. She stared at it vacantly, refusing to budge. She couldn't tell him, she had to resist, what would he do? She couldn't even think of his reaction to her sickness. Murdoc sighed and swayed the bottle in his hands to hear the rattle of the pills. "C'mon, love, tell me what these are… Are they from the hospital?"
Murdoc opened up the bottle and shook out 3 pills onto his hand and examined the small white drug. Noodle watched him in silent rage. She looked insane, her eyes were swollen and red and dried blood flaked away from her skin.
"Hmm… nah, I haven't seen these ones before… what are they?"
"… What do you think?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking," he said thickly. Noodle scowled at him and narrowed her eyes at him cruelly.
"They're from the hospital, I need them."
"I don't think you needed them as much as you just demonstrated in bathroom. What the fuck were you thinking, Noodle? You could've killed yourself." Noodle sighed and blinked back more tears that stung her eyes badly. Murdoc watched her with determined madness. "… You're not suicidal, are you, love? If you have any err… problems… we can help you, you know that, right?"
"… Yeah, I know, Murdoc… it's… I'm not suicidal… I just went temporarily insane."
"That's what they all say. What are these pills?"
"… They… they keep me… alive," she whispered. Murdoc's eyes widened in fear and his stomach jerked. He stared at her anxiously thinking he misinterpreted her words.
"Eh? Alive, what? Noodle… W-What do you mean…?" Noodle sighed and sat herself up and straightened her posture. She looked deep into her bassist's mismatched eyes and promised no more lies to him.
"Murdoc… I need to tell you something…"
-------
Noodle awoke with a loud gasp and sat upright on her bed alarmingly. The experience flashed back right past her eyes and throughout her mind repeatedly. Nothing made it more reminiscent than now. See… it was coming back. She had no more pills left. She was far from a descent hospital. And this deadly disease was making a final devastating return to take her breath away. Literally. She picked up her phone from her beside table and dialed a number she planned to never have ever again. She put the speaker to her ear and let the rings of the phone send shivers down her spine… till it stopped and someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Murdoc… it's happening. My days are numbered, my time here is short… so please… it's time the truth be told… Let me talk to 2D."
-------
Damn, I have a feeling this is a long chapter… hmm… Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't really been updating as much as I used to… 2 chapters every 2 days, but a very kind reviewer scared me away! I DON'T WANT TO TAKE AWAY MY RIGHT TO WRITING JUST 'COS I DO IT TOO MUCH! It was a good thing really though! Had a great Christmas, 2 CDs, yeah. It's far out, man. Muse, Razorlight AND blur? Can it seriously get any better than this? …Yes. Anywho, read, review, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, the end. Rock it, rock it. Rock it, rock it. Rock it, rock it. Rock it, rock it. Rock it, rock it. Rock it, ro- oh sorry, we're finished? Gets me everything time that last one. Don't know when to stop, do I? No, apparently not. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and an excellent feast and all the beast for next year! HAIL SATAN!
-------