Chapter 3-The Discovery
Meanwhile, the others begin to talk about how they had noticed changes Ray's behavior and appearance. They each took note of what Ray had also been saying to them, and that the tone he had been speaking in was not like Ray.
"I can't believe how much he's changed." Jenny said.
"Nor can we." Peter says.
"But we need to find out how many bottle of that stuff Dr. Stantz has." Kylie says.
"What are y'all talking about?" Egon asks as he walks down the stairs.
"We were just talking about the changes we noticed in Ray's appearance and behavior." Peter said.
"Yeah, we were also just talking about on what to do." Winston said, "Egon? Can you call Dr. Madison and let him know what's going on? Peter, can you, Jenny, and Janine check Ray's drawers and see how much of the pills Ray has? And Kylie and I will go to one of the health clinics and pick some booklets on addictions."
"Winston, are you sure snooping in Ray's stuff is a good idea?" Jenny asked.
"Just do it Jenny. For Ray." Peter persisted.
"Ok, ok." Jenny said.
"What happens if Dr. Stantz comes back?" Kylie asked.
"Don't worry. I know how to distract him." Egon said with a smile.
"Ok, good. Let's do it." Janine said.
A few minutes later, Winston and Kylie had gone to the health clinic, Egon was on the phone with Dr. Madison, and Peter, Janine, and Jenny were upstairs in the bedroom.
"I really don't want to do this. Ray's my boyfriend." Jenny said.
"Nor do I." Janine said.
"Nor do I, but we got to do for Ray's sake." Peter said.
The 3 then made their way over to the nightstand over by Ray's bed. Peter opened the top drawer, and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the inside.
"Oh God dammit." Peter said.
"What is it?" Jenny asked.
"Take a look at this." Peter said.
Janine and Jenny peered into the drawer along with Peter and saw close to a dozen prescription pill bottles.
"Oh Good Lord." Janine said.
Peter picked up each of the bottles and looked to see where they came from.
"They're all from Dr. Madison." Peter said.
He then put the bottles back carefully so Ray wouldn't notice anything. Jenny then noticed a second drawer in the nightstand. She carefully opened it, only to find the exact same amount of pill bottles as the first drawer.
"Oh God." Jenny said.
"C'mon, let's go tell Egon what we found." Peter said, "And Winston and the kid if they're back."
Jenny then carefully closed the drawer, and the 3 made their way downstairs.
Meanwhile downstairs, Egon was on the phone with Dr. Madison and was telling him the changes in Ray's appearance and behavior. Peter, Jenny, and Janine then told Egon about the numerous pill bottles they had found upstairs. A few minutes later, Winston and Kylie walked in.
"We have a job?" Winston asked.
"No, I just had a long conversation with Dr. Madison." Egon replied.
"Winston, Ray's got a serious problem." Peter said, "Turns out, he's got drawers full of that stuff."
"And Dr. Madison said that he did give Ray a 2 month supply, but he didn't give Ray any approval to get his pills refilled." said Egon.
"Oh God.." Jenny muttered under her breath. Janine then put her hand on Jenny's shoulder to comfort her.
"I can't believe Dr. Stantz would do that." Kylie said.
"And even more unfortunate, according to the booklets Kylie and I got at the health clinic and what the physician told us, this is a very typical case." Winston said.
Hearing this news made Egon's heart hurt. He couldn't believe what he had done to his best friend. It was enough to make him cry. He had caused Ray to get stuck in a burning building and be out for 2 days. And now Ray had an addiction to pain pills to cure the pain from the injuries Egon thought he had caused.
"We got to get Ray off these things now!" Janine exclaimed.
"We can't." Egon said, "Dr. Madison said that Ray has gotten used to the amount of medication he takes, as well as a routine of taking them. Withdrawing from the pills all together would be too much for him to handle."
"And it also depends on how far the person's gone and if they've had a history with drugs or alcohol, or anything like that according to the booklet." Winston added.
"We need to help Ray the best we can. Besides, he's my boyfriend. I'm sure he doesn't mean it." Jenny said.
"Yes, I agree on that, but we've got to do it without coming on too strong." Peter said.
"He's like a time bomb that could go off unexpectedly." Kylie said, "I just hope he doesn't go ballistic like Dr. Spengler does sometimes."
Hearing that kinda made Egon feel hurt, but he thought, "Why not pile it on? I've already hurt Ray enough, why not pile it on?" Egon thought sarcastically.
"Spengs, you ok?" Peter asked.
Egon didn't respond as he was deep in thought.
"Egon, you ok?" Winston asked.
Egon then snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh..?" he asked.
"Are you ok, Egon?" Janine asked, "You seemed a little zoned out for a second."
"I'm fine, don't worry." Egon said hastily.
The others looked at each other and figured something else was going on since Egon was acting a little strangely. But before they could ask what was bothering Egon, the door to the firehall opened, and Ray walked in.
"Hi guys." Ray said with his usual cheery tone.
The others snapped out of their worry state and tried to act natural.
"Hey Ray, how ya feeling?" Janine asked.
"A lot better." Ray replied, "That walk through Central Park was just what I needed to calm down. And hey, sorry for snapping at all of you. And I'm sorry Egon for telling you to calm down."
"It's ok." Egon replied, "Thank goodness you didn't make me go ballistic."
"Oh yeah!" Ray exclaimed happily, "That's the last I need right now."
"And your apology is accepted." Jenny said walking up to him.
"Thanks Jenny." Ray said as he kissed his girlfriend on the forehead.
"Awww.." Peter said tauntingly.
"Peter, I swear, sing the song, and I will kill you." Jenny said.
"Ok, ok." Peter said.
Even though Egon was happy Ray was in a happier mood, he still felt guilty about the pain he had put him through. But he did his best to act natural so the guys wouldn't stick their noses in his business. Everyone was happy that Ray was in a happier mood.
Unfortunately, that happiness would not last forever...
To be continued...