A/N: This is a super short chapter. I promise the next chapter will be longer. Please review!
)O(
Madison awoke to the sound of shattering glass.
This threw her into a blind panic, as the Dream was still fresh in her mind. She imagined masked men forcing their way into her apartment. It was obvious she wasn't alone, but it took a shameful amount of time for her to remember that the man in her apartment had been invited.
Right, because you had a temporary bout of insanity and decided to let a drug addict stay in your home. But now that you've recovered, you are going to tell him to leave, aren't you?
"I don't know." Madison said aloud.
...You're seriously losing it, girl.
Madison found him standing over the remnants of that ridiculously tacky plate a friend of hers had purchased as a joke. Honestly, she was more worried about him than the broken plate. Jayden's eyes seemed transfixed on the jagged shards of glass. He looked just like he did on the motorcycle: confused and pale and...not entirely there.
"Hey, Norman..." She didn't want to startle him. "Are you...all right?"
"...I don't wanna hurt you, Madison." The response was so soft, so very not him that it terrified her. Then he turned his eyes in her direction, and as she expected, they were bloodshot and glassy.
"Listen, just...just focus, okay? Focus on me, and everything will be fine. I need you to do this. It's very important." I am so unqualified for this...Was this part of triptocaine withdrawal, too, or something else? What if the ARI had effected him more than he thought? What the fuck was she supposed to do?
Jayden's gaze returned to the colorful shards scattered on the floor. Shit, she was losing him again.
"Focus, Norman!" she commanded, a lump of cold fear rising in her throat. She swallowed hard.
What the fuck am I supposed to do?
I don't know, her thoughts answered, You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out of it.
Madison guided him to the couch while he guided her around invisible trees. For a long time, he just sat there, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face. He seemed way too out of it for this to be good. But at least he had a pulse. That would have to be enough right now.
Right now Madison decided to focus on getting a broom and sweeping up the remains of the plate she'd always hated anyway. It wasn't as if she was going to be able to sleep any time soon. Besides, it had to be done.
Eventually, Jayden did fall asleep...or possibly slipped into some kind of coma. Hell, she wasn't a doctor, it could have been either one. She just kept reminding herself that at least he was alive.
There were still a few hours before sunrise. Not that it mattered, since she didn't have anywhere to be tomorrow anyway. Philadelphia slept outside her window while the rain and the occasional car all became mere white noise. She liked the view at this time of night.
Except the rain now reminded her of drowning children. Of deranged ex-surgeons and sleazy men. Of destroyed fathers and tormented killers. Of broken FBI agents and insomniac journalists. It had taken something away from all of them in the end. Whether it be their freedom, their purpose, their sanity or their lives...
And yet it always seemed so peaceful and quiet. Even with the knowledge that somewhere in the city, right now, chances were someone was being murdered.
Sometimes it was thoughts like this that kept her going, oddly enough.
You have lost your goddamn mind.