A/N: Here is the alternate ending I was telling you guys about and some of you requested that I post it. It starts with Chapter 17, which is exactly the same until the very end. So if you don't feel like reading Chapter 17 again, just skip ahead. This would have normally been about three separate chapters if I had used it, but since the story is officially over I'm just going go ahead and post it all. Enjoy!
Alternate Ending
"This really blows that we have to do all this extra work with Mordecai and Rigby being gone." Muscle Man complained as he walked through the park in the darkness with Fives hovering beside him. Benson had asked them to check for damage from the storm.
"Yeah. At least Rigby's awake now though. Maybe he'll be back soon." Fives said.
"Yeah, but he'll probably just sit around on his butt playing video games all day and say he can't do anything because he's recovering. You know what a slacker he is, bro."
"Probably."
"What blows even more is that we don't have the cart cause Mordecai wrecked it." Muscle Man grumbled.
"Yeah. Hopefully the new one will get here this week." Fives agreed.
"Everything looks good to me. Let's go back, dude. It's getting cold out here." Muscle Man turned around and began walking toward the house.
"Wait, we didn't check the picnic area." Fives stated.
"So what, bro? I'm sure it's fine. Benson won't even know we didn't check it."
"But what if it's not fine and we didn't tell him? He'll know then and he'll think we're slackers too. You know Mordecai and Rigby totally blew it off when they were supposed to do the repairs awhile back." Fives reminded him.
"Hey, you know who else likes to blow things off?" Muscle Man asked. "My MOM!" The two friends exchanged a high five and laughed hysterically for a moment, despite the lack of humor in the joke.
"Come on, let's get this over with." Muscle Man groaned. "I've got a date with Starla and I don't want to keep my love muffin waiting."
The two walked for a few minutes in silence as they made their way to the picnic area of the park. Muscle Man shined his flashlight over the structures looking for anything that was amiss. "What the hell is that, bro?" He asked, squinting into the darkness as his flashlight passed over a figure at one of the tables.
"Looks like someone's sitting there. Let's get closer." Fives suggested. As the two neared the table, it became apparent that he was right.
"It's Mordecai." Muscle Man said quietly. He observed at the blue jay's lifeless form with his head down on the table and immediately sensed that something was not right. His fears were confirmed as they approached the table and saw the empty syringes scattered around. "Oh man. This isn't good, bro."
"Is he…?" Fives started, fearing the worst, but unable to complete his question.
"I don't know dude!" Muscle Man cried as panic began to set in.
"Well check his pulse or something!" Fives exclaimed, beginning to freak out as well.
"Mordecai! Get up, bro!" Muscle Man yelled, shaking the blue jay's shoulder forcefully. When he received no response, he hesitantly reached down and pressed his fingers to Mordecai's throat, looking for any signs of life. "I feel a pulse, but it's barely there." Muscle Man stated.
"We need to go get Benson!" Fives responded.
"Everybody went to the hospital to see Rigby, remember?" Muscle Man reminded him.
"Oh man, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?" Fives muttered repeatedly as he flew around in circles, becoming more distressed by the minute.
"Fives! Chill out bro! I can't even think!" Muscle man shouted, throwing his arms in the air.
"Okay, okay!" Fives took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm chilled." He said, though he continued to fly around anxiously.
"I guess we need to take him back to the house and call an ambulance."
"Do you think we should move the body?" Fives asked.
"He's not dead, bro!" Muscle Man flipped Mordecai over and grabbed him around the waist, slinging him over his shoulder. "Damn, he's a lot heavier than he looks. Are you gonna help me, or what?"
"Sorry." Fives muttered. He swooped down and grabbed Mordecai's feet, taking some of the weight from Muscle Man.
They slowly made their way back to the house, working together to carry the lifeless blue jay. Upon arriving, Muscle Man laid Mordecai on the couch and proceeded to dial 911.
"Do you think he's gonna be okay?" Fives asked as they sat in the living room and waited for the ambulance to arrive.
"I don't know, dude. I hope so." Muscle Man said somberly.
They were startled when the front door opened and Benson, Skips and Pops walked into the house, returning from the hospital. They stopped in their tracks as they entered the living room and immediately noticed Mordecai unconscious on the couch.
"What happened?" Benson exclaimed, a look of serious concern on his face. "Is he hurt?"
"He overdosed. We found him unconscious at one of the picnic tables with syringes everywhere. I already called the ambulance." Muscle Man muttered.
"I had a feeling something like this was going to happen if we left him on his own." Skips shook his head regretfully. He knelt by Mordecai's side and picked up his wing, feeling for a pulse.
"I don't need a fucking guilt trip right now, Skips! You know I didn't want to kick him out." Benson shouted, already feeling terrible about the situation.
Skips dropped Mordecai's wing. "I hope they get here soon. I don't think he has much longer."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the hospital, the park employees sat anxiously in the waiting room to hear from the doctors about Mordecai's status. Shortly after arriving, Benson left to go to another wing of the hospital to tell Rigby what had happened.
The raccoon was still awake and looked up in surprise when Benson entered the room. "Hey Benson. What are you doing back?"
"Rigby, I have something to tell you...it's about Mordecai." The gumball machine looked very distraught and worried.
"W-What is it?" Rigby asked hesitantly, fearing that something terrible had happened.
"He OD'd sometime this evening. Muscle Man and Fives found him unconscious at one of the picnic tables. " Benson explained somberly.
"Is he..." Rigby felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach and paused briefly to catch his breath. "Is he going to be okay?"
"We don't know yet. He's in the ER now and we're still waiting to hear something. He was alive when they brought him in." Benson said.
Rigby shook his head in disbelief. "He's got to be okay." The raccoon murmured quietly. He placed his head in his hands and looked as if he might break down any second.
"I hope so, Rigby. Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. I-I'll be fine. Just keep me updated." Rigby said shakily, though his face told the real story on what he was feeling.
"I'm going to go see what's going on. I'll let you know something soon." Benson promised then exited the room.
Rigby's eyes burned with tears that threated to fall any second, but he was initially too angry to allow himself to cry. "Damnit Mordecai! How could you be so fucking stupid?" he wanted to scream at his friend. On the other hand, he was physically sick from the possibility that he may never have that opportunity. The first of many fat teardrops rolled down his cheek as he silently asked a higher power to spare his friend's life, despite his own self destruction.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
In the Emergency Room, Benson arrived just in time to catch the doctor as he was describing the situation to everyone.
"We gave him a dose of Narcan to counteract the heroin. The effects are fast acting and his vitals are starting to improve. Fortunately, we got to him before he experienced complete respiratory failure. He's starting to wake up now, but he's still very groggy." The doctor explained.
"So he's going to be okay?" Benson asked anxiously.
"Yes, he should recover just fine. We'll probably keep him overnight to monitor his vitals and make sure he has no serious side effects from the shot. I would highly suggest that you push him to get treatment for his addiction when he gets out of the hospital. This will happen again if he doesn't and next time he might not be so lucky."
Benson nodded in agreement. "We definitely will, doctor."
"You should be able to see him soon. A nurse will let you know when you can come back." The doctor turned to exit the room.
"Thank you." Benson replied. Once the doctor was gone, he turned to the others to see the look of relief on their faces. "I'll go let Rigby know."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Benson entered Rigby's room once more, the raccoon was gazing emotionlessly at the wall although his eyes were red and puffy. He'd clearly been crying.
Rigby turned his head and regarded Benson with a deadpan expression, obviously fearing the worst. He reflexively sucked in his breath and held it as he waited for the gumball machine to speak.
"The doctor said that he's going to be okay." Benson uttered with a slight smile. The very nature of the situation was not really cause for a celebration, but he was elated that he was able to at least deliver good news.
Rigby closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as every tensed muscle in his body began to relax. "When can I talk to him?"
"They said we'll be able to see him soon. I'll find a nurse to get you a wheelchair." Benson responded.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Mordecai opened his eyes and blinked several times to bring his blurred surroundings into focus. Upon further inspection, he realized that he was back in the hospital. He had no idea how he had gotten there. He remembered that he'd decided to take another shot of heroin at the picnic table in the park after his conversation with Margaret because he wasn't high enough from first one. He thought he could handle it, but he recollected the extreme panic he felt when he realized that his body was beginning to shut down from the drug. He had become very sleepy and began to have a difficult time breathing as the toxin worked its way through his system.
When he thought back on those moments, Mordecai recalled being terrified with the realization that he was probably dying from an overdose and the knowledge that there wasn't a thing he could do about it as he began to fade in and out of consciousness. In spite of the hell that had become his life, he didn't want to die.
During his final few moments of awareness, he was deeply sorry for everything and wondered how things had come this far. Tears had run down his cheeks with thoughts of the events that had brought him to this moment. His life had been flipped upside down over the course of just a few weeks. He had probably killed his best friend, was doing things that he never ever thought he'd do and was now homeless from his actions. He had been sick with the realization that despite all that, the only thing he had really cared about in the end was taking another dose of the drug that now controlled his life. In that moment, Mordecai would have done anything to take it all back and start over, but it was too late...or so he thought. Now, lying in the hospital bed, he realized that his life had been spared a second time in the course of three days—and he felt that he certainly didn't deserve it.
Mordecai looked up when he heard the door to his room creak open. He was surprised to see Benson enter. The gumball machine simply glared at him with a look of serious discontent before speaking.
"Do you know why you're here, Mordecai?" Benson asked abruptly, skipping the pleasantries.
"Yeah." Mordecai uttered quietly. "I think I OD'd."
"You did and you're damn lucky to be alive!" The gumball retorted angrily. "Luckily, Muscle Man and Fives found you before it was too late. I thought you said you were going to quit!" He wasn't going to show any sympathy towards the blue jay after his latest actions.
"I was, but then Margaret called and...it doesn't matter...I was really stupid, Benson." Mordecai cast his eyes downward and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry I put you guys through this."
"Don't apologize to me, Mordecai. Apologize to the one you almost left without a best friend because of your stupidity. "
"What are you talking about, dude?" Mordecai seemed confused. "I can't because Rigby's in a coma and he'll probably never wake up from it."
"I'm right here, Mordecai."
Mordecai turned his head toward the familiar voice. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw Rigby enter the doorway in a wheelchair. A nurse pushed him over to his bedside, then exited the room. He blinked several times in disbelief – wondering if his eyes were deceiving him from the drugs. Once it sank in that the raccoon was alright and sitting right in front of him, he felt as if an immense weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. "Rigby! Thank God you're okay!"
"I'm fine, man. Just a little banged up. It sounds like you're the one who's not okay." Rigby pointed out. "What the fuck were you thinking, dude?"
"I'll leave you guys alone." Benson said and exited the room. He knew that if anyone was going to be able to get through to Mordecai, it was going to be Rigby.
"I'm so sorry, Rigby. I'm so sorry that I almost got you killed. I would have never forgiven myself if you didn't make it." Mordecai expressed with deep sincerity.
"I'm going to fine, dude." Rigby repeated. "I just want to know how you could be stupid enough to get hooked on heroin. I knew you were acting weird, but I never expected that from you. Why the hell you didn't say anything to me about it?"
"I didn't want anyone to find out what I'd become." Mordecai said with a blank expression as he stared out the door of his room, looking just past Rigby to avoid eye contact. "I just wasn't the same. "
"But I'm your bro, dude! You should have said something if you needed help!" Rigby threw his hands up in frustration.
"The truth is, Rigby, I didn't fucking want help! I was happy being a prisoner of my own device. When I was high, I didn't care about Margaret leaving. It didn't hurt anymore! I didn't fucking want to quit!" Mordecai confessed, raising his voice.
"Okay, calm down. I'm not trying to upset you, bro. It just scared the shit out of me when Benson told me what you've been doing to yourself. Then when he said you were here because you OD'd...I-I thought I'd lost you. If I'd known what was going on, maybe I could have helped." Rigby said softly.
"Sorry I yelled, dude. I know you're just worried. " Mordecai immediately regretted his angry outburst. "It's just driving me crazy. The craving, I mean. It's all I can think about and it I get mad really quickly when I can't get it."
"I know. It's okay. I don't know if you realize it, but I've been dealing with that for a while now." Rigby pointed out. "I just didn't know what was causing it."
"Sorry, dude. I guess I put everyone through hell." Mordecai hung his head once again as he realized that Rigby was right and that he had been extremely aggressive and violent in the days leading up to the accident.
"So, are you going to quit now? Rigby asked bluntly, looking Mordecai straight in the eye.
"I was ready to quit after the accident, dude. But Margaret called me and I felt so guilty about hurting you...it was all too much...I couldn't control myself..."
"Stop avoiding the damn question, man! Do you want to quit now, or not?" Rigby asked again, emphasizing each word slowly to get his point across. He wasn't going to let his friend off the hook so easily. He wanted him to admit that he had a problem.
Mordecai hesitated, staring up at the ceiling. He began to rub his temples with his fingertips as if his head hurt. Rigby could tell that he was wrestling with himself in his mind. The raccoon waited patiently for a response. When Mordecai looked at him again, his eyes were brimming with tears.
"Yes Rigby. Of course I want to fucking quit!" Mordecai's voice quivered emotionally as the tears began to stream down his cheeks. "But...But...I can't!" The blue jay paused and tried to compose himself, to no avail. "I-I...I need help, Rigby. " He finally admitted.
Rigby stared at his friend with a look of genuine sympathy. He couldn't possibly know what the blue jay was feeling inside, but he knew that he was broken. In their twenty year friendship, he had never seen Mordecai so weak and vulnerable. It broke Rigby's heart seeing his once upbeat and carefree friend in this state of mind. The bird began to sob with the realization that he could no longer trust himself to control his own actions despite his desire for his life to be normal again.
Normally, Rigby wasn't good with emotional situations and avoided them at all costs, but this was Mordecai. He had to find the words somewhere to help ease his friend's torment. "It's okay, bro. I know this has got really suck for you." The raccoon said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry though; we're going to fix it."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Six Weeks Later
Rigby walked up the drive to Pinedale Rehabilitation Center. He didn't get to visit as often as he would have liked because the establishment was two towns over and he usually had to take the bus to get there. The building looked similar to a hotel with a lobby, courtyard and a peaceful garden out back. Visitors would enter through the lobby and check in at the front desk. They were required to be searched for any drugs or alcohol that they may have tried to conceal at the pleadings of the patients. Rigby didn't understand why anyone would want to do that and further hinder their loved one from getting better, but apparently they'd had problems with it in the past. The search process was quick for Rigby because he was only wearing a light jacket and carried no bags.
"You know where you're going, right?" The man at the front desk asked. After seeing him several times, he recognized Rigby's face and realized that the raccoon knew his way around by now.
"Yeah, room twenty-seven. Take the elevator to the second floor and turn right." Rigby repeated the directions to Mordecai's room.
"You got it." The front desk attendant smiled.
Rigby made his way to the room and knocked on the door. His face lit up when his friend answered.
"Hey dude!" Mordecai smiled.
Rigby was happy to see that he looked better than he did during his last visit, which was a couple of weeks ago. He seemed to have more energy and his eyes were much brighter and more alert. "Hey bro. What's going on?"
"Same old, same old, dude—group therapy in the morning and individual therapy in the afternoon. At least they've toned town the constant supervision now cause they're not worried I'm going to try to off myself anymore." Mordecai chucked, trying to make light of a very serious situation.
"Not funny, dude. I was so pissed when they told me that you threatened to kill yourself three days after you got here." Rigby admonished.
"Sorry man. I know it was a really stupid thing to say. They don't take that kind of thing lightly around here. The detox was absolute hell though and some days I thought I really wanted to die. It was brutal, but I feel a lot better now." Mordecai said.
"You look a lot better than you did last time I was here—like you're getting back to your old self." Rigby noted.
"Yeah. I still think about it and want it every day, several times a day, but I'm starting to be able to ignore the cravings and refocus my attention on other things. The meds help too, but I hope to be off them by the time I get out." Mordecai said.
"That's great, dude. How much longer to you have?"
"I still have at least another six weeks in here. I don't know what I'm going to do then though. I don't have anywhere to go." Mordecai began to wring his hands together as the familiar anxious feeling began to set in again. Thinking about his reentry into the real world made him extremely nervous and kept him up at night. With no job and nowhere to live, he feared that he would quickly unravel and start using again if left on his own without support.
"I work on Benson every day about giving you your job back."
"Thanks, bro. What does he say?" Mordecai asked.
"It depends on what kind of mood he's in. Sometimes he says it's not his decision and he doesn't want to talk about it and other times he just says 'we'll see.' I think he has to convince Mr. Maellard to let him rehire you first, but he also wants you to prove yourself before he even asks Mr. Maellard about it."
"Oh. I get it, I guess. It just sucks."
"Yeah. Skips said you could stay with him when you get out, but I think Benson's a little worried about Mr. Maellard finding out about it. If that happens, he'll get pissed and never agree to rehire you. So I talked to Don the other day and he said you can live with him until you get back on your feet. I know it's not what you want, but at least it's a place to stay." Rigby pointed out.
"Really? Thanks Rigby!" Mordecai liked Rigby's younger brother and he appreciated the offer. He felt a little better with the knowledge that he at least had somewhere to go even if it wasn't where he wanted to go. "Maybe with a few months of staying clean on the outside Benson will see that I'm serious about this and convince Maellard to rehire me."
"Yeah. I hope so, dude." Rigby agreed. "The park just isn't the same without you. It's so boring! Benson has hired these two college guys named Chad and Jeremy part time. They're such dorks. They kiss Benson's ass all the time and then stand around staring at their phones whenever they're not working. They send each other emails when they're standing right next to each other! I don't think they even know how to have fun, man!"
"Yeah, they sound like losers." Mordecai agreed. "I guess I've officially been replaced though." He added sadly.
"Don't worry, dude. I don't think they're gonna last long. I overhead Jeremy telling Chad that this job was below them one day."
"What an ungrateful dick." Mordecai said.
"I know." Rigby agreed. "So, you want to play Double Dragon or something?" The raccoon changed the subject. He motioned toward the videogame system that he had brought from the house on his last visit to give Mordecai something to do.
"You know it, dude! I've got a couple hours before my next therapy session. It's no fun playing by yourself all the time, but I'm glad you brought it for me. It takes my mind off things." Mordecai popped the cartridge in and started the system up, handing one of the controllers over to Rigby.
Time seemed to fly as the two friends settled back into to their familiar routine just as if it were old times again. Two hours later, someone briefly knocked on the door before opening it and poking her head in. It was Mordecai's personal therapist checking up on him. She was a pretty lady with red hair in her late thirties. "You're late for your session, Mordecai. I was just checking to see if everything is okay." She said.
"Sorry. I guess lost track of time. Just give me a few minutes to say goodbye." Mordecai said.
"It's okay." The therapist smiled. "Good to see you, Rigby." She added before closing the door again.
"I guess I've gotta go." Mordecai muttered disappointedly. "I'm glad you could make it today, dude."
"No problem. I wish I could get here more often, but you know how it is." Rigby shrugged.
"I know, dude. It's okay."
"Just get better, Mordecai." The raccoon said as he picked up his jacket and prepared to leave.
"I will, I promise. All this is really hard right now, but it'll be totally worth it in the end when I'm free from thinking about that shit all the time and things are back to normal."
"Yeah, it will. I'll see you again real soon, dude." Rigby said.
"Okay." Mordecai stood there awkwardly for a moment before pulling his friend into a tight hug. Rigby returned the embrace before breaking away with feigned disgust.
"Aww, sick dude!" The two friends cried in unison as they pushed away from each other. It was a ritual of theirs repeated time and time again. They both wanted to show friendly affection towards each other, but neither of them wanted to admit it how much he cared about the other because it wasn't deemed masculine.
"See you later, dude."
"Later, bro." Rigby said and left the room.
As he walked away from the rehabilitation center, Rigby was deeply saddened about leaving Mordecai behind once again, but he knew that this was for the best. He could only hope that someday Mordecai would fully recover and their lives would go back to normal again. Until then, he would patiently wait and offer his support as only a best friend can.
The End
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: I like this ending, but I think the original one is more powerful.
Fun fact
I referenced three songs related to drug use in this story and I was just wondering if anyone picked up on them. They are all old songs, so probably not.
The first one was way back in Chapter 14 - "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" said by the homeless man is from a really old (1970's) Janis Joplin song (who died from a heroin overdose herself) called Me and Bobby McGee.
The last two were in the alternate ending: "..Prisoner of my own device" said by Mordecai is from the Eagles's Hotel California (also 1970's era).
While there are not really any exact quotes, The Fray's How to Save a Life was kind of an inspiration for the conversation between Mordecai and Rigby in the hospital. If you look up the lyrics, you will see the similarities. That one isn't too old (mid-2000's).
I don't own any of the above mentioned songs because I wasn't even born when the first two were released! I just like to listen to all kinds and eras of music.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you guys soon with a new story!