I'm back!
Only a few minutes after Jack drifted off, Mrs. Bennett came back into the room accompanied by a nurse. When they saw that Jack had fallen asleep again, though, the nurse sighed and shook her head. "I was going to talk to the both of you together," she explained softly when Jamie gave her a questioning look. "Your mother and I spoke a little, Mr. Bennett, and we think you should take a few therapy sessions. Same with Mr. Overland, obviously, but we'll have to discuss that with him when he wakes up."
Jamie frowned a bit at this new information. Why would he need therapy? Jack should need it much more! "M-me? But... I didn't go through all that..."
At the same time, Jack whimpered quietly. His hands twitched and his whole body just shook lightly when, it seemed like, he was hit with a particularly bad part of his nightmare. The nurse came over then, to put a comforting hand on both shoulders. "No, you didn't... But you have been through quite a lot in one night."
In one lifetime. Jamie had, after all, found his best friend sitting in his bedroom covered in blood. He'd gotten covered in it himself in the process of comforting him... And then he had to listen to the details of Jack's experience. While Jamie hadn't suffered the worst of it all by himself, he still had to hear about it happening to someone he loved... It had to have been hard on him, and both the nurse and his mother understood that.
"Your mother agrees with me, that it's a good idea. We just want to make sure this experience with Jack doesn't hurt you as much as it could."
Mrs. Bennett nodded and stepped closer, making Jamie fall silent and stop resisting the conversation. "It's just a few sessions, Jamie. It should help you deal with all this...it'd really help you a lot." She smiled softly, sadly, and placed a hand on his knee.
Finally Jamie sighed and laid back down. He wrapped his arms around Jack and closed his eyes, holding his friend closer. "A-alright..." he conceded. "Just a few..."
The nurse nodded and her shoulders seemed to relax as she pulled away from the boys. "Good." Then she turned back to Mrs. Bennett. "Would you two please alert us when Mr. Overland wakes up? We'll... We'll need to discuss this with him. Legally he's in charge of himself...so it'd help us a lot if you could try to convince him to say yes..." This was the hard part... This was part of why the Nightmare King did what he did. Jack was now legally in charge of himself...of his home, of his medical care... Sure he could still be claimed on someone else's taxes but could he be put into the foster system? No. He was an adult...who was out on his own too soon, unprepared and scared. "This will only be for his own good... He's still so young...he really needs direction right now." And with that, she left.
Jack stayed asleep for a long while, curled up and occasionally whimpering. Every ten minutes or so, he would get more scared in his sleep and his heart rate would increase, but with the blood rushing faster, the drugs pumped through his body just as fast and calmed him down before it would become a problem. Eventually enough of it had run through him that his heart monitor stopped beeping more quickly and Jamie was able to settle with the constant noise, falling into a light dozing state.
When Jack finally woke up a couple of hours later, it took the white-haired boy a few moments... A few moments of blissful ignorance before he remembered where he was. He glanced up, tears welling up in his eyes again at the memory of the night before...and found Jamie with him, eyes closed, in the hospital bed. Thank goodness... He looked up to see Mrs. Bennett asleep on the couch on the other side of the room as well. At least...at least right now he was surrounded by people who cared about him... Jack gently tucked his face into his friend's chest again, seeking comfort, but he tried his best not to wake him up.
Unfortunately though, Jamie was barely asleep. Any time he would get closer to truly falling asleep he would wake up again, mind racing... So when he felt Jack move and shift into his chest, his eyes slowly fluttered open as he looked down at him. "J-Jack...?" he whispered, rubbing his back soothingly. It seemed to help him when he was really distressed in his sleep... "You awake?"
Jack nodded, clinging weakly and tiredly to the clothes the hospital had given Jamie to wear with one hand. The other arm was still stretched out beside him, perfectly straight. Jack didn't like needles...he didn't like not feeling like he could move. Part of him wished he would have told the nurse this when he'd first been brought in...but then again, the last remaining logical part of his mind left knew that if he took it out, he wouldn't get the sleeping drugs helping him rest through this whole ordeal.
That...that didn't matter as much right now... Why was Jamie awake? He looked up, blinking blearily at his best friend. "Mmn...you...you need...sleep, J-Jamie..." he mumbled, his brow furrowing in concern. His voice was so thick from the medicine...
Jamie gave Jack a weary smile and shook his head. "No, I'm alright..." Except he had bags under his eyes. "Go back to sleep, Jack... You need it more." Jamie...needed to be strong for Jack. He needed to be a rock for his best friend. Right? Jack needed him to be strong.
Jack wasn't buying it, though. Even with his glasses off he could see the dark bruise-like circles under Jamie's eyes...and so before Jamie could really react, he hit the call button to summon a nurse to his room.
"J-Jack? Jack what are you doing?" he whispered, frowning at him. "I'm fine!" He didn't need help. Jack needed help! But the nurse came in anyway, and Jamie only gave her a stubborn glance.
"Mr. Overland? Is everything alright?" she asked, looking briefly at the upset looking Jamie but really only focusing on Jack.
"Can...can you give something to my f-friend? He... He's not...sleeping well... And I'm...worried about him..." Poor Jack only sounded half-coherent... But because he was so out of it, and Jamie looked so tired and stubborn, the nurse figured if it would help Jack feel better and try to rest... She might as well.
"Ah...well...since you're...since you're a minor I'll have to ask your mother first..." she said, shaking her head. "You do look like you need sleep, poor dear..." So despite Jamie's insistent "I'm fine"s, she made her way over to the couch and crouched next to where Mrs. Bennett slept. "Excuse me, Mrs. Bennett? I'm sorry to wake you..."
Jamie's mother seemed to jerk away from the nurse, still half asleep for a moment before she looked around and it clicked where she was. "Wha? Oh...oh, sorry... Is everything alright?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes. Jack realized this must be hard for her too...Sophie being at a friend's house with a killer on the loose, Jack's mom - her friend - being brutally murdered...
"I'm alright," Jamie argued, pulling Jack out of his thoughts before he could break down again.
"You need sleep..." Jack mumbled, shaking his head slowly without lifting off of his chest. He was...he was kind of afraid Jamie was going to be mad at him now for doing this... So he kept his eyes down, not wanting to look if Jamie got angry. But Jamie obviously wasn't alright like he said! He was scared and exhausted, just like Jack, and it pained him to see his best friend so distressed because of him.
"Mrs. Bennett... I just need your consent in written form to give your son something to help him sleep..." the nurse said softly. "He's denying he needs it, but..." She stepped away, to let the woman get a good look at her exhausted son.
Jamie's mother sat up and sighed softly after just one look. "Oh Jamie...why didn't you say anything?" She sighed a bit and nodded. "Bring me the papers you need and I'll go ahead and sign them... But only if he says yes..." After all it was still up to him...but she gave him a pleading look anyway.
Jamie sighed. With three people now hoping he would just accept the help and sleep, he let out a small groan and let his head flop back on the bed again. "F-fine," he muttered, a little shakily. "G-go ahead..."
The nurse seemed satisfied enough when Jamie agreed and left, but Jack...wasn't satisfied at all. Now he was just dreading Jamie would push him away...so he hid further into his friend's chest. "Sorry..." he mumbled. For everything. For putting Jamie through this. For practically forcing him to take sleep medication...
Jamie opened his mouth to respond...but that's when the nurse came back with the forms and a little pill cup. His mother signed them quickly so the nurse could hand the medicine and a little bit of water to Jamie. "Here you are, dear," she said sweetly, trying to ease his frustration. "Just try not to fight this stuff off, alright? Or you'll end up sleepwalking instead."
Jamie sighed and took the pill, downing it with water. "Th-thanks..." he mumbled bitterly, waiting for her to leave before settling down with Jack. He glanced at his mother, who was watching them, before he sighed and gently touched Jack's hair. "Don't blame yourself, okay?" he said, already feeling...drowsy and heavy from the drug. "It's not your fault..."
Jack didn't respond. He was exhausted...still so tired even after so much half rest... He felt like he could sleep for a hundred years or more but his raging emotions were preventing him from really getting the most of it. But he did hear Jamie's reassurances...and the relief he felt at those words helped him drift off. He nuzzled into Jamie's neck before sleep took him again...
Jamie was quick to follow. He...really, really needed this sleep. He didn't even realize it when the darkness took him over, but there was a large part of him that was unconsciously glad it was so fast...glad that the heavy drug worked on his body so deeply that he couldn't even dream.
It's interesting to see how guardian-of-the-written-word, known from here on as Keru, wrote Jamie in this chapter. It's been so long since I've looked over this thread with her so it's almost like I'm reading a whole new story. Like... I don't remember writing this Jack. What happens next is almost as much a surprise to me as it is to you.
Hopefully this time it won't be over a year before I post again...