He sighed heavily and rang the doorbell, unhappy that it had come to this. A moment later the door opened. He recognized the person who answered the door. Elizabeth Joule. "Taylor. I thought you had quit."
"I did. I'm just here to see Mike."
"He doesn't sell anymore."
"I wasn't here to buy."
"Come on in. I'll go tell him you're here."
"Why, might I ask, are you here?"
"I live here now. My parents kicked me out of the house. Mike took me in. Because I was here, he stopped selling. I think I might go to rehab soon. I'm sick of all of this."
"I'm sick of all of it too, but I still want it."
"Y'know, Jay's here too."
"Cool."
Realizing that they were still standing in the doorway, he took a step inside. "So, going to tell them I'm here?"
She closed the door, almost forcefully. "Yeah."
She swaggered into the living room. He followed her. "Presenting Taylor Hanson."
He took a few steps into the room. "Mike. Hey. How ya been?"
Mike patted the seat next to him. "I've been good. How 'bout you?"
Taylor sat down and let his hands fall to his lap. "I want drugs, but I don't want them. I'm giving them up, but it's taking time. Time that I'd rather spend doing something else."
Mike patted him on the back. "Y'know, it's a good thing to quit. Drugs aren't a good thing. I want to apologize for letting you try them. I was stupid for letting my friends try to kill themself."
"Dude, I got myself hooked. If you hadn't let me try 'em, someone else would have. It was my choice."
"Well, whatever. Say, you remember Jay, right?"
"Yeah. She always got the second hit."
Jay spoke up from where she was sprawled out on the love seat. "I don't do that anymore either. Of course, when we all did, I was always jealous of you. You always got the first and last hit. But, somehow, after you left, there was nothing to be jealous of and I realized it wasn't something I wanted."
"Damn. Aren't I the inspiration all of a sudden. To think I'm just doing this for some girl."
Jay raised an eyebrow. "Some girl?"
Taylor bit his lip and turned his gaze to the floor. "Okay, you got me. It's more than some girl. It's Saralynn. The most amazing, wonderful, beautiful girl in the world."
Jay smiled. "She'll be happy when I tell her you said that."
Taylor raised his head. "I'd rather her not know I was here. Unless you tell her that no one here does drugs anymore. I don't want to lose her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. She's my one true love."
Jay nodded. "I'll tell her all that too. She is a wonderful friend of mine. So, how about the four of us get together sometime, 'cause I gotta leave now."
Taylor thought a moment. "Um, how about Saturday night? We can go out for coffee or something."
Jay smiled. "Make it miniature golf and I'm in."
He turned to Elizabeth and Mike. "Mini-golf it is then. You guys game?"
They both nodded. Taylor looked down at his watch. "Damn. I gotta run too. So, meet you guys at the place on 4th street at eight?"
He was greeted with replied of, "Okay.", "Sure." and "You betcha." He smiled and made his way out of the house that he had always come to for his high. Now, he had the high without the drugs. Friendship is a powerful drug in and of itself.
He lay in bed, thinking. He wanted to get dressed and run over to Melyssa's house, but it was two in the morning. He didn't quite think she'd appreciate it.
He'd been up all night thinking about her. It wasn't something he could control. His thoughts just always slipped to her when he wasn't really concentrating.
The sound of the phone ringing broke through his thoughts. Why is someone calling here at two in the morning? It had better not be another dumb fan who forgot about time zones.
He heard his mother get up and stumble down the stairs, cursing as she stubbed her toe on someone's shoe. Curiousity led him to get up and tiptoe out of the room and down the stairs after her.
He paused at the foot of the stairs and listened to his mother's half of the conversation. "Hello?"
"Yes, this is she."
"Oh my word, is she all right?"
"See you in a few."
He gasped when his mother came flying out of the kitchen. She stopped when she almost hit him. "Zac! Get some clothes on. You're coming with me."
She charged up the stairs. He called after her, "What's going on?"
He rushed up the stairs and back into his room, throwing on the first clothing he saw. He knew better than to ask any more questions.
As an afterthought, he grabbed his notebook and a novel he had been reading, he didn't know how long this would take. He ran out of his room and down the stairs. When he arrived at the bottom, he grabbed his Doc Martens and rushed out to the car, knowing full well that his mother was already in it, starting it up.
He practically jumped into the car out of curiousity and maybe even fear. As his mother backed out of the driveway, he asked, "Mom? What happened?"
"Honey, Melyssa is hurt. All of the ambulances are out and the Smith's car is in the shop. We're going to pick them up and take Melyssa to the hospital."
His heart practically stopped. He looked to his mother, "Melyssa?"
"Ah! Damn it. Ike, it hurts so much."
"Honey, I know it hurts. I'm driving as fast as I can. There are two cops following me with their lights flashing. This is going to cost me a bunch of money for speeding tickets, but for you, I'm not stopping until we're at the hospital."
"Thank you, but could you drive any faster?"
Isaac took a deep breath and pushed the gas pedal even closer to the floor. "Better?"
"No, but the sooner we get there, the better it will be."
He could see the hospital in the distance. He was happy that the roads were clear of traffic. He didn't think he could deal with being around Krystle when she was in this much pain any longer. As much as he loved her, she was a pain at the moment.
He pulled the car into the lot for the ER and drove up to the entrance. He jumped out of the car and ran into the waiting area of the ER. He called out, "My wife's pregnant and she's having some trouble. Can I at least get a wheelchair for her?"
An orderly wielding a shiny wheelchair appeared by his side. "Lead the way."
Isaac rushed back out to the car, barely realizing that it was still running. He only noticed that there were no police officers around. As the orderly helped Krystle into the wheelchair, she smiled. "Ike? I got you out of the speeding tickets."
Isaac smiled and followed his wife inside. Within moments, he was seated in an uncomfortable plastic chair and Krystle was being tended to by the best doctor on duty. He signed a few autographs while waiting for a report on her condition.
After half an hour of waiting, a doctor came up to him with a pained expression. "Isaac Hanson?"
He stood up. "That's me."
"Your wife is having trouble with her baby. She almost had a miscarriage. She's going to have to stay in the hospital until the child is born. Otherwise, there's no guarantee that the child will live. This way, it at least has a chance."
Isaac bit his lip and nodded half-heartedly. "If it's for the best, then okay. Sure."
"I'll give you a minute to calm down. Then, there will be some forms for you to fill out."
Isaac nodded again and sank down into the chair that he had been seated in only a few moments before.
He recalled that the car was still running and went out to park it and shut it off. Once he was done, he come back inside to fill out forms.
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