Chapter 61- Taunting Needles

* WARNING: MILDLY TRIGGERING SCENE AHEAD *

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[] J A M A L []

It's been a week since Amelia left us all. And although that wasn't long, it felt like a century to us. Time almost seemed to slow down and none of us knew how to kick it up again.

Gemma had kept us up with Amelia's state, however, she wasn't giving too much away about what was going on. We only knew that it had to do with Amelia's brother's case, but nothing more than that. All of it was torture to say the least.

The most torturous days were when Leo was in the hospital.

Andre and I had stayed by his side every day. And every day seemed to be worse than the other. He would stare out the window for hours on end, barely moving. He'd then look at his phone, and then back out the window. His family stayed while he was there too, but even they couldn't help him. He reacted the most when Clara came, looking over and smiling assuringly at her.

As if that fucker could hide his sadness from us.

We knew what happened with Amelia broke him. Especially that she never called or tried to contact him in the hospital. That screwed us up too. We all wondered why Amelia was being so selfish, why she was only caring about her family when this boy here risked his life for her.

On the third day of Leo being in the hospital, I had a revelation. And that was that I couldn't be one to judge. Amelia always had a reason for what she did. I had bet that she was just feeling guilty and couldn't face Leo. When I had told Leo that, he merely turned to me, then looked away to look out the window again.

None of us knew how to get him out of his depression. Even with all our heads together, we didn't know what we could do. It seemed that only Amelia could help at that point. So it surprised us all, when the last day we walked into his hospital room, and Leo was getting out of bed. Andre and I had rushed to him, but he managed to break out of our hold, even in his bruised state.

It surprised us, but we regained ourselves and ran after him. We finally grabbed him and held him. He still struggled in our hold, but we didn't budge. At last, he had sagged in our arms, breaking down completely. He kept muttering, "I have to get her," over and over again as he sobbed.

Andre and I were helpless. James and Laura had entered the room then and were surprised to see Leo's state. At last, Laura pulled him into a motherly hug, and he continued to sob in her arms. We left the two then for a long time. After nearly an hour, Laura had come out of the room with Leo in tow. And since then, which was last night, Leo has been home.

Andre and I had been keeping a watch on Leo's stubborn ass. After leaving the hospital, he retired to his own apartment, saying he wanted to stay there. However we saw past him. He probably wanted to stay in his apartment because he thinks that's where Amelia will come the moment she steps foot in Lethbridge again. We couldn't argue with him, but could only support him. His family left last night after dropping us off at Leo's apartment. They all needed to go home. They looked as if they went through a train wreck in the last week. Laura had even slept on the uncomfortable chairs outside Leo's hospital room for the first two days. After that, all three of them crashed in Leo's apartment, and then came back to the hospital in the early hours of the morning. This had been going on the whole time and it was time they get rest. At last, Andre and I pushed for them to go home and that we'd keep an eye on Leo. They had begrudgingly agreed, and it wasn't until Clara said the same that James and Laura agreed.

I had been forced to go to my morning class today, which I wasn't too happy about, but I knew why it was necessary. Andre had said he'll take breakfast over to Leo, so I wasn't too worried. However, Andre had been strange in the past couple weeks. He kept forgetting things and was almost always jittery. Yesterday, I spent a while talking to him, but he barely paid attention the whole time. I blamed it on the fact that he was just tired. However, as I thought back to the last couple weeks, I realized that Andre had been doing it a lot. I hoped he was alright, and reminded myself to talk to him later.

Just as I was thinking this, the professor suddenly dismissed us, saying that we can leave early to study. I sighed and packed my stuff, quickly making my way out of class.

As I was leaving the building, I caught sight of a group near us. I frowned, realizing they seemed familiar, and found myself locking eyes with Joe, Andre's friend. He smiled and waved at me when he saw me, and started making my way towards me. I waited, hoping this would be a quick chat, so I can leave for Leo's apartment.

Joe made his way over to me, waving goodbye to his group of friends, who I vaguely recognized from the parties I've been to around campus. He came to a stop in front of me, reaching a hand out for a shake.

"How's it going, man?" He asked, leaning in for a bro shake.

I nodded, pulling away from him.

"Going good. How are you?" I asked.

"I'm good. How's Leo doing? Heard he was in the hospital."

"He's better. He's home now at least, but still recovering from the bruises."

Joe nodded thoughtfully at my words. Suddenly, his face hardened as he said the next words.

"Did the crackhead that Leo beat up during the party have to do with this?" Joe asked, oddly angry.

I frowned.

"That's what we think. We don't know for sure yet. The police are still looking for him," I answered.

Joe swore under his breath.

"It was definitely that fucker. He can't take a blow to his ego," Joe continued.

"Why crackhead?" I suddenly asked.

"Don't you know? The guy runs a drug business. Lots of my friends have gotten shit from him and ruined their lives."

My blood ran cold at his words.

Joe continued, his eyes glazing over with malice.

"One friend nearly lost his life to the shit supplied by him. He always makes it look like the drug was responsible for the person's actions."

Punch after punch thrown at me.

"And the worst part is that most of his drugs go undetected by normal drug testing machines. I don't know what the fuck he mixes in that shit. What did Amelia have to do with a lowlife like him?"

I felt like puking as soon as Joe hit me with those words.

I mumbled out a goodbye to him and started running for the direction of my dorm room.

I ran as fast as I could, whipping out my keys as soon as I reached our door. I unlocked the main door with shaky hands and zipped through our hallway to get my room. I took a deep breath before unlocking the door, and went in.

The dorm was dark when I went in. The lights were off, the curtains drawn. It was eerily silent in here too. At first, I thought nobody was inside. I quickly turned on the light and scanned the room.

Still no one.

I swore under my breath and started heading out again, hoping Andre had kept his promise and was getting Leo breakfast. However, the moment I turned, I heard a loud groan resonate throughout the room. I froze and whipped my head around.

Another groan. I ran to the sound of the voice, and nearly tripped over something on my way.

And that's when I caught sight of Andre slumped on the ground beside his bed, his head downcast, and a syringe sticking out of his arm.

I slumped onto the ground, my head spinning. I stared at him for a long time, my mouth agape.

He barely looked up and smiled crookedly at me through half-lidded eyes.

I snapped out of the trance I was in and reached into my pocket for my phone. I quickly pulled my phone out and found the only contact I could think of at this point.

I brought the phone up to my ear, my breathing rapid. He didn't pick up the first time. The second time I tried, he picked up on the third ring.

"Get your ass to our dorm... Please... we need you."