Dave's POV

I watched John fall gently into unconsciousness. The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned into a smile. I wondered what he was dreaming of. It could be anything. He could be imagining the most peaceful things or things more horrific than death. The smile suggested the previous.

I was exhausted. I tried not to show it when John was awake, but I hadn't slept since I laid down the previous night, and I had only slept a few hours before he woke me up by viciously throwing his guts up. It usually wouldn't have bothered me. When I was at home, it was Strider rule to go to sleep no earlier than two A.M. and wake up no earlier than noon with the exception being school nights, and those were long gone. The only reason the lack of Z's was fazing me was the big scare I got. Running to put on clothes, running to put some shoes and stuff on John, grabbing glasses and supplies, having to drive to the hospital without being 100% sure on where it was, John passing out on me, dragging him into the ER, not knowing what was happening.

I just sat there in the chair next to his bed. I was dirty. I had thoroughly scrubbed my arms and hands of blood, but I had nothing to replace my shirt, which was covered in the stuff. I would worry about it later. I cringed, the chair legs screeched across the floor when I scooted it closer to the bed. My face met the blanket, when I leaned forward, and I crossed my arms around my head for more comfort. Sleep came quickly.

It was about 5 PM when I woke up. I could have slept longer, but I was getting uncomfortable. I wrote a note and sat it on the table next to John. "This is just to in case you wake up, Man. I'll be back later. Gonna shower, get some stuff, and come right back. – Dave"

The drive was unbearably quite. I had to blare some rap just to make myself feel comfortable. Once a complete change of clothes was in hand, I went to the bathroom and turned on the water. I stripped down to my birthday suit and got in the shower. The water was a nice degree at first; hot and cold all the way up. I washed my hair quickly.

When the shampoo was completely out of my hair, I twisted and reached for the knob controlling the cold water. I slowly turned it to the right until it was completely off. The temperature changed in almost a second, and I stood there and took it. I could feel that water burning fiery lines from my shoulders, down my back, and to my feet. It hurt, but I stayed still. I had been doing this since Jade died. Every shower I took went in this order. Wash hair, then only scalding water. I would stay in until the punishment turned cold or I couldn't take it anymore. I turned around and flinched when the heat hit me. I deserved it.

My self discipline chilled, and I put on my fresh clothes, my skin still scorching and steaming. I quickly combed my hair and brushed my teeth before leaving the bathroom.

I found John's old backpack and dumped in out on the floor, making a mental note to pick it all up later. I put a spare outfit in it for him and a few shirts for me. I grabbed some notebooks, pens, and a camera that I had brought with me. Did we need anything else? Wallet, check. Clothes, check. Shades, check. Entertainment, check. Phones and chargers, double check. I put on my shoes and made my way back to the hospital.

In the door, up the elevator, and down the hall to my sickly nerd. He was awake when I walked in. "Yo, I brought some stuff. You now have a change of clothes for when we can go home, and we have paper and stuff to write or draw with. I didn't know what you would want to do, so I just grabbed some stuff."

"Ok. Thank you, Dave."

"Don't sweat it, Man." I grabbed the camera, a big polaroid cause I'm cool like that, from the backpack and sat next to John.

"Dave, what are you-" I turned and leaned back so our temples where touching and held the camera above us.

"Shut up and smile." *Click* The picture was spit from the slot, and I waved it back and forth to help it develop. A few minutes later, I had the perfect image. There was a smirk on my face, and John looked nerdy, but it was lovely. I pulled out a pen and wrote "Egderp needs to get better Oct '15" on the bottom.