"I could prescribe you 50 milligrams of hydroxyzine twice a day," the psychiatrist answered his complaint, flipping through the pages of his records.

"Nah nah nah," Layne argued, thumping his knee up and down in anticipation as he gaped around the doctor's tiny office. He shook his head in annoyance when his eyes fell at the dorky framed poster on the office wall of a kitten hanging off a tree branch. It had the caption phrase underneath it 'hang in there' in a bold, white font. He peered back at the doctor, whom was still glaring down at his folder.  "Hydroxyzine is just a strong version of Benadryl, how is that gonna help me at all...?"

Dr. Singh sighed in agitation as his eyes slid back up to look at the musician.  "We could give you Wellbutrin."

Layne groaned & rolled his eyes.  "Anti-depressants make me go even crazier," he glanced at the black file clenched in those brown hands.  "Isn't that documented from my previous stay at the other hospital?"

"You're supposed anxiety isn't in your records, either."

Layne gave him a look of confusion.  "You don't believe me?"

"I'm not giving an addict benzodiazepines," Dr. Singh grumbled as he got up from his leather desk chair.  He pointed to the door.  "Breakfast is coming up soon.  GO.  You still need to gain a few more pounds."

"But but but--"

"Layne, I know you're full of shit," the doctor spat.

He smirked, his hand on the door knob.  "Oh, how PROFESSIONAL of you!" He exclaimed, suddenly frowning.  He was disappointed that he couldn't get what he felt he NEEDED.  He couldn't stand these thoughts running through his head...these emotions he had kept himself safe from for years.  "I'm calling my lawyer."

"Already spoke with him on the phone earlier," the psychiatrist grinned snidely at him.  "He's really happy to hear that you're in recovery.  Now go to breakfast. I'm not prescribing you klonopin or Xanax or whatever you're plotting to get out of me."

Layne slid out the door and dramatically slammed it behind him. He stomped over to the medication unit, his face beat red with agitation.

"HEY!  You with the hair!!" He yelled at the glass window.  The fat nurse behind it didn't even turn around.  Layne grabbed the clipboard on the counter near the locked window & tossed it on the ground. He slammed his foot down on it, snapping it in half.  "HEY!  FAT WOMAN!  HEY!!!" He continued, feeling eyes on him.

"Their room is sound proof, you moron," a deep voice mocked him with a dry cackle.

Layne spun around, noticing it was Alex. He muttered curse words & ran his sweaty, trembling hands through his tangled hair.  "Fucking figures..."

Alex cocked his head to the side.  "Take it you're jonzing?"

He nodded grimly, stumbling away from the unit.  He followed Alex as the other patients lined up infront of the exit door. All of them were waiting for 3 of the PCA's to escort them to the cafeteria.

"Lemme guess, you tried to get some pain killers or some shit like that from that assfuck psychiatrist?" Alex whispered into his ear.

"I have anxiety," Layne answered loudly so everyone could hear him, fidgeting awkwardly in his stupid blue hospital gown.  When the fuck is Mike gonna bring me my damn clothes, he wondered to himself.  He heard Alex laugh. He suddenly felt an arm wrap around his waist, making him gulp anxiously.  His eyes slid over to that dark, haggard face.

"I could help you with that," Alex muttered creepily.

Layne felt his hand rub lightly over his ass, making him jump and whirl around to face Alex.  "What the FUCK?!" He shouted, watching Alex's face turn a darker shade of red & laugh even harder. "Don't touch me like that again or I'll beat your fag ass to a bleeding pulp, you get me?!?!"

He raised his palms up as if he were getting arrested.  "Sorry man, I figured your door swung both ways..."

Layne narrowed his eyes.  "Nah, you freak.  You got me wrong."

Alex blushed even harder & snorted back a laugh.  "I was just messing with you, dude!  Chill out!!"

"SURE YOU WERE!" Layne shrieked, motioning away from him.  "Look, I got nothing against queers.  Just...don't touch my freaking ASS, okay?"  He smiled when he heard a few patients laughing at his reaction.

The dark man shrugged at everyone.  "I have a thing for GOATS, k?!" He bellowed out, laughing.

Layne rolled his eyes so hard it almost felt like they were going to pop out of his skull.  "You're one heck of a character, man..."

Alex nodded his head, still laughing.  "Most people just call me a crazy asshole," he winked at Layne.  "I like your interpretation of my character SO much better..." he giggled, "sweet cheeks..."

He made a gagging sound & quickly shook his head.  "You're fucking nasty, dude--"

"Come on, guys," a PCA shouted. They slid a card through the black box on the exit door to unlock it.  "Let's head over to the cafeteria."

As they headed down the hallway, Alex was awkwardly skipping around, making weird faces at everyone...especially Layne.  When they all noticed this strange 50-year-old woman holding a plastic baby doll (pretending it was real), Alex couldn't help himself.  He jumped and pointed at her, shifting his eyes to Layne, whom was giving him a tired annoyed look.

"Whhhhyyy-yyyy-yyyy yooouuuu aaaact craaaaazy," Alex sung out in an obnoxious goat-voice.  "NOOOOOT ANNN ACT, MAAAAYBE?!?!?!"

Layne rolled his eyes.  "Shut the fuck up, Alex."

Alex giggled as he skipped back over to him.  "What, I thought it was one of your favorite songs?!?!?!  I Stay Away?!  Didn't you write that?!"

Layne couldn't help but to laugh.  "I helped Jerry write it."  He paused for a moment before glancing back over at him.  "I thought you hated Alice in Chains, why are you quoting one of our songs?"

He shrugged, jumping infront of him to grab a food tray.  "I just was in the moment, you know?" He wiggled his hands obnoxiously infront of Layne's face, making Layne slap them away from him.  "I'm just going with the flooooowww."  He winked at him, slanting his eyes down to his hand that was curled in a fist.

Layne picked up a tray, nonchalantly looking down at Alex's fist. It opened to reveal 4 oblong shaped white pills.  His heart skipped a beat, leaning in close to Alex.  "Is that hydrocodone?" he whispered into his ear.

Alex nodded, giggling.

"How did you get that?" Layne whispered again.  He waited for a response, but instead, Alex grabbed Layne's hand & dropped the pills into them.  Layne sneakily looked around, seeing that the PCA's were already seated at a table, chowing down their food and writing on their clipboards.  Layne faked a cough, covering his mouth and tonguing the pills. He whirled them around in his mouth until his Saliva built up & swallowed.

"You'll feel better in no time," Alex whispered back into Layne's ear.

They grabbed their slop & made their way through the cafeteria. Nearing the back of the tiled room, Alex suddenly stopped and took a seat at a table next to this young, gothic looking girl.

Layne studied her, wondering what exactly was wrong with her.  Her hair was dyed pitch-black with crimson red streaks, falling just above her shoulders, parted exactly in the middle.  All she had on was a skimpy black tank top & a red plaid skirt with converses and black leggings.  She was extremely pale and terribly thin, all of her chest bones jutting out.  Her eyes were tired & a bright turquoise.  She had many piercings in her ear & two eyebrow rings in her right brow.

She sneered at Alex.  "Why do you always BOTHER me, you weirdo?"

Layne sat down next to Alex, still glaring at her.  He pointed at him.  "You know this freak...?"

She rolled her eyes.  "Unfortunately I do," she snarled, her turquoise eyes gleaming back at him. "He's been HITTING on me ever since the cops threw me in this joint."

"Can't help it, man, I like my girls skinny," Alex muttered. He took a huge bite out of his sloppy joe, the sauce rolling down his chin.

The girl grimaced.  "Please, dude, you know how disgusting that is?" She snapped, handing him a napkin.  "And for the last fucking time, I'm not skinny anymore!  Assholes made me gain twenty pounds..." her eyes slid sheepishly back to Layne. Her cheeks burned when she noticed he was looking at her.  Her eyes dropped back down at her plate, which consisted of plain lettuce and a side of grapes.

Layne glared down at his food, but his hunger left him, concern boiling to its surface.  "You were 20 pounds lighter than you are now?!  What the fuck, you're tiny as shit... How much did you weigh?!"

She sighed, flicking one of her grapes at Alex. She laughed when he tossed it back at her.  Those ocean eyes glanced back at Layne, licking her plump lips.  "I was down to 70 pounds," she looked sad as she stabbed her lettuce repeatedly with her plastic fork.  "Was only 15 pounds away from my goal, DAMNIT...."

Layne's eyes widened, "that's...that's fucking CRAZY, girl."

She shrugged.  "Could be worse."  She nodded towards Alex, whom was chowing down like a rabid dog.  She smiled back at Layne, resting her head into her bony hand.  "I'm relieved they finally took that STUPID tube out of my nose...ugh..."

"You had to get an NG tube, too?" Layne asked after taking a sip on his coffee.

She nodded, eyeing Layne up and down.  "Are you anorexic, too?  You look pretty skinny..."

He shook his head.  "Nah...  I'm here because I'm addicted to heroin and speed...among other things," he wetted his lips, forcing himself to eat a bit of scrambled egg.  "I got real bad...dope sick...tolerance to opiates was too high, so everytime I tried to eat, I got sick...  I got down to ninety pounds.  So yeah, they had to give me the tube, too."

"Jesus, ninety fucking pounds?!" Alex shrieked aloud with his mouth full of food.

The girl grimaced at Alex, slowly turning back to smile at Layne.  "I'm an addict as well...you'll see me in groups..."

"What's your drug of choice?" Layne asked with a smirk.

"Well, what have you gooooooooot," Alex mocked in his shitty goat-like version of Layne's voice.

Layne gave him the death stare.  "Shut the fuck up, dude!  Why does it seem you know every one of our fucking songs?!  I thought you hated us."

Alex laughed, gulping down soda & burping obnoxiously.  "I totally hate you guys, especially you, goat man.  I just listen to your songs so I can make fun of them."

"...you really are fucking crazy," Layne muttered, staring wide eyed at the girl.  She laughed and nodded.

"I'm a speed freak as they say...I love my Ritalin & addys... Done crack / cocaine on a few occasions.  But nah, mostly just Adderall...and meth..." she grinned, in day dream land.  "Got so much shit done when I was tweaking.... fasting was so easy...  I was beginning to look perfect, too--"

"Dude, she looked like an Ethiopian zombie when she first arrived," Alex interrupted as he smacked on chips.

She rolled her eyes at him.

Layne grinned, resting his elbow on the table.  For some odd reason, he had this strange attraction to this crazy girl...  "What's your name, anyways?  And how old are you...? You look young...way too young to be in a hellhole like this."

"Just call me Nicky," she muttered, going back to flicking grapes at Alex.  A small smile played across her skinny face. "And I'm 26. Not that young, geeze..."

Layne's eyes widened.  "You look like you're fucking eighteen."

"What's your name...?  And I'm guessing you're...hmmmm..." She placed a bony finger on her forehead, eyes sliding up to the cieling.  "38 years old...?"

"Fuck, I need to shave and cut my hair," Layne said, forcing an embarrassed laugh.  "I'm 34 years old...  I'm Layne Staley...lead singer of Alice in Chains--PLEASE don't go ape shit crazy on me!"

She laughed & rolled her eyes.  She flicked a grape at him, her eyes wide with surprise when he caught it in his mouth.  "Your band's okay....  Honestly just like to watch you sing..."

"Liiiii-iiii-iiiike the cooooldeeeeest WIIINTER CHILL--" Layne slapped Alex across the face before he could finish, smiling when he heard Nicky laugh.  Alex frowned & lowered his head.  "...heaven beside you..." He muttered.

"Fuck yeah, heaven WILL be beside you if you don't stop quoting my band's songs," Layne growled.  He couldn't help but to laugh though.  He turned, noticing a nurse walking up to their table with 2 weight gain ensures in her hands.  Strawberry flavored.

Layne winced, turning to Nicky to see she was doing the same.

"Layne," the nurse said, handing him one.  She then turned to Nicky.  "Nicole--"

"I told you...just call me Nicky," the girl spat, her shaky hand taking the ensure.

The nurse rolled her eyes.  "I'm sorry, Nicky..." she glanced down at her plate. She shook her head & clicked her tongue in disapproval. "You're down to 86 pounds again, girl.  If you reach 80, you're getting the NG tube treatment again."

She shrugged.  "And I'll just continue to lose it over and over again."

She laughed as she watched the nurse storm off, ranting into her black walky-talky.  Layne gave her a concerned look. He analyzed the bones that protruded from her shoulders and chest.  "You really should eat, Nicky...  You're too thin..."

She raised a brow at him, pointedly looking at his virtually untouched food tray.  "I would say the same to you...  But I HATE it when I appear a hypocrite..."

Layne sighed, grabbing his ensure and unscrewing the cap.  He eyed her, seeing her doing the same.  She then clashed her ensure cup against his with a cold chuckle.

"Cheers," she muttered.

He looked confused.  "Cheers to what?"

"To getting fat & miserable," she grumbled with furrowed brows.

He shrugged, chugging down the nasty metallicy thick substance.

She laughed at him, those vibrant eyes smiling kindly into his.  He felt his face burn. His heart fluttered rapidly with in his chest, knowing all too well what he was feeling towards her.

Why do I always have the hots for CRAZY girls? He wondered, sighing.