Micky had to bite his tongue to keep from gasping when he saw Mike. He was incredibly thin and had dark circles under his eyes. Only his face and arms were exposed, but Micky could see welts, burns, bruises, scratchs, and other scars that could only come from things a million times worse than the things Micky ever experienced.

To Micky's surprise, Mike was awake (but barely). He was muttering something under his breath and watched Micky with half-dead eyes as he cautiously approached Mike's hospital bed.

"M-Mike?" Micky whispered. He was finally close enough to hear what Mike was saying. It was the same thing over and over again.

"You'll never understand...You'll never understand...You'll never understand..."

"Mike? It's me, M-Micky." Micky laid a timid hand on Mike's arm, only to yank it away when Mike jumped.

"You'll never understand!" Mike cried, louder this time. "Get away from me! Get away!"

Micky backed away from the bed, his eyes filling with tears. He'd never seen Mike like this before. It was so...frightening.

Mike was breathing heavily. He looked over at Micky and they locked eyes, but Mike didn't seem to register who Micky was. His hair was a mess and his eyes had a wide, glassy look to them, as if he were a living corpse.

"You'll never understand," Mike said again. He said it so quietly that it sent a terrible chill down Micky's spine. "Get out. Leave. Now!"

Micky nodded and made his way to the door. Tears blinded his vision for the millionth time that day as he opened the door.

And fled.

Going to go see The Conjuring 2 tonight 👌🏻