Joseph

Friday, December 11, 2002

Morning

The police station was sprawling with people, and I just sat on the bench trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened. "Joseph?" A voice called out. My eyes traveled to a man in a jean jacket. I looked up at his face and it only made how I was feeling worse.

"Sebastian?"

He wrapped his arms around me, holding on like his life depended on it. "Are you hurt? Who's blood is this?" he rambled, looking around my neck.

"I'm fine, one of my patients shot himself..."

He opened his mouth to say something before a guy kissed his cheek, staring me down. He was a shorter guy with brunette hair and glasses. "Hey, babe, who's this?"

"Just a friend of his. I'm Joseph, by the way," I greeted, shaking his hand.

"Luke."

There was an awkward silence between all of us before an officer shouted my name. "Have to go... nice meeting you though..."

He waved goodbye while Sebastian just stared at me. Seeing him with another guy made me feel worse, but I chose that outcome. Have to live with it... The officer led me to his desk, pulling up a chair for me. "So what happened?" he sighed, taking out a paper.

I tried focusing on his ginger hair and goatee to calm myself, but it didn't work. "He said he saw something he shouldn't have..." Everything played back in my head like a record player. "Then somebody called him. I think they threatened his family..."

The officer took everything down and then glanced at me. "Is there a reason he told you all of this?"

Thinking back was hard. His body just clouded my mind. "I don't know... He mostly talked about his family issues and him leaving his old life behind..."

He groaned, writing everything down. "We recollected his phone messages and your name was brought up multiple times." He pulled out another paper, reading off it. "He texted a friend, Rachel, about you being his last hope and that he was scared for you..."

"Scared for me?" Why would he be scared for me?

"Based on everything we've recovered and your statement, it seems that somebody has it out for you." He took out a sticky note writing something down. "Here's my personal number. We'll have someone moderating your home and my name is Jack by the way." he clarified with a small smile.

I covered my eyes, trying to calm down. Alex, Lance, my family, and now a dead patient and some stalker? "Hey! We won't let anything happen to you..." he assured, rubbing my arm. The touch felt nice, but it couldn't help the image of his dead body in my head.

I rose to my feet. "Thanks, I have to go..." as I walked through the station, everything hit me at once. He died in my office, under my supervision...

"Joseph! Are you okay?" Sarah screamed, running up to me, giving me the biggest hug she could.

There was a long wait for my response. I didn't need to worry her. I can get over it. Move on. "I'm fine... I just want to go to that club right now!" I smiled, trying to bury everything in the back of my head.

"Joseph, are you sure? You just experienced something really traumatic."

"Yes Sarah, I'm fine... Let's just go, please."

...

The outside of the building was lit up with bright blue and red lights. The ambiance was more like that of a movie theater than that of a club. But if it was gonna take my mind off everything, then it didn't matter. "Joseph, are you sure you should be doing this?" Pete asked.

The car was quiet as they both waited for my response. "Yeah, I'll be fine, promise." They didn't believe me, I could tell by their faces. "I'm serious. I just wanna have fun!"

"We are here for you. You know that right?" He stressed.

"Yes! Now let's go!" I rushed, stepping out of the car.

The red lights kept making the image of his body flicker in my head. "Hey, you sure you wanna do this?" Sarah asked, rubbing my arm.

"Yeah, just lost my train of thought..."

As Sarah showed the bouncer her 'Special Pass', he took it but kept his eyes on me, giving me a wink. "Go ahead in sexy," He cooed, looking me up and down. It was flattering, but that's not what I'm here for.

The interior was large, and modern, with neon lights illuminating every inch of the space. Bright lights pierced the place's mild fog. Definitely a step up from the other club... We quickly found ourselves a booth, but my attention was mainly on the dancefloor. "I'm gonna go dance," as I moved onto the dancefloor, the music became louder in my ears, and everything fell away from me. The only thing that mattered to me was the music. It's just me and the beat.

My peaceful time was interrupted by a pair of hands gripping my waist, grinding against me. "What's your name, beautiful?"

I moved his hands off me turning around. "Joseph." He was cute. He sported a buzzcut and dark hazel eyes. But it was the dog tag that attracted my attention. "Did you serve?"

He did a cute little laugh, pulling me closer. "Yeah, I'm Axe, by the way." I just wanna dance in peace...

"That's nice, I'm gonna go get a drink," I shouted, slipping away to the bar. I sat down, staring at all the interesting colored bottles on the shelf. Everyone was giggling and having conversations, but my thoughts stayed on his body. The blood that coated my office.

"What can I get for you, cutie?" the bartender asked, scaring me.

"Uh, something colorful..."

He nodded, instantly mixing different things together. My eyes wandered around, stopping at Sebastian. He was taking shots, looking wasted as ever.

"You left me out there!" A voice said from behind me. It's that guy again...

"I'm not interested, okay?"

He moved in front of me, blocking my view of Sebastian. "He's with that guy. Come hang with me?"

I hopped off the stool, pushing past him. Luke was next to him, feeding him shots. The way he was sitting and his posture. Was reminiscent of when I first met him. "Sebastian?"

He turned to me, and he looked completely out of it. "H- Hey. Baby..." he slurred, pulling me closer, laying his head on my stomach. "I miss you so much..." Seeing him like this almost made me cry. This is what I stopped him from being...

"Baby?" luke snapped. He looked at me, then back at Sebastian. "You too drunk to answer that? Huh?" he fumed, repeatedly pushing him.

I grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the bar. "Drunk or not, you don't touch him like that! UNDERSTAND?" He nodded in fear, trying to move my hand. The urge to beat him to a pulp was so strong, but Sebastian's weak voice took my attention.

"He didn't mean it... Joseph..." Sebastian slurred from beside me.

"You're lucky he's here..." I scoffed, pushing him into the bar, knocking over a few glasses.

"I'm taking you home, Sebastian," I wrapped his arm around my neck. He could barely stand and it just pissed me off even more. As I approached the exit, I heard Sarah call my name.

"Where are you going?" She looked at Sebastian and a frown dawned on her face. "Joseph, he's not your responsibility. You already have so much going on..."

"I'm going to help him. Thanks for taking me out, but I won't leave him alone with him..."

"Just text me if you need anything," she scoffed. I nodded, going for the exit.

━ ★ ━

What's your favorite kid's cartoon? Lemme know in the comments!

Hope you enjoyed the Chapter!

Sincerely, R.J