"So, what's going on at home?" Kie asked, Joey hung on the bars to avoid touching any more of the water. "Joey?"

"I can't talk right now, Kie." she spoke, her voice was low and like she was out of breath.

"Hey, are you okay?" she looked up at her.

Joey ignored her, holding her head up to get as much air from the drain as possible. There was a sudden noise, the water picking up. Joey looked toward the drain. "What was that?"

"No, no, no." Kie panicked. "Guys, the water!"

"No." Joey panicked, trying to push the drain up. "No! No! Let me out, let me out! JJ! Pope!"

"Come back!" Pope yelled out.

"We don't have time!" Kie called, climbing up the latter with Joey.

"Please!" Joey begged, hitting the drain. "Please! Please!"

"Jo!" Kie panicked, grabbing onto her. Joey pulled her up.

"Push, come on." Joey cried as she encouraged Kie to help push on the drain.

"Kie! Joey!" the boys yelled out, sprinting down the road to get to the manhole.

"JJ! Pope!" Joey cried, hitting the drain. "Get us out, please!"

"The waters coming up!" Kie cried as the water came to their waist. Joey was trying to shove it away, climbing as high as she could and pushing up to the drain.

"Hang on, hang on!" Pope kneeled down as JJ did the same. They latched onto the drain, pulling.

"Pope, please, please." Kie begged as the water got to their necks.

"Get it away! Get it off!" Joey cried out in a panic, her fingers pushing through the holes. "JJ, please!"

"I'm trying Jo, i'm trying!" he called back in a panic, his fingers touched hers as they pulled.

"I-" Joey began, being cut off as water flooded over her head. Panic set in, gripping the well and later while every single things flooded her mind, as if the water was a memory. Yet, it all lead back to her mom. Just her mom.

The drain was open, the girls coming up on each side.

"Oh, holy shit." JJ ran a hand through his hair, leaning down as Joey choked up water. "Oh my god, Joey. Can you breath?"

"Get away." she begged, pushing his hands off. "I'm gonna get you sick."

"It's just water, J-" he started.

"It's not just water!" she cried out, pulling herself out of the drain. Somehow, being under water and right now weren't much different, because she couldn't breath with either.

"Pope, get off of me!" Kie yelled as Pope tried to comfort her, feeling overwhelmed from the water. "Jo, are you okay?"

But, she didn't answer. How could she when she took off in a sprint? The pogues called for her, panic setting in. But, Joey ran. She ran and passed Rafe Cameron right by the drain. Only, she couldn't stop to give him what he deserved, because her head and her feet wouldn't stop.

With zero clue where she was going, Joey just continued to run.

"Joey?" Topper knocked on the door. He didn't expect her to show up, not being able to breath and panicking. She didn't even know that's where she was going, but, that's where she ended up. "You okay?"

Joey leaned on the wall of the shower, her heart was beating so fast that it made it hard to breath, made it hard to think. She couldn't talk, her head was spinning. Yeah, she was alive, but what was to come? Infection that would lead to death? Disease that would put her in a coffin? Catch what her mom had and end up like her?"N-No."

"O-Okay." Topper panicked, because usually a shower would cure her panic and fear. "What can I do? Is something wrong?"

Joey was looking for a breath, scrubbing her swollen red skin from how hard she'd already been scrubbing. A cry left her lips, whimpering as she squeeze the curtain. Topper knocked on the door. "Joey!"

"Top." she cried. "I'm gonna get so sick!"

"Okay, i'm gonna come in." he spoke, opening the door. "Come on, i'm gonna take you to the hospital. It's gonna be okay."

Joey turned the shower off, accepting the towel he passed when she reached her hand out. Her curtain pulled back when she had it secure around her, sobbing as he shook his head. "Hey, hey. It's gonna be okay, we're gonna go."

"They won't help." she cried, grabbing his hands as he helped her out. "It was in my lungs!"

"You're gonna be okay." he promised, hurrying to his room. "Okay, put some clothes on."

He pulled a tee over her head for her, having it go over the towel as Joey pulled the sweatpants on before being able to drop the towel. Topper nodded his head. "Okay, you ready?"

Joey nodded her head, following him down the steps, stilling crying. "I'm gonna die, Top."

"You're not gonna die." he promised her, getting his keys. "It's gonna be okay."

"Yes, I am." Joey sobbed, following him into the garage.

"It's gonna be okay, Jo." he spoke fast, whipping the seat off with a disinfectant. "See? It's all clean, come on."

Holding her hand, he helped her into the seat and buckled her seat belt. Her wet curls dripped on the red tee he'd given her, reaching up and whipping her tears, though it didn't do much. "We're going, just hang on."

He hurried to get into the other side, starting the car up and backing it up. "You gotta tell me what happened."

"The drain filled up." she spoke through her cried, scratching her skin. In her eyes, there were welps, swollen skin, blisters. But, to anyone else, she was just red from the shower and scrubbing. "There was so much stuff down there. But, Kie needed me."

"Your friends made you go in?" he looked over. "The drains? Do they know how dangerous that is?"

"You have to hurry!" Joey begged, her skin getting worse in her eyes. "It's getting worse!"

He looked over in a panic, seeing her scratching her skin so hard it started to bleed. "Joey, Joey. Hey, you gotta stop. You're gonna hurt yourself."

"There's so many!" Joey cried, the blisters on her skin only getting worse the more she scratched them away. "Oh my god, get them off!"

"There's nothing there!" Topper tried to calm her down. "Joey, you're bleeding. Stop it."

He reached over, grasping one of her hands tightly, speeding down the road. "Look, we're almost there. Just stay calm."

Joey braced braced herself, holding onto his hand as well as the door. In an attempt to breath, she was taking raged and panicked breaths. "I can't do this. I can't do it."

"You're okay, Jo. You're okay." he promised her, taking a sharp curve into the ER and stopping near the front. "Look, we're here."

Getting out, he circled the car quickly to grab ahold of her arms. He held her right arm over his shoulder, helping her into the ER. "Can I get some help here!"

"What happened?" a nurse ran their way, another close behind.

"I don't know, she's having a hard time breathing and is freaking out." Topper spoke as the nurse put Joey in the wheelchair. "Something about a drain, I don't know, she can't talk much."

"We're gonna take care of her." the nurse promised, hurrying her down the hall.

"I can't come with her?" Topper called in a panic, only he was ignored, having to stay back while Joey was rushed away.

She'd received a sedative to calm her down, multiple test being scanned. Joey had gotten a room, Topper being taken back to see her. He walked in with a grin. "Hey."

Joey looked his way. "Hey."

She was still in his clothes, her curls dried slightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." she said honestly, nodding to the IV in her arm. "Did they tell you anything?"

"No. Nothing yet." he pulled the chair in the corner close to her bed. His eyes looked to her arms, seeing the scratched and a few cuts. "They fix those up for you?"

"They'll heal, not deep." she said, looking his way. "I did three scans and a urine test. They said they'll get them back soon."

"Okay." he grabbed her hand. "You're gonna be fine, you know."

Joey met his eye, shaking her head. "No, i'm not."

Before he could say anything, the doctor had walked in. "Josephine?"

Joey nodded her head, the doctor looked to Topper. "You look too young to be considered her guardian?"

"Oh, no." Topper gave a forced chuckle. "I'm the one that brought her in."

"Well, because she's under eighteen, we need a parental guardian here with her." the doctor gave a tight lipped smile. "Anyone we can call?"

Topper looked toward Joey, seeing a small shake of her head. "Well, we can call my grandfather. He's pretty busy though. If you have Judge Holder on speed dial, i'm sure he can get down here as quick as possible."

The doctor blinked. "Judge Holder?"

Topper nodded, the doctor shook his head. "That's okay. Josephine, all your scans came back clean. It seems like you had a pretty bad panic attack, which is why you were feeling like you couldn't breath."

Joey shook her head. "That's it?"

"That's it." he answered with a head shake. "You had a faint fever but some ibuprofen could cure that. I am gonna order you in some Fluoxetine, to help calm you down in your future."

Joey looked at Topper, he gave a nod. "Are you sure my scans were clear?"

"As a whistle." he flashed her a small smile. "Panic Attacks are very sever, in cases like yours, they can be seen as a horrible pain. We take them serious here, which is why i'm gonna order you this medication to help you out. What pharmacy do you want to use, and we don't have your insurance on file?"

"I don't have insurance." Joey shook her head. "Ugh, I have money though."

"Don't worry about it, I can handle it." Topper looked at the doctor with a head nod. "Can I pay upfront?"

"Sure." the doctor nodded his head.

"Okay, good deal." Topped looked to Joey. "Do you have a pharmacy?"

She shook her head, he looked back to the doctor. "We're gonna use CVS."

"Okay, we're gonna get you all set up." the doctor gave her a smile. "We're gonna let your IV finished, then you're free to go."

She gave a single nod. "Thank you."

He left, leaning Joey to look at Topper guilty. "I'm so sorry, Topper."

"Don't even worry about it." he shook his head at her, checking how much IV she had left. "We've got the money."

"No, for making you bring me here." she shook her head at him. "This is so stupid, I acted like a fucking idiot."

"Panic attacks are serious." he sat down on her bed with her. "Plus, you had a valid reason, you know? Your mom died because she got sick. I can understand why you'd loose your shit if you got stuck in a drain."

Joey gave a tiny smile. "Thanks, Top."

"It's all good." he shook his head at her. "Wanna go home?"

"Yeah." she exhaled, sitting up in the bed.

•

kylie speaks

one thing i really love about
this book is how joey plays a
part with the pogues. she doesn't feel like she necessarily
fits in with them, despite truly
loving them ofc, but it's clear that she didn't bond with them
the same way, take sarah for
example, did. so, writing her to
help the pogues, but also having
her own storyline to go along
with it, is so fun to write. i can't
wait for you guys to see how
she helps in charleston.