Alternative Treatment?

Phone calls at eight thirty or any earlier are as annoying as hell. I slouch from my bed to the landline, yawning and stretching along the way. I heard a deep voice on the phone greet me and I instantly knew it was fedora man. He chattered on and on and on about taking care of Gee and had mentioned sending an extra envelope of cash and some painkillers.

"Painkillers?" I questioned. I don't remember a gift ever being painkillers before. "What are the painkillers for?"

"They're for your patient," he answered.

"His name is Gerard..." I blurted out. "But why does he need painkillers?"

There was a long pause. When I say long, I don't mean thirty seconds or five minutes long. I mean a good fifteen minutes of absolute silence. I looked behind me and saw Gerard frying eggs and smiling as he laid them on plates neatly on the table. He was such a nice kid.

"Aha! Okay, then, I have information for you," fedora man said. "Before he was sent to me, he was injured pretty badly."

Okay. That explains the painkillers. "How badly?"

"There's a rumor that he might have fallen from a bridge due to so many other prisoners trying to push him off the ledge, and succeeded," he replied grimly. "Those prisoners were already sentenced to the rope, and their crime didn't change anything."

I didn't react, so he continued. "We weren't sure what he felt; if he felt sick, hurt, or if it was hurting like a bitch. There's this new gaseous compound, sort of like that one you used to get in the dentist when you were a boy except it lasts longer, a two days and..."

"Oh. Okay. Um, I have to get going," I hung up and ran into my room, locking the door.

Keep it together Frank. Who the hell am I kidding. I had that compound when I was thirteen and I acted like I was a kindergartener. It's been...two days since he got the compound. Fuck. Tomorrow he's gonna be the criminal he really is.

Tomorrow isn't today.

I unlocked the door. Gerard had everything ready in the kitchen and motioned for me to join him. It was fried eggs and bacon. "Thanks, sweetie," I laughed and ruffled his hair.

"You like it?" he asked, grinning wide.

I stabbed a piece with my fork and tasted it. " I love it."

"Yay!"

Right. I'm living with a criminal who's going to snap tomorrow. Whoopty-fucking-doo.

Notes

Twist! I guess Frank will see who Gerard really is...and hopefully it'll surprise him.

Shits going down.
I learned that it's never smart to ask a doctor 'what's the worst that could happen?' with your condition, only a couple weeks before you get a blood test and a cat scan. It scares the living shit out of me now.