Warning: This is going to be a bit darker than my other stories. I do have a dark side and I'm not going to ignore it all the time. There wont be any sex for awhile so don't cry about it in the comments section either :) But stick with it if you want to. It will have a happy ending.
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Jackson was woken in the middle of the night by the blood curdling scream. His wife next to him sat up and pulled the blanket up to her chest and clutched it in fear.
"What the hell was that!?" She shouted at Jackson.
"Fuck if I know..." Jackson said.
"Go find out!" She yelled and shoved him. He got out of bed and put on his robe and slippers. The screaming could still be heard. It was loud and drawn out, full of pain.
He stepped out of his apartment labeled 'Landlord' several of his tenants had stuck their heads out of their doors. A few asked him what was going on but he had no answer for their questions. Some doors had parents looking into the hallway with their frightened children grasping their legs or night clothes. Some wives held the children while their husbands investigated but everyone looked scared and confused.
Only one door had not been opened and Jackson knew that to be Nikolai's apartment. He wondered if the screaming was coming from his room but he doubted that. Nikolai was always very quiet and kept to himself. Never made problems with the other tenants or Jackson himself. Always paid his rent on time.
Now that he thought about it Jackson hadn't talked to Nikolai more than three or four times over the 5 years he had lived there. Everyone continued to look up and down the hallway for the source of the screaming. Or at least an explanation. Every door was open now except for Nikolai's.
Everyone looked at the only unopened door. The screaming was beginning to quiet now and it was only the occasional cry of agony, rather than the long, drawn out, glass shattering screams. Jackson pulled his robe around him tighter and walked towards the door. A few men and women stepped out of their apartments and followed him but most stayed inside. But all eyes stayed on him.
He looked behind him nervously and was slightly comforted by the large men and concerned looking women who backed him up. He knocked roughly on the door.
"Nikolai? Whats going on? Are you alright." He shouted, to be heard over the screams that had stopped suddenly.
"Nikolai I'm coming in." He said. He turned the door knob but it was locked. He patted the pockets in his robe as if he expected to find his keys there.
"Shit." He said. He ran back to his apartment and grabbed the keyring that held the keys to all the apartments. He searched for Nikolai's as he ran back to the door. By the time he got there he had found it and shoved the key in the lock.
The lock clicked as it unlocked and the small group pushed its way in with Jackson in the lead. He looked around the living room and it was all dark, no lights on at all. The room was clean and held only one or two pictures of Nikolai and another man Jackson had seen a few times with Nikolai.
The kitchen was empty and dark but Nikolai's door was closed. Jackson moved towards it and the group of men and women followed behind him closely.
He tried the door knob but it was locked.
"I don't have a key to the doors inside the apartments. They are down in the office." Jackson sighed.
"You mind if I kick it down?" A large man from the back said. Jackson remembered he was a fire fighter.
"Go ahead." Jackson moved aside and the man stepped forward. He knocked on the door and waited a moment.
"I'm kicking the door down move away from it." He shouted. He waited a second longer and when no reply was heard he stepped back and kicked the door near the knob. The door splintered a bit and he backed up again and this time rammed his shoulder into the weakened wood. The door split and he fell through into the bedroom.
The bedroom was spotless. The bed freshly made. The lights were off in here as well and there was a single piece of paper on the bed. The only light in the apartment came from the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar and the light was on casting a line of light onto the bed.
Jackson moved towards the bathroom door and pushed it open.
"Oh shit!" He said. He covered his mouth with his hand and tried to hold back the vomit rising in his throat. He bent over and turned away from the bathroom.
"Oh god, Someone call and ambulance. Shit. Don't look." He waved a hand at a woman who approached the bathroom. She swallowed and pushed the door open more. She immediately turned and vomited. Jackson still tried to hold it down but was struggling.
Someone ran back into the hallway and told someone to call an ambulance.
The man who had kicked down the door walked towards the bed. He picked up the neatly folded paper that sat in the center of the perfectly made bed.
It read only one thing.
'I'm sorry.'
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Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
'What the hell?' He thought to himself.
The constant steady beep beep invaded the soothing darkness of his mind. He slowly opened his eyes and winced at the brightness of the lights.
He thought for a moment maybe he had made it into heaven despite what he had done. Then he felt the itching burning on his arms.
He groaned and tried to swallow the dry, foul taste in his mouth.
'Why? Please god, Why?' He thought. He forced his eyes open and looked around.
He could tell he was in a hospital by the I.V. Hooked into his right hand. The sheets where crisp and clean. They were unwrinkled and folded back neatly. There was a chair sitting across the room in the corner under the T.V. That was turned on but was muted. It looked like it hadn't been sat in.
He noticed then that his arms and legs were strapped to the railing of the bed. The ones around his wrists were loose enough to allow the bandages that covered them to breathe but tight enough so he couldn't slip out of them. Or even move much. Not that he could. He tried to flex his hand but his fingers didn't respond to his brains command.
"You're lucky you survived." Said a voice from the doorway.
He turned and saw an older doctor with a clipboard walk in.
"You can't be lucky when you fail at something. It just doesn't work like that." Nikolai said, His voice was dry and hoarse and he was thirsty.
"Even if you try and kill yourself?" The doctor said and checked some of the machines next to the bed.
"Especially when you..... do that." Nikolai swallowed. He was embarrassed at what he had tried to do.
"Well then, WE, are lucky you survived." The doctor smiled and walked out of the room. Nikolai sighed and tried to flex his other hand. It only twitched in response but it was better then in right hand.
A nurse walked in and fiddled with the I.V. And Nikolai soon relaxed and the pain and itching in his arms became less. Despite what he did Nikolai didn't like pain.
"Could I get a drink of water please?" He asked the red headed nurse.
"Just a sec, hon." She smiled and left the room. She came back with a paper cup filled with ice chips. She put some in his mouth and they melted slowly. Nikolai felt better when his mouth had been rid of the gross taste. But he still wanted to brush his teeth.
'I shouldn't have to brush my teeth now.' He thought to himself. ' How pathetic do you have to be to fail at killing yourself.' he laughed at himself.
"Just to check to make sure this background information is correct. Your Nikolai Petrov?" She asked. He nodded his head mutely.
"29 years old?" He nodded silently again.
"Any family members or friends we should call?" She asked.
" I have no one." He said. She looked at him and frowned
'He looks so....Alone.' She thought.
"Any allergies we should know about?" He shook his head.
The nurse went on for a few more minutes about basic things they had to know. Soon she said she was done and she left. Nikolai was glad. He didn't want to be around anyone.
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Nikolai sat in the wheelchair across from the blonde woman in a suit. He looked around nervously and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. His arms draped lazily over the arms, settling his hands in his lap. He tried to occupy himself with flexing his right arm which still had not responded since he had woken up three days ago.
The blonde just stared at him like she expected something. He glanced up at her once or twice but said nothing.
