Life or Something like It

Here is chapter 2, I hope every body likes it. J Thanks so much for all the great reviews!

Chapter 2 Going home

His friends stayed by his side, hardly ever leaving him. Most of them had known something was off with the young Brit and they were all a little scared at what might happen if they were to leave him alone. As it was plane to see that the young man was suffering something fierce. They took care of his every need almost. Shipping off his stuff back to Canterbury England. Changing his bandages…cooking for him…Orlando behaved to the best of his ability during the day yet each night after they had tucked him into bed and bid him goodnight, Orlando would crawl out of bed and into the bathroom, he then would reach under the toilet where his little metal box was tapped, take out the shard of glass and cut himself. It had been just his arm for the first two nights yet now he did it at the top inner section of his thigh right next to his crotch. Slicing at least two inch long cuts each night. The pain allowed his life to go numb for a time, making him feel better. Washing off his glass shard…he tucked it back into the box and tapped it back up under the toilet bowl, before washing his leg off with some TP and crawling back to bed, allowing sleep to come.

Most nights two cuts allowed him peace, though once in a while he would wake in the night and need to go cut himself again to allow himself to relax enough to go back to sleep. So far his friends hadn’t suspected anything…he had been careful not to leave any blood splatters on the floor and he never used a real towel always TP so he could flush the evidence away.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity for Orlando, the morning came that he would be flying home…he knew that he would miss his friends terribly as they had all been great to him these past couple of days…yet at the same time he was ready to go home…back to a house that wasn’t full of memories of Viggo. Orli was very careful to grab the little metal box before leaving…stuffing it in one of the many pockets of his cargo pants…he also managed to grab a handful of bandages and stuffed those into his pocket as well.

His friends drove him to the airport hugged him goodbye and watched as he got of the plane heading home…he was originally going to be on the same flight as Billy and Dom though it had been decided that Orlando needed to get home sooner than later, so as it was he was taking a earlier flight.


Orlando watched out the window, as New Zealand became a distant spot circled by endless blue water. Sighing to himself…Orli looked up at the seatbelt sign willing it to turn off so he could go to the toilet, he needed to cut himself in the worst way…the pain was to great at the moment he couldn’t handle it. Trying to stay calm, he tried to remember to breath…in…out…in…out. Reaching down he squeezed his pocket…just the feel of the tin box and the knowledge of what was inside was enough to calm his aching nerves for a second. He tried to smile and the flight attendant asked him what he would like to drink and handed him some peanuts. Ordering a Jack and Coke, he growled when the lady asked to see his ID. Digging through his pockets he held it out for her to see hoping that she wouldn’t recognize the name. He wasn’t in the mood for the typical…OH THERES AN ACTOR ON THE PLANE thing. At least he wasn’t that well known…. well at least not yet. Smiling the lady handed him back his ID along with his drink. He was about half way through his drink when the seatbelt light finally turned off. Jumping out of his seat as quick as his legs could carry him he was heading toward the toilet. He managed to get there with only one person a head of him, but still cursing his luck…he needed relief now…life was getting too real…he needed to cut himself. Reaching inside his pocket his squeezed the metal box. And as luck would have it the person before him in line was quick.

Squeezing inside the toilet, Orlando locked the door. Pulling his pants down, Orlando closed the lid of the airplane toilet and sat down. Taking the shard in his hand he made first sure that his clothing was out of the way, before he got some toilet paper ready to press on the wound. When he was all set he stretched his leg as far out to the side as possible in the little space, placed the shard right next to his crotch on his inner thigh and pushed. The glass easily penetrated his soft skin leaving a trail of warm blood in its wake. His mind went numb and he was finally able to relax, pulling the glass away he moved to the other leg and repeated the process. Sighing in contentment, Orlando rinsed the shard off before tucking it back into its box and putting the box back into his pocket. Taking the TP he washed his thighs off and grabbing the Band-Aids he bandaged the cuts, before pulling his boxers and jeans back up. Washing off the toilet and his hands he exited the compartment and made his way back to his seat. Settling down to finish his drink and try to get some shuteye for a couple of hours.


It was luck that allowed sleep to come, and for the first time in several sleep attempts that he didn’t wake up in a cold sweat. The cutting that he had done only minutes before allowed his body to stay numb and he was able to sleep peacefully. It was evening meal when he woke…his body feeling relaxed and refreshed, ordering the chicken and pasta he relaxed back into his reclining chair and placed his CD of the band “P” in his disc man, contenting himself to listen to his music and look out the window while waiting for his food.


The meal was good nothing to write home about but decent for airplane food. Once finished he stretched out in his chair trying to relax…but something kept triggering him mind to the little tin box that he held in his pocket, sighing he stood and headed towards the toilet. The line was pretty small, yet Orlando found himself impatient as the woman ahead of him took their sweet time. Just as he was about to go in a woman with a little boy came up to him….
“Sir I know that you’ve been waiting here for a while but would you mind if Little Henry here goes first I’m afraid that he is going to make a puddle if he doesn’t get too?”


Not wanting to allow the kid to go first out of shirr need of release, Orlando paused and looked at the woman like she had ten eyes. He was about to be rude and say no when a little voice below him called out…

“Please mister…I gotta go really bad!”

Nodding in consent, he wobbled from one foot to the next and allowed the woman to pass. Reaching into his pocket he grabbed the tin, and smoothed his fingers over it…it wouldn’t be long now….

Luck didn’t appear to be one his side however, cause right when the lady and her lad exited the toilet, the plane hit a rather violent bump of turbulence… causing the plane to dance around, the seat belt lights came on, and a fight attendant grabbed his elbow,

“Sir I’m afraid that you are going to have to hold it, the Captain has order me to make everyone take their seats as we will be traveling through some rather nasty turbulence for the next several minutes.”

Orli tried to protest, but in the end he let the flight attendant win, the last thing he really needed was to slice to deep into himself, he they hit a bump of turbulence while he was in the toilet. Swallowing hard, he took his seat and tightened the seatbelt over his lap. Fingering the tin box, once again…Orlando prayed for the turbulence to stop he needed release and he needed it now…life was once again getting too real. He needed his numb cloud.

Finally after what seemed like hours, the turbulence stopped. Jumping out of his seat as fast as his legs could carry him, Orli ran to the toilet. Slamming the door shut as he heard several people laughing. Anger flared in his face, as it turned a nasty red color, stupid people! He thought angrily., Whipping the tin box out of his pocket, he grabbed the shard of glass, lifting up his shirt the sliced across his belly. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind, to try to get to his thigh or upper arm. The fact that, this mark would be easily seen didn’t register in his mind either. This cut was one of the deepest that he had made thus far, it hurt like hell too, and if he had been in the right frame of mind he probably would have cried out from the sting…but he wasn’t. Grabbing some TP as his mind finally found that dull numb feeling that it liked to retreat too, Orli tried to clean up his stomach and get a bandage on it. It took longer than the other cuts ever had…and by the time that he was finished his numb feeling had receded and he found that he was in need again. Growling in frustration, he lowered his pants and under garments and placed the sharp to his inner thigh…careful this time not to cut to deeply.

A bang on the door startled him,

“Sir are you alright you’ve been in there an awfully long time?” A lady’s voice questioned.

Orlando swore as the shard slipped from his hand and shattered into a million tiny pieces on the ground. Tears sprang to his eyes…his source of relief had been taken from him…

Growling out in a somewhat normal voice….

“I’m fine…it’s just that dinner didn’t agree with me…could you get me some 7up?”

“Right away sir…try putting your head between your knees…might help stop the spinning.”

Tears slipped past his eyes as he tried to control his emotions… reaching out for some TP he quickly cleaned the leg wound and pulled his pants back up… before kneeling on the floor and vomiting from the over whelming feeling of loss.

When nothing but dry heaves were left, Orli slowly opened the door and crawled out of the toilet back to his seat…trying to ignore the looks that people sent his way. Pulling himself up into his seat… he curled into a ball the best that he could in the limited space. Whimpering from the over whelming feeling engulfing him he tried to close his eyes, and relax. Minutes later the flight attendant brought him a cup of 7 up and an airplane blanket and pillow.

“Here you go Sir…Please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything else. Why don’t you try to get some sleep…the plane will be landing in about seven hours.”?


********************

Seven and a half hours later, a green skinned Orlando walked out of the terminal. One arm was wrapped tightly around his stomach while the other hand held his one bag of luggage. Giant black bags hung under his eyes, he looked as though he had been run over by a semi truck. The last hours of the plane ride had been shear torture…he hadn’t been able to sleep at all and he had continued to vomit at least twice every hour. Looking around the waiting room, he tried to smile when he saw his mother.

Sonia Bloom bounced to her feet when her eyes landed on her young son…the boy looked terrible.

“Orli honey…you look awful…are you feeling alright?”

“Mom…I feel horrible…I want to go home.”

“Oh honey, what happened?”
“I kept getting sick on the plane mom…I didn’t even sleep more than two hours the whole time…please can we go home?”

“Maybe we should stop off at the doctors and get you checked out…you might be coming down with something.”

“NO!!! Mom please can’t we just go home…I promise I’ll feel better once we get home and I get some sleep in my own bed… PLEASE?”

“Alright sweetheart…do you need to stop and get any bags?”

“No I shipped the rest of my stuff home…all I have is this one bag.”

“Alright then lets go…Sam is probably wanting to know where we are.”

Orlando nodded, and followed his mother. He was so glad to be home…relieved to know that it would only be another thirty minutes till he could do something about the pain…and he would finally be able to drift into his numb cloud and allow his body the much needed sleep that it craved.

Sonia led her son through the parking lot to the car; taking his one bag she threw it in the trunk. Opened the side passenger door for her son.

“Why don’t you recline the seat back and see if you can get some rest honey?”

“Okay mom.”

Thirty minuets later the car pulled into the driveway of their house. Sam, Orli’s sister came running at full speed out of the house and threw herself at Orli. Orlando in his weakened state barely managed to stay standing at her added weight bumping into him. Sam squeezed her brother in a tight hug, before stepping back keeping Orli at arms length to get a look at him. What met her eyes stopped her still…Her brother looked ready to drop…he was pale as a ghost.

“Orlando, you look terrible…what’s wrong?”

Trying to smile at his sister he mumbled…

“Nothing Sam I’m fine…just really tired and I kept getting sick on the plane I don’t think my stomach thought much of the airline food.”


Nodding Sam turned towards the house,

“Well what are you waiting for silly…lets get you up into bed.”

Orlando followed his sister into the house and up the stairs to his room, he was pleasantly surprised to find it just the way he left it…just thankfully the laundry pile and been removed washed and put away. Sitting down on the bed, he picked his pillow up and hugged it to his chest, and watched as his sister walked around the room shutting the blinds on his windows. Once the room was dark, she walked over to him and gently pushed him over backwards,

“Get some sleep little brother, call us if you need anything.”

Kissing him on the forehead she left the room.

Sonia Orlando’s mother entered the room, going over to the dresser she pulled out a pair of pajamas and handed them to Orlando…

“You’ll be more comfortable if you change honey.”

Leaving all thoughts there…she leaned forward also and gently kissed him on the cheek.

“Sleep well honey.”

Orlando waited till he was sure that both his mother and sister were downstairs before he stood and locked the door to his room. Stripping out of his cloths he headed into the bathroom, searching through the cabinets he smiled when he found a brand new razor. Careful not to cut his fingers, he took the razor apart.

Finally, he was prepared, and this time there was neither turbulence nor pushy people to get in his way. Tg thg the razor blade in his hand, he positioned it just inside his right thigh near his crotch and sliced the skin open… instantly all his pain and suffering vanished. Making another cut, Orlando watched the blood pool before making a river down his leg. Smiling to himself he made a third and final cut, this time a little deeper.

Walking back over to his bed, he picked up the pajama pants that his mother had handed him and slipped them on followed by a long sleeve t-shirt. Reaching into his pants pocket he pulled out the familiar tin box and placed his new toy inside, hiding it under his dresser. With everything in place, Orlando climbed into bed and switched off the bedside lamp. And slipped into a dreamless sleep.


>>>TBC

AN: I’m looking for a beta reader anyone want the job???? Also I don’t have clue when the next chapter is going to be up…my muse has ran away…and I have no time tomorrow to go looking for it since I have to work L! Sniff Sniff Bave ave no fear if it isn’t up tomorrow I will try to post two chapter Thursday…by the way does anyone know who Orlando’s agent is? Just let me know in your review if you do.

Thanks.