Donna lay pressed against Raph in the hammock, doing her best to comfort him. Having used up the last of his supply of pills earlier that day, he was already in the early stages of withdraw.
They were waiting for everyone to go to sleep so that they could sneak out. For some reason, some of them had decided to stay up late. The longer they had to wait, the worse Raph would get. If they didn’t leave soon, he wouldn’t be able to leave at all.
“You okay?” Donna whispered.
Raph lifted his hand to show her that it was starting to shake. “I feel tingly.”
“We’ll leave soon,” she promised.
“Maybe we should wait,” Raph said. “I don’t want to cause Don anymore stress than he’s already under. You can go and get me more pills and we can do this after he’s had the baby.”
“We start down that path you will keep finding reasons to put this off.” Donna shook her head. “We do this now. You back out, I will tell them.”
“Fine,” Raph huffed, turning his head away.
“Donny will be fine,” Donna said, kissing Raph’s cheek.
They waited in silence for the others to go to bed. When they could no longer hear any noise, they waited a little longer before Donna got up to check.
The lights in the lair were off with the exception of a few nightlights. With the note explaining that they had decided to go on a lovers’ retreat, in her hand, Donna made a dash to the dining room to leave it on the table. It was the best cover story she could come up with.
With that done, Donna collected a few more items and then snuck out with Raph.
To avoid Don’s security cameras, they stayed out of the secured tunnels. This caused Donna to be on high alert. If anyone were to attack now, Raph was in no condition to fight them off. She was their only defender and that fact made her uneasy.
Raph was equally anxious to get to relative safety. Though he shivered uncontrollably and his movements were stiff, he pushed himself, leading the way to his hideout.
When they reached the location, Donna wasn’t surprised to see that it was an old subway station. She followed Raph as he made his way past the turnstiles and deeper into the abandoned structure. What did surprise her was the large tree, growing in the middle of one of the rooms.
“It’s beautiful,” she said as she peered up into the branches. She had never seen a live tree before. She like the way it smelled.
Raphael had tied his supplies to the branches in an attempt to keep the vermin away. Reaching into one of the baskets, he pulled out a long rope and handed it to Donna. “It will probably be best if you tie me to the tree. That way I can’t escape… or hurt you… when the withdraws get really bad.”
“As long as everything is well padded,” Donna said, running her hand along the rough bark. “I don’t want you getting rope burn or hitting your head against the tree.”
Raph nodded. “I’ve got blankets and cushions to set up against the tree and some wrist guards.” He was suddenly overcome with a full body shiver and had to lean against the tree for support. “The sooner you tie me up the better,” Raph stated. “The cravings are getting bad.”
“Alright,” Donna said and then got to work setting up where Raph was going to spend the next few weeks.
She laid out a make shift nest against the tree using the cushions and blankets while Raph put on the pair of wrist guards. Digging in her own supplies, she pulled out a package of disposable mattress protectors. Raph wasn’t going to be able to move whenever he needed to relieve himself. The mats would make it easier for cleanup and disposal.
Raph saw the pad and, understanding what they were for, he looked away in shame. The next few days were not going to be pleasant for either of them.
Donna then tied one end of the rope around Raph’s wrist and walked it around the tree while Raph settled himself on the nest. Making sure there was no way for Raph to reach the knots, Donna tied his other wrist.
“You okay,” she asked him when she was done. “Give it a test.”
Raph struggled against his restraints, doing his best to find a way to undo them. “I think they’re good,” he declared, out of breath after several attempts. “It’s uncomfortable but it will keep me in place.”
“What would you have done if I wasn’t here,” Donna asked, sitting beside him. “You wouldn’t’ve been able to tie yourself to the tree.”
“I probably would have continued doing what I have been all this time, kept making excuses and putting it off,” Raph confessed, “putting my family in danger every time I left to get more drugs.” He let out a deep breath and shook his head. “I don’t want to do this.”
“I’m here,” Donna soothed. “I’ll help you get through this.”
“It’s not gonna be pretty,” Raph said. “I looked up what happens during withdraws. I’m gonna be a nightmare.”
“I know,” Donna replied, caressing the top of Raph’s head. “I can handle it.”
Raph’s good eye filled with tears. “I can get mean.”
Donna did her best to smile. “I know. I’ll try not to take anything you say to heart.”
“I’m sorry,” Raph sobbed. “You shouldn’t have to do this. I’m afraid you’re gonna hate me when this is all done.”
“I’m not gonna hate you.” Donna wiped the tears from his cheek and kissed his beak. “You can make it up to me later.”
“I’m scared,” he said in a harsh whisper. “What if something goes wrong?”
“I’m scared too,” Donna admitted. “But, it has to be done.”
They had a rough road ahead of them. One where many things could go wrong. Donna was going to have to keep him clean and hydrated while dealing with his outbursts.
Donna hoped that the area they were in was secluded enough that no one could hear him. If one of their enemies stumbled upon them, there would be no way she alone would be able to keep them safe.
“It already hurts so much,” Raph said, closing his eye as he body shivered. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this. I functioned okay on the pills. The only reason I failed in the tournament was because I had to cut back to make what I had left last. If I had been taking my normal amount, I would have made it further.”
Donna shook her head. “You have to do this,” she insisted.
“Why?” Raph pleaded. “I need them. I’m in pain without them.”
“The pain is the withdraws,” Donna argued. “Your body is lying to you because it wants more drugs. Once you get through this, the pain will go away.”
“You don’t know that,” Raph snapped.
“No, I don’t,” Donna admitted, trying her best not to let his anger get to her. “If you still have pain when this is over then we can talk to Donny or Dr. Chaplin about how to manage it, safely.”
“Or I can just keep taking the pills,” Raph insisted.
“Where are you going to get them” Donna asked him. “Hun? What if he decides to lace them with something? It could kill you. What if he catches you? If you don’t get them from Hun, are you going to rob a hospital? You’d have to if you want the dosage you were taking. You gonna tell your brother? Donny won’t give them to you and I’m not gonna get them for you.”
“You’re right,” Raph said through clenched teeth. “I know you’re right. But, I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t like this at all. I’ve had the flu and it was nothing compared to this.”
Donna held up a bottle of water for Raph to drink. “Would you like me to call your family? Maybe Dr. Chaplin will be able to help you better than I can.”
Hastily swallowing some of the water, Raph shook his head. “No. I still don’t want them to know about this. I’d rather suffer than have them know. Please, don’t call them.”
“Okay,” Donna agreed and held the bottle back up to his lips. “Drink some more but not too fast, you don’t want to upset your stomach.”
Raph took a few more, steady swigs from the bottle. When he drank about half, Donna set the bottle aside and got to work sorting the supplies.
Raph had stocked several nonperishable items like peanut butter and crackers along with water and some canned foods. They had enough supplies to get them through the next few weeks.
“Can you not do that right now,” Raph requested. “All that banging is making my headache worse.”
The pain in his voice made Donna’s heart ache. “Okay,” she replied quietly. She had been barely making any noise at all. “Do you need anything?”
“Just quiet,” Raph whispered.
“I’ll let you try and rest then,” Donna said.
Donna set up her sleeping mat in the far corner of the room. She wanted to be in the same room as Raph, just in case, but, if he was already having a sensitivity to sound, she also wanted to give him his space.
It had only been six hours since he had taken his last pill. Things were going to get worse long before they would start to get better.
Pulling her doll from her bag, Donna held it tight and she tried to get some sleep while she still could.
