Mike Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Chapter 10

It was itching. Everywhere he itched. His pale skin felt was if there were some sort of creature that kept moving underneath it. Chester slapped his arm as he stared at the skin; watching it turn red. He slapped it harder in the same spot. It turned a deeper red and stung a bit. The blond slapped it harder again...and again. Soon, that spot was almost blood red. He didn't know why, but it helped him.

Chester needed a break from everything else. Right now he needed pain to distract them. Tears spilled from his eyes as he dug his finger nails into the red spot. Chester couldn't get very deep because they made sure to keep his nails as low as possible. Nonetheless, he scraped the nails back and forth on the skin, breaking it and widening the wounds he was making.

Once he had enough, he laid back in the chair and sighed. He felt better, but he didn't feel good enough. He depressingly looked around the room. He couldn't believe Mike had been cooped up in this room for weeks. Even now the tight corners made him want to scream at the top of his lungs. Just the thought of Mike summoned this almost unbearable anguish. The slim man wrapped his arms around himself as his body hitched from the violent sobs.

He'd lost lovers before to Mrs. Fletcher, but this time...it felt different. Mike was different from the past guys he loved. Something about the two of them being together just felt...right.

The more he thought about it, the more Chester felt almost completely out of control. He never truly had control, everyone else did, but right now, in this moment, he wish he had all control over his situation. If things went the way he wanted them to, he'd be leaving Notting Hill State Hospital and he and Mike would be driving in some old convertible, their destination being Yager Hill...

//

"Chester I'm serious! I want to take you there! It's so beautiful," Mike said as he held the other man in a haphazard cuddle.

"I bet it is..." Chester began, "But...how do you suppose we get there when we're both here...with no foreseeable departure?" Mike looked at the blond as if he didn't recognize him.

"When did you start talking like a smart snob?" Mike asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I dunno. Maybe it's the new book you got me," Chester said, laughing a bit.

"Ah, well, I'll make sure to pick out some children's books next time. That'll suit your speech better."

They both laughed as Chester sent a elbow into Mike's stomach. The asian gave out a mock groan and then pulled the blond man in for a proper cuddle.

"I am though. I'm really serious. We have to get out of here one day. You and me, hand in hand," Shinoda said softly, rubbing Chester's left shoulder as he spoke.

"And then we can get into that old convertible you told me about?" Chester said, staring dreamy eyed into Mike's eyes.

"Yup. And ride up to Yager Hill. And that's where I'll claim you...," Mike began to place kisses along the other man's neck, working his way up to an earlobe, in which he took into his mouth and suckled on. He knew it drove Chester crazy.

Chester left out a sigh and enjoyed the affection. Although he loved it all so much, he knew they didn't have much more time left before Mrs. Fletcher would be coming in and they certainly didn't have alot of time left before the guards went on patrol.

"Mike...," Chester struggled to say in between Mike's gentle suckles on his ear, "Mike. You gotta go. Nurse Flecter will be here any moment..."

//

The steel door opened with an alarming bang and in rushed Mrs. Bennington. A strange look was on her face, one Chester couldn't decipher. It seemed full of all the emotions one could feel, all the negative ones anyways. Kingsley followed closely behind with the same strange expression...except, Kingsley's seemed more sadden than anything else.

"Momma..., I'm so sorry," Chester whispered, his words mashing together as he fought the words out of his mouth in between sobs.

She said nothing, just stood there and stared at him. Why wasn't he normal? Why couldn't he grow up normally and continue the family business. Be wealthy, have a beautiful wife and kids. Live on the Rochester Hills. The American Dream. That's what Mrs. Bennington wanted for her boy. That's all she ever wanted. But as she stared at him now, she knew that dream was long lost.

Mrs. Fletcher's infamous heel clicks sounded and soon enough she was standing in the doorway, clipboard in hand.

"Mr. Bennington," Nurse Fletcher began as she closed the steel door as softly as she could. "Your mother and I conversed with Dr. Simons."

Chester could care less what they talked about. And the indifference in the Head Nurse's voice suddenly made him angry. Why was she here? What could she possibly do to him now? All Chester cared about was if Mike was alright.

"...And?" The pale man asked softly.

"And...we discussed this...situation you've gotten yourself into," Fletcher replied, trying her best not to sound completely stolid. "Chester...we've decided that you'd be best of--"

"Where's Mike?" Chester groaned.

"I'm sorry?" Fletcher asked, stepping closer to the bed.

"Where's. MIKE?" Chester screamed. The increase in volume caused Mrs. Bennington to jump.

"Mike? Don't worry about Mr. Shinoda, Chester," Nurse Flecter said firmly, her tone starting to get cold. "You and Mr. Shinoda are no more."

"Forget him Chester. Forget about it all. We're taking you some place else," Mrs. Bennington said, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stepped closer to the bed. "We're taking you some place where you won't have to worry about all this. Someplace where you can get better."

"For what mother? Huh? For fucking WHAT?" Chester yelled, sitting up in the bed.

"Chester...calm down," Nurse Fletcher said coldly, reaching in a pocket and pulling out a syringe.

"No. I won't calm down. Go ahead, drug me. I don't give a fuck! You've taken everything from me that makes me whole. So just drug me and send me someplace else where I can lose more of myself," Chester continued to yell, stepping out of the bed and walking toward his mother.

"And you. You've done nothing but make me suffer. I never knew your love. I never expected to have it. All of THIS to make me BETTER? What's so wrong with the way I am? Huh? What's so FUCKING wrong?" Chester now was grabbing his mother by the jacket, shaking her, pleading for an answer.

Nurse Fletcher began to step forward with the syringe, but Mrs. Bennington yelled for her to stop.

"No more. No more drugging. Just stop!" Mrs. Bennington said to Fletcher, never once looking away from her son's eyes. She hadn't been this physically close to her son in years. She could see the struggle in his eyes. The effect this place had on him. Was she really hurting him? Was this something she couldn't fix? Was this something meant to be fixed? She didn't know. But she knew for sure that this place was no longer an appropriate option for her son.

"I love you Chester. I always have and I always will," Mrs. Bennington said, holding her son's arms as she continued to hold the front of her jacket with his fists.

"Then why can't you accept me for the way I am? Why can't you accept that I'm attracted to men? Why...why can't you accept that I love Mike? That I love him?" Chester asked softly now, loosening his grip on her jacket. "Momma...you love Daddy right?"

"Yes," She replied before wiping a tear from her cheek, "Of course I do."

"Then you know what love feels like. Then you know what it can do to you when you can't reach it. Could you imagine someone keeping you away from him? Could you imagine someone ripping him out of your life because they think it's the RIGHT thing for you?"

"Momma...I love Mike. I love him more than anything I've ever loved in my life. I love him more than my own existence. Please. Please understand."

"There's nothing for her to understand Chester. Like I said earlier, you and Mike are no more. His business is his own and now you have your own business. Please move on Mr. Bennington," Nurse Fletcher said as she scribbled notes in her clipboard.

"FUCK YOU!" Chester roared as he left go of his mother and charged toward Fletcher. Kingsley stopped him dead in his tracks. The butler pleaded for Chester to calm down, but it was hopeless.

"Tell me where he is! Tell me where Mike is you bitch! I swear to God I'll kill you if you do anything to him! TELL ME WHERE HE IS!"

***

Mike awoke to a pain he'd never felt before. It swam in every corner of his head, pounding and pounding. He cracked open his eyes and looked around. He was in his regular room and a cute nurse sat by his side, watching a portable black and white television. From the sound of it, she was watching a daytime soap. Mike grumbled a bit and decided to attempt to sit up.

"Oh! Mr. Shinoda you're awake!" The nurse said excitedly. "Now you take it easy. That's it. Take it slow." She helped him sit up and hurried to place some pillowes behind his back.

"What the hell happened?" Mike whispered, reaching toward his head, feeling wrappings.

"Well, the doctors made you all better." The nurse said, walking toward her television and turning it off. "You've got to take it easy for the next couple days. We've got a wheel chair right here for you. Feel up to trying it out?"

Mike glanced over to the wheel chair at the foot of his bed. Even as the nurse began to push it toward the side of the mattress, he felt as if each second that clicked by sapped energy from him. Shinoda swayed a bit as a dizzy spell over took him.

"Oh no. You're definitely not ready. How about you take another nap."

The next day Mike awoke to a less intense tiredness and to a new nurse. This one wasn't as pretty, but she was just as nice. He learned her name was Vanessa. Venessa helped him into the wheelchair, he felt he was ready for it.

"So what now?" He asked her, looking around the room.

"Well...you're free to leave the room if you feel up to it."

The open door in front of him seemed so scary for some reason. He'd been in closed rooms for so long, he forgot what the outside felt like. Mike turned his head to the window. Now that outside was a whole 'nother animal. He was afraid, but Mike was never the type to let fear rule him, so he grabbed the sides of the wheelchair and allowed the nurse to wheel him out.

"Ok, so Brad have you every confronted your wife on these things? Have you ever told her how you felt?" Mrs. Fletcher asked, her eyes scanning the group of men for any looks of thought.

"Still talking about that bitch?" Mike said as Vanessa wheeled him in.

The group of men burst out laughing and then began to cheer once they all realized who it really was. Brad even laughed. Everyone seemed glad to see Mike again, except for Mrs. Fletcher of course.

"Ah. Mr. Shinoda, so glad to see you out and about," She said with feigned happiness.

"Yeah. Me too...," Mike began as he glanced across the seated men.

No Chester.

"Where's Chaz?" Mike asked Joe.

Mrs. Fletcher's eyes flashed toward Joe.

"Mike...he's...he's..."

"What? Where is he?" Mike asked loudly, turning his eyes toward the Head Nurse. "Where is my Chaz?"

"Mr. Bennington is no longer a ward of this hospital. Now we must get back to our meeting. We were having a grand discussion before you came along, so if you would like to join, please behave."

Mike sat there, stunned. He looked back over the group of men, his eyes falling on each of them. Each of them sent gazes toward him that said nothing but "I'm sorry."

When the tears fell...he knew they'd never stop.
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