It felt like the world was spinning uncomfortably even as he lay with his eyes closed, willing his mind to regain consciousness. His head was pounding unforgivingly as the intense ache and agony that was his body started to register.

A low and pained groan escaped when Ricky shifted his head, feeling the tug on his scalp where his hair was stuck to the hard surface underneath him. He pulled it free carefully, wincing at the pain stinging across his scalp—the grimace hurting his face. His hair felt sticky and stiff.

Blinking, he slowly tried to open his eyes, but the left was swollen firmly shut, and his vision on the right was hazy and blurred, his eye watering from the harsh sunlight above.

Attempting to take a deep breath, Ricky discovered his nose was blocked and was immediately hit by a coughing fit, sending an all too familiar pain shooting through his ribcage. He tried to still the coughs, the contractions in his chest and stomach making him feel even worse.

Without warning, the vomit rose to his throat from nausea and he quickly rolled over and regurgitated, crying out when the pain in his body intensified. Dry heaving and gasping for air, Ricky spat out thick saliva before falling onto his back with a grimace and a groan.

Lying next to the stinking pool of sick with his eyes closed, the memory of everything rushed back, making him realize the sharp prickle he felt in his shoulders and back wasn't scattered pebbles, but broken glass.

How long had he been lying there? Too long. He could feel the heat radiating off his skin from the sunburn covering his naked chest. He knew he had to move, get out of the sun, but his body felt too weak, his head too heavy.

After some time of trying to gather his stamina, Ricky willed himself to move. He slowly pushed himself up with a great effort, giving himself time to collect what strength he had to keep going, ignoring the glass biting into his left hand—the right too sore and swollen to even use, both smeared in blood. Looking through the broken panoramic window, he hazily saw the ruin of his room and the pile of things he had to climb in order to get out of the sun.

He ineptly tried to brush away pieces of broken glass before he grabbed the window frame to heave himself up, only to collapse on top of his tumbled desk chair in a yell from the pain shooting through his feet. He hit his chin on his broken TV in the fall, biting his tongue and tasting blood. Everything went white before his eyes for a second, the throbbing in his right hand intensifying as he'd automatically used it to soften the fall.

Ricky lay uncomfortably on top of everything, feeling extremely dizzy, only taking small shallow breaths. He tried to push the chair out of his way and clumsily crawled to his bed. Setting his jaw, he put weight on his feet again, groaning at the intense pain when he got up and collapsed on his bed—hardly feeling his sunburned skin scream as his mind quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

His long legs were hanging off the end of the bed that stood askew from the wall when he came to. Once again, it took Ricky a while to break free of the haziness and make sense of his whereabouts. Why his entire body was screaming in agony. He moved a hand to his face, hissing through his teeth when he touched the swollen and sensitive skin that kept his left eye firmly shut.

He needed to call Sebastian. He needed help, and the only one he could think of calling was Baz. Ricky pulled himself further up the bed, becoming painfully aware of his warm and sunburned skin, reaching for his phone, miraculously still placed on the drawer chest next to the bed. He pressed the speed dial for Sebastian and held the phone to his ear, listening as it rang. It sounded distant in his heavy mind.

"Yeah," Sebastian's voice sounded on the other end when he picked up.

"Baz..." Ricky groaned, his face partly buried in the mattress.

"Yeah. Are you okay? You sound weird."

"I need help." Ricky exhaled heavily.

"What's wrong? You sound kind of drowsy." Sebastian's voice became worried.

"I— I can't... Just come over."

"Ricky, did you OD? Do you need me to call an ambulance?" Sebastian's voice was now severe and slightly panicked.

"No. No amb— Just come." Whether he ended the call or not, Ricky didn't know as the darkness overtook him once again.