keep it up ? joshler ?

11

tyler stayed silent, unsure of how to respond.

"we should, um, get going..." josh said, "my car is right outside."

jenna nodded, walking over and pulling tyler up from the couch by his shoulders, making him groan as if he was a five year old who didn't want to take a bath.

the therapist's office was a boring brick building with elevator music playing on the speakers and beige colored chairs lining the waiting room. overall, tyler was certain there were a dozen cobwebs caught up in the ceiling corners it was so drab.

"hi," jenna greeted the secretary, "this is tyler joseph, for, um, dr. toro?"

the secretary, an old woman with ghostly white hair and glasses that just balanced on the tip of her nose, raised her chin before looking over a large binder that was laid out in front of her, scanning through it with the tip of her finger.

"ah, yes," she said at last, "and you're ten minutes late, too. shame. mr. joseph and mr. dun can find their ways to room 21, if you please."

the three nodded, and jenna told them she would be waiting in the waiting area if they needed anything. josh was the only one to respond, giving her a small smile and a quick, "thanks," before he took tyler's elbow and began walking down the hall.

creaking open the door, the man who was sitting inside met neither of their expectations. he wasn't a 60 year old man who was balding and wanted to sing songs about how great life was all day, but rather had long, curly brown hair which was parted down the middle and was pressed so it grew down instead of out. he had thick, black glasses and a flattened nose. he wore a black, leather jacket and an old band tee, black boots, and was humming to himself while drumming on the edge of his clipboard with a chewed up pen.

"dr. toro?" josh question as he and tyler slipped inside.

the doctor straightened up, his feet, which were previously propped up on a table, falling under him in an attempt to look professional.

"y-yes, yeah, actually! hi, come in, take a seat." he said, his high voice not matching his appearance at all.

tyler and josh both took a seat next to each other on the velvet couch, barely any space between them as tyler decided he didn't want to leave josh's side despite everything that happened.

he was being annoying and clingy, he knew, but right now he really needed josh.

"okay, so, first things first i guess," the doctor said, rubbing his eyes.

"dr. toro, i-" josh began, but was cut off.

"call me ray, and um, the people at the hospital told me everything already." he smiled. josh was glad, he seemed happy and laid back, exactly the type of person he knew tyler might be willing to open up to.

"so, tyler, it's kinda mandatory that we start you off with a lie detector, you know, just so we know for sure where you are and what's going on. that cool?"

tyler, who had been silent the entire time since they've arrived, thought about it. he really didn't have anything to hide- besides the smoking, but what were the chances of them asking specifically about that? anyway, he could have the chance to really tell josh he wasn't actually attempting suicide in the bathroom.

"o-okay..." he answered at last, fumbling with his fingers and looking down at the floor.

"great then!" ray smiled, standing up and walking across the room to fetch the machine.

he brought back an old, brown box with multiple buttons, knobs, and switches sitting on the surface. there were sheets of connected paper with attached pens to mark down data, along with a few wires that were to be connected to the person who was using it's hand.