"Mike! Mike!" Peter Tork whispered frantically through the dark.

"What is it, Pete?" Mike Nesmith wondered groggily, his attempt at getting some sleep thwarted.

"Davy's not back yet!" Peter replied, his voice sounding very concerned.

"What about a knot on Davy's back? What time is it?" Micky Dolenz asked from his side of the room.

"You dummy!" Peter uncharacteristically exclaimed, 'I SAID, Davy's not back yet!"

"Now I repeat my first question; what time is it?" Micky asked next.

"3:00 AM," Peter replied.

"He's been kidnapped by Aliens! Oh shot, what're we gonna do?! Micky wailed stupidly, getting himself bonked upside the head by Mike's pillow. "You danged idiot!" Mike exclaimed, "Davy's missin' for real here!"

"I think the place he said he was going to was Dion's," Peter pointed out helpfully.

"Isn't Dion's parties the ones that get so wild?" Mike asked Peter.

"I dunno, man..."

But Peter was soon cut off by the front door slamming open and a "thud", then a confused shout of "The Bri'ish ahe commin'! The Bri'ish ahe commin'!"

"He sounds like he's been to a party all right," Micky said, trying to stifle a giggle.

"Yeah an' he's gonna have one heckuva headache in th' mornin'," Mike mumbled.

When the other three got downstairs, Davy was leaned up against the counter, drinking a glass of water....

" 'Ey, fellas!" he said in a drunk voice.

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you!" Peter interjected.

Davy's eyes popped out of his head and he held it with his hands, "Oh, my 'ead..."

"Okay maybe he'll have to suffer the entire night," Mike said with a smirk.

Suddenly, Davy's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground. The boys could tell this was no ordinary faint....

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The ambulances' sirens roared down the highway to L.A. General Hospital that night in October of 1966; the night that would change the course of the boys' simple, happy lives forever.......

When the boys got to the hospital right behind the ambulance, they followed the paramedics as far as they could down the long, cold, dim corridor; up until the point they reached those big swinging doors and Davy was swept out of their sight for the next hour and a half......

When the doctor came in, they hoped for they best and prepared for the worst; his face looked concerned, but he looked sure of something as well......

"How is he, Doc?" Mike asked.

"Your friend Davy seems to have taken a large dose of the drug they call Ecstacy, along with a dangerous amount of an alcoholic beverage," the doctor replied.

Mike cursed under his breath and Micky asked, "Is he gonna be alright?"

"Oh yes, we just need to keep him in the hospital overnight just in case he has any problems such as an increase in heart rate and what-not," the doctor replied confidently.

"May we go in and see him?" Peter asked for the others as well as himself.

"I don't see why not," the doctor replied with a smile.

So the boys followed the hall until they found Davy's room..

Davy was sitting up, looking around the room; his eyes brightened when he saw the other three Monkees walk into the room....

" 'Ey guys!" he said, sounding normal.

"How ya feelin', shotgun?" Mike asked him gently.

"Bettah, mate, thanks," Davy replied.

"What were you taking at that party?" Micky asked innocently; Peter and Mike gave him cold stares....

"I think Dion called it Ecstacy; a stimulant of some soaht," Davy replied nonchalantly " 'e said "Heah, man, take some, it'll take ya on a trip," an' I did, along with th' Scotch I'd gotten."

"Why that....."Mike muttered off angrily, ready to attack.

"I'm not gonna fool with Dion again if 'at makes you feel any bettah," Davy said to Mike, trying in vain to calm him down; it worked.

"Well,okay; ya gonna be okay tonight?" Micky asked him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Davy replied, a smile playing with his lips.

"Do you want one of us to stay here with you?" Peter wondered.

"Nah, I'll be alright," Davy replied confidently, "besides, I 'ave a very pretty nuhse t' 'elp me if I need it."

The others were now sure they could leave Davy alone and went on back to the Pad.

Davy'd been made by Mike to promise that he'd never go to one of Dion's parties again or mess with him. He said he wouldn't.....

Not a word was ever said that he never take another drug, though, he thought to himself as he fingered the bag that was in his jeans pocket.......

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The next day Davy was free to go home; he managed to aggravate every single nurse there in the meantime, hitting them up for dates and such.....

The first thing he wanted to do when he got home was to take a nap. So, Peter allowed him to have the room to himself.....

Meanwhile, Micky, who'd been put in charge of bringing Davy's other belongings home, felt something strange in the right had jeans pocket of Davy's jeans form the night before....

He managed to pull out a bag with some very colorful little objects.....

Davy suddenly remembered something; his jeans pocket!!!

He shot up immediately and made his way toward the living room, where, to his horror, he saw Micky with the bag.....

"Micky!" Davy exclaimed angrily.

Micky looked up at him and saw there was fire in his usually gentle eyes...

"What's up, Davy?" Micky asked curiously.

Davy suddenly realized what he was dong; he was making himself look suspicious....

"Oh, nothin'," Davy replied calmly, "just commin' aftah me candy."

"Oh, okay, here," Micky said, handing him the bag , "can I have a piece?"

"Maybe latah," Davy replied, taking the bag and going back to his room to sleep....

But sleep he did not; instead, he took a pill and waited for the thrill to come......

Peter and Mike were playing a new song when Davy came back out of the room....

"I thought you were gonna take a nap?" Peter said questioningly to Davy.

"I changed my mind!" Davy snapped back tensely.

Peter's eyes cast hurt in them as he went back to his guitar.

Davy immediately felt guilty....

"Sorry, Petah" Davy said apologetically, " 'ospital nehves still around."

Peter understood; Mike was slightly concerned.....

"Are you alright, Dave?" Mike asked him.

"I'm fine, Mike, why?" Davy wondered.

"Oh, no particular reason," Mike replied, his eyes still questioning.

Davy suddenly couldn't look into his eyes anymore.....

"Oh, Davy you're not taking a nap?" Micky asked as soon as he came inside from the back.

"What's so bloody strange about me not takin' a nap?!" Davy demanded suddenly.

This caught everyone off guard for a moment and they wondered what set Davy off so much about this......

He then grabbed his jacket and went outside, leaving the others to ponder whatever questions they had........

Later on that night, everyone had seemed to have forgotten what happened earlier, especially Davy; for when asked about it later on, he either didn't want to remember it, or he really couldn't.

But Mike did, and he didn't like it.....

The next week, the Monkees had their regular weekend gig at the Vincent Van Gough-Gough; this gig was a very important one, though, because a magazine reporter was coming to do a review of the show(along with several other bands, of course) and, so they thought, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime!!

Nothing could spoil this day for anything.....

Nothing; that's what they thought, anyway......

"It's almost time to go! Come on, everybody!" Mike called from the front door.

"Peter's still tying his shoes!" Micky replied from the upstairs bedroom.

Meanwhile, in the downstairs bedroom, Davy was beginning to get nervous and kind of tired; so, thinking it'd keep him awake, and calm, he took four colored capsules......

At the Vincent, the boys were hyped up and ready to go....

"Okay, guys; we gotta make this the best show we've ever done! Play and sing like you never have before!" Mike said in a pumping up manner.

With those words they headed out on stage. The regular dance crowd was there for moral support, and just to dance.

The first song they did was "She"; Micky, to Mike's sensitive ears, sounded better than ever. And usually, he was pretty dang good!

Next, they did "All The Kings Horses"; the reporter looked impressed; after a couple more songs, they decided to take a break, one because they needed the rest ; two because the dancers needed a rest.

Davy was beginning to feel antsy and nervous again; so, he took another capsule.....

"Let's roll," Mike said a moment later.

The boys got up and went on stage, preparing to do more songs.

Mike began the guitar intro to "Love To Love" and Davy hesitated a moment before he began to sing; something wasn't feeling quite right...

But he was sounding good; then, suddenly, the world around him went black.....

Any unsung lyrics were forgotten.......

Any thoughts were banished......

Davy had collapsed in mid-song, no breath coming from his nose or lips.....

"Call 911!" Peter exclaimed frightfully as Mike began mouth to mouth rescussitation ......

Once again, the sirens that had carried Davy to the hospital once before haunted the night air.

But at least the last time, he'd been breathing like he should have been......

AT THE HOSPITAL:

Once again, Mike, Peter, and Micky were faced with a crisis from their friend, Davy.....

"Man!" Peter sighed frustratedly as he looked out the window of the hospital waiting room, "Why won't the doctors tell us anything?!"

"I dunno," Mike replied as calmly as he could, for his patience was wearing thin.

Micky hadn't spoken up in awhile; his thoughts were revolving around something else......

The bag of capsules.

What if they weren't candy?

But he didn't dare tell Mike that, for if he did, he'd say "Why didn't you tell us sooner?! If it was drugs, you could very well have saved him from himself!"

And he didn't especially feel like hearing Mike yelling at him on a night such as this.

Suddenly, the doctor came in......

"Um, excuse me gentlemen, but did any of you know that Mr. Jones had possession, or had been around someone who has possession of any stimulants?" the doctor asked.

Mike and Peter shared a look of shock; Micky stared at the ground......

"What?!" Mike fumed, "This couldn't have been caused by drugs!"

"It says here on his last visit here, which was nearly two weeks ago, he had overdosed on Ecstacy and a alcoholic beverage," the doctor read over Davy's file.

"Yeah, but there's no way that Davy's on drugs now! He hasn't been around the people who gave them to him!" Mike argued.

"Look, the results aren't false; your friend is in there hanging on to his life right now because he had an overdose on Ecstacy!" the doctor said crisply.

Micky's eyes turned rueful as Mike's and Peter's grew wide....

"H-hhow bad is he?" Peter finally asked.

"Ecstacy is a stimulant; it increases your heart rate and speeds up everything it isn't supposed to," the doctor answered, "everything is way too high in his system; if it doesn't slow down, he can either die or have permanent brain damage."

Micky was now very upset and he walked out of the waiting room , just wanting to get away from the pain and agony and regret he was feeling right now.....

But, he knew he couldn't really get away from that, just the people around him.....

"What's wrong with him?" the doctor asked.

"Oh, he and Davy are really close friends," Peter replied, for Mike was unable to speak.

"I see; well, all we can do is try to stabilize him, which is what we're doing right now,"

the doctor replied. "Do whatever you can; we don't wanna loose him," Mike said before the doctor turned to leave.

The doctor looked at Mike a moment, "We will."

When he left, Mike and Peter gave eachother a glance...

"I wonder where Micky went to?" Peter asked Mike.

"I dunno, buddy," Mike replied, "say, maybe you can go find him; I know you really don't wanna be in here right now, do ya?"

Peter shook his head, "Not really."

So he stood and stretched his limbs, which had stiffened from the time he'd been sitting, and made his way out to look for the distressed drummer....

"Micky?!" Peter yelled, hoping to get the drummer's attention if he were nearby, "Micky, where are you?!"

Micky was nowhere near the yells that Peter was letting out; he was actually back at home; he'd found the bag that had the "candy" in it and stuck it in his pocket; he didn't know if they were drugs or not, but if they were, at least there would be no mystery. But he didn't want to know what Mike's reaction would be when he found out that Micky had know that Davy had these things but hadn't known if they were drugs and nt candy.....

Peter came back into the hospital after about thrity minutes of searching for Micky, having no luck.

Mike patted his shoulder and they continued to sit there and wait for results on Davy.....

Then, in walked Micky......

"Mick, where the fuck have you been?" Mike demanded; the night had been getting to him and he didn't really mean to sound harsh.....

"No time, man, where's the doctor?!" Micky asked.

"I'm righ here, what's is it?" the doctor then came up behind Micky.

"Here....I think these may be the drugs that cause Davy to become like this," Micky replied, handing him the bag.

The doctor looked at the bag, "Ecstacy," he said gravely.

Mike and Peter stood.

"I was comming in to tell you that he's slipping away; it probably won't be much longer...there's not much more we can do," the doctor went on, then went out of the room.

For a moment, the three remaining Monkees stayed in silence, taking in this last bit of news; that is until.....

"Why didn't you say something before, Mick?! You're acting like you knew about this for awhile," Mike demanded.

Micky explained the conversation that ha and Davy had had that fateful day and when he'd finished, Mike exploded.

"You mean to tell me that you didn't know the difference between candy and DRUGS?! And then you come in tonight and have the bag?!!! What the fuck gives here, Mick?!" Mike wanted to know.

"I didn't put two and two together until tonight! I'm sorry, okay?! If I'd known I would've told someone!" Micky shot back.

"Yeah, well, let me tell you something; more than likely your stupidity has killed our best friend! What do you have to say to that, huh?!" Mike yelled.

"Mike...." Peter tried to break in.

"No! I wanna hear this," Mike replied.

Micky didn't reply. He merely ran, the guilt and pain he'd had before reaching new heights......

He ran out of the hospital, out of the parking lot, and a long long ways away......

Meanwhile, the doctor came in......

"Say, where did Mr. Dolenz go?" he asked.

"We don't know," Peter replied, giving Mike a cold look.

"Did he happen to tell you how many pills were originally in that bag?" he asked.

Peter and Mike looked at eachother, "About twenty .."

"Thank you gentlemen...excuse me a moment..." the doctor replied, leaving them with a question that was to remain unanswered for the time being...

Meanwhile, Micky was still running. Running as fast as his leg muscles would carry him. He no longer felt anything except sorrow; all the life that had once been Micky Dolenz was gone....

A moment later, Mike and Peter heard the doctor's footsteps approaching...

"Good news! When we found the approximate amount of Ecstacy that Mr. Jones had taken, we could see what kind of treatment would help keep him alive. We found it! He'll be fine now, he's in recovery; Mr. Dolenz had just saved his friend's life!" he said.

He then left them alone so they could take this in....

Mike an Peter were, for the most part, shocked; then reality hit them.....

"You don't think he's..?" Peter began.

"Oh shit, I hope not!" Mike replied, he and Peter running out the door...

It was fifteen minutes later and Micky had reached his destination....

He had by now climbed upon the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge and was looking at the cold, black, churning ocean below.....

He was going to jump; get away from the misery that he had caused especially poor Davy , who he had caused to suffer in the first place; Mike and Peter, who would suffer a long time; and himself, who would suffer the most in the long run....

"Wait!" voices cried out.

Could it be? No, it couldn't.....

He suddenly felt himself yanked back onto the bridge...

He turned to confront the tugging people, "What the fuck did you do that for?!" he demanded.

Peter and Mike looked back at him, "You saved his life, man!"

"Wh-wh-what?.."

They then explained to him what had just happened and then they all went back to the hospital....

After Davy had recovered, he came home, swearing that that night's experience had scared him so bad that he'd never do drugs again; and, he thanked his lucky stars every night that his guardian angel, his best friend Micky, had been there and saved him from a sure death.

THE END