The First Three Rules (10 page)

“You never eat anything else?”

“Sometimes I eat cereal. But not the kind with marshmallows.” Rudy didn’t know why it was such a big deal to poop blue, but it seemed to upset Ellis so he didn’t argue. But he sure did like marshmallows.

“If they don’t have oatmeal, I’m sure they’ll have cereal.”

“What if they only have the kind with marshmallows?”

“Then you can eat eggs.”

“I don’t eat eggs.”

“You don’t like them?”

“They’re yellow. I don’t like yellow.”

Jon gave him a funny look then he laughed. Rudy laughed too although he wasn’t sure why.

Close to the end of the hall, a rich salty scent permeated the air. Rudy inhaled. It tasted greasy, like pot roast. They went through a set of double doors and into a room with lots of tables and chairs. There weren’t many people and they all looked tired. Jon led him over to a long bank of food items. The set up made Rudy think of ice cream, but everything was hot here. Heat fogged the glass in front of him.

“Do you have oatmeal?” Even as he said it, he wondered what the other food would taste like.

“You sure that’s what you want?” Jon said.

“Is it okay if I don’t?”

“Sure.”

“I can have bacon instead?”

“Absolutely.”

“Ellis says bacon is expensive.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that today.” Jon gave the lady wearing the puffy white hat his order. “Is bacon all you want?”

Rudy pointed to the toast. There was gravy over to the side. Sometimes they had gravy when Ellis made beef patties. The woman filled a plate with everything Rudy pointed to. He didn’t pick too many things. Ellis always told him if he wanted more, he could go back because if he got more than he could eat it would go to waste.

At the cash register there was different lady, without a puffy hat. After she rang them up, Jon carried their tray over to a table. He handed Rudy a glass. “Do you know what you want to drink?”

“Orange juice.”

Jon showed him the orange juice dispenser. Then he walked to where the coffee pots were. Rudy stared at the dispenser. He touched the handle. Some orange juice came out and splattered on the tray underneath. He pushed the lever the other way. The orange juice flowed and didn’t stop. He put his cup under it to keep it from making a mess.

He waited for his glass to fill. When it got close, he waited for the orange juice to turn off. Juice hit the top then ran over the sides. He looked for Jon, but he was busy with his coffee. He looked for one of the ladies with the puffy hats, but they were talking. The tray under his cup filled up then the juice splattered on the floor. He stepped back so it wouldn’t get on his shoes.

“I think it’s broken,” Rudy said. Boy, it sure was making a mess. Someone was gonna be angry.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Jon rushed over and flipped the handle. The orange juice quit flowing. He stared at the puddle on the floor. Then looked at Rudy.

“It wouldn’t turn off,” Rudy said.

“That’s because you have to flip the handle back down.” Jon pulled a wad of napkins from the dispenser, but it wasn’t enough. One of the women in a puffy hat walked over with a handful of towels.

She looked less happy than Jon.

Rudy twisted up his hands. “Sorry.” It was the only thing he could think of to make things better.

Jon blew a breath out hard enough to make his cheeks pop. “It’s okay. My fault.” He poured some of the orange juice out into the sink next to the dispenser. He held it out to Rudy. “Can you carry that back to the table and not spill it?”

Could he? Rudy wasn’t sure, but he took the glass and made tiny steps all the way back.

Jon walked up. “Sit, Rudy.”

He did. “Am I in trouble?”

“No. I should have showed you how it worked.” Jon pointed at Rudy’s plate with his fork. “Do you need me to cut that up?”

Rudy pushed his plate over. Jon cut up his food then pushed it back. They ate. The toast, gravy, and bacon were way better than oatmeal. Rudy thought about asking for more but he hadn’t finished what was on his plate. Between bites, Rudy said, “Do you have a brother?”

Jon’s fork froze close to his mouth. He blinked really slow a few times before putting it back down. “No.”

“Oh.”

“Do you have a mom and dad?”

“Yeah.”

“Mine died, so Ellis takes care of me.” A glob of gravy landed on the table in front of him. Jon put his hand on Rudy’s glass of orange juice and handed him a napkin. Rudy wiped it up. Jon took his hand off the glass of juice. “Who takes care of you?”

Jon chuckled. “Me, I guess.”

“You don’t do a very good job.”

One of his eyebrows went up. “Why do you say that?”

“You’re still all wrinkled.”

Jon looked down at his shirt. “Just a little.”

“No. That’s a lot. You’re wrinkled a lot.”

People came in, wearing all pink. They picked up trays, and had the lady with the puffy hat give them food.

It would be really hard to give food to people all day long and not eat it. Rudy would want to taste everything. Except for the eggs. For some reason thinking about eggs made him think about Ellis. Maybe it was because Ellis liked eggs.

“When can we see Ellis again?”

“The MRI shouldn’t take too long. He may even be done by the time we get back.”

“What’s a RI?”

“M-R-I. It’s a special way to look at someone’s insides.”

“Why do they want to look at Ellis’s insides?”

“To make sure nothing is broken.”

“I didn’t break it.” Rudy was sure he hadn’t.

“No, someone else did.”

“I broke Ellis’s nose once.”

Jon made a strange face. “How?”

“I hit him. But it was an accident. I was scared.”

“You hit him a lot?”

Rudy shook his head. “No. Only once. The police came. They wanted to take me some place but Ellis wouldn’t let them. He lied and told them he fell off a ladder.”

“Why did the police come?”

“Because the lady at the dollar store is nosy. That’s what Ellis said. But Ellis told them I didn’t hit him, and he made me tell them I didn’t hit him. So they left. I don’t think they were very happy. It was a long time ago.” Some days it seemed like everything was a long time ago.

When the orderlies brought Ellis back Jon was reading a magazine and Rudy had a thick colorful book in his hands. As soon as Rudy saw him he jumped to his feet and crowded the orderlies who were trying to get the gurney close enough for Ellis to get into bed.

“Rudy, you need to step back.”

“But you’re sick.”

“Rudy, stand back.”

He went to the end of the bed and waited.

One of the orderlies lowered the bar on the side of the gurney and put a hand under Ellis’s arm.

He pulled away. “I can do it.”

“I just don’t want you to fall.”

“I won’t.” He pushed himself close to the edge. The deep thump of the MRI machine echoed in his head making everything spin.

The orderly took Ellis’s arm and helped him transfer. He couldn’t look up until both men left.

Jon walked over. “How do you feel?”

“Fine, better.” Ellis fought to get the covers straightened out. The part in his gown slid wide, almost flashing his bare ass. He pushed the fabric back under his hip and tried to ignore the heat crawling up his face. Jon helped him with the blankets.

“You look better.”

“Doctor gave me something for the swelling.”

“How bad was it?”

“Not too bad.”

“Not too bad or you don’t know how bad?”

Ellis picked at the blankets. “I don’t know.”

“How long are you going to stay?”

“Only as long as I have to.” Three days of watching his father die in a hospital bed made a lot of bad memories for him. His mother had died instantly in the crash so the fear of also losing his father hit him tenfold. Ellis stayed at the man’s bedside, willing him to live. Then Ellis was left explaining to Rudy why their parents were never coming home.

The image of his father wrapped in bandages, filled with tubes, and stinking of death and antiseptic still haunted his dreams.

Rudy touched Ellis’s foot. “Can I come see you now?”

“Yeah.”

Rudy’s gaze went from the bruises on Ellis’s face, the IV in his hand, to the blanket over his legs. Every so often he’d try to smile but it didn’t stick.

“I told you I’m okay.”

Rudy nodded.

“We’ll go home in a bit.”

“Jon brought me here. We don’t have the truck. How are we going to get home without the truck?”

Ellis glanced at Jon who smiled. “I’m sure he won’t mind giving us a lift.”

Rudy turned to Jon. “Will you give us a ride home?”

“Sure.”

Rudy’s grin lit up his whole face. Ellis loved and hated the look. It was nice to see him happy but, at the same time, it was a billboard telling the world he wasn’t normal. A child’s mind in a grown man’s body.

Doctor Bramblet returned and pulled the curtain closed behind him. The privacy it offered did nothing to dull the sound of an elderly man with a cough on one side and a woman complaining about the pain in her stomach on the other.

“I want to keep you overnight for observation.” Dr. Bramblet tucked the clipboard under his arm.

“No.”

The doctor nodded like he hadn’t expected any other answer.

Jon put a hand on Ellis’s shoulder, “If he thinks—”

Ellis all but growled. “I said, no.” He put his glare back on the doctor.

“If you really don’t want to stay I’ll discharge you.”

“Wait.” Jon held up a hand. “He was delirious. He lost hours.”

“All of that is typical with a concussion. Surprisingly enough his CT scan was normal. He’s already responded to the anti inflammatory and the dextrose. As long as the symptoms don’t persist for more than a few days or get any worse, he should be fine. You have no idea how lucky you are, Ellis. I really thought it was going to be a lot worse.”

“I’m tougher than I look.”

“That may be.” He put a hand on Ellis’s arm. “But just in case, you need someone to stay with you.”

Ellis shook his head. “There isn’t anyone, you know that.”

“You shouldn’t be alone for at least three days. We’re talking about your life.” His gaze flicked to Rudy then back to Ellis. The message was clear. Dr. Bramblet said, “Anyone Ellis, a neighbor, a friend, anyone.”

“Jon’s my friend, he can stay,” Rudy said. “He drove me here to see Ellis. He brought pizza.”

Bramblet laughed. “Was the pizza good?”

Rudy nodded so fast it made Ellis dizzy to watch. “I ate three pieces. Slowly. So I wouldn’t choke.”

“I’ll be happy to stay.” Jon held Ellis’s gaze. There was almost a challenge in the way the man looked at him. Like he was taking possession of what was his.

Ellis’s heart skipped. It was a mistake. Getting close to anyone was a mistake. To Jon he said, “Thanks.”

It took almost three hours for the discharge papers to get back to Ellis. He signed them and the nurse took them back. Jon came in to the cubicle carrying a grocery sack just as she left.

“That’s mine?”

“Yeah, I grabbed you a few things. I figured you’d need them.”

“I would have if I was going to stay.”

“You still need them unless you plan on making a fashion statement.” Jon put the paper bag on the bed. “They always cut your clothes off when they bring you in.”

Ellis pulled the bag over. “I didn’t know that.”

“Most people don’t.”

He didn’t believe that. Most people knew way more than he did. “I guess I’d better get dressed.” The way Jon watched him made Ellis’s cheeks burn.

Jon jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll just wait out there.” He shuffled his feet. “Do you want me to take—”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Rudy?” Jon said.

Rudy stood. “Are we going home now?”

“In a minute, Ellis needs to get dressed.”

“You should probably help him so he doesn’t wrinkle his clothes.”

Jon’s gaze met Ellis’s. Any minute now his hair would catch fire.

“I’m sure Ellis can dress himself.”

Jon didn’t look away and Ellis dropped his eyes to the floor. He picked at the jeans and then pulled out a shirt.

“C’mon, Rudy.”

“But what if he needs help?”

“Rudy, just go.” Please go so Jon will quit staring at me.

“Maybe if it’s okay with the boss we can get a doughnut on the way home,” Jon said.

“I like the chocolate ones, with the cream inside. The white cream, not the yellow cream.”

Jon herded Rudy beyond the curtain.

Ellis slumped against the bed. There was no way he could survive this. It was nothing more than a disaster waiting to happen. Ellis didn’t need experience with a relationship to know where this could head. The way Jon looked at him said he expected something. Ellis had a pretty good idea what that something was. He found himself hoping he was right.

Rudy walked beside Ellis as the nurse wheeled him out the door. The glare of the sun skipped off the windshields of the cars in the parking lot. Ellis held up a hand and squinted against the light.

Jon drove up to the curb. “I heard you needed a chauffeur?”

He grinned and Ellis couldn’t help but smile back.

“What’s a chaf-er?” Rudy said.

Jon got out and opened the rear passenger door. “It’s the lucky person who gets to drive you around and take you to the Doughnut Hole.”

Rudy’s eyes widened. “Wow.”

Ellis pushed Rudy by his elbow. “Get in.” He did. Ellis kicked aside the foot rests so he could stand. Jon offered him a hand along with the nurse. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t mind helping.”

“If I can’t walk ten feet to the car then maybe I should stay.” He hoped he wouldn’t eat those words. Some of the sparkle dulled in Jon’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

He put weight down on his legs and his muscles trembled. A deep throb began to beat behind his eyes. He tried to take a step but wound up gripping the arm of the chair so he didn’t lose his balance.

Jon took Ellis by the arm. “Thanks.”

“Any time.”

Jon shut the passenger door and Ellis buckled his seat belt. The nurse gave Jon the bag of samples and the prescriptions from Dr. Bramblet.