by Joyce Armor
“Please.” She didn’t really, but she thought he needed to feel useful.
Why does everyone try to give patients water?
Good to know Head Voice was still working. That was odd. Normally she wasn’t crazy about the little annoying voice in her head. She could see a parallel with Russell. Maybe the things that annoy you are reality checks and the things you need the most. She watched him as he poured a glass from a pitcher and added a straw. He helped her hold the cup as she drank.
“Thanks.” She shifted uncomfortably. “Um, how are you doing?”
“You saved my life.”
“I don’t know about that. I think maybe you saved mine.”
He shook his head. “I got you shot.”
She looked at him, astounded. “Now that’s just ridiculous, like you’re omnipotent or something. Of course you would think that. Only one person is responsible for my shooting, and that’s Sludge. What happened to him? Where is he?”
“Spencer clobbered him with a lamp. He was handcuffed to a hospital bed overnight and then transferred to jail. He’s going to be charged with the theft of the comic, kidnapping and assault.”
“Not attempted murder?”
“I think they think they have enough to put him away for a really long time. I don’t know if he was trying to actually kill me, but he definitely wasn’t trying to kill you at the time. The gun just went off.”
“You remembered Issue Four.”
“Of course. That was a pretty good faint.”
“Yeah, for a crummy actress like me. Apparently I did one for real after that. I don’t remember much after I got shot.” Her voice was starting to fade. She was getting tired.
He moved his chair closer to the bed and placed her hand in his. “You took a lot of years off my life, Ellie.”
“Really?” she squeaked.
He looked like he was about to say something important…Don’t you wish…but the door opened again and who should rush in but her mother and Dale.
“Eleanor, you’re awake! We were so worried.”
“It’s just a shoulder wound, Mom,” she said, trying to sound better than she felt.
“Just a…you were shot. What are you doing in Las Vegas anyway? You were supposed to be in California. You’re coming home with us and I don’t want any arguments.”
“It’s nice to see you, too.”
“Your mother and I were really concerned,” Dale said in a way that made her feel two inches tall.
While this drama played out, Russell assessed Ellie’s parents. Her mother had Ellie’s light complexion, or he supposed it was the other way around, and blond hair, probably out of a bottle. She looked to be in her mid to late 50s and was still attractive, or she would be if she didn’t have that frown on her face. She was dressed like he thought a 50-year-old Nancy Reagan would dress, in a perfectly matched salmon-colored suit with an off-white blouse and a coral beaded necklace and earrings. Her tan heels matched her blouse.
Dale wore a sport coat and collared blue shirt with gray slacks but he somehow looked like he’d be more comfortable in a plaid flannel shirt and jeans, like he should own a hardware store or something. Russell had no idea what the man did for a living. He held his hand on her mom’s shoulder possessively and seemed content to let her do the talking.
Ellie looked a little overwhelmed. “How…how did you even know I was here?”
Her mom looked at Russell. “Your…this…he called us.”
“His name is Russell Owens.”
“Yes. He called us.”
Ellie looked at Russell accusingly. “You were unconscious,” he said. “I thought you’d want them to know.”
He meant well. Cut him some slack.
“What?” If Head Voice was going to start taking Russell’s side, she’d be really confused.
“I said…”
“No…I mean, how did you get their number?”
“Oh, it was in that little black book in your purse.”
She leaned forward but collapsed from the effort, groaning. “My purse!”
He fluffed her pillows again and patted her hand, which apparently caused her mother to give him a nasty look. “Don’t worry, I have it.”
“Well, you’ll bring it to me,” Mom ordered.
He resisted the urge to salute.
Dale shifted from one foot to the other. Maybe he was impatient to leave. Or maybe his wife’s high-handedness made him uncomfortable. “Tell her about the job,” he urged her.
“Yes, Dale pulled some strings for you. One of his customers is a vice president at Hardie-Gage, and you have a job there in communications. It’s entry level but you’ll move up quickly.”
“A…job?” She looked at Russell. His expression was blank.
“Don’t worry, you won’t have to start until you’re feeling better. But the doctor said they’ll release you in two days or three, if there’s no infection or other complications. Our flight is booked for Thursday.”
“My purse…”
“We’ll get your purse.” She looked at Russell as if he were a purse thief.
“I…I can’t keep my eyes open.” She couldn’t deal with this now. Pushy people shouldn’t be allowed in patients’ rooms. Her eyes fluttered and close as she nodded off.
Russell was blindsided. She was leaving? He had finally let his heart open again to the possibility of a love like his parents had and she was leaving? Unbelievable. But maybe not, considering his track record. Christ. Now he had no home to go to…not counting his apartment...no Ellie. Not even Tiffy. Nothing. What a dummy he was. Well, it was probably all for the best. He had almost gotten her killed.
“Where is her purse?”
It took everything he had not to tell her he’d get the fucking purse already. “It’s locked in my truck,” he said, already resigned to his fate.
“Oh, good. Bring it here now, if you wouldn’t mind, and we won’t have to think about that anymore. Thank you for your help, Mr…er…”
“Owens.”
“Yes, Owens.”
He knew a dismissal when he heard one. He got up, looked at the sleeping Ellie, who exuded goodness and youth and vulnerability. He doubted she was any match for her parents in her current condition, which meant she’d be moving back to Chicago. Sigh. Sometimes life just sucked bigtime and there was nothing you could about it but deal with it. He had promised Brian one more night at the casino, and then he was so out of here. Never again. Nothing but big-boobed airheads for him in the future. The bigger the boobs and airier the heads, the better. He was done with sharing his heart. The walls were back up.
Chapter 21
“Ha! Gin,” Ellie laughed. “I finally won one.”
Her left arm in a sling, she sat next to Roger’s bed, spreading her cards on his lunch tray.
“The law of averages,” he said, tossing his cards down.
“You mean it wasn’t my great skill?”
“Well…”
“That’s okay, don’t lie. It’s bad for your karma.” She pushed the tray to the side as he leaned back on his pillows, still sitting up.
“When are they going to spring you?” Roger was getting out tomorrow.
“Tomorrow, too, if there’s a God.” She took her arm out of the sling and slowly flexed it. “I feel pretty good, about 75 percent maybe, but so much better than I did. I still can’t believe I got shot. That’s so out of my realm of reference. It hurts a lot more than it looks like it hurts on TV.”
“I’m sorry.”
He looked so distressed.
“For what, Roger?”
“If you didn’t work for me, you wouldn’t have gotten shot.”
“I don’t know what it is with men. You’re guilt sponges. Russell blames himself because he was wrestling with Sludge when the gun went off. Wesley thinks it’s his fault because he and Spencer couldn’t get through the door fast enough. And now you. If so many things had been different I wouldn’t have gotten shot. If I had found a jo
b in communications. If I hadn’t moved to California. If I hadn’t driven to the convention center when I did. But you didn’t shoot me. None of you shot me. Sludge did. And it only happened because I was trying to keep Russell from getting hurt.”
“Yeah, how’s that working for you now?”
She leaned back, almost afraid to ask. “What do you mean?”
“We all saw the way you looked at him and the interaction between you two. We could practically see the sparks flying. Are you really moving back to Chicago?”
She felt such a surge of panic at the question, she felt light-headed. Was she going back? And if she did, was it a proactive move or running away? And running away from what? As if you didn’t know. Here’s a hint: half rodent and all man. But if he had been as interested in her as she thought he was, why hadn’t she seen him in two days? She had really misread him. Surprise. Surprise. He’s already moved on, hasn’t he?
“I...I’m just not sure. And he’s not a one-woman man anyway.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Uh, yeah, he was sleeping with Tiffy and kissing her. And lighting up the sky.
“Pretty much.” She’d been in his room for an hour and just now noticed a cooler in the corner. “What’s in the cooler, Roger?” It was almost an accusation.
He grinned. “As if you didn’t know. Russell brought them, packed in dry ice.”
“Oh.” He was such a good guy. Damn.
Suddenly she felt almost unbearably sad. He patted her hand. “You know, almost dying makes you feel weak and vulnerable and wishy-washy at first, but then you realize you survived. You’re stronger than you think. You recognize life is precious. It can be snatched from you in an instant. So wouldn’t you want to make every second count, leave nothing unsaid?”
Ellie smiled, one of those sad half smiles, and squeezed his hand. “You’re a wise man, Roger Neff. You could have been a guru.”
“I don’t know about that. I think I’ll settle for being a French god.”
* * *
Wesley and Chantella stood by his Taurus, the Las Vegas sun beating down mercilessly.
“Are you absolutely sure about this?” he asked, so sweetly it brought tears to her eyes. He thought she had never looked more beautiful. She wore white leather pants that look painted on and a purple tank top that matched with the purple in several of her tattoos. And the tips of her hair were purple too. He could never top that, but he did try to spiff up a bit with his black leather pants and white embroidered shirt.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” she said with such conviction he nearly swelled with pride.
“Well, then let’s get on with it, my lady.”
He grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers, and they calmly walked into the Little Chapel of the Desert. Inside sat Bonnie, a rather pale Roger, Spencer, Tiffy, Toni, Rob and Ellie, still sporting her sling.
As the couple passed their friends and co-workers, Chantella stopped. “Where’s Russell?”
Ellie was wondering the same thing. He sure had pulled a disappearing act. Another one of his many talents. And one with which she was more than familiar.
“He went back to L.A. this morning,” Bonnie said, giving Ellie kind of a funny look.
Ellie was stunned. He was gone? Just like that? He didn’t even say goodbye? “How’d he get there?”
“I don’t know.”
“He probably wore the Muskman outfit and hitchhiked,” Rob chuckled.
Toni leaned over and whispered in Ellie’s ear, “Good riddance.”
Ellie felt affronted. Very affronted. She started to protest and then saw the gleam in Toni’s eyes. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”
Toni smiled her Cheshire cat smile.
“Will you stand up with me, Ellie?” Chantella almost looked nervous, as if Ellie might refuse.
“Of course. I’d be honored.” She stood and made her way out of the pew.
“And Roger if you’re feeling up to it?” Wesley added.
“Sure.”
As the four of them proceeded to the altar, Ellie thought Chantella made a beautiful bride. She could set an all new trend here. The leather bride. She turned to her glowing friend. “It’s too bad none of your family could be here to share this with you.”
“Oh, we’ll have to do this again with the whole family or they’ll never forgive me. We just didn’t want to wait one more day.”
“Ah, that’s true love.”
“Yeah, and a bun in the oven.”
She smiled. “I guess there is that.”
Even Ellie knew, though, that Wesley and Chantella would never get married simply because she was pregnant. They were so independent and 21st century and whatever else made them free thinkers, yet in other ways they were beyond traditional, even if their appearance might scare some narrow-minded people.
“Where are your parents?” Chantella wondered. “They could have come.”
“They’re back at the hotel, waiting for me.”
The ceremony was nothing out of the ordinary, unsurprisingly similar to Brian’s wedding, but Ellie felt a lump in her throat and had to seriously concentrate to keep from crying. Chantella felt like a little sister to her. She and Wesley were so young and happy and in love and she would never have the man she loved and would die alone with seven cats and piles of newspapers and chewing gum wrappers strewn around her body. Oh, please, could you be any more melodramatic? If you want him, go get him. Or at least tell him how you feel. What have you got to lose?
“My dignity?”
The minister had just told Wesley he could kiss Chantella and everyone turned to look at Ellie.
“Uh, hot diggity!” she said lamely. At this point, are you sure you have any dignity to lose?
Wesley gently pulled Chantella to him and kissed her so lovingly, so divinely, Ellie couldn’t stop a tear from escaping. She was not envious and could not have wished her friends a happier, more satisfying life, but why could she never seem to find that happiness and fulfillment herself? You want some cheese with that whine?
After the wedding, the group moved to the Courtyard Dumont Hotel bar, where they hoisted one for the newlyweds. They dissected the wedding ceremony, talked about how the happy couple had met and about their families. As the Full Court Press group was debating the merits of the latest Fantagraphics series, Ellie looked at Toni and Rob and blew air out her mouth, puffing out her cheeks.
“You’re not really moving back to Chicago,” Toni said, making it screamingly obvious she was disappointed in Ellie.
Ellie took a sip of her beer and then looked her disgruntled friend in the eye. “When I woke up in the hospital after I was shot, I felt so weak and somehow like a major failure.”
Toni started to interrupt, no doubt with a pep talk, but Ellie put up a hand to stop her.
“Honestly, I think I was waiting for Russell to declare his undying love to me, to sweep me in his arms and take care of me until I could take care of myself, but he didn’t, and deep down, I guess I really didn’t expect him to. That’s not his thing.”
“Yeah,” said Rob. “He only sat with you for 24 hours, putting cool cloths on your head and adjusting your covers.”
“I know he likes me. He likes everyone. Well, except Sludge.”
What a crock.
“Anyway, I was feeling all weepy and sorry for myself and my parents bulldozed their way in, taking charge, which apparently is what I needed at the time.”
Toni shook her head and Rob just looked perplexed.
“Now I’m better, though, stronger. More myself. At least not my wimpy self.”
Toni nodded enthusiastically.
“And there’s no way in hell I’m going back to Chicago.”
Toni jumped up and threw her arms around Ellie. “I knew it.”
“Ow,” Ellie.
“Oh, sorry.” Toni jerked back. “I knew you couldn’t have turned into such a weenie. Didn’t I say that, Rob?”
Ellie looked at her accusingly.
“I was kinda mad at you.” She gave her husband the hairy eyeball. “Thanks for sharing, Rob.”
Just then Ellie’s phone rang. She dug for it in her purse, looked at the caller and let it go to voice mail. “That’s my cue to leave.”
“Your mother?”
Ellie nodded with a rueful smile.
“That’s the fourth time she’s called since we’ve been here. She must really be a barracuda. How come you never mentioned that?”
Ellie stood and dug some bills out of her wallet and laid them on the table. “She was always strong, but I don’t remember her ever being this…whatever she is. Pushy. Rude. And fairly aggravating. Maybe it’s just her Mama Bear persona, like Bonnie’s when she’s protecting Roger. It must be scary when you hear your only child has been shot. I get that.”
“If you’re going to be so agreeable, I’m not sure you can stand up against her. You want us to come?”
Ellie smiled. “That’s tempting, but I need to do this alone. I’ll call you when I get back to Bella Casa.”
“Okay, we’re gonna go back to our hotel and check out.”
“I can’t thank you guys enough. You were brilliant and I’m so lucky to be your friend.”
“We had so much fun,” Toni replied.
She and Rob got up and said their goodbyes. They both hugged Ellie, gently, and they left. Ellie watched them go. Yep, the world is full of happy couples.
She just happened to look over at Bonnie then and see her give a little nod to Spencer, who got up and said his farewells, dragging Tiffy with him.
“Hashtag, I’ll see you all before I leave.”
Ellie started to leave, too, but Bonnie leaned over and asked her to wait. “Um, I need a few words with the Full Court Press crew.” Roger had gone back to their room after the wedding, so Bonnie was representing the company.
Although she doubted anything could pierce the veil of joy covering Wesley and Chantella, Ellie had a little feeling of not dread, exactly, but apprehension. Another surprise? Haven’t you had enough of those?
