Chapter 32

When I became aware of my surroundings people were talking.

“Visiting hours are over.” I didn’t know that voice but it was accented. Indian?

“We’re not leaving.” That was Lavi.

“Immediate family can stay but no one else,” the stranger said.

Lavi, “We’re his wives.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“We’re from Utah.”

“I ... what?” Only Lavi could confuse someone with so few words.

I opened my eyes. The unfamiliar voice looked like a doctor which made sense because it looked like I was in a hospital room. He was short, balding, brown, and did look like he might be from India. I hurt. I did an exploration of my extremities. I could wiggle toes and fingers and move around but my right arm was bound up and couldn’t move. Something was attached to my legs, cuffs of some kind that were pulsing rhythmically. I found out later it was to make sure I didn’t get blood clots. I had wires and tubes going from me to a contraption that beeped periodically.

“He’s awake!” Melissa was near, her voice almost in my ear so I turned to look at her. They were both here, both fine, thank goodness. There was a chair at my bedside but Melissa was standing now, her hands on the rail, her golden hair hanging down like a halo. She was pretty. I also realized I felt light-headed.

“Hey babe,” I whispered to her.

“Hey, you.” She smiled but looked like she was ready to cry.

“I’ve never been to Utah.” I sounded raspy, even whispering.

A single tear was in her eye. I wanted to reach up to move it away but my arm didn’t move. Oh, I’d forgotten. “You are silly,” she said. I moved my left arm and got it for her.

“Mr. Carlo,” the doctor said, “Glad to see you awake.”

I tried asking a question but it came out as a cough. My throat was really dry and felt sore for some reason. Almost instantly Melissa was handing me a plastic cup with water in it. It tasted better than the best wine I had ever had. The doctor looked at me with practiced patience and waited for me to compose myself.

Finally, I asked again, “How long was I out?”

“We had to give you anesthesia for surgery. You were conscious until then. It’s been about ten hours since you came out.”

“Surgery?”

Melissa jumped in. “You were bleeding a lot, they had to make sure nothing major was cut so they had to widen the wound to look but it turned out fine.” There was something there that didn’t make sense but I was having trouble following it with my thoughts.

“You did require a substantial transfusion though,” the doctor said. He stepped forward and shook my free hand. “Doctor Laghari.”

“Pleased to meet you, doctor. I don’t remember any of that.”

Melissa stayed standing and Lavi came up on my other side. Lavi added, “Well, you were talking. You didn’t make a lot of sense but you were talking.”

Melissa, “At one point the EMT, his name was Sam, was trying to keep you conscious and you asked him if his parents had wanted to name him Samwise. You ended up telling him about how mushrooms represented virtue for the hobbits in the Fellowship of the Ring.”

“I did?”

She grinned. “Yeah, and you said you would make him mushroom risotto.”

That was a little much for me to absorb right away so I said, “I still feel lightheaded.”

Laghari, “That is to be expected. Your body has been through a lot of stress and it will take a good while to heal. To be honest you might have permanent damage and we won’t know how much use of your arm you will recover until you finish physical therapy.”

“When you say a while do you mean in a few weeks?”

“Months. You may never regain a hundred percent mobility or strength in it but you might.” He was holding a clipboard in a stance I associated with seriousness. Fuck.

“And that I don’t remember a lot of this?”

“With the kind of shock you had, memory loss isn’t unusual but we will need to watch for memory lapses or cognitive issues. We evaluated the concussion but the blood loss was our primary concern. I’ll send someone in to assess you in a little bit. Any other questions?”

“Why does my throat hurt?”

This time Melissa replied. “You had a tube down your throat until about an hour ago.”

“Ah,” I said stupidly. I couldn’t think of a single decent gag reflex joke to make. Oh well. “I’m just glad you two are fine. I had this thought that they might try to go to the room with my key.” A second of silence passed. I knew that silence and the look that passed between Melissa and Lavi. “What happened?”

Lavi, “They did come to the room but didn’t get in. Mellie realized two people had stopped outside our door because they cast shadows against the window.”

Melissa was stroking my cheek. “I knew it wouldn’t be you. You wouldn’t have brought someone around in case we were, uh,” she glanced at the doctor and finished with “indisposed.”

Lavi continued, “They got the door partway open but Mellie slammed it on them and locked it from the inside. Judging from the screaming I think she may have broken the fingers of one of them. I immediately called the police and requested an EMT for you.”

“How did you know something had happened?”

Lavi looked at me as if I was being silly. “I knew that if they had your key something had to have happened. I just hoped it wasn’t too bad.”

The doctor spoke up at this point. “And it is a good thing too. The EMTs said they arrived as you were walking into the office. They didn’t know it was you until they got close and saw the blood on the walkway. If they had been later, well, let us just say that this young woman might have saved your life.”

I sighed. A lot had happened while I was unconscious. “Then?”

Lavi, “Not much to say after that. We checked out and came to the hospital. We’ve been in the waiting room until they brought you in here about four hours ago.”

Melissa added, “They’re not charging us for the room at the hotel by the way.”

That was so far down my list of concerns that I started to laugh but it hurt so I stopped. I really didn’t want to ask. I’d had enough honesty from the world’s bluntest doctor but I had to ask. “My ribs?”

“We are waiting for the X-rays but they’re not broken. Fractures seem likely, however,” came the reply.

Melissa, “You look like someone used you as a punching bag.”

“Yeah.” What else was there to say?

The doctor was still standing there with that clipboard. He hadn’t written on it, didn’t look at it. I wondered if it had anything on it. Maybe it had little pictures of cats he drew when bored or some shit. I might be feeling grumpy but tried to be polite when he asked, “Your ribs, your head, your shoulder, is there anything else hurting?”

“No, I think that’s it. The head was from when I fell, the ribs when they kicked me. They punched me too but that just knocked the wind out of me. First time in my life I’ve been rolled.” I looked at the ceiling.

“Rolled?” He asked with a curious expression.

“Mugged.”

His face lit with comprehension. “Yes, mugged, yes you were. That is what we gathered but it is good that you confirm it.”

I was tired and confused but there was still something I needed to clarify. “All right, one last question, I guess I messed up my shoulder falling and I know that’s when I hit my head but why did I lose so much blood? Did I hit something that tore up the ligaments or something?”

Laghari looked surprised. “Mr. Carlo, you were stabbed multiple times from behind. Based on the wound, probably a box cutter. They did a lot of damage.”

“It didn’t feel like a knife. I thought I was punched.”

He nodded gravely. “Unless you’ve been stabbed before you probably don’t know what it feels like.”

I closed my eyes. “I’d rather have had a boring night in bed.”

Melissa, “Me too.” She squeezed my hand.

“Me three,” added Lavi. “And we’re staying.” She added the last to Dr. Laghari.

“They are family,” I said.

“The hospital has rules,” the doctor replied.

“And I can check myself out.”

“Mr. Carlo...”

I cut him off. “Doctor Laghari.”

He gave me a look of exasperation. “You are going to rest?”

“I will be a good boy, I promise.”

“Very well. You need to rest as much as possible and let your body heal.” He gave looks to the girls as if to indicate they weren’t to be a bother and then walked out. As soon as he was gone both girls leaned down to kiss me one at a time. It was just a gentle touching of lips but it made me feel a little more whole.

Melissa, “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got worked over by a couple of crack heads.”

“Or meth,” offered Lavi.

“Or meth,” I conceded.

Melissa, “Seriously, how are you?”

“I have enough things hurting that I’m not sure what I should be paying attention to.”

“Don’t think about any of it, just rest,” Melissa said. She seemed tense, but that was understandable. “We will be here if you need anything, anything at all but you rest as doctor Leg-Up-Ass said.”

I smiled. “Don’t call him that name where he can hear.” I sighed, again. Sighing seemed the appropriate response to a lot of things right now. “I probably have stuff to take care of. I assume my wallet and phone are gone.”

Lavi nodded affirmatively, “We used your tablet and looked up the contact info for your boss. He got us the insurance information. And we set an alert to let us know if your phone turned back on. Then we called your mom to let her know.”

“Thank you.” I laid back. “What time is it?”

Melissa looked at her phone. “A bit after one.”

“Great, as if getting stabbed wasn’t bad enough I’m going to eat hospital food.”

“No, you will not.” Melissa was on her feet. “I’ll be back.” She almost ran out of the room. It was very uncharacteristic of her. She hadn’t even said bye.

I looked at Lavi who shrugged. “You gave her an out.”

“Huh?”

“She doesn’t like hospitals. She’s been a nervous ball between worried about you and thinking back to when she used to be in one. You gave her a chance to take care of you and get out of here so she took it.”

“Is she all right to drive?”

“Yeah, I convinced her to take a Xanax and she slept earlier in the car while I stayed here. It’s probably worn off though. Maybe I can get her to take another one this afternoon.”

Fuck. Our trip was ruined, Melissa was a bundle of nerves, all because of me. “Thank you for everything. You’re the calm in the center of the storm.”

“Nope. I’m a ball of psycho kittens babe.”

“So, that’s why the craziness doesn’t bother you?” I asked.

“Maybe.” She smiled kindly to me, reassuringly. Her opaline earrings dangled there.

“You know, I know that’s not true don’t you?”

Lavi, “What do you mean?” She tilted her head a little to the side in a cute way.

“I know you’re not a ball of chaos. You’re focused. Everything you do has a purpose. That crazy manic persona, you like it, it’s fun but it’s just a small surface part of you.”

I saw a bit of her mother in her face as she looked back at me. “You know, you’re supposed to pretend you don’t know those things. It’s like asking a woman her age.”

“And letting the man think he’s in charge?” I grinned at my counter challenge.

She met my grin with one of her own. “Nah, all the women of the world got together and voted that one out.”

“But kept pantyhose?”

“What can I say, sometimes the traditionalists carry the vote.”

I started to chuckle but someone suddenly cleared their throat and Doctor Laghari was in the doorway giving Lavi the evil eye. I looked at him, “I’m resting, I swear, I just need to make a few calls.” He passed the glare to me and went on his way. I turned back to Lavi. “Do you have my tablet here? I think I need to call my bank and do other things.”

“Sure. Need my phone?” She handed me the tablet.

“Nah. I have a virtual phone app I use when I need to call customers. I can use it with my address book.” She gave my hand a squeeze and retreated to some seating long enough to lay down on that was built into the wall underneath the windows.

I noticed Lavi was in the same clothes as last night. “How are you doing?”

She smiled thinly. “It has been a long night.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for life. I’m going to close my eyes for a few but wake me up if you need anything.”

“I will.” Lavi lay down and I began the calls. I could see her chest rising and falling. She had saved my life and maybe Melissa’s too. For that matter, Melissa had probably saved our lives too. I was the one that had been useless. That thought would haunt me in quiet moments. Hospitals give you too many quiet moments. Half an hour later I had only talked to the phone company and was on hold for my bank when I fell asleep. It would take the rest of the day to make the calls as I kept fading in and out.

I was woken by a nurse who checked my blood pressure, took readings, and then admonished me to rest. I refrained from commenting that I had been until she woke me up to tell me to rest. The next time I woke, it was to a much more pleasant image of Melissa sitting in a chair next to me eating out of a styrofoam container with another similar one on a table next to me. I couldn’t quite turn around and reach it with my shoulder bound up.

“Let me,” Melissa said. She put her own down and picked mine up to put it on a little tray that I could put across my lap.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Surf and swamp,” Melissa replied. “Cajun shrimp with alligator steak, since you said you wanted to try it here. There’s also some hot water cornbread and roasted okra. You have a bottle of water there.” She pointed next to me.

I noticed across the room was a covered thing of hospital food, presumably delivered while I was asleep. Lavi was eating something of her own that I couldn’t see near the window. “What is in there?”

Lavi, “I looked and all I could recognize was the jello.” I raised an eyebrow in question. She took a fork of food. “You’ve spoiled me, what can I say.”

That didn’t make much sense to me but I decided food mattered more than deciphering Lavi right then. The shrimp were easy enough to eat but trying to cut the alligator only resulted in my pushing the steak around as I tried to cut with one hand. Melissa stood up again and without saying anything took her knife and fork and began cutting it for me. That was when I noticed we had real cutlery.

“Not plastic stuff?”

“I borrowed them from the cafeteria downstairs,” Melissa said.

“Nice of them.”

“Not really, I just got drinks and made sure I went through a line with a guy in charge of it.”

Lavi snorted. “What she means is that she took her bra off and bounced on her feet while talking to him.”

I started to laugh but it hurt again. “Are men really that easy to play?”

Without looking at me both girls said in unison, “Yes.”

I sat there watching Melissa cut my steak. “I feel like a baby.”

She smiled. “Just wait until I’m pregnant and you’re fetching me Nutella shakes and pizzas for my cravings.”

“I can’t wait for the belly,” Lavi added.

“Now you’re just trying to distract me.” I did like the image of both of them pregnant. I hurt too much to be horny but some part of my brain still wanted me to think about it.

“Nope,” said Melissa. “Just pointing out that we all take care of each other. That’s how it works. Lavi,” Melissa addressed her wife while still cutting my steak. “What do you say when we’re pregnant we do those nude photos together? The classy maternity ones.”

“That would be awesome.”

I would have agreed but I was busy sneaking a hand into the container and grabbed a bite of steak to start eating. It was really good. It was much tenderer than I’d managed to make the alligator meat I had bought. I wondered how the cut factored into it. I meant to ask Melissa about where she got it but I couldn’t keep my eyes open and faded out again.

I woke a few hours later as I was being taken into for X-rays of my ribs. I later found out they weren’t fractured but I got the first look at my stomach. The skin was a patchwork of bruises so much that I at first wondered if I had some kind of grease on me because my skin just isn’t that color. They were putting up these shield things everywhere else, presumably so that I didn’t start glowing in the dark or something and I stared at the mottled black and blue. I started laughing but restrained myself since I now knew it would hurt.

The attendant looked at me quizzically. “Just thinking, I’ve been tenderized. I’d make a good cut for a butcher.”

“Uh, okay.” He looked at me as if he was debating if I needed immediate medical care, maybe psychiatric. I should probably keep my thoughts to myself when feeling loopy, I decided. I fell back asleep while they were zapping me with X-rays, later was woken for more meds and evaluation, and then fell asleep again. The cognitive evaluation was a series of memory tests and things like adding numbers in my head. I was determined to not have any obvious brain damage. I told them that my ex-girlfriends would disagree. That got a laugh from Lavi at least and then I was fading out again. I was beginning to feel like the protagonist of a sci-fi novel jumping through time every time I closed my eyes.

The next time I woke up the sky was dark outside. Melissa and Lavi were both asleep. Lavi was back on the seating by the window but had a pillow and blanket this time. Someone had rolled in another hospital bed though and Melissa was in it. Obviously, the girls had made friends with nurses. A trio of luggage including mine was now in the corner and I noticed that someone had plugged in my tablet on the bedside so that it had a charge. I tried reading but couldn’t focus very well. And my bladder hurt. I tried fiddling with my bed but couldn’t figure out how to get out.

I looked at the button for calling a nurse but my movement must have woken Melissa up. She looked at me with alert eyes despite just waking up. “Do you need anything Robert?”

“Need to pee.”

“I can help.” She was still in the yellow dress and in moments was lowering my bed with controls and bringing down the rail that kept me from rolling out. She disconnected the weird pulsing cuffs and helped me to my feet and I felt everything hurt. I had never paid attention to how the body does so many little things just to sit up. I found out and it hurt more but eventually got on my feet. I shuffled forward and Melissa followed bringing my bag and monitor stuff with her. In the bathroom, I couldn’t even get my gown up very effectively so Melissa helped me. I stood there holding my gown with my left hand while my right arm was bound so Melissa held my dick as I pissed. I felt pathetic but Melissa acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I leaned on her as she helped me pee. “Good aim,” I said sheepishly.

“You know, I was kind of jealous of my brother for having a penis when we were little kids. He would stand back from the toilet and see how far from it he could get and still get the stream in it.”

“I think every boy does that.”

“Really?”

“Everyone I knew. In elementary school, it was nearly an Olympic event.” I finished the stream. “Can you shake it just a bit?”

She looked at me curiously, “Do you want to, you know, have me take care of you?”

I felt like I’d been stabbed again with that question. “No, I don’t think I’m up for that. Not that it doesn’t sound wonderful. The shake just gets the little last drops out.”

“Oh.” She shook me and helped put the gown back in place. We stood there and she carefully lined up on my left side and pressed against me hugging me wrapping her arms below my injured right shoulder. “I love you. Did you know that?”

“I do. I just don’t feel like I’m much of anyone right now.”

“You’re you, you idiot. That’s more than enough for me. I know this is hard on you.”

“And you.”

“Yeah, and Lavi though she doesn’t show it. But it’s hard on all of us in different ways. But I can see it in your eyes. I don’t know what it is but you’re hurting.”

“Literally,” I replied.

“Is that all it is?” She talked into my body holding me tightly.

“No.”

“There isn’t anything else you could have done.”

“Lavi probably could have. Heck, you would probably have seen them coming.”

“Maybe, maybe not. What’s that line you like to quote about the past being a jungle?”

“Do not look to the past for it is a jungle of nightmares.”

“Exactly. I will tell you one thing though. I don’t think I could have stood up after that. I doubt Lavi could either. You did, you stood up, you walked. And you know what you idiot? Life will sometimes hit you when you can’t see it, and it’s sometimes a thing you can’t fight and the best person in the world to have by your side then is the person who can still stand up afterward and that’s you and why we need you.”

“You’re trying to make me feel better.”

“Yes, I am. I’m also telling you the truth.”

“I think I need to lay back down.”

“Come on.” She helped me back and I wanted to think about what she said but instead, I was sleeping before she put the rail back in place.

In the morning I woke up, fell asleep, and woke up again. The girls used my shower, separately, changed clothes and Melissa went out to pick up my new phone while Lavi helped me take a shower. A doctor came in later and established a pattern of checking my shoulder, pain level, and presumably that I wasn’t dead yet. I did have early signs of infection so my antibiotics got increased. Apparently, the blade had been dirty. Great, I couldn’t even get mugged by hygienic crack heads.

I tried listening to audiobooks instead of reading but found I was falling asleep while listening to them so I finally resorted to just playing movies on a laptop I had already seen so many times that it didn’t matter if I fell asleep during them. As a result, I was becoming reacquainted with the 1980s works of Bill Murray and watched as Gojira saved Tokyo repeatedly. The girls made sure I wanted for nothing but I was still bored. Lavi had decided I should have a manicure and was carefully trimming my nails when I noticed Melissa. Melissa was reading something on her tablet, very intently on the second bed. When not doing something for me she had retreated into a world of hyper-focus, blocking out the hospital around us.