Lights, Camera, Rumblefish!

Ch. 25

Ch. 25
I woke up the next morning in the hospital, wires and monitors hooked up to me as if I were a science project. I was groggy, I could tell. I turned my head to see Matt sleeping on the hospital couch and the door closed.
"What am I doing here?" I asked aloud. Matt didn't wake up.
"Matt!" He snapped awake and throw the blanket off of him. He has a stained t-shirt on and boxers. I noticed his clothes folded in the corner.
"What am I doing here?" I said. He got up and smoothed my hair back.
"You stopped breathing in the middle of the night... We took you here, make sure everything was going alright. How ya feeling?" He said after kissing the top of my head.
"Tired."
"Are you in any pain?"
"No."
"You're on some painkiller right now."
"Why?"
"You were mumbling something about how tight your chest was," he said. He had been asleep for a while, I could tell by his voice. It was deep, in a dreamlike manner.
"How long have we been here?"
"Probably since around 2:30 in the morning. It's eight now."
"It's not light out."
"No. It's about to rain," he said.
"Do you want to go back to bed?" I asked.
"Yeah, I kinda do."
"Go ahead." He leaned down and kissed my forehead before tumbling back on the couch.
*********
Later I got balloons and flowers from Cruise and Emilio when Matt had to leave to look for a job. I begged him to stay, but he left without saying goodbye.
"Doctor says your heart is really messed up. May need a new one," Emilio said.
"You replace the heart, you give cancer the okay to start again," I said.
"No. They're talking about getting rid of the tumor before getting you a new lung. This stuff is doing damage to your arteries and shit," he said.
"I don't know. No doctor's came and talked to me," I said.
"They're telling Matt everything," Tom said.
"Matt who won't talk to me."
"You haven't talked to me at all?" Emilio asked.
"No, I have. I just asked what was going on. I woke him up," I said.
"What time was that?"
"Like eight in the morning."
"He didn't go to bed until 6," Emilio said.
"Probably only running off of 4 hours of sleep," Tom said.
"Why?"
"He didn't go to sleep until late and then he was in bed with you and you just stopped breathing and then he called 911," Emilio said.
"Yeah, he came into the den crying and crying. He thought you died then and there," Tom said.
"We've been a little harsh on Matt, but...he's taking this really hard, Essie. He's not handling it well. He's drinking all the time, he's out of the house... He's not looking too good either... In terms of health," Emilio said.
"Yeah, he's running a fever or something today. He doesn't look too good," Tom said.
"Poor thing's falling apart," I said.
"Maybe when he gets back for dinner, you'll talk about it."
*******
"Cruise and Milio said you look like you're running a fever," I told Matt. He looked up from his magazine.
"Huh? Oh yeah. I am feeling a little under the weather," he said, looking back down at his magazine.
"Baby, come here..." I said. He sighed and closed his magazine, moving the hospital chair closer to the bed. I put my hand out and he grabbed what he could under the wires.
"Why don't you want to talk to me?" I whispered. He stared at my hand and then kissed the top of it.
"I don't mean to not to... It just happens..."
"I don't know why you're doing it though."
"I'm working on it, Essie. I'm trying."
"What's the holdup?"
"I just... I can't stand seeing you like this, Essie. You don't deserve it. But I'm working on myself, Essie. I'm trying."
"When was the last time you had a proper meal?"
"Huh? Oh, um..."
"Or a full 8 hours sleep?"
"I-"
"Matt, honey, you're not looking well. Maybe we should get a nurse to check you out."
"No, I'm fine, honey. Let's focus on you. How are you feeling?"
"Fine. Painkillers are doing their job. Sweetie, please get checked out."
"No, I'm fine."
"Matt, please... For my piece of mind..."
"Fine."