ODDS OF LOVE

Episode Sixteen

                   

                          

" No , " Spencer said as stubbornly as a young child told he must eat his veggies or he would get no dessert. He sat up with his head propped up on his personal hypoallergenic pillow that DuBuis had carried over from their home. His bottom lip was poked out in a rather childish pout that looked a little ridiculous on the face of a forty year old man. 

Dr. Kate Horowitz stared him down coolly from the foot of his hospital bed. Her plain blunt featured face looked stressed to say the least. 

DuBuis wanted to both laugh and groan as he watched his husband face off with his colleague. " Spencer , Kate has a very good and valid point. It is for your own best interest. "

" No. Her reasoning is neither good nor valid at all. Her non good , non valid reasoning is about removing me from an establishment where the staff and your coworkers hate me and regard me as a nuisance. " 

DuBuis creased his forehead. " Don't be silly , Genius. Nobody thinks that here. "

Spencer snorted impolitely. " They might not say it around you , Dr. Lane. They might be polite and well mannered to me around you but when you step out for coffee or one of your awful cigarettes I hear things said. I'm not deaf. "

" Who says these things ? Nurses ? Doctors ? Techs ? Housekeepers ? Who ? Give me names and I'll make an official complaint. " 

Spencer shrugged his slim shoulders. " It doesn't matter. I am leaving here but not for this .... place this woman wishes to send me to. Now , Dr. Horowitz , if you do not mind leaving I am tired. It is exhausting being an useless vegetable. "

Kate opened her mouth to issue a retort but DuBuis cut her off with a gentle but firm , " Kate , give me time to discuss this with my husband please ? " 

Kate sighed deeply and long sufferingly. " Whatever you say , D. You are an excellent doctor. Best we have here besides myself. But I never realized how saintlike you were until recent events. Good luck. "

Once she was gone from the room Spencer reached for the remote control to the wall mounted TV but DuBuis quickly palmed it first. He shifted his irritated eyes over to his husband who stared back with equal frustration. Frustration ? What right did DuBuis have to be frustrated ? 

" I need the remote. It is time for the noon news. I always watch it in my office as I grade papers and assignments. . " 

" No. No. Spencer , we need to discuss this whole situation. We need to discuss what Kate said. We need to discuss your attitude. We need to discuss the useless vegetable comment. You are not an useless vegetable. You are paralyzed but you are not an useless vegetable. You know this. You know this. "

No. No. No. Spencer did not want to discuss this at all. His hand , the one wearing the ring that the store robbers still hadn't gotten because after the shooting they had gotten scared and ran off , balled into a fist. He pounded it into his thigh. Once. Twice. Once more. DuBuis grabbed his hand , saying , " Stop it before you hurt yourself. "

Spencer wanted to laugh. Hurt himself ? That was a joke. Even he knew that and he did not fully comprehend most popular culture humor. " What difference does that make ! If I hurt my damn legs ! My useless betraying legs ! Will it make me more paralyzed maybe ? " 

DuBuis got that tight worried look upon his dark handsome face. Spencer hated that look. He hated seeing his husband worried. If only he had not stopped for water. If only he had just died. What were the odds ? His eyes went from his husband to the wall. He wished he had died. DuBuis would be better off. He looked at the hideous but oddly thoughtful handmade get well cards his morning classes had made him. He was touched they had done it. He thought they all hated him. He knew what his nickname was there. He secretly enjoyed the nickname. The dean had given him the cards when she had visited him. As DuBuis had taped each card to the wall where he could easily see them the reed thin and expensively dressed Dr. Bethany Harris had fidgeted in her chair and looked everywhere but at his legs. His useless legs. 

( " Don't worry about your classes , Dr. Norland - Lane. We assigned a very capable and most excellent teaching assistant to take your place. " )

Take his place. 

He had been very glad when she left just ten minutes later.