Drinking To Cope

The Final (Chapter 5.5) (3/3)

3rd part of the dream (3/3)

The car trip was long for Maren and her mother, but they had made it to Salt Lake City. They were let in the house; they comfortably took the guest bedroom. But they also took the time to meet Claw's boyfriend. Klø-Maren was in the kitchen with �������, they had gotten there at 11, her mother had fallen asleep in the guest bedroom, and �������'s friends were asleep in the living room.

"When did you guys get together."

"A while back, it's been a few months already."

"That's cool; he hasn't skimped out on you yet? He can't do relationships for long because he has never been in a long one."

"A few times, but he bounces back."

"That's cool; I never knew Claw was gay, though. He always was straight, but he gave off some vibes. I thought it was just living with me and Mamma for so long that he started to be like us."

"People change over time; Claw changed over time."

"Oh, you're right about it. Oh, and on Claw. What happened? I know we only got back barely, but we never knew what happened. The hospital never called up or anything."

"He got into a fight because one of my debt collectors came to harass me. He was very badly injured, while he wasn't."

He handed Klø-Maren the exact same diagnosis paper:

"Patient Klø-Mikkel (Claw) Eriksen presents with:

-Fracture of the 3rd metacarpal bone in the right hand.
-Comminuted fracture of the distal radius and ulna in the left wrist.
-Closed fracture of the left femur.
-Multiple rib fractures on the left side result in left hemothorax and pneumothorax.
-Penetrating wounds to the cervical region and thoracic/lateral abdominal regions, of moderate depth.
Fractured and punctured claws in the paw."

"They didn't give you a Norwegian one? I can't read English very well."

"You can speak it somewhat okay; I thought you'd be able to read it."

"I can speak perfect English and have no idea how to read it. It happens."

"Okay, well, he's got broken bones and missing teeth, and one of his lungs is filled with blood. I'm sure that's changed. I think you guys got to Oslo whenever they just finished up with him."

"We're a committed team; we drove 14 hours, caught a flight with a crying baby, didn't sleep, and proceeded to drive another few hours. Claw would have done the same, but would have booked a flight to Bodø. There was an airport there, but we didn't book a flight from there."

"Those 14 hours were for nothing."

"Just shows our commitment, but not smartness."

"We're going to go see Claw in a bit."

"I might want to take the truck or the Yukon. I never knew you guys had a truck."

"The truck, Claw, got it way back. The day we got it was the day we met at the gay bar."

"How long ago?"

"Maybe 2-3 years ago."

"The truck still looks nice; it looks like he pays good attention to it."

"The idiot keeps putting his mine stuff everywhere in that truck; it's a mess sometimes."

"It is his job; it would be useless if he didn't have anything to help him."

"I guess you're right."

Maren began opening cabinets; she found tea bags. The same tea bags he took from home. He took multiple boxes the last time he was there, enough to last him a year. He was almost through them all. At least he was drinking them instead of letting them go to waste.