Title: Comatose
Author: KayBo
Rating: G
Word count: 360
Disclaimer: Jack and Ennis belong to Annie Proulx and all others who had a hand in bringing them to life. I own nothing and have nothing to sue over.
Comatose
Jack is slipping into a coma. He's not bedridden, sluggish, or showing any outward sign of his impending collapse. But keeping up the façade is sucking him dry.
Jack has no time for anything else these days. His work suffers. His appearance suffers. His heart suffers. And every lonely day, his eyes dim a little more. His eyes get a little duller. He expects them to turn into a lifeless gray at any minute. How ironic, Jack thinks, that his eyes are fading, while Ennis' are growing warmer. They are becoming as warm and toasty as two hot mugs of cocoa on a freezing winters night. Jacks eyes are twin icebergs.
Jack walks into his kitchen. He is tempted to throw away the remaining beer cans. Maybe if they are gone, Ennis will touch him again. Jack thinks back to the old days. The more fervent the touch, the shorter the amount of time they had together. Ennis has to return to his ranch and Jack returns to his loveless marriage. He doesn't know if he could go back to that constant strain.
At least here, the strain is made slightly more bearable with Ennis's presence. Here, Ennis is real. Jack remembers when it would get so bad that he convinced himself that Ennis was a figment of his unstable mind. Sometimes he reaches out to touch him, just to remind himself that he isn't quite that crazy anymore. Jack leaves the beer in the refrigerator.
Jack needs some air. He wanders to the back porch of the house in search of air, and an epiphany. He isn't holding his breath on the latter.
Jack tries to think deep, constructive thoughts. All he sees in his minds eye is the grocery list in his hurried scrawl. He closes his eyes and exhales slowly. He counts to ten and imagines himself, broken and bloody, lying in a ditch. He feels nothing.
Jack imagines Ennis's face as his own. He feels less than he thought would. Jack knows that something has to give.
"I still can't figure out quite how to quit you, Ennis." Jack sighs and steps back in the house.
