What a Pain! - Chapter 26
Mary and Gus, Mike's neighbors, were in their front yard, when Mary noticed Sir Pain strolling down the sidewalk. She shook the dirt from her gardening gloves and slid them from her hands.
"Gus, isn't that little Pain, Michael's cat? I wonder where he's going? Michael might be home in a few days and he'll be worried if the cat's gone," she fretted to her husband. Gus put down his wheelbarrow and rake and walked over to take a look.
Mary went to the end of the yard and met up with Sir Pain on the sidewalk. She bent down to pet him and Sir Pain twirled his lean body around Mary's ankles, purring like a tiny motorbike. Much to Sir Pain's surprise, Mary plucked him from the sidewalk and hugged him to her chest. Then, holding him out in front of her face she gushed,"Oh, you're such a sweet little thing! Such a good boy, aren't you? Are you looking for Michael? I bet you are!" Mary cooed to the cat for a few more minutes, then correctly assumed Sir Pain was probably hungry.
"Gus, can you go get some of that leftover tuna in the icebox? It's in the pink dish with the foil over top." Turning back to Sir Pain, she squeaked, "Mr. Kitty here needs his breakfast! Don't you little guy? Oh,yes you do!"
Gus chuckled and shook his head. It didn't matter if it was a human, a stray cat or dog, or the birds and squirrels in the park, his wife never could resist feeding a hungry creature. Mary's love for life overflowed in everything she did and it seemed her life's mission was to be sure everyone around her was well-fed. He smiled and patted his own ample belly in appreciation of his wife's cooking skills and went inside for the tuna.
When Gus returned, Mary still had Sir Pain in her arms and he had his head buried in the crook of her elbow. She giggled at the cat's silliness and nuzzled his head with her nose. "Such a fuzzy baby! Yes, you are!" she fussed with delight. "Gus, we're going to have to take care of Mr. Pain here, you know. He can't be wandering the streets alone."
"Now, Mary," Gus replied, "Pain was a stray when he showed up at Michael's. He's been on the streets before; I think he knows what he's doing. He's a smart guy; I can tell," Gus smiled and reached over to rub Sir Pain's ears affectionately. "C'mon, Mary, put him down. I put the bowl of tuna on the porch."
Mary walked over to the porch and placed Sir Pain on the mat and sat on the step next to him, smiling as she watched the cat practically inhale the tuna. "Good thing I didn't use all this tuna up in that casserole I sent over to Michael's; I don't know what I'd feed this poor little fella otherwise!"
Sir Pain gobbled up the tuna and lapped politely from the dish of milk Gus had also placed on the porch. With a full belly and plenty of attention, Sir Pain was content to be where he was for the time being. He found a sunny spot in amongst the dahlias in one of Mary's flower beds and proceeded to tidy himself up after his meal. Mary smiled admiringly at Sir Pain and wrapped her arm around her husband's waist. Not knowing about Sir Pain's role in last night's pandemonium, she said, "Such a sweet little cat! I bet he wouldn't hurt a fly!"
E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!
Pleased that Mike seemed to have understood that he was not being blamed by anyone, Roy, Marco and Chet stood around with relieved smiles on their faces.
"C-could one of yyyou guys hand mmme my handkerchief?" Mike sniffed, "i-it's in the drawer."
Embarrassed though he was, the visit from his friends had gone a long way toward alleviating Mike's self-reproach. The misery he had inflicted upon himself was completely unwarranted and finally, Mike relaxed for the first time since arriving at Rampart.
Chet rooted through the side table drawer, and, not finding the handkerchief, reached over and grabbed a fistful of the tiny Kleenex-wannabes that were in the box on the bed table.
"Here, pal, it's all I could find," he told Mike, still watching the Engineer closely. Chet wasn't totally convinced that Mike had so quickly absolved himself of his guilt. Yes, Stoker was much calmer, but Chet wondered what would happen once they left him alone. To Chet, this was a lesson to be learned: "Never assume you know how people are really feeling."
"Thanks, Ch-Chet," Mike replied, wiping at his eyes and nose.
"So, uh, Stoker, you gonna eat somethin' now? That nurse that left earlier looked kinda' pissed," Chet not-so-eloquently stated.
Mike closed his eyes once more and sighed, "Y-yeah, I guess. G-gonna have to ask for mmmore Ph-Phener-gan, though. I'm still a l-little green." He paused and without opening his eyes said, "You guys? Umm...th-thanks...I mmmean it."
"Hey, it's what we do best, right? Run in when everyone else is running out?" Marco joked. Then a little more solemnly said, "Mike...seriously...we're here for ya', man."
"I knnnow," Mike quietly replied.
The tension in the room was dissipating and the visitors mutually decided it was time to leave. Before Roy placed a hand on the door, however, Mike's eyes flashed open and he gasped loudly.
"Oh!" he yelped. "P-pain!" The others spun around to see a frightened expression on Stoker's face.
"Mike, what's wrong?" Roy asked, immediately going into paramedic mode and rushing back to Mike's bedside. He was already counting Mike's heart rate and respirations when Mike pulled his hand from Roy's grasp and shook his head.
"Nnno,no, I'm o-kay, Roy. I just...f-f-forgot about Sir P-Pain!" Mike panted, "Can you g-guys go check o-on him?"
Roy stopped and looked, mouth agape and wide-eyed, at Stoker and couldn't seem to say a word. Marco dissolved in a fit of laughter.
"Your cat?" Chet said, incredulously, "Man, you just about gave me a heart attack!"
Stoker smiled, "Sorrrry, guys. I j-just thought a-bout him...and I-I rrreal-ized nobod-y was there to f-feed him. I-I don't even know i-if he's in-side or out."
"Don't sweat it, man, we'll go take care of the little critter," Kelley smiled once he calmed down a bit.
In his head, he'd already begun making plans for the treats and toys he would bring to Sir Pain. Chet knew the whole story by now, and he was going to be sure that Sir Pain was well-tended to until Mike came home again.
"Alright, guys, let's get going, our engineer needs his beauty rest," Marco snickered.
"Yeah, okay, Joanne oughta' be here pretty soon anyway. Plus, I'm starving!" Roy added. "See ya' Mike, we'll be back later, okay?"
"Later, Stoker!"
Mike nodded his goodbyes then chuckled when all three turned around and said, "And eat something!"
Once he was alone again, Mike's thoughts turned to Sir Pain and everything that had happened since the little cat arrived at the Stoker house. Never in a thousand years could Mike have predicted such things; he just wasn't the type to attract commotion. He knew he'd have to call his mom and sister today and tell them what happened, and he was definitely not looking forward to that. He was sure his sister would want to come down from Oregon again, and although Mike missed her, he didn't want her to worry about him so much. He knew she'd also insist on bringing their mom, who, he was sure, would worry herself into an early grave. This was one of the reasons he stayed so quiet; he hated being fussed over.
"As soon as I'm in a regular room, I'll give them a call," he thought, then fell into the first peaceful sleep he'd had in days.
E!E!E!E!E!
Chet and Marco both decided to go directly to Mike's house to check on Sir Pain before going home to get some sleep. Knowing that Joanne would want to visit Mike, Cap and Johnny, Roy decided to get some breakfast at the cafeteria first.
"Let me know if anything needs done at Mike's," Roy told the others, "I can go over there tonight."
"Yeah, okay, we will," they both answered. They exited the stale air of Rampart's hallways and walked into the bright sunlight of another beautiful day in Carson. After so many days of gloom and rain, the sun had finally come out in more ways than one. Chet went one way and Marco the other as they walked to their vehicles.
"Meet ya' at Stoker's!" Marco called.
"Yeah...see ya' there!" Chet yelled back.
Before getting in, he leaned back against the door of his van, closed his eyes and let the sun warm his face.
"Hmm...maybe being 'strong and silent' isn't the thing to be," he considered, "Look how much Mike beat himself up about this...I never thought he would feel that way." Chet looked down and idly kicked at a few pieces of loose gravel before climbing in the van and driving away. He smiled and thought about the grocery store a little ways down the road. He'd stop there and pick up a few things for Sir Pain before he went to Mike's.
When Joanne arrived, she found Roy in the staff lounge, asleep again in one of the chairs. There was a tray containing remnants of his breakfast lying on the table, and two empty coffee cups beside it. Jo smiled, knowing Roy must really be exhausted if two cups of coffee hadn't succeeded in waking him up for the day. She sat in the green chair next to him and lightly rubbed his arm to wake him.
"Roy? Honey?" she whispered.
Roy woke with a start and turned to grin at his wife, "Caught me snoozing again, eh?"
"Yeah," Joanne said with affection. "Last night was pretty awful...are you okay?"
Roy stood up and pulled Joanne to her feet for a hug. He held her to his chest, smoothed her hair, and kissed the top of her head.
"I am now," he told her.
In his room, Johnny dozed off and on while his IVs delivered medication to help with the pain. He had taken inventory of his injuries earlier and estimated he'd be off work for at least a month. Aside from the rib-breaking whack from the shovel, Jordan had stomped on Johnny's ankle, kicked him in the thighs, knees and hips, and repeatedly bashed his head to the ground. Johnny figured the blow from the gun was what had broken his nose. There had been some concern that he may have had a bruised kidney, but that, at least, seemed to have resolved itself. One of the orderlies had found a hand mirror for him to use, and now he regretted it. His lips were swollen and his nose taped. One eye was puffy and black and the cut across his temple required ten stitches to close. Then there was the broken tooth, which of course would mean a trip to the dreaded dentist. Johnny was a mess and he knew it. For once, he hoped no pretty nurses would be assigned to care for him, because right now, he was most definitely not at his best.
"Although, there is the sympathy factor..." he mused.
In Captain Stanley's room, the nurse was finishing up another vitals check. Everything was looking as good as was expected, and Dr. Ramsey informed Cap that perhaps by tomorrow he could be moved into a regular room.
"That would be great," Cap mumbled. He hadn't been hospitalized since right before he made Captain and he didn't like it now any more than he had then. He was tired, but didn't feel like sleeping, he was hungry, but food didn't sound good, he was achy but he didn't want the fuzzy feeling he got from the pain meds. In short, he was one unhappy Captain. His wife, however, sat contentedly in the chair next to the bed...knitting him a pair of slippers.