"Do you want to try a cherry popsicle?"
Theodore shook his head from the modified bed they had bought for him. "No, Simon, thanks anyways. I don't want to eat right now."
Simon groaned inwardly. Those words, which at one time he had never expected to hear his brother say, had become very familiar to him the past few days. "Come on, Theodore, you have to try. The only way we're going to restart your digestive system is if we get something in it."
"I'm sorry, Simon, I just can't. Maybe later?" Theodore looked at Simon plaintively.
Simon sighed in defeat. "Okay. But later we are going to get something into you. I can make some chicken broth, or something."
Theodore made a face. "Ugh." His face relaxed, and he looked at the Nutri-Flow machine next to him with a defeated expression. "I'll try, Simon, but I can't promise anything."
Theodore had changed quite a bit over the last six months. His fur had grown back, for one thing, though the scarring made it lay in strange patterns on his face. The casts had come off and slowly, with Simon begging, cajoling, and finally demanding that he work with his physical therapy, he was regaining the use of his right arm. He had lost far too much weight. That was a fact Simon knew well, as he was the one who usually helped his brother into his bulky black electric wheelchair every day. They had finally come home a month ago. The jejunostomy tube feedings were still how Theodore got all his nutrition, and his doctor had said recently that if they ever wanted to get Theodore back and eating again, it had to be now or never – his stomach had atrophied far too much. They were starting with liquids before progressing to more solid foods. That had been three days ago, and so far Simon had gotten a total of three ounces into him. He had measured.
"Do you think Dave's had any luck finding Alvin?" Theodore asked suddenly.
"I don't know, Theodore." Simon told him. Truthfully, he doubted it. They hadn't been able to locate any hint of him since he had gotten to New York. After some painstaking and very expensive detective work, they had traced him to Chicago, then New York, but after that Alvin had seemed to have just up and disappeared. Still, Theodore being Theodore, every time Simon or Dave went out on a lead Theodore would be crushed when they'd return empty handed.
"I hope he's ok." Theodore looked at the clock across the room, squinting through his wire-rimmed glasses. They looked like sunglasses, with their lightly tinted lenses, but they weren't. To everyone's great relief, the only damage that the swelling in his brain had caused was optical. It could be corrected partially with special lenses, but Theodore still had difficulty at times. "I think its almost time for Eleanor to get here, Simon. Could you help me to my chair, please?"
"Of course." Simon efficiently began to deactivate the Nutri-Flow and unhook Theodore from the machinery. He had gotten very good at this, not just because he took care of Theodore almost full time but because he was also taking pre-pre med courses at the local college. It was a new program for gifted high school students that had practically been created for Simon when he had scored so highly on his early entrance exams...truth be told, there was no practically about it. It had been created for him. And lately, he had been attacking those courses with a vengeance. It was if he was driven.
Simon hesitated before finishing. He hated this part. He knew how much it embarrassed his brother. "I need to check you before putting you in your chair, ok? We won't be back for a while."
Theodore closed his eyes. "Yeah, ok."
The elder chipmunk changed Theodore's mildly soiled underthings as quickly as he could. "There, all done." He said, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Ready?"
"Yes."
"Do you want a painkiller before we go?"
Theodore hesitated before he answered. "No, I don't think so." His medications had to be administered through his j-tube, and Theodore hated for anyone to have to go through the trouble to do that. Simon could tell that he was actually in pain, and so wanted to make sure. "Positive?"
"Yeah, I think so." A pause, then he said quietly. "Could you bring it along, just in case, though? Please?"
"Of course, Theodore." Simon said, retrieving the kit quickly.
"Thanks."
Simon glanced at the hoyer lift for a moment. "Do you want me to use the hoyer, or just lift you? If you don't mind, I'd rather lift you than have to struggle with that irritating hoyer. It always gets stuck just as we reach your chair."
"That's all right, you can just lift me." Theodore told him.
"Okay, give me a hug then."
Theodore reached around Simon and clasped his arms. Simon scooped Theodore up in a cradle hold, feeling the warmth of his little brother's body against his. Before the accident, Simon would have laughed at the idea of easily picking up his little brother, but now... "Okay, putting you down now." He warned before putting him into the wheelchair. He reached for the portable feeding system.
"Oh, no, Simon, I don't want to take that on our picnic. Not with all the Chippettes coming." Theodore said in dismay.
"Theodore, the doctor is really concerned about your weight. You're supposed to be on a constant 100cc an hour drip." Simon wished he didn't have to say that. The honest truth was, Theodore was painfully thin and his doctor was worried that he would start suffering from malnutrition. Hence the aggressive feeding program.
"I know, but..."
"Theodore, Eleanor and-"
Theodore grimaced. "All right, all right. I know what you're going to say. Eleanor and her sisters don't care, they've seen it before. You need to be thinking about your health."
Since that's almost exactly what he had been going to say, Simon just nodded helplessly. "Yeah. Pretty much."
The doorbell rang. Simon looked at Theodore questioningly.
Theodore sighed. "All right, put it on. I know that you'll worry to no end if you don't."
"Thanks, Theodore." Simon quickly reattached the feeding system. Ding-dong! "I'm coming, I'm coming." He grumbled under his breath as he hit the 'on' button.
"Go on, I'll catch up." Theodore assured him.
Quickly doing a visual double-check to make sure that everything was in place, Simon nodded. "Okay."
He didn't have as far to go as if they had been in their old room. The house had undergone many necessary modifications when Theodore had come home, and one of those had been for the downstairs den to become his new bedroom. Simon had tried to keep the old bedroom by himself – for about three nights. Then he had asked if Theodore would mind if he moved his stuff downstairs to be with him. Theodore hadn't minded at all, in fact had been overjoyed to have his brother share his room. Now only Alvin's things remained in their old bedroom, his third of the room looking very lonely.
Simon opened the door. "Hi, guys!" Jeannette and Eleanor came in as he stepped aside. He looked outside, but the last sister was nowhere to be found. "Where's Brittany?"
Jeannette looked at him, an expression that was almost guilty on her face. "She's on, uh, well-"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jeannette." Eleanor said, exasperated. She turned to Simon. "She's on a date with Gavin. She forgot all about our picnic."
"Yeah." Jeannette blushed.
"Oh." Simon blinked. "I thought she had broken up with him the night after
Theod....the night Alvin ran away?"
"She did. But I guess he's quite persuasive." Eleanor shrugged, and then smiled brilliantly as Theodore entered the room. "Theodore!"
"Hi, Eleanor." Theodore blushed as she hugged him and then kissed him full on the mouth. "Uh, Eleanor?" He said as she pulled away. "Jeannette and Simon are standing right there."
"So what. They can do their own kissing."
Jeannette and Simon looked at each other, and Simon felt heat rising in his face. Despite everything, neither one of them had been able to broach any type of romantic topic between them. It was always easier to just bury themselves in their work. Lately Eleanor had decided that it was her sisterly duty to set the two of the up together a little more seriously. It irritated Simon sometimes, but when Eleanor was with him was practically the only time that Theodore seemed like his old self again. That in itself was worth the harassment.
"Um, ready to go, Simon?" Jeannette said after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"Sure, yeah." Simon said. "I'll drive." That was sort of necessary, considering the adaptive van that Theodore had to ride in.
"Okay." They stared out the door. Halfway down the ramp, Jeannette paused.
"Simon?"
His heart pounded. "Yes?"
"Did I tell you about that new chemical formula I've been working on at Future Chemists of the World?"
Relief flooded him. Thank goodness, a safe topic. "No, you haven't."
As they got Theodore into the van and piled into it, Simon noticed Eleanor watching them and rolling her eyes.
"Oh, brother."
OooOooO
Theodore watched Eleanor carefully place the food out in bafflement. "Uh, Eleanor?" he asked.
"Yes, Theodore?"
"There's no food in that picnic."
She looked at him as if astonished. "Of course there is." She pulled out a few more Tupperware containers. "Vanilla pudding, strawberry jello, raspberry applesauce, homemade chicken soup, without noodles or veggies or even chicken-"
"Chicken soup without chicken?" Theodore looked at her, confused.
Eleanor laughed, a sunny smile on her face. "I know, compliment me later, I'm good. Anyways, we also have white-grape-apple juice, rum apple butter, peach applesauce..."
As Eleanor kept listing off the contents of her picnic, Theodore felt a near-unbearable surge of love for her. She had designed this meal entirely around foods she knew the doctor had encouraged for him. In fact, judging by the list, she had included every food his doctor had included. "Eleanor?"
"Yes, Theodore?" She looked up at him, her eyes wide and innocent.
"I know what you're doing."
"You do?" Her face was full of mock bewilderment. "What am I doing?" She glanced down. "Oh! And I made a special chocolate-raspberry-cherry mousse for desert. Want to try?" And without warning, a spoonful had been deposited in his mouth.
"Eleanor!" Simon cried from behind her. "I need to measure that!"
"Please calm down, Simon. It's only one bite." Eleanor watched him breathlessly.
It didn't taste good. He was sure it would to the others, but to him, if felt like paste in his mouth. But Eleanor was watching him so expectantly...he swallowed, trying to ignore the nausea that followed. The aftertaste, however, wasn't bad, so he smiled a little at her. "Not bad."
Eleanor actually clapped her hands, reminding him for a moment of how she had been when she was still in grade school. "Wonderful!" She said, climbing to her knees just long enough to give him a kiss on the cheek. "What would you like to try next?"
"Uhhh..."
Somehow, Eleanor managed to get him to eat, er, drink, three spoonfuls of jello, a spoonful of applesauce, and nearly an entire quarter cup of her "chicken soup." Simon was just about going mad with frustration, Theodore knew, his eyes obviously measuring every spoonful Theodore had as accurately as he could visually. He felt for his brother, but honestly, he was just trying to concentrate on keeping everything he ate where it belonged – in his stomach.
"Any dessert?" Eleanor asked, her eyes bright with happiness.
He was glad that his eating had made her feel so good, but he had about surpassed his limit. "I can't, Eleanor. Thank you so much, but I really can't."
"Oh," her face fell slightly, but she caught it almost immediately. "That's okay, more for me."
As Eleanor set to attacking her chocolate-raspberry-cherry mousse, Theodore swallowed painfully. He shouldn't have eaten so much. He was afraid that it was all going to come back up again, but he couldn't have that in front of Eleanor, not after all she had done for him. He sat very still, trying to control the urge to relieve himself of the food he had forced into his stomach.
He honestly could barely remember what real food tasted like anymore. He remembered enjoying it, and he still liked the smell of Dave and Simon cooking, but the taste? Barely there. He watched Eleanor enjoying her culinary concoction in the same way he would have a few years ago and felt sadness. It wasn't fair. Eleanor and he had just started to explore how they felt about each other. It wasn't fair for her to be tied to him...not like this.
Theodore noticed Jeannette and Simon talking softly, and a moment later Simon looked up. "Theodore, Eleanor, do you mind if we take a walk?"
Eleanor beamed at them. "No, not at all. Take your time."
Theodore nodded. "Have fun." He actually agreed with Eleanor about the two of them, but didn't want to get involved in matchmaking. "We'll be fine."
They watched the two older Chipmunks walk away in silence. "Finally." Eleanor said after a moment. "I hope at least one of them will bring it up."
There wasn't any need to ask what she wanted them to bring up. "We'll see, I guess." Theodore said. Eleanor scooted closer to his chair, reaching up to hold his hand almost unconsciously. "Eleanor..."
"Yes, Theodore?" She looked up at him.
"Are you...unhappy?" He hated to ask, but felt he had no other choice.
"Unhappy?" She looked actually confused. "Why would I be unhappy? I'm doing well in school, I have a family who loves me, a boyfriend whom I adore-"
"A boyfriend who's in a wheelchair." Theodore reminded her. "A boyfriend who can't even see past ten feet in front of him. Who can't even eat, much less take you out to dinner. A-"
"Theodore Seville." Eleanor said sternly, sitting up straight. "Are you going to break up with me?"
The look in her eyes made him stammer. "N-no! I'm just worried-"
"Because if this," she waved his hand to indicate him and his chair, "had happened to me, would you have deserted me?"
Leave Eleanor? Never! The thought horrified him. "No, of course not! I just-"
"Good." She snuggled into his legs again, and although he couldn't actually feel it, he felt comforted. "Because I won't let you. Break up with me, I mean. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."
"But-"
"You do realize that I'm going to win, don't you?"
"Win?" Theodore looked down at her, confused. "What do you mean, win?"
"Win the argument. The woman always does." Eleanor looked up at him with love in her eyes. "Oh, Theodore. I knew eventually you'd try to send me away. But what you don't understand is that you can't. I've known since we were children that we were supposed to end up together, and I think you've known it too. So, please, don't make this more difficult than it has to be. I love you. Isn't that enough?"
"Of course it is." Theodore suddenly felt the need to reassure her. "And...I love you too."
"I know." Eleanor looked up at him again, and tears were glistening in her eyes. Theodore laughed quietly. "What's so funny?" she demanded.
"Do you realize how much you sounded like Brittany right then?" He asked. She laughed.
"I guess I did, didn't I?" The laughter quieted.
"How is Brittany, anyways?" Theodore asked. "I've been worried about her."
"All right, I suppose." Eleanor said, then paused. "She misses Alvin a lot."
"But Gavin-"
"Is a phase." Eleanor told him, putting her finger to his lips to shush him. "She's scared Alvin's never coming back, Theodore. She's scared for Alvin."
Theodore let himself gaze off into the distance. "We all are, Eleanor."
End of part 7