Chapter 7
"Do you think you can eat just a little more of that?" Calleigh asked him. They were sitting next to each other in a booth at Silvio's, a restaurant that Calleigh and Eric both liked. Tim thought it was all right, but it was always noisy and crowded and tonight it was making his head pound. He picked up his fork, though, and tried another mouthful of the rice. "Good," Calleigh said, smiling a little. "You're getting too thin again," she said softly.
He didn't reply, but didn't take another bite, either. "Who's Eric talking to again?" he asked, looking over to where Eric was crouched down by a table across the dining room.
"A cousin or something, I don't know. I didn't catch what he said," Calleigh replied. "He always knows someone in here." She sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes. He said nothing, just sitting there, staring at the plate of food in front of him.
"You're about ready for bed, huh?" Calleigh asked after a moment, as she turned to face him in the booth. He shrugged. He was so dizzy and drowsy that there was no fight left in him. He'd let her take him home and put him to bed. "Can you finish this, or do you want to take some of it home?" she asked, gesturing towards his plate.
He was about to answer when her cell phone rang. "Duquesne," she said, answering it. Her face tightened at the response from the other end, and he knew immediately it was someone telling her to pick up her father. "Right. Yes, ok, tell him I'll be there in about half an hour. Thank you," she said. She sighed, again, and then looked at him. "Would you be all right with Eric taking you home, maybe?" she asked.
He nodded. "It's ok."
"All right," she said, softly, smiling at him sadly. She reached out and smoothed down his hair. "I'll tell him you're about ready to go, ok?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Ok," she said, touching his cheek. "You're going to be ok, Tim."
He didn't respond, other than looking away. She squeezed his shoulder and slipped out of the booth. He saw her walk over to Eric and say something to him, gesturing back towards Tim. Eric nodded understanding, and they talked for a moment before she left the restaurant.
Eric talked with his cousins a moment longer, then made his way back to the table. "Hey, sorry about that. I haven't seen my cousin for a while."
"It's fine," he replied.
"Are you going to finish that?" Eric asked, indicating his plate.
Tim looked at the food for a moment longer, then shook his head. "I don't think so."
"Ok, let's get you home, then," Eric said.
Tim nodded and slid out of the booth. His knee buckled under him when he tried to stand up and the accompanying wave of dizziness made him gasp. "Ok, ok, I've got you, it's ok," Eric said, grabbing his arm to keep him upright. "You all right?" he asked after a moment.
"Fine," Tim replied, getting his bearings back.
"Right," Eric said, his voice growing tight. "All right, let's go." He put some money on the table and led Tim out of the restaurant. Tim was wobbly, but he managed to walk outside and climb up into Eric's truck under his own power. He sighed as his head hit the back of the seat. "No, man, you can't pass out on me yet, Speed. I don't know how to get to your place," Eric warned.
Tim fought drowsiness as he said, "It's across the causeway."
"All right," Eric replied.
They drove in silence, with Tim indicating directions periodically. Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in Tim's driveway. "Ok," Tim said, groggily, as he reached for the door handle.
"No, wait a minute, man. I promised Calleigh I'd make sure you got in and to bed ok," Eric said, getting out of the car.
"I'm fine, Delko," Tim protested. "I can do for myself." He tried to climb out of the car, but he was so dizzy he couldn't stand.
"Damnit, Speed. Hold still," Eric snapped. "You can't do for yourself right now. For Christ sake, just let me help you, ok?" he said, holding Tim's shoulders up.
"I…" Tim started, but Eric interrupted.
"No, you listen to me. It is ok to need help. It is ok to ask for help. It is ok to say, hey, I can't do this on my own. Do you understand that? Do you understand that is why you have friends? Do you get that I'm your friend? And that I'm worried about you?" He paused, as Tim stiffened under his hands. "Look, I'm just trying to help, ok? Let me help you. I promise I won't ask any questions and you don't have to tell me anything. I just want to get you in the house and get you to bed, because you can't even stand up right now. Ok? That's all. Promise."
"Ok," Tim whispered.
"Ok. Give me your keys," Delko directed. Tim dug them out of his pocket and handed them over. "Good. All right, give me your arm," he said, slinging it over his shoulder. They moved up the walkway to the porch, and Delko opened the screen door to unlock the front door.
"No, wait, the cats," Tim said. "You gotta block the door so they won't get out."
"You have cats?" Delko asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah," Tim replied, struggling to get the door open. Delko grabbed him before he toppled into the house.
"Huh. Don't know that I'd have thought of you as a cat person," Eric mused. Tim didn't reply, but let Delko steer him into the house and shut the door behind them. "Ok, bedroom is in what direction?" Eric asked.
"Down the hall," Tim said, nodding.
"Got it," Erik helped him limp down the hall to his room. "Your house is really obsessively neat," he remarked, glancing around.
"Calleigh's desk is the messy one," Tim mumbled.
"I know," Eric replied. "Whoa, dude, what did you do to the bed?" he asked, as they entered the bedroom and found the bed sheets where Tim had left them on the floor. He shrugged. Eric sighed and said, "Ok, where's your pajamas? Can you get changed and cleaned up on your own and I'll make your bed back up?"
"Yeah," Tim said, steadying himself on the door frame.
"Ok. Yell if you need me, ok?" Eric said, looking at him apprehensively. Tim simply nodded and made his way to the bathroom.
He changed into the gym shorts and t-shirt he slept in, cleaned up and dug around in the medicine cabinet for the bottle of anti-inflammatories for his knee. Swallowing the pill, he limped back towards the bedroom to find Eric nearly finished making the bed.
"How many cats do you have, anyway," Eric asked, glancing at the two who were supervising the bed making.
"Three," he replied.
"Huh. All right, then," Eric shrugged and turned to help Tim lower himself down on to the bed. Eric's attention was caught by something as he swung his legs up onto the bed, and Tim was startled when Eric reached out and gently pushed the hem of his shorts over his knee. He stiffened when he realized that Eric had noticed the scars from the knee surgeries he'd had after the accident. Eric opened his mouth to say something, but reconsidered, perhaps remembering his promise not to ask questions. "It's warm in here, do you have air conditioning?" he asked instead.
"Don't need it on, just open the windows," Tim said, relaxing as he pulled the sheets over him, hiding his battered leg.
"No problem," Eric said, walking around to open one of the two windows in the room. "I put the blankets from the bed over here on the trunk, are you going to want them?"
"Can I have the blue one?" he asked.
"Of course," Eric replied, bringing the blue blanket over and spreading it over him. "That ok?"
"Yeah," Tim mumbled, laying back. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Eric replied. He hesitated a moment, then crouched down next to the bed and added, "Look, I didn't mean to yell at you, earlier. It's just…you're really hard to be a friend to, sometimes, because you're so hard to help. And it's frustrating, because I want to help- we want to help- but you won't let us in to know how we can help. We care about you, you know? And we don't like seeing you wrecked up like this, ok?"
Tim didn't look at him. "Ok," he whispered.
"Ok," Eric said. He regarded Tim a moment longer, then asked, "Are you ok on your own? Do you want me to stay over?"
Tim shook his head. "No. I'm ok."
"All right then," Eric said. "Can the door lock from the inside, or do you have a spare key I can lock it up with?"
"It locks on the inside, in the knob," he said, sleepily.
"Ok, good. You get some sleep, ok? And listen, if you wind up sleeping in a bit, it's all right, I'll cover you, you hear?" Eric said.
"Yeah, I hear," he mumbled.
"All right," Eric said. He reached out and touched Tim's shoulder. "Sleep well. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Night," Tim mumbled, as sleep dragged him down hard.