Title: Ask, and Thou Shalt Recieve
Rating: For this chapter, G
Disclaimer: Ah, though I wish I was amazing, I am not (alas!). Annie Proulx and Ang Lee have inspired me with their amazing writing and directing.
Warnings: Spoilers (sorta)
Summary: Yes, it's one of those where Jack survives his attack...for now.
Jack had never asked Ennis for anything. His eyes would plead and plead for what he wanted, and Ennis would understand, but Jack never told him. He never wanted to put Ennis through the agony of having to say "No, Jack, I'm sorry. No." So when Jack asked Ennis to get a ranch with him, Ennis was shocked. Shocked and scared. His automatic answer was, "No." All he could see was the old, queer man lying in a ditch. That could be Jack -his Jack, his lovely Jack- one day. If he was with Jack, someone might know, and they might kill him. He couldn't bear to lose him forever.
Then, he saw the hurt rise in Jacks eyes. It welled up like the tears that the man wouldn't let flow. "Why not?" His deep, Texan voice cracked as he spoke, trying to hold his composure. Ennis knew what he was really saying Don't you love me anymore, Ennis? What's wrong with me, Ennis? What'd I do wrong, Ennis? Ennis longed to answer all the questions. "Of course I love you (even though I'd never say it), There's nothin' wrong with you, you didn' do a thin' wrong, darlin'" But he couldn't. He just couldn't bring himself to speak to a face so pitiful.
So, he stared into the fire and decided upon telling Jack the story ofFrank and Earl. As he finished, shaking his head, Jack sat next to him, stunned. No longer hurt, he was angered. Angered Ennis would be so scared to banish Jack from all his life but the mountains. Angered someone would ruin a young boy's view of life. Angered he could never have Ennis because of something that happened over 15 years ago.
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So, years later, when Ennis heard Jack had been beaten with tire irons before he was carted to the hospital by a farmer, his heart sunk. He could have been with Jack, and maybe then, this wouldn't have happened. Maybe he could've convinced Jack to come to Wyoming, and no one would suspect a thing. But now was too late a time for maybes. He had a 14 hour drive ahead of him, to make sure Jack was surviving -under the support of machines, no less- and to make sure Jack still loved him.
Maybe then, he could think of taking Jack up on that offer he made so many years ago. Think of it...
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Speeding was a bad idea, so he stuck to the limit. He traveled on nothing but beer and thirst to see Jack. He shook the whole way there, nervous he would arrive to his man being covered with a blanket. Or that Jack would be awake and tell Ennis never to talk to him again. He was just plain...scared. Still, the thing that scared Ennis most was talking to Jack. Talking to him about what had happened. Ennis was no where near as good as Jack when it came to using words, and he didn't know what he would do when it came time to talk.
He finally arrived in Childress at 12:00 am. Since he couldn't very well go see Jack now, he checked into a motel on the outskirts of town. After getting his room, he shed his clothing and climbed into bed. He wondered how far it was from here to the hospital. Then, he fell asleep.
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When Ennis woke up, the alarm clock was beeping in his ear. They were all set for 10:30 so the customers could be gone by check out time if need be. He couldn't believe he had slept that late. He had to leave, he had to leave right now. He pulled his clothes back on and left $20 on the table to cover the bill.
He asked someone at the gas station, where he picked up some coffee, how to get to the hospital. It turned out it wasn't more than 15 minutes from where he was. He drove quickly, jostling his morning coffee and spilling it all over his only pair of jeans. "Shit!" He fanned his legs until the burning subsided. Then he focused on the road again. There was the hospital, looming high above him. It made him scared to know that was where Jack was. In that huge, white, sterile looking building. It didn't seem to suit the Jack he knew.
He parked his truck and climbed out. God, it looked like he'd pissed himself. He sighed, resigned to the fact that he would look so stupid when he first met Lureen, Jack's wife, and Bobby, his son. Maybe Jack would be awake today...but he highly, and sadly, doubted it. He went into the hospital, with a purpose he would rather disappear altogether.
"Uh...I'm lookin' for Jack Twist?" He spoke to a young red head, whose cocky attitude reminded him of Junior.
"Well, sir, would you happen ta know whut ward he's in?"
"Couldn't rightly tell ya." He spoke quietly, frightened again, but the feeling was more subdued by his bright surroundings. The lady, no girl, the girl sighed, cracked her knuckles and picked up her phone. "Yes, Arlene, please? Arlene, I need ta know where Jack Twist is. ICU? Thanks." She hung up the vanilla colored phone and looked at Ennis. Her eyes were full of a sad sympathy. "He's in the ICU. Go up ta floor 7, take a left, and yeh'll see a desk. Ask them whut room he's in."
He nodded at her as he moved his hat from his waist back to his head. It sat comfortably there most of the time, save for the rare occasion he encountered a woman, or was doing something devilish with Jack. Of course, he took it off when he slept, too. He clicked the 'up arrow' button impatiently, the way a child rings a doorbell on Halloween. Finally, the elevator doors opened and he was greeted with a musty smelling, carpeted, empty elevator.