Thanks to: dreamcatcher33, Valandil Eluch, onefreetoroam, and Pip3 for the great reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's more of a character development one.

Title: Poor Ennis
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: See chapters 1, 10, and/or 20

Enjoy!

Ennis passed the next week vomiting in the toilet, sometimes not making it all the way there. Often he would turn the shower on and sit down in it, leave the shower curtain open so Jack could sit outside the tub and rubEnnis' back with his good arm.

The flu medicine in the cabinet just made him tired, so he opted for soup. The broth made his stomach convulse more sometimes, but the hot liquid felt so good running down his sore throat. After the week though, he started getting better. And there wasn't much time to spend recuperating. He needed to drive Jack to the hospital to get his casts off, Jack would probably be there over night, because the doctors had to make sure his knee could take the pressure. If that was the case, Ennis could drop off the girls' stuff while Jack was there.

He took a shower on his own while Jack neatly folded and extra pair of clothes for himself, excited at the prospect of walking on his own, standing, taking a shower. There was so much he missed. The sun filtered in through the small window, painted their white bed orange. It was too early to be going to the hospital, so Jack figured they were going to get something to eat. He wasn't sure what Ennis could stomach, but he knew he was starving.

Ennis stepped out of the shower and felt a tentative thought probe his mind. "What if someone guesses I'm with Jack?" He tried to ignore it. Shaved his face staring blankly at his image, better not to think at all. Junior would be 16 soon, he didn't know what to get for her. He wondered what he would do for a job, they were running out of money for food and electricity. He let every thought run through his mind except for the most important one. He loved Jack and was scared the man would die, every second he wasn't with him. Could barely stand to be apart from him.

He came out of the bathroom, was greeted by Jack grinning at him from the bed, still unmade from last night. "Whatcha doin' boy? We gotta go."

"Where?"

"Gotta take yeh ta the hospital."

"Not fer at least 2 hours. C'mon Ennis..." He twirled the sheets with his hand, "It's been a whole damn week. I gone that long without-" It didn't take more than that. Ennis had jumped on him, ripped off his clothes, attacked his mouth viciously. And all Jack could think was "He's lookin' at me, he's lookin' at me!"

It was rough, it was fast. Jack knew his weak legs wouldn't be his only hindrance to walking, but it was great. Ennis had watched Jack the whole time, watched his mouth open in a cry when he came, watched his shoulders spasm, watched his tongue run over his teeth when it was all done. And then he kissed him. Face to face, Ennis' eyes open, hands roaming over naked skin. Jack wasn't sure what had cause Ennis to act this way, but whatever was, he couldn't dismiss it. He had to hold it, remember it, save it for a rainy day.

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Jack hated be alone in the hospital, but Ennis had promised he'd be back once he gave Jr. and Francine their stuff. Jack knew he would be, where else did the man have to go? A nurse was helping him slip into a hospital gown, and in his nervousness, he started babbling, talking a blue streak.

"I jus' don' get why I have to wear this. It's jus' some casts yer takin' off, right?"

"I don't know Mr. Twist. You will be here over night though. It's just the rules."

"But why? It jus' don' make sense. Why can't I be comfortable?"

"I don't know." The young nurse sighed, shook her dark hair and smiled sadly at him.

"You ok, Mr. Twist? You need anything?"

"Naw. I'm jus' fine. I'll be mighty lonely if yeh leave though."

Coming from any other man, that might have sounded like a cheap pick up line, but the nurse detected a hint of sincerity in that sentence. His face fall at the prospect of her leaving, him having no one to talk to. So she figured her break could wait five minutes just so he could have someone to talk to.

"See, I'm always in hospitals," he smiled as she sat on the end of the bed, placed a pale hand on his foot. "I hate bein' alone in 'em. My uh...Ennis is normally with me, but it seems whenever he ain't here, I jus' go crazy. Never had no one to talk to but him. An' now yer lettin' me talk ta yeh. It's real nice, ta be honest. I jus' hate sittin' in here, not knowin' what's gonna happen ta me. An' I'm all alone, so I got too much time ta think on it, yeh know?"

"I sure do." She smiled sadly at him, pondering something he had said. "Who's...your Ennis?"

"Oh. Yeh caught that did'ya?"

"Caught what?"

"What I said."

She nodded. "Do you not want to talk about it?"

"Not perticularly."

"Ok. I'm sorry, Mr. Twist, but I'm late for my break. I'll be in trouble if I go over time too much. I'll be back later."

He nodded at her, smiled sadly, and laid his head on the pillow.

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Ennis never sang with the radio. Come to think of it, Ennis barely ever sang. Every now and then, when they had first been married, Alma made him sing in church. But then he didn't have the time to go, or she was too pregnant, and he sure as hell wasn't going alone. But as he was driving to his children's home, he couldn't help singing with the radio. He felt like everything would be ok soon. Jack would be better, Jr. had forgiven him, sort of, and he would see the girls soon enough.

The roads were engrained in his mind. He didn't have to focus on the turns or twists, only had to avoid the cars next to him and could spend the rest of the time thinking about whatever crossed his mind. The majority of the drive was spent not thinking, rather just...sitting. That was easy, made him feel carefree. Even though he knew he wasn't.