Hero Worship
by
Owlcroft
Lydia and Beetlejuice were seeing less of Lydia's next-door neighbor, Ramón. This was mostly because Ramón was now a sturdy, popular eleven-year-old, with many other friends. It was also due to the fact that Ramón's family had put in a swimming pool that summer and he spent hours in it every day.
"Come on over," Ramón had invited them both. Lydia and her parents had already spent a few afternoons by the pool, cooling off and enjoying the company of Ramón and his family.
Beetlejuice had demurred. "I don't swim," he told his young fan.
"I can teach you," Ramón answered with a big grin.
Beetlejuice merely shook his head, with an even bigger grin, and said, "Maybe later." In an aside to Lydia, he added, "A lot later. Later than I am!"
This particular sunny afternoon, Beetlejuice was waiting for Lydia to return to the garden, where they were trying to figure out an underground structure to harbor worms. It had to be attractive to Lydia's favorite garden creatures, but allow her to check their status from time to time. She'd had the thought of a pane of glass which could be covered over until she needed to check on the occupants and had gone to get a small piece from a broken window that might work.
Beetlejuice was amusing himself by looking under rocks to find some snacks. He'd found another worm to add to Lydia's collection when he heard the now familiar splash of the pool next door. But there was something different about the sound this time. He cocked his head and waited for Ramón's whoop as he surfaced, but there was only quiet.
Telling himself he was turning into a worry-wart, he stretched his neck to peek through the hedge and saw Ramón floating face down, blood purling into the water near his head. "Lydia!" Beetlejuice screamed in panic, "Lydiaaa!" as he juiced himself poolside and reached to grab the nearest arm and drag his young friend up onto the cement sidewalk.
Lydia came running through the hedge as Beetlejuice lifted Ramón's head to check his breathing. Ramón's mother had also heard his screams and she burst onto the patio as Beetlejuice turned Ramón onto his side and smacked his back sharply a few times.
As he lay Ramón back down, he looked at Lydia and said in a strained voice, "Go call 911. He's breathing but he hit his head."
Ramón's mother knelt down and took her son in her arms, holding a towel to the injury on the back of his head as she began to cry. Through her tears, she thanked Beetlejuice over and over again, interspersing her gratitude with anxious prayers for her son.
Beetlejuice stayed beside her, breathing hard, looking anxious but confused, wiping his hands on his shirt over and over again.
ooooo
Only Ramón's parents were allowed to be with him, but the doctor came out to the waiting room and explained that he had been concussed and would be kept at least overnight in the hospital; that there was no danger and he should recover completely. "His parents have already told him he'll never be allowed to swim alone again," he said with a small smile.
After heartfelt sighs of relief from the Deetz family, Charles, who had driven his wife, daughter, and handyman to the emergency room, following the ambulance, asked the doctor how close a call it had been.
"Very close. Apparently, he'd held his breath to jump into the water. Then when he slipped and hit his head on the side of the pool coping he was unconscious and his body would try to breathe again, but his rescuer," the doctor indicated the silent, blond hero of the hour, "got to him so quickly, he didn't take in any water. That was good work." He nodded admiringly at Beetlejuice then told them all, "No visitors tonight. Call tomorrow; he'll probably be released tomorrow afternoon."
All the Deetzes offered thanks as the doctor left; Beetlejuice continued to stand silent, looking at nothing.
Delia went to him and laid a hand on his arm. "We'll take you home, Mr. Beetleman. It's the least we can do after what happened. You're a real hero!"
He winced a little at that, but nodded. "'kay," he said.
ooooo
Lydia explained to her parents that 'Mr. Beetleman' had left his tools in the Deetz garden and volunteered to help him collect them. Charles and Delia offered congratulations and expressions of gratitude and wonder several times, which Beetlejuice sincerely tried to refuse, before he and Lydia managed to escape and go to her room.
"Beej," she immediately hugged him hard, "are you okay?"
He shook his head.
"Tell me. What is it? Are you still worried about Ramón? He's going to be fine. You saved him." She looked up in surprise as he jerked away from her at that.
Unconsciously, as he had periodically over the last two hours, he rubbed his hands on his shirt, as if to dry them off.
Lydia approached him slowly and held out a hand. "Beej, what's wrong? Please let me help you."
He turned his face away from her and shut his eyes. "I always wanted to be a hero. But it's awful. I thought it would be great, people yelling my name and giving me a parade and stuff, looking at me like I was special, thinking I was . . . brave and strong and amazing. But it's awful and I hate it and I never want to be a hero again." He snuffled and opened his eyes to blink hard. "It hurts," he added quietly. "And it scares me. Even though I know he'll be okay."
When Lydia put her arms around him again, he didn't pull away. "Please just let me hold you. I think you need it," she told him. After a few moments, when he returned her hug, she ventured to say, "I'm so proud of you. You did save Ramón, Beej. You did exactly what he needed and I think you are a hero."
"He could've . . . Suppose I hadn't . . . He's just a kid!" Beetlejuice snuffled again, his embrace tightening. "I keep seeing him floating in the water, not moving, bleeding. Suppose I hadn't been there, hadn't heard him? Suppose I'd been too late?"
"But you weren't too late. You were right there and did the right thing." Lydia still held him close and now she starting rubbing his back. "You've been a hero lots of time, Beej. You've saved my life so many times; you've always been a hero to me." She heard a faint noise of disagreement. "Are you upset because it was Ramón? Because he is a kid, a friend of ours?"
Beetlejuice shook his head. "That's not it. Or maybe it's part of it. But do you remember when everybody thought I'd saved them from the Sandworm? I hadn't but they cheered for me and put me on a pedestal and . . . except for meeting you, it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And this, this ought to be great. I ought to feel like a million bucks because I really did save somebody." He sighed heavily and hugged her closer yet. "What am I doing wrong, babes?"
Lydia thought for a few seconds, then ventured, "You remember when you saved Doomie and me from that Sandworm in the desert?"* She felt him tense instantly then slowly relax and nod. "Well, you were a hero then but you were miserable – scared and upset and mad." He nodded again and she continued. "Maybe that's what real heroes feel like. Maybe that's why they're heroes; because they do the right thing in spite of being afraid and hurt and upset."
"I thought . . ." he trailed off. He was quiet for nearly a minute then suddenly pulled his head back to kiss her. "How do you know so much anyway? 'Cause you're good at being a hero yourself? A heroine, I mean."
"Nope. If I know anything about it at all, it's from years of standing next to one." She grinned at him and kissed him back.
ooooo
Two days later, Ramón appeared in the garden just as Lydia had placed the glass over her Hótel de Vers. "Hey, guys," he said shyly.
Lydia stood up quickly and went to give him a hug. "We heard you were okay. Are you sure you should be walking around like this though?"
"Oh, yeah," Ramón replied sheepishly. "Only thing I can't do is get in the pool. Yet," he added. "Can't get the stitches wet." He turned to Beetlejuice who looked even more uncomfortable than Ramón was. "You know, there's no way I can thank you enough for saving me. You'll always be my hero."
Beetlejuice shook his head. "Nah. Not me."
"Yes, you are," Ramón insisted. "You saved my life. My mom told me all about it."
Lydia gave Beetlejuice a sideways glance. "You did feel like a hero's supposed to feel."
"Yeah," he sighed. Then to the surprise of both the others, he hugged Ramón briefly. "You need to see Lydia's worms," he said when he let the youngster go.
Lydia led Ramón away and Beetlejuice stood for a minute, thinking, then muttered, "Doing the right thing when it hurts and you're scared." He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Then, shaking his head, he went to look at worms, too.
* "Photo Finish"