Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies
By Jet-Indigo
Chapter Six – Hello Tomorrow
Henry and Luther walked in through the front door, finding Vince still in the place they left him. He had fallen asleep on the couch some time during the night, bandaged arm held close, protectively across his chest, his other arm a sort of shield across his stomach. He looked peaceful until something in his dreams made his eyes screw up in pain. They were back to how they were before but still, Henry hadn't been able to get the image out of his mind.
He and Luther had headed out to get cigarettes and breakfast, figuring it was the least they could do for Vince and Juliette. Luther took everything to the kitchen while Henry sat on the coffee table and shook Vince's shoulder in a bid to wake his older brother up.
"Get up," he ordered, as Vince looked up and groaned.
"Don't know if you noticed, but there was a slight accident where I was shot." Vince seethed, annoyed at his brother for waking him from the hour sleep he had gotten that night. Ever since he could remember, Henry had been the first one up in the morning and he bitterly recalled mornings where he had been woken by the same shake of the shoulder.
"Yeah, I noticed when you bled all over my car. Thanks for that by the way," Henry shot back, sauntering into the kitchen where the smell of bacon was beginning to arise.
"Anytime," Vince replied to himself, pulling himself to an agonizing upright position. He breathed heavily; working his way through the pain like his mother had taught him. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Just let the air into your mind, honey.
He sat, shaking slightly, with his face resting in his good hand and his bandaged arm resting limply on his knee. The pain became a constant, dull throb once again and he began to feel dizzy. "Henry!" He shouted with as much effort as possible. He vomited on the carpet just as Henry stepped into the doorway.
"Might wanna clean that," Vince added to Henry's look of contempt. Henry shook his head, backing out of sight while mumbling to himself. If he hadn't felt so disgustingly ill, Vince would have allowed himself to feel much smugger but just watching his twin clean up his own puke was good enough. "Still hungry?" Vince asked, sarcastic yet not filled with as much humour as it usually would have been.
"Ha, Ha. I'm having yours, I don't wanna have to see my own breakfast regurgitated by someone else," he replied, shoving the dirty cloths into the bucket full of soapy water and finally letting out his breath. "Yo! Jules!"
"Yeah?" She shouted from upstairs.
"You got any air freshener or something?"
"Why?" She asked, making her way down the stairs, towelling her damp hair.
"Vince here just chunked on your floor, thought you might wanna deodorise in here," he answered, holding up the bucket.
"It's in the cupboard under the sink." She looked down at Vince's pale face; his eyes closed and head resting back on the couch. She walked around the couch, carefully sitting beside him on the arm of the couch. He opened his eyes, blinking away the light before looking at her. "Mornin'."
"Mornin' yourself," he answered.
"How you feeling?" She asked, watching him dubiously.
"Awful. But I did get to watch Henry almost chunk on himself after seeing my mess. Score." He nodded to himself and she smiled lightly through squinted eyes, as though trying to figure him out. The smile she saw creep onto his lips was one of mystery, it was miniscule, just tugging at the corners of his mouth but she spotted it. He caught her watching him and he squinted at her, though the smile was still in place.
"I'm off to get dressed," she stated, jumping up and avoiding the soapy patch on her carpet. Henry watched as Vince glanced after Jude as she walked upstairs. Leaning in the doorframe, he folded his arms at the sight of his brother checking out the woman in question.
"It's that damn silky bathrobe that gets me too," he said, earning himself a quirked eyebrow. "Don't deny it brother, I saw you eyeing those legs."
"If I didn't have a disability at the moment, I think pillow to face would be contacting right about now Henry."
"Don't get your panties in a twist – just don't let Luther see you checking her."
Before Vince could ask why, Henry had disappeared once again. All he did was watch after her, maybe not so innocently, and all of a sudden he was having accusations pointed at him. He hadn't been thinking about that sort of thing, he was hardly in a condition to be thinking about his crotch at that particular moment in time. Besides, it was hardly illegal to look at a woman…wearing a bathrobe.
He closed his eyes again, sitting as still as possible. He had yet to find a comfortable position but he found that if he refrained from moving unnecessarily he could wilfully repeat 'fuck you' in his mind. It didn't make the pain go away but it somehow made him feel better.
He knew he should still have beeb in the hospital. He had been there for a week and a half before Henry showed up but he had been told he would take a long time to heal from such an ordeal. His bandage needed changing and he was in no way capable of doing it himself. But if he had stayed in the hospital he would probably be under arrest and in a prison facility somewhere. Things weren't looking good.
He wondered where Leon and Letty had gotten to. Last time he had seen them, they had just stayed at his place and brought him a few of the everyday essentials – own toothbrush, deodorant - and then he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, they had gone, leaving a note beneath his dinner tray. Nice to see we can keep you entertained, lazy as ever. We'll keep your bed warm. There's a treat for you in the drawer. Let and Leon.
In the drawer there had been a bag full of candy and a pack of smokes.
Juliette would probably have let him use her phone but he didn't want to risk it. The pigs had probably tapped his home phone and he couldn't remember their cell phone numbers – he had never been good at remembering digits.
What to do?
He was struck from his thoughts when Luther flicked the radio on in the kitchen and some indiscernible rap song blasted through the speakers. Vince flinched; the noise may as well have been a drill working a hole into his head for all it was worth. He growled, feeling his jaw set in annoyance and sheer pain.
The station was changed but by this point, Vince could no longer pay attention to whatever was on the waves. His head was pounding and all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed, go to sleep and wake up to find himself in his own apartment. Free of shot wounds, free of the creeping wound around his arm and free from all the shit that had piled on top of him.
Juliette wandered back down the stairs, now clothed and ready for the day. Luther and Henry came back into the living room, each carrying plates. Luther handed one to Juliette as she sat down in the arm chair and he lightly ruffled her already tousled hair. She winked at him and began to tuck in to her breakfast. Henry sat next to his brother and raised his eyebrows at him in a somewhat knowing way.
Vince was unsure as to whether that was some kind of signal towards the way Luther acted around Juliette or whether it was just a meaningless Henry look. Either way, he wasn't caring that much any more. He just had no energy to think.
"So what do you guys plan on doing now?" Juliette asked, sipping at her coffee.
"No idea. But we need to think of something fast. He's looked better, we need to figure out what we're gonna do with him," Henry replied, indicating Vince. "Now that we've come down to it and we actually have to formulate a plan, I'm stuck. Usually I'd run on my own impulse but I can't do that now."
"Well look, I'll have to run it by Conner first, but you can probably stay here a few more days." She answered, pausing as she chewed. "If you need to."
"Seriously?" She nodded. "Oh you sexy bitch," Henry exclaimed, winking at her. She smiled back at him before getting up to take her plate in the kitchen. As she walked back into the living room, all four of them heard a car pull up in the driveway. Each of them looked out of the window, unable to make out who was getting out of the vehicle. Juliette walked to the door, opening it just as the new visitor stepped onto the porch.
"Connor!" She exclaimed, as he gave her a smirk at her outburst.
"J baby," he greeted suavely, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her into an embrace. "Miss me?"
"Course," she replied, playfully swiping his arm. Connor turned to Henry and Luther, pulling his shades from his head to reveal a set of shocking blue eyes. He smiled lightly in recognition and moved forward to shake their hands.
"Nice hair Henry, have an accident with a lawnmower or somethin'?" Connor asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly at Luther. Henry pulled a face of mock anger and made a motion with his hands to signify that Connor was all talk. Luther and Juliette however laughed at the comment, earning them another smirk. "You must be Henry's better half?" Connor presumed, staring at the man beside Luther who looked so much like him, yet so different. Vince nodded, managing a smile, albeit weak. Connor regarded him, noticing the raw wound that was around his arm. Vince looked down at his arm also, unable to conjure up a reason for having such injuries.
"You want some breakfast? Luther cooked," Juliette asked, trying to vie her roommate's attention away from the man with the bullet wound. Connor gazed at Vince a little longer before turning to Juliette and flashing another smile at her.
"Luther can cook? Well I'll be darned."
"Shut it, I've seen the messes you've created in the kitchen Con-man."
…
"We really need to change that bandage Vince," Juliette said, having come in his room and closed the door behind her. She was carrying a huge roll of bandage and some form of medical alcohol to clean the wounds. She sat down on the bed after flicking the light on, while he painfully pushed himself into a sitting position.
He made an attempt to pull his shirt off but struggled infuriatingly. She recognised the annoyance in his eyes and began helping him slowly get out of his shirt. She carefully freed his good arm and worked it over his head before pulling it down the wounded arm, taking care not to move it too much. He suddenly felt overexposed to the practical stranger who had let him in her house.
Silently, she began unravelling the thick material from around his waist. He watched her work so intently, and turned away at the look in her eyes that came about when she finally saw the shot wound. "Jesus," she muttered, placing the old bandage on the bedside table.
She heard a sharp intake of breath as she dabbed at the wound with the alcohol. "Sorry," she apologised sincerely, "This is really bad."
"Yeah?"
"Sorry, I have a thing for stating the obvious. You were shot close range with a shotgun, how could it not be bad? I should just stop talking."
"No…Carry on talking, I like to hear you talk."
She paused momentarily to look up at him but he had his eyes closed, working through the pain again. "You must be the only person, most of the time people just tell me to shut up – well Luther anyway," she laughed slightly. "How's your arm?"
"Better than it was. I can still feel the pain which is good I guess."
"Yeah, you should start to worry if you lose the feeling in it. Then you've got a problem." His mouth curled in a light smile, so there was some light in the tunnel. "I hope I'm doing this right anyways, I've never had to clean up more than a grazed hand or something. I'm just going on the little knowledge I have from movies where they always have to clean the wound and stuff, ya know?"
"Rather you than Henry, I'd end up with a mullet bandage."
She laughed again. God, she has a great laugh. No - not a time to be thinking of that now. She's helping you, she's cleaning you up. She's seen you puke.
She carried on talking mindless babble, Vince listening but not really paying attention. Before he knew it, she was re-wrapping a fresh bandage around his waist and his head was resting on her shoulder as she did so. "You okay?" She asked softly.
"Mmm," he mumbled, feeling his body become heavier and heavier.
"You need to rest V. Jeez, I bet that's all you feel you're doing but trust me you just need to sleep." He made another incoherent noise. "Do you need some kinda pain killers or something? I might have some strong stuff, not like in the hospital but it might take the edge off…Vince?"
"Can you just stay there awhile, I don't wanna move just yet."
"Does it hurt too much?" He nodded against her, sighing heavily. "Okay." She shuffled around for a moment, making herself more comfortable. She rested her hand on the back of his neck, making an invisible pattern lightly on his skin. He found that he had also placed the scar-ridden arm on her legs, and was mimicking the pattern she was drawing on her thigh.
A lifetime could have passed and he wouldn't have noticed. He had been so strangely comfortable that he hadn't even felt himself nodding off to sleep. "You ready to lie down again now?"
"Yeah…"
She helped him struggle back to the pillow, tenderly placing his arm across his stomach. "Thanks," he muttered, just before she left the room.
She stared at him a long moment, before shutting off the light. "No problem."