Broken
Scene Six.
Nick walked into the kitchen and was greeted by The Commander at the table, reading the newspaper.
"Nicky, how's Eddie?"
"Not really sure yet, just got a call from Janet, the next twelve hours are crucial. Where's Ronnie?"
"Upstairs."
"Ronnie!"
"What's all the shouting for?"
"I've got a favor to ask," Nick responded to his father.
"Does it involve manual labor?"
"Maybe…" Ronnie came into the kitchen in a hurry.
"What is it, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, I just need to talk to you guys."
"I didn't know I was involved with the favor," The Commander said.
"Hey, hey, it's not that bad. It's a good thing, actually. So I got the coffeeshop gig for Best Friend Windows."
"Way to go, big brother." Ronnie said. "What does that have to do with me?"
"I kind of need your help."
"How much help are we talking here?"
"Some installation, maybe some backup with the paperwork, ordering…"
"So, pretty much everything. Or at least, Eddie's half of everything."
"Not everything, just some things. Like, dad can do the paperwork since he has a bad back. You can help me with the labor issue, I'm willing to pay you at least--"
"I'll do it, Nick. Don't worry about it."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, count me in, too," The Commander said and went back to reading his paper.
"It's that easy. I don't even have to do any persuading?"
Ronnie was over at the fridge, picking out a snack.
"Sandwich or burrito?" He looked to Nick.
"Seriously, what's this about?" He looked confused, but his father spoke up.
"Nick, your business partner, your best friend, is unconscious in the hospital. If you need help with the shop, we're there for you. Right, Ronnie?"
"Definitely, yeah. That's what family's for," Ronnie settled on a cookie and walked out of the kitchen, slapping his brother on the back, "Glad you got the job."
"I really missed this," Nick said, mostly to himself.
"Missed what?"
"Family."
"We've always been here, you just had to look around."
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With her hand on his, Janet was struggling to find the right words to say.
"I know you're in there," she choked out. "So I'm going to talk to you like you were sitting in my living room, ok? When you come out of this, boy howdy, you're getting a welcome back party. I'm talking balloons, streamers, the whole nine yards. I'll cook your favorites and we'll have all the guys over." She paused, realizing she wanted to say something more substantial.
"I've been thinking about us, ya know you and me--together. I like it. Not like I have much to compare it to, but I think it's going really well. It's easy, ya know? And I'm pretty sure that's the way it should be. I used to look at you from across the room and think how hard it would be to even muster up the courage to talk to you, but now? Things are different. I wish I'd known it was this easy, I would have tried to snag you years ago. What I'm trying to say, in a really roundabout, blabbering kind of way, is that… I love you, Eddie. This proves it. I just, can't bear being in this world without you. You need to wake up. You need to get better, because we were on the right track. The slow-moving, totally falling for each other track, and I want to be back there."
She lowered her head and put her hands to her forehead. Letting out a long breath, she was disrupted by the high pitched squeal of one of Eddie's monitors. Looking quickly over to the heart monitor, the steady beat suddenly fell flat. The nurses rushed into the room and it was like a whirlwind. Medical jargon was thrown around and Janet was pushed to the side. The doctor rushed in, throwing down a chart and reaching over to Eddie.
"What's happening?" Janet whispered, but no one responded. They started to wheel the bed out of the room. Janet spoke up louder this time, "What's happening?" The doctor turned to her,
"We need to get him into surgery. This was to be expected; there's no other choice." Janet followed the doctor into the hallway and to some double doors. "We'll keep you updated." And with that, Eddie's bed was pushed through the doors and with a final swing, they shut. "Please don't die." Janet whispered to herself, looking completely disconsolate.
"Janet?" She saw Nick come walking up behind her as she turned, tears falling.
"What is it?" He said hurriedly, noting her demeanor.
"The monitors just went berserk. They all came in and took him away. They took him away." Nick hugged her, looking in the direction of the double doors. He fought the urge to run through them, but the red "No Entry" sign dissuaded him.
"This can't be happening," she stated in a muffled voice, her head buried in Nick's chest.
"It'll be ok," he responded, not quite believing it himself.
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A phone call later, Owen was opening the door to Physical Phil's house. He saw him and Pizza Girl sitting in the same position as earlier that day.
"Come on, we're going to the hospital," Owen said resolutely.
"Wish I could," Phil said in a deadpan voice, staring out to his friend.
"They took him into another surgery. This just got to a whole new level of serious, Phil."
"You don't think I know that?" He rose to his feet. "I want to do this, and I almost have, all day long. I get to the door, I get to the porch, and then I'm back on the couch. I just can't go through with it, Owen."
"In all honesty, you can do your part sitting right here just fine, but the rest of us are going to be at the hospital. Me, Nick, Janet… Eddie. We're all there, trying to get through this together. We've never judged you for what you do, and we certainly won't start now, but the fact is, we need each other." He paused and they looked at each other. "Are you in, or out?" After a beat, he responded.
"I'm out." Owen turned to leave. "I mean, I'll go out! I'm in to go out. Let's go." He and Pizza Girl stood up simultaneously and they headed for the door. Phil made it to the porch and started to wobble. Pizza Girl leaned in, holding his hand,
"Just close your eyes, I'll guide you," she smiled. They made their way up the path and to Owen's car. By the time they were settled in, Phil opened his eyes with a smile.
"Not too bad, buddy," Owen said.
"Yeah, not too bad at all," Phil said.
"We just need to make one stop," Owen admitted and drove off, making Phil shift in his seat.
"What? Where?"
"We need to pick someone up."
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"I brought food," Hannah set down a piece of Tupperware on the table where Nick and Janet sat in the waiting room.
"Thanks, Hannah." Janet said as she gave her friend a hug. Hannah sat next to her.
"You have to eat, have you been home at all today?" Hannah noticed Janet looked the same as when she saw her earlier that morning.
"I haven't had a chance to leave yet, I wanted to stick around, in case Eddie woke up." Instead of saying something, Hannah just wrapped her arm around Janet and the three of them just sat there, waiting. A moment later, Owen appeared, with three people following close behind. Nick got up and gave his friend a hug and noticed who came along. He didn't know who he was more surprised to see, Physical Phil, or Ikey.
"I'm glad you're here," Nick said to Phil, shaking his hand and pulling him into a hug. He turned to Ikey, who sulked in the back of the group, trying to go unnoticed. Nick turned to him.
"You too, Ikey," and took him into a hug. They all sat down, facing each other, sitting in silence.
"Favorite Eddie story. One from yesteryear or of new, go," Pizza Girl spoke from beside Physical Phil. Everyone looked to her, "What? We need to break the silence. The very awkward kind of silence. I'll go first if that'll help." No one objected, so she continued.
"H'mm… ok, oh! Yeah, ok I got one. I was delivering a pizza over on Broad Street, it was… spinach and feta house. Anyway, I'm getting out of the car, put the pizza on the roof, and these two kids on skateboards rush by me and steal the pie. Two houses down, right when they think they got away with it and I'm already chalking it up to a loss, Eddie's in the front yard with the landscaping business and he snatches the pizza back. He brings the kids over by their collars and makes them apologize to me." The group laughs at the image and nod their heads.
"All right, I've got one, one of many, but you know, for the purposes of the exercise," it was Owen this time. "It's a little less heroic, but funny anyway. It's senior year, Mr. McKay's chemistry class, and Eddie's chatting up Lizzie Smith. He's convincing her that he's a chemistry genius and that he has the periodic table memorized. She believes it, don't ask me why, and he's so busy flirting with her, he mixes up the chemicals and it results in this huge puff of smoke. He lost two eyebrows for a month, a date, and his dignity that day." The group shared another laugh, each thinking of their own stories. But before someone could explain another one, Hannah stood up.
"What are you doing here?" Everyone turned around to see Ray Cataldo, looking very lost indeed.