Oh my, after 31 chapters and 86.000 words I have finally reached the part that made me write this fanfiction in the first place. Brutus is no longer a single man! Hurray! xD

Chapter 32 – Paul's plan

Brutus and Ellie were the first to arrive at the Edgecombs the following day. There was a frisky smell of upcoming autumn in the air, but it was still warm enough to eat outside. Janice waved at them from the kitchen window and Paul, who was on his way to the back yard, called out from the porch: "Brute, come help me with the steaks!"

"Uh oh…" Brutus mumbled and handed Ellie the bottle of wine they had brought along for the hosts. "I thought they were done grilling us?"

He followed Paul around the house and Ellie went inside where she was greeted by a cloud of steam from the boiling potatoes and Janice's wide smile.

"Paul was beside himself when he got home last night," she said with a chuckle. "I thought they'd promoted Percy or something."

"Well, you can't really blame him," Ellie admitted sheepishly. "Hiding it from everyone wasn't exactly fair play."

Janice waved her off. "When you've been married for as long as we have, you kinda forget how that first magical time feels like. Believe me, we fumbled around behind our friends' and family's back for quite a while too, but I think that detail has slipped his mind quite conveniently."

"Still, I hope he's not too harsh on him."

"Oh, don't worry. Paul's just sour because he knows I'm gonna spend the five dollars on new shoes. He'll have forgotten all about it by the time the lunch's been served. He can't hold a grudge for very long." She turned off the stove and smiled. "So, is it official now? You and Brutal?"

"I suppose it is," Ellie responded, but to be honest she hadn't really thought about it. She still hadn't told her parents, neither had Brutus, so their relationship was technically still a semi-secret.

"Don't rush it," Janice advised her. "And don't mind Paul. He care about Brutus and he's just annoyed he couldn't be the person standing behind the two of you, pressing your lips together. He's been on the poor mans back for years now, setting him up on dates that were doomed to go wrong. I'm just happy Brutal finally manned up and found his own pace." She traded a significant glace with Ellie. "You can say a lot about Brutal, but he's doesn't exactly hustle things."

Ellie laughed. "Tell me about it."

"I'll bet you had to make the first move too," Janice said with a confidential smirk, "am I right?"

"Well, he did kiss me first…"

"Really! Perhaps there's still hope for him after all."

"But I practically had him cornered," Ellie admitted, "so he didn't really have any other options left."

Janice snorted with laughter. "That sounds more like him."

They set the table in the back yard together and Paul was called back to the kitchen to help with the heavy platters. Janice hauled cool refreshments out of the refrigerator and Ellie was sent out with a beer for Brutus, who was still flipping steaks by the grill.

"With regards from Janice," she said and handed him the dewy bottle, "and the new shoes she is going to buy for Paul's money."

Brutus smiled complacently. "Always glad to be of service."

Ellie embraced him from the side with her arms around his waist and Brutus raised his free arm over her head, put it around her and kissed the bridge of her nose, where the sun had freckled her skin.

"Was he hard on you?" Ellie asked him considerately.

"Naw, but he's still a bit disappointed in me, I guess. I got the whole 'I-thought we-were-friends'-speech all over." He tipped his beer and took a long zip. "What'd Janice say?"

"Oh, she doesn't mind at all. But she asked if we were officially a couple now?"

"Would you mind that?"

"No."

"Me neither."

Ellie chortled. "Wow, that was the most romantic relationship-agreement I have ever heard."

"How about this then…" Brutus rumbled, stuck the carving fork into one of the steaks and kissed her, until Harry interrupted them, announcing his and Dean's arrival with a wolf whistle from the back porch.

"Better?" Brutus asked quietly.

"Perfect," she whispered as a respond to his crooked smile. "You think we can continue down that path later?"

"Yes, ma'am," he growled back in his deep, husky voice with his mouth against her temple and Ellie melted like butter in the sun.

oOo

When the steaks were done, they all six sat down at the table and dug into Janice's first-rate lunch. They were chatting away, passing plates across the tablecloth and praising the food. Only Paul seemed a little quiet – almost thoughtful. Ellie assumed it was because he still hadn't forgiven them for keeping their relationship a secret, so when he suddenly interjected their casual talk in the middle of the second portion with a very different subject, he took them all by surprise.

"We all say what he did to the mouse."

Dean ceased chewing and Harry's hand stopped dead a couple of inches for the platter he had been reaching for. The men traded glances in silence.

"I could'a gone the rest of the day without you bringing that op," Brutus said quietly, letting his fork and knife drop.

"I could'a gone the rest of the year," Dean muttered.

Paul looked over at Ellie and said: "He did the same thing to me. I never went to see the doctor. He put his hands on me and he took my bladder infection away."

Brutus frowned. "Coffey? When?"

"The day Wharton attacked Dean," Ellie said and the men gaped at her. "And you and Harry took him to the infirmary. You remember I went back to E-block?"

Brutus looked baffled. "You saw it?"

She nodded.

"It's true," Janice assured the doubting men. "When he came home that day, he was…" She smiled significantly at her husband. "… all better."

"Now, wait a minute," Dean said hastily. "What you're talking about is an authentic healing? A praise-Jesus miracle?"

"I am," Paul said.

"Well, if you say it, I accept it," Brutus said slowly with a stolen glance to Ellie. "But what's that got to do with us?"

There was a moment of silence and then Janice said quietly: "You're thinking about Melinda."

"Melinda?" Brutus repeated. "Melinda Moores?"

Janice reached out for her husband's hand. "Oh, Paul – you really think you can help her?"

"It's not a bladder infection," Paul said and looked around at them. "Or even a busted-up mouse. But there might be a chance."

"Hold on, now!" Harry interfered sharply. "You're talking about our jobs. Sneaking a sick woman into a cellblock?"

"Oh, no," Paul said. "No, Hal would never allow that. You know him, he wouldn't believe such a thing unless it fell on him."

"So you're talking about taking John Coffey to her," Brutus said and his voice had gotten a slight rough tone in it. "That's more than just our job, Paul. That's prison time if we get caught."

"You damn right it is," Dean joined in and he looked both in awe and a bit scared of the thought.

"No," Paul said sternly. "Not you, Dean. You see, the way I figured it, you stay back on the Mile. That way you can deny everything."

"Why do I have to stay behind?" Dean said, looking upset.

"Because you're the only one here with small children and another one on its way," Paul said gently. "Our boys are all grown up. Gone of to school. Harry's girls, they are all married now. And Brutal…" He paused and looked at Ellie tentatively, like he was waiting for her put her foot down.

"Whatever Brutus decides to do, I'm not going to stop him," Ellie assured him.

Brutus frowned pensively, when Paul shifted his gaze back at him.

"And what about Ellie?" Brutus asked. "I know you've got something in mind for her too, Paul, since she's here. But I'll tell you this: I'll rather die than participate in something that can put her in jail."

"Her part in this will be small and not all at dangerous," Paul reassured them both "If we have to sneak Coffey out of E-block without anyone notice, we have to do something about Wharton. I propose we drug him and Ellie's gonna help with the dose. That's all."

"I wouldn't mind helping," Ellie said and even though Brutus looked like he would rather have her far away from Paul's crazy plan, he finally nodded.

"Hang on to your horses now!" Harry burst in. "Let's not discuss this like we thinking of doing it." He looked slightly desperate and turned around to Brutus. "Brutal, help me out here!"

The whole table stared at Brutus and Paul, eyeing each other consideringly over the plate of potatoes. Brutus took a deep breath.

"Listen," he began quietly. "I'm sure she's a fine woman…"

"The finest," Janice said emphatically.

"What's happening to her is an offence, Brutal," Paul said softly. "To the eyes and the ears and the heart."

"I have no doubt," Brutus responded in a firm voice. "But we don't know her like you and Janice do, now do we?"

"And let's not forget," Harry said, "that John Coffey's a murderer. What if he escaped? I'd hate to lose my job because of it, or go to prison, but I'll hate it even more to have a dead child on my conscience."

Paul shook his head. "I don't think that'll happen." He paused carefully. "In fact… I don't think he even did it at all. I just can't see God putting a gift like that into the hands of a man who would kill a child."

"Well, that's a very tender notion," Harry said dryly, "but the man's on death row for the crime. Plus, he's huge. If he tried to get away, it would take a lot of bullets to stop him."

"We'll all have shotguns in addition to sidearms," Brutus said and provided Paul with a stern look. "I'd insist on that. If he tried anything, anything at all, we'd have to take him down. You understand?"

"I understand," Paul said and Brutus looked appeased.

For a spell the table was quiet, each of them caught up in their own train of thoughts. Ellie glared up and met Brutus' blue, inscrutable look and she knew she was going to hear about the bladder infection incident the moment they were alone.

In the end it was Dean who broke the silence.

"But, Paul," he said. "I don't understand why you can say that Coffey is innocent. We'll read the file: He's got all the evidence against him.

Harry nodded. "I second that."

"It's just an assumption," Paul began. "And a long one, that is…"

"We got time," Brutus interrupted him gruffly.

Paul looked at his men and the few seconds he hesitated, you could almost see him examine the supposition in his head, searching for soft spots and potential weakness. He found none and the guards were still waiting, so he put his knife and fork down and told them the story about the shoe. And when his men had fallen silent of equal part scepticism and speechlessness, he initiated the entire table in his plan.

oOo

And hour and a half later the lunch get-together broke up and Ellie and Brutus drove off. Brutus didn't spoke until the Edgecomb's house had slipped out of sight in the rear-view mirror.

"It's crazy," he muttered.

"The plan?"

"Uh-huh." He paused and narrowed his eyes against the bright afternoon sun. "It's not that I'm backing out, it's just… Geez, what are we thinking? The man's a giant – we'll never be able to get him out without being caught. And if we do, God help us, we have to persuade the warden to let us into his home, so a convicted man heal his sick wife. Not to mention having to deal with Wharton and Percy…"

"Brutus," Ellie interrupted him soothingly. "It's going to be all right."

Brutus breathed in and looked at her, his face deadly solemn. "Will you wait for me, if I end up in prison?"

Ellie gave him a smile and reached out for his hand on the gear knob.

"Of course," she said. "For the rest of my life, if I had to, but it won't happen. The entire plan will end up just fine."

"I sure hope you're right," he said, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.

She squeezed his fingers in return. "I'm a woman – I'm always right."

He smirked at her smug smile.

"Is that true? So I assume that's why you didn't tell me 'bout Coffey taking Paul's bladder infection away."

"Oh, I knew I was going to hear for that. But honestly, would you have believed me if I had told you?"

Brutus considered that for a second, then he admitted: "No, pro'bly not."

"See? And for your information, I would say we are pretty even now: You lied about your father and I didn't tell you about Coffey's first miracle."

"Okay," Brutus yielded hastily. "Forgotten and forgiven, is that a deal?"

"If you insist," Ellie responded with a simper.