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It took Theo a painfully long amount of time to lift his head, though he didn’t acknowledge my question in any other way.
“Telling people what they want to hear,” I continued. “Being what they want you to be.”
The only proof that I’d hit close to home with my observation was Theo dropping his now watery eyes. I wanted to kick my own ass for the blunt remarks. I wasn’t a guy who dealt in lies… at least not the big ones. And thereally bigshit? Well, I didn’t exactly lie about it; I just never talked about it.
If I’d been alone, I would have laughed out loud at my attempt to rationalize my past actions. Instead, I slowly climbed to my feet and searched out Theo’s bag. I still couldn’t really make sense of why I’d grabbed the bag when I’d gone to Theo’s room to see if he was on any prescription drugs. I hadn’t paid much attention to the contents of the bag, but I hadn’t missed the fact that it had been sitting right in front of Theo’s bedroom door.
Not next to the bed, not on one of the many hard surfaces in the room where he could have accessed it.
No, by the door.
Which meant one thing… he’d been planning to sneak out of the house, but his infected arm had stopped him.
Seeing that bag sitting by the door had allowed the non-nurse part of me to come out, and I’d grabbed it without allowing myself to really think about it.
But I needed to think about it now.
My next move would likely determine if the frail, haunted young man went through with his plan to leave or if he decided to stay in a place that I suspected would start to let him heal in so many ways besides just the cut on his arm.
I went to the bed and slowly set the bag down in front of Theo. He flinched at my proximity but when I crouched down so that I was lower than him, he seemed to relax.
“Theo, look at me, please,” I said softly.
It took him a painfully long time to shift his eyes from the floor to me.
“Do you remember the choice you made when I found you in the bathroom?” I didn’t give Theo the chance to answer because it didn’t matter either way. I wanted to keep his attention on me for as long as I could. “You chose me instead of the hospital—”
“No, that’s not—” Theo interrupted, almost frantically, and I knew why.
“Theo, I only meant that you chose my ability to help you over going to a hospital—nothing more,” I explained. I didn’t want to think about what kind of agreement Theo had been thinking about. Whatever horrors he’d seen in his past very likely meant when you asked for something, the price wasn’t always money.
“When you chose me,” I continued cautiously, studying his response as I spoke, “you officially became my patient. That means I can’t tell anyone about your medical condition or anything we’ve discussed unless you give me permission to do so. I also can’t have you involuntarily committed to a hospital because I don’t believe you’re a suicide risk, nor do I think you’re suffering from any kind of mental condition that means you’re unable to make decisions for yourself.”
I waited to see if there would be any kind of relief in Theo’s expression or the way he held himself but all I saw was suspicion. I supposed I couldn’t really blame him. He had no reason to trust me.
I glanced at my watch. “You have about two hours before Cam gets up… he’s an early riser. You can leave now but with the shape you’re in, my guess is that Ford and Cam would find you pretty quickly, and that’s assuming you can even get out of the house quietly. Princess Puddles may not seem like guard-dog material, but she’s got great hearing and since Walter and Lenny’s room is on the first floor…”
I let my words drop off so that Theo could process what I was saying. As sick and tired as he was, his brain had to be dragging too.
“If youdomanage to get out of the house and make it to the road in the hopes of finding a ride out of town, just remember that even though this is small-town America, you don’t know who’s behind that wheel up here any more than you would in a big city. No judgment, but you don’t seem to exactly be at your fighting weight.” I kept my tone light as I spoke those last words in hopes of easing some of the tension between me and the young man who’d once again shifted his gaze to the floor.
I swore I saw the corners of Theo’s mouth tug into what might have ended up in a smile if his inner cynicism hadn’t raised its ugly head.
I took a chance and reached up to gently capture his chin with my fingers so I could force him to look at me. “I know that you have no reason to believe me, Theo, but I’m not big on lying, and we all have secrets that are ours and ours alone.” I released my hold on him and felt something inside of me flip when he continued to look at me.
“Ford will know as soon as he sees me that I’m sick and he’ll want to know what’s going on—”
The mere fact that Theo was talking to me had me doing the interrupting.
“I’ll tell Ford the truth—”
Theo opened his mouth to respond but I quickly covered it with two of my fingers. The softness of his lips had me nearly forgetting what we were talking about.
“I’ll tell Ford the truth… that you have a fever and will need a couple days of rest. And while I’m not going to be happy about coloring that truth just a little bit when I tell him that your fever is likely contagious, that should keep him from doing nothing more than popping his head into your room to check on you. But I doubt he’ll do even that because none of the family will want to risk any chance of passing something on to Walter or Lenny,” I explained.
“But don’t you take care of Walter?” Theo asked.
“I do,” I said. “But I’ll wear a mask and gloves around both him and Lenny when I’m checking his vitals and helping him with his physical therapy. Since I know that I’m not actually a risk to either of them, I’ll just be going through the motions of wearing protective gear. The rest of the time I’ll be staying up here with you.”
