Class is Now in Session

I spent the next few hours at the hospital. I called my elderly neighbor because I had given her a spare key to my house and Mugsy needed to be fed. She lives alone so I figured I'd give her something to occupy a little bit of her time.

I spent at least an hour just roaming around the hospital and looking out onto the grounds. Tre' was taking a nap so I decided to leave him and see if everything was like it had been years ago.

I visited the chapel again, lit another candle, and said another prayer. I was feeling unusually spiritual lately. I guess my parents had gotten their money's worth at my schools.

When I got back up to Tre's room, I found him sitting up in bed with a tray in front of hospital food in front of him. He was flipping through the channels on t.v., only pausing on each for a few seconds. Apparently, there wasn't anything good on. I walked over and sat down next to him.

"Okay, what is that?" I asked, pointing to a small cup of brown gloop.
"They told me it was chocolate pudding, but I think they lied," he said, picking up the cup and tilting it a little to the sides. The nasty stuff barely moved.
"Reminds me of the pudding they used to sell in the cafeteria in junior high," I said. I took Tre's unused spoon and poked at the pudding. It looked like a film came off the top. "Okay, I officially condemn this pudding as unedible."
"I'll give you five bucks if you eat it," Tre' said.
"Haha, hell no," I replied, pushing the stuff away.
"Come on, you know you want to," Tre' said, shoving a spoonful right in my face.
"Okay, you have five seconds to get that crap out of my face before I hold you down and make YOU eat it," I threatened, unsuccessfully suppressing a smile.
"Hey, I'm the one in the hospital this time and I am NOT eating that," he said, tossing the spoon back into the plastic cup.
"They served it to you first, so it must be safe to eat," I told him, "but that doesn't mean it won't taste like shit so give it to me and I'll get rid of it."
"I just had a thought," Tre' said.
"Oh Jesus," I said, rolling my eyes.
"I'll give ten bucks to throw it out the window, fifteen if you hit somebody," he said, gesturing towards the window at the other side of the room.
"Tempting, but I think I'll pass." I stood up and threw the cup of pudding into the trash can near the door.

***

Another hour passed. I was sitting next to the bed, watching a movie with Tre'. I was still upset that Tre' was hurt. But then I realized that I still hadn't been told what had actually happened to him. I turned to look at Tre'. His face was still a little bruised, but he seemed okay. I had to ask him. I would hate myself if I never did.

"Tre'?" I asked quietly.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"I...I want to know what happened," I told him.
"What do you mean?" he replied, tearing his eyes away from the t.v. to look at me.
"I want to know...who hurt you," I said, taking a deep breath.
"Nobody hurt me, I just tripped," he replied. I stared at him, my expression growing aggravated.
"Don't insult my intelligence, Tre', I'm not an idiot," I said. "Now tell me who the hell hurt you."
"Nobody-"
"Tre'!" I was getting annoyed and anxious. "Stop lying! You told me that I could tell you anything because we loved each other. Well now it's your turn. Tell me who hurt you, or I'm leaving."

Tre' let out an exhausted breath. "Fine." He turned off the t.v. and stared me in the eyes. "It's kind of a long story, though."
"Does it look like I give a shit how long it'll take?" I asked exasperatedly. "Just tell me already."

He let out a breath of air. "Well, I was out getting your present. After I was done in the store, I was walking across the parking lot to the car that I rented. I was standing next to the car, getting the keys out, when, out of nowhere, something hit the back of my head. I slammed into the car and, when I turned around to see what happened, I saw Tim standing there, looking exceptionally pissed off."

I just sat there, staring in disbelief. What the HELL? TIM had done this? The sweet lawyer who helped me when I was in trouble? The guy whom I'd had such a good time with on our dates?

"And so Tim just basically started beating the crap out of me. So I started to fight back, and I thought I was doing pretty well, until Tim lands this one punch right into the center of my chest. Well that pretty much knocked me to the ground. I was about to get back up when I realized that it hurt like hell to breath. The pain was actually so bad that I couldn't move. I thought I was gonna die. I don't remember much after that because the pain made me pass out. And when I finally woke up, I was found myself in bed here. Then Dr. Butler came in and told me about how someone had found me and called the ambulance and how I'd gotten here, bleeding and beaten, and been taken immediately into surgery. Then he asked if there was anyone I could call and I told them your number and then, well, you got here and...yeah."

I was speechless. I felt tears come to my eyes, but my sadness was quickly replaced with anger. Just blind anger. I was so furious with Tim, I couldn't think straight. I felt like I wanted to find him, find him so I could hurt him. Find him so I could kill him.

***

Another day had passed. I was still spending most, if not all of my time at the hospital with Tre'. I soon realized that Billie Joe and Mike didn't know what had happened. At least, I don't think they knew. I hadn't spoken to them since before Thanksgiving. I was wondering whether or not I should call them and tell them what happened.

I'd gone home to check up on Mugsy and the house, when I realized it was Christmas Day. I had completely forgotten! I ran upstairs to get Tre's gift. I had already mailed all the other ones except for his. I found it in my closet, already wrapped. I grabbed it and headed back to the hospital.

I quietly walked back to his room. I wanted to surprise him. Before I went in, I walked past his door, to check to see if he was alone. He was so I opened the door and walked to his bed, holding his gift behind my back. I was smiling at him.

"And what are you so happy about?" he asked curiously.
"Do you know what today is?" I replied.
"Uh...today is..." He was thinking pretty deeply. "Oh my God, it's Christmas!" he exclaimed, finally figuring out the answer.
"You're right, so here's your gift!" I handed him the package and watched him tear the wrapping off like a little kid. When all the paper had been torn away, he held the book out and smiled. "Okay, come here and give me a kiss 'cause this is such a kick ass present." I leaned down and kissed Tre' gently on the lips. "I'm so glad you like it."
"I do and I'm sure you're gonna love your present just as much," he said, laying the book on the bed.
"Yeah, what is my present anyway?" I asked him.
"It should be here soon."
"It's being delivered?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah, it should be here soon."
"Oh, tell me what it is!" I said excitedly.
"No way, you have to wait just like I had to."
"Tell me or no more sex," I threatened jokingly.
"Ha, that'll never work," Tre' said, leaning back and crossing his arms.
"Oh yeah? And why not, Mr. Smart Ass?" I teased.
"'Cause once you get a taste for Tre', you can't stop yourself."
I stopped for a second. "Okay, I just got a really nasty image in my head because of you and you're lucky you're in the hospital or I'd hit you."
"Better for me, then," he said, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"Don't be too happy, you won't have this place's protection for much longer."
"Then I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts."

Just then there was a knock at the door. "I think I know what that is," Tre' told me. A second later, the door opened and a nurse came in, carrying a small package in her hands. She looked rather disgusted, actually. She was holding the package at arm's length and looked like she didn't want to even look at it.

"Ms. Ericson?" she asked me.
"Yes, that's me."
"This is for you." She almost dropped the package in my lap. As she walked out of the room, I saw her frantically wiping her palms on her pants. I turned to Tre'. "So is this my present?"
"Yup. Here, put it on the table so nothing happens," he replied, making some space on the end table. I placed my present on the table. It was somewhat heavy and square-shaped. The wrapping paper looked like it had small slits cut into it near the top. I found that kind of weird, but it also made me more curious.

I began ripping the paper off near the top of the package. I saw that the top was the lid to a tank that you kept hermit crabs in. I began tearing the paper off a little faster. When I finally tore off enough paper to see the contents of the tank, I nearly squealed with delight. I carefully lifted the tank and took the remaining paper out from under it. I placed the tank back down and peered inside, a huge smile on my face.

"So," Tre' asked, "how do you like him?"
"Oh my God, I LOVE him!" I exclaimed. "Thank you so much!" Tre' had gotten me a chameleon! I'd always wanted one, but I'd never had the money to get one.
"This is just a temporary tank, by the way," Tre' said, pointing to the small plastic container. "We'll need to get a bigger one when I get out of here."

I was still watching my new pet. He wasn't really doing anything besides lounging on a small hunk of wood that had been thrown in.

"Before I do anything, are there any crickets or anything in the tank right now?" I asked Tre'.
"Not yet," he replied.
"Good." I carefully took off the top of the tank. I stuck my hand inside and gently lifted the small green chameleon out. I held him in my hands. He was rather peaceful. "Oh, he's so cute," I said, still smiling.
"So you like him?" Tre' asked.
"I love him." I laughed a little as the chameleon began climbing up my arm. "He needs a name, though."
"Why don't you name him Tre', after me?"
"Nice try," I said, the chameleon still climbing up my arm. He had started blending into my sweater a little bit. "I think I'll name him...Tarquin."
"Tarquin?" Tre' asked.
"Yeah, after a character in one of Anne Rice's novels," I explained. "We'll call him Quinn, for short."
"Wasn't that the name of the guy Lucy was hanging around with at Hellfire?"
"Oh yeah. Oh well, who cares? This little guy's name is Tarquin and that's final." Tarquin was now resting on my shoulder and I swear I think I saw a small, faint smile cross his scaly face.