The cops had Theo in for questioning most of the night, while Auggie and Orlando went to the hospital. By the time John-Henry and his partner, Upchurch, had finished interviewing Theo, it was close to dawn.
John-Henry followed him out into the steel-gray light of the parking lot. “Just between us, Theo, we tracked down the collectibles.”
“What?”
“The collectibles, the ones that Wayne claimed Cal sold to pay for his drugs. We think Wayne dumped them at the basketball expo—chucked them in the trash to make it look like Cal had either run off or been robbed. Someone dug them out of the dumpster, and when he sold one, the owner of the pawn shop logged it on a received-property database. We just saw that it had been flagged. A couple of uniformed guys are going to meet up with the local police and get the full story, but we think we’ll be able to tie it to Wayne.”
“That’s good, John-Henry.”
“I know this is pretty inappropriate, but have you heard anything from Cart?”
Theo shook his head.
“He’s missed all his shifts this week. He left a message with dispatch saying he quit, but it was so strange that they kept him on rotation just in case it was a joke.”
“Fuck.”
John-Henry put a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “That’s not your trouble to carry. I know it doesn’t help, me saying that, but I thought you should hear it.”
“You’re right,” Theo said. “It doesn’t help.”
He walked to the hospital. The morning was cool. The air was wet. Dew dimpled the blossoms of a bed of tulips. From the Wahredua Family Bakery came the smell of yeast and hot oil—the day’s doughnuts, already getting started—and an old Chevy rolled past him, a pair of steel balls hanging off the tow hitch, their rattle oddly musical when the Chevy went over a speed bump.
The hospital gift shop would still be closed, so Theo stopped at a twenty-four-hour Walgreens and bought flowers and a cheap glass vase. When he got to the hospital, he navigated and lied until he found Auggie’s room. Auggie was asleep. The flowers were daisies. He put water in the vase. He added the contents of whatever was in the little packet of nutrients and preservatives that came with the flowers, clouding the water. Then he sat in one of the vinyl-backed chairs and fell asleep.
He was on the floor, his arms tied behind his back. Somewhere far off, Luke was yelling, calling his name. Only then the voice was Auggie’s.
Theo jerked awake.
The morning light made him squeeze his eyes shut. When he opened them again, Auggie lay on his side, watching him. Bruises covered his neck in grape-sized blotches. With one of those waking-up noises that couldn’t be helped, Theo wiped his mouth, checking for drool. A yawn caught him. When he finally managed to talk, all he could think of was, “Hi.”
“Hi,” Auggie said with a smile.
“How are you? Wait, don’t answer that. Does it hurt to talk? Just nod your head.”
“It’s ok. My voice sounds funny, and it’s not exactly pleasant.”
“How’s your head?”
“Ok.”
“How’s your—”
“I’m fine, Theo. I just want to get out of here. How are you?”
“Me? Jesus, he barely touched me. He caught me by surprise and hit me pretty hard. While I was still out of it, he gagged me and tied me up; I’m surprised he didn’t stomp my face in just to get revenge.”
“I guess being quiet was his top priority.”
“Thank God.” Theo’s gaze dropped; he wadded up the plastic wrapper that had come with the flowers. “Guess I let you down again, huh? Right when it mattered the most.”
“You were there with me. You trusted me to do something dangerous and important. Things didn’t go like we planned, but you didn’t let me down.”
“Great.” He was staring at the crumpled plastic. “Now I’ve immediately stopped feeling so fucking awful.”
“Hey Theo?”
He didn’t look up.
“You know how people sometimes get student loans for school?”
It came out of nowhere, his face hot, his eyes prickling. He nodded and wiped his cheeks.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Theo took a shuddering breath. “Student loans, yeah, you just have to—” The next wave crashed over him, and his shoulders caved. He pressed fingers against his eyes.
Auggie sat up, pushing back the blankets. Theo waved furiously for him to stay, his whole body shaking, as he choked out, “I’m fine. God, I could hear you. I could hear you, hear what he was doing to you, and I couldn’t do anything. I was so fucking useless. Again.”
From the next room came a woman’s voice. “And how are we doing today, Mr. Hobarth? And how are we doing today, Mr. Francis?” Laughter that the woman—the nurse?—probably imagined in her head as tinkling. “And what are we going to watch today, Mr. Hobarth? And what are we going to watch today, Mr. Francis?” Clip-clop, clip-clop. “Let’s see that arm today, Mr. Hobarth. No, no, no. Now don’t be a sourpuss. It’s just your old friend Mr. Blood Pressure Cuffy-Wuffy.”
Theo’s eyes were sticky and burning when he finally managed to bring himself down. He tilted his head at the voice and said, “It’s like a bad kid’s show.
“Jesus,” Auggie said, covering his face. “Where’s my old friend Mr. Weefle Injection?”
Theo’s laugh was wet and short, but it felt real. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about this. I’m going to go.”
“I guess you didn’t sleep much.”
“They had me at the station all night. The only good news is John-Henry thinks they’re going to drop the assault charges from earlier this year. He didn’t come out and say it directly, but he made it sound like the county wouldn’t have much interest in prosecuting me anymore. Have you talked to Orlando?”
Auggie shook his head. “I didn’t, you know. Sleep much either.” He didn’t say anything. He just lay there, his Adam’s apple moving under the bruises, his eyes dark and steady.
Theo shucked his boots. He climbed up onto the bed, and then they both had to squirm around until they were stretched out together, Auggie with his head on Theo’s chest, Theo’s arm around him.
“My arm’s going to be pins and needles.”
Auggie made a sleepy noise that sounded like he might not be too bothered by that fact. Then he roused, his chin digging into Theo’s chest, and said, “Student loans?”
“Why do you care about student loans?”
“I think—I think that’s what I’m going to have to do.” He chuckled, turning his face into Theo’s chest. “Fer’s furious, and rightly so. The Civic is totaled. I’ve blown so much money on stupid shit. I keep getting in trouble.” Auggie shook his head. “He’s going to try to lock me in my bedroom after this. I’ll be lucky if he lets me out before I’m forty. And—and I think Fer might need some help too, in his own way. He’s so stressed. He’s carried our family since he was a teenager, and I don’t think he’s been happy in a long time. I can do this for him, you know? Take one thing off his shoulders.”
“That’s really thoughtful of you.”
“What about a job application?”
“What?”
“A job application.”
“I’m not hiring.”
Auggie poked him.
“Jesus, ok, stop. I seem to remember that you don’t have the time or inclination for a job.”
“Could you, you know, help me fill out my first one?”
“They’re pretty self-explanatory.”
More poking.
“Fine, yes. Damn it, I think you punctured a lung.”
“Will you be a reference?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Just tell them how amazing and wonderful and smart and brave and strong I am. Oh, and that I’m dependable, reliable, a natural leader, a problem solver, and that I can definitely remember to clock in and out.”
Theo’s fingers played with the buzzed hair on Auggie’s nape. “I’ll figure out something.”
As though someone had flipped a switch, Auggie’s breathing evened out. In the silence that followed, Theo heard flies buzzing. He heard the sound of blows, the fear bleeding into Auggie’s voice, the call for help that he couldn’t answer.
Auggie’s hand was surprisingly cool when it touched his cheek and thumbed away tears.
“Sorry,” Theo mumbled.
“I thought we said crying is ok,” he said in a voice sandy with sleep.
“It is. I’m all cried out now, promise.”
But he wasn’t. And then, sometime later, he was. And he slept. And his last thought was that God must be real because Mr. Cuffy-Wuffy hadn’t interrupted them.