Indigo Blues 🪼✔

20 - Melodramatics

*TANNUS*
The fog lifted and my eyes could see inside the room. There were lots of machines everywhere. I turned and looked and found a blurry figure reaching into me. I couldn't really feel it but I saw the white hands go into me and pull something out. It was limp and covered in red, blood I think. I made a noise, realizing what it was and the blurry figure snapped its head to me.
"More anesthesia! STAT, he's waking up!"
"My baby..." I muttered, lifting my arms feebly-

*******************

"TANNUS! Wake up! Wake up, you're screaming! Hey!"
My eyes slammed open and I felt myself breathing heavily, Johnsie's hand on my shoulder. I wrenched my arm from his grasp.
"Don't touch me..." I mumbled, turning from him.
"Tannus, are you okay? You don't look well-"
"I'm fine."
I felt Johnsie touch my forehead and I slapped his hand away.
"Dammit, John, stop touching me." I snarled. He stepped away and sighed. "Wait..." He turned back to me. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah..."
He left the room and I sighed, sitting up and pulling my legs to my chest. I really didn't feel well and that dream didn't make me feel any better than I wanted. I had a splitting headache and felt a little sick to my stomach. I moaned and turned over, wanting desperately to forget the last seven months.
The absence of the bulging stomach made me want to cry and the scar left on my admittedly flabby torso left a reminder that I always had to face whenever I showered or looked in a mirror. The life that was gone because I was incompatible... Because of a mistake...
Like her... everything about being with her was a mistake. Everything surrounding her was a mistake. Our whole relationship, whether good or bad, was all held upon a stupid, childish mistake that I've had to live with for fifteen years.
I shook my head from the memories and got up, getting ready to work some more on my degree in massage therapy. It seemed like a relaxing job that didn't stress too much and I could make my own schedule and stuff. Sure, no one likes to come to a new massage parlor but I figured I could try it out or something... Give a special deal? If not, I had another back up plan to get work in.
All in all, I was not going back to labs. Not after what happened with Thomas and not after everything that I'd been through. Everything there reminded me of that woman and in order to keep my composure, I had to get as far away from it as possible. If she had just waited... if she had just let me explain.
I growled and tried to stop thinking about her.

******************

The days went by and even though things seemed to be normal, Johnsie acted a little strange whenever we talked. I know he was trying to avoid bringing her up and everything but it looked like there was something on his mind that he needed to tell me about. I decided to ask him over dinner one night.
"Is there something you need to tell me, Johnsie?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been giving me this look that says you want to say something but stop yourself every time. You know that you can always talk to me."
"I know."
"Then what is it? Is it a secret?"
"Not really...I just don't think it's the right time to bring it up."
"You have my full attention. Tell me what it is."
Johnsie looked to the side in uncertainty and then sighed, clearing his throat.
"Um... I've come across something and I was just wondering if all this had to do with it."
"What do you mean?"
"What exactly did you do to Delilah?"
My body went rigid at the mention of her name and my eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, with the whole hospital thing getting blown out of proportion, you must have done something to have set her off so far."
"It's pretty obvious that she thinks I hate her guts. Why are we talking about her?"
"You asked... but I mean, if it were any other person, they would have taken it as sleep talk. But not her... I think that she has thought you have hated her for a long, long time."
"What are you talking about? You're not making sense."
Johnsie got up and I followed him. He held up a book.
"Sadie Hawkins Dance of 1993?"
I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms.
"Where did you get that?"
"Storage. Delilah signed your yearbook with a pretty harsh letter and... obviously something bad happened..." He turned the pages and showed me the picture of a younger me and a younger Delilah, my head turned where she had smacked me. "Tannus, what did you do?"
I snatched the book away from him and threw it across the living room, it hitting the glass and I heard a distinct chink where the glass had webbed. Johnsie looked at me, startled.
"That is my personal business. You had no right to go into my things. You had no right to bring up the past."
"I just-"
"Don't." I interrupted, my hand up. "Did you ever think that I was trying to forget that?! Did you ever think about how I'd feel?!"
"I'm sorry! JUST DON'T HIT ME!" he yelled as he crouched down, his hands over his head protectively.
I took notice of the peak in his voice and realized that he really was scared of me. I hadn't raised my hand but I just pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Johnsie, I won't hurt you. No matter how mad I get, I would never hit you. You know that; please stop being afraid of me."
"I'm sorry but... the yelling is not helping, Tannus." He said, standing up slowly. "That's how it all starts... I was just trying to help."
"I know, I know..."
"But why are you so mad? You guys are kind of weird..."
"It's a personal matter." Johnsie nodded slightly and I massaged my temples. "Just don't go through my things anymore."
"Okay..."

*****************

*JOHNSIE*
Jeez! I didn't think he'd get so pissed off! I mean, the look on his face looked like he was about to bash his fist into my face. I was actually afraid that he was really going to lay into me like my dad did. And he was right, I know he'd never hurt me but still... What was so bad about that picture? All it did was make me want to know more.
The next couple of days were really awkward for me and him. He always looked ashamed when he saw me and ducked his head so he wouldn't have to look at me. Things got better as the week went on but I noticed the he wasn't looking so well. He was hardly eating anything and I could hear him tossing and turning in his sleep, grunting and moaning. He looked really haggard and almost like he was beaten.
It wasn't until he was nibbling on something at the bar that I realized that things were not going very well.

********************

Tannus was nibbling on some chips as I fixed a hotdog for myself. He was more or less taking his time on the one chip and I wanted to make him just shove it into his mouth but decided against it. I turned to look at him when I saw him just stop.
"Tannus?"
His eyes rolled into the back of his head and I threw my plate on the counter to catch him before he fell straight to the ground. I shook him, smacking his face slightly. His skin was clammy but hot and sweaty. He moaned and opened his eyes but they were rolling around in his head like he was on drugs. I cursed and pulled him over to the couch, finding a blanket to cover him up with. He coughed a little and moaned again.
"This is what happens when you don't eat you idiot... What is wrong with you?" I said to myself really.
Tannus had fallen asleep and I sighed, moving some of his now normal strawberry blonde hair from his forehead.

******************

"Hey, thanks for coming over." I said, shutting the door.
"No problem." Madeline looked over at Tannus as he slept soundly on the couch. "Oliver will be coming shortly. What exactly am I here for?"
"Can you make us a proper meal? Chicken soup or something?"
"I guess but I mean..."
We looked back over at Tannus when he grunted and a pitiful noise came from him.
"Jeez, what the heck happened?"
"I don't know. I really don't. But I think he would enjoy soup more than my hotdogs from the microwave."
Madeline made a face but nodded in understanding. Luckily Delilah had everything that Madeline needed to make soup and she started it up.
Oliver came about a hour later and came in with some beer.
"I figured you'd need it." He said with a small smile.
He read my mind and I took it, taking one out and opening it. I drank some and sighed, happy to find something relaxing. Oliver looked at Tannus and frowned.
"This again?"
"You know what this is?" I asked, happy that someone knew what the hell was going on.
"Yeah. This is going to be a bumpy ride for you. It happened only once before. It's when he gets tremendously guilty over something. He won't tell anyone and so when it gets all bottled up, his body rejects the stress and causes him to get very sick."
"That's odd." I said, taking another swig of beer.
"That's Tannus... What happened?"
"Nothing. He got worse after we had a bit of a fight over something."
"On what?"
"Sadie Hawkins Dance of 1993."
Oliver spewed beer all over himself and coughed. I got him a napkin and he snatched it from me.
"You just had to go and dig up things, didn't you?"
"Well how was I supposed to know?" I growled.
"That's why I told Rose not to do anything. Shit..."
"What happened back then? Please tell me what the hell is going on."
"I won't now. You don't deserve to know now."
"That's not fair!"
"Neither is bringing up the past."
"Oliver, you're being harsh. How was Johnsie supposed to know how it affected Tannus?" Madeline said softly as she put the lid on the soup. "Telling people not to do things makes them want to do it more. Most people aren't like our dear Tannus and Delilah. Why don't you just tell him?"
Oliver glared at me and sighed. "I promised Tannus I would never tell anyone. You'll have to get it out of him before he get sicker. If he doesn't get this stupid thing off of his chest soon, he will be in danger."
I looked at Tannus, wondering how I got mixed up with such melodramatic people.