Just Me, Him, and Ten Others - (Ruth Harris Series)

Chapter 6

'What, the, hell.' Andy inhaled as I entered the visiting room, my head down and tail between my legs.
               My eye was dark and bruised. Ava had gotten to me after all, and took great delight in walloping me while the nurses rendered me useless. She was in isolation now.
'Holy crap! Ruth, what happened to you?' Hunter lifted my chin and examined my face. 'Who did this to you?'
'She's nobody.' I said, trying not to cry. I hadn't waited around to ice it or cover it before coming downstairs, so it still hurt like the devil. 'I'm sorry.'
'Don't apologise.' Andy said, while Hunter continued to stare. 'It's good to see you.'
               He nudged Hunter aside and gave me a big hug. Before either of their gawping faces could ask any more questions, I said,
'Can we not talk about my eye, please? Dr Westone will want to tomorrow and I'm not in the mood to go through it all twice.'
               Hunter sighed and Andy forced a smile.
'Sure.'
'You - you still look beautiful, amore mio. Just, tell me, are you alright now?'
'Yeah, Hunter. I am now.' I stepped forward, ready to release all of my passion into my boyfriend, and caught sight of Andy. He looked uncomfortable. Hunter noticed too, so he pecked me on the cheek and we all sat down.
               Andy was happy for us. Deep down, somewhere, he was. I know he agreed there was no one better suited to me than his own best friend, but that doesn't mean this romance had grown on him yet. Ten months of dating and Hunter still refused to show any PDA in front of Andy. I don't blame him: let's be honest, other peoples' public displays of affection make everyone around them uncomfortable. That's just a fact. But when it's your sister and your oldest friend...well, it's probably that much more repulsive to see their lips intertwine, their hands rest on each other and their chests touch.

'So...' I said, nervously glancing between the two men.
'So.'
'I'm sorry, I can't stop looking at your eye it looks so gross-'
'Come on, man!' Hunter punched Andy's arm, but I knew he wanted answers too. Now they were both looking at me.
'Look, some girl hit me, alright? But she's in isolation now, so I'm safe and fine and it was all just very stupid. Neither of you have to worry.'
'Did you dissociate?' Hunter asked. He didn't look nervous or disappointed, only curious.
'Y-yeah. I'm sorry, I know I was doing so well for so long -'
'Ruth, stop apologising!' Hunter laughed a sigh and clasped both of my hands in his. 'I love all of your alters, you know that.'
'Well, actually, it, er, Hailey tried to stop the fight from happening. When I came back to myself...' I gulped, 'I started the fight with the woman who hit me. It was my fault, nobody else's.'
               Now Hunter and Andy were really gawping. I couldn't help but laugh.
'Ruth...?'
'Guys, this woman was going after Salieri - I had to do something! So I pushed her. And then she hit me. That's it, I promise.' I looked up at my brother and boyfriend, who exchanged a look and then stared back at me.
'Ruth, that's, very brave of you.' Andy said. His smirk returned.
'Yeah.' Hunter added.
'Thanks. I would not do it again - it kills.'
               Andy laughed, Hunter just about managed a smile. 'But enough about me, I want to hear what's new with you two.'
               I soon wished I hadn't asked.

Andy has a girlfriend.

'He's replaced you.'
'He'll never visit you now.'
'He's in love! How lovely!'
'What if she's related to Bertie? Or Mike!? No, that's crazy. Is it? No, I don't think it is.'
'He's been single for a while now, ever since that girl broke his heart when he was Ruth's age. That's, what, three years single? It's time he got back out there!'
'Is Uncle Andy weplacing mummy with anuver lady?'
               'Ruth? Did you hear what I said?' Andy asked once I'd been silent a bit too long. 'Hunter, do you know -'
'I heard you. You met someone! That's great.' I smiled, but even I couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. It seemed to do the trick. 'What's her name?'
'Jodie. She's really nice. She's a bit like you!'
               I choked on my own breath. Hunter smiled, as if he knew what the misunderstanding was.
'She - she's got a mental condition?' I asked. Andy froze.
'Oh, er, er, no. I just meant, she's funny. Not 'funny' funny, but like, she makes jokes -'
'She's a nice girl, and she makes Andy laugh.' Hunter helped him out, patting him on the back and flashing me his most entertained smile. 'And just like you, she renders him speechless.'
               Andy pushed Hunter's hand away.
'We've been going out for a few weeks now. I didn't want to tell you until I knew what it was with her.'
'Do you have a picture?'
               Andy took out his phone and opened it up onto a photo of him, with a smiling girl under his arm. She was gorgeous. Painfully so. Her smile was even and dainty, her eyebrows were perfectly shaped and she had curly brown hair that shimmered in the light. She was wearing a baggy jumper but I could tell she was skinny underneath it.
               All of a sudden there was a bad taste in my mouth. My eye felt too ugly to be part of my face any longer. Maybe if I was still in the Loony Pit I would have tried to extract it.
'She's beautiful.' I said.
'Thanks.' Andy smiled at the picture and took it away.
'Well? Ask if you can meet her!'
'Yeah, like the first time we meet this girl is going to be in the visiting room of a mental hospital.'
'I don't want to meet her. She's intimidating.'
'I bet Hunter's in love with her. She's much prettier than you, and after ten months he must be getting bored.'
'Do you think she knows you exist? And all of us?'
               I brushed these thoughts away and saw that Hunter and Andy were lost in a conversation of their own. My alters must have sensed that the eyes were off me too, because they forced me back into a state of deep, obfuscating thought.
'Normally Hunter can see when you're listening to our internal conversations. He's losing his touch!'
'He's having a conversation with Andy. So what if he can't tell what Ruth is think-'
'He must not care that she's distressed. Show him.'
'No, Ruth, don't show him. Conceal it, like normal adults do.'
'But if Hunter is starting to not notice when Ruth is in our world, he must not care as much as he used to. He must have fallen out of love. Oh my gosh, he's fallen out of love. I knew it! He's in love with Jodie now!'
'Well apparently skinny brunettes are his type...'
'And Ruth is shorter than this Jodie, she doesn't look nearly so presentable without makeup, and Andy doesn't look this proud when she's standing next to him.'
'You're right. Jodie is like the updated version of Ruth. Soon you'll be old news to Andy and Hunter, and your boyfriend'll run off with her so that he can sex her up on some nice, lush holiday - maybe in Italy, or Dubai...'