Emily's Seams

Angus stood up from the bed and it squealed at his departure.

“You shouldn’t weigh anything. Why do you weigh anything?”

He took a few steps towards the doorway, paused and then continued on. I picked up my bag and followed.

He steeled himself as he reached for the front door of the hospital. He pulled on it and it swung open just as it would for anyone.

“Holy fucker,” he whispered to himself. There was reverence in his statement.

He stepped out into the day and shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight. It was early afternoon now and warm. He took a deep breath of air and exhaled it dramatically.

“What’s going on, Angus?”

“I don’t have a fucking clue but it’s better than in there,” he said, nodding to the hospital.

“How long have they been gone?”

“What? Oh, I dunno. Maybe five days.”

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

Angus paused for a second and looked at me like I’d just said the most amazing thing. “I’m starving! My mouth feels like it’s full of sand!”

“Jesus, you haven’t eaten or drank anything in five days, no wonder you feel ancient!” I reached into my bag and pulled out a half drunk bottle of water. It felt warm but I didn’t think he’d be too choosy.

“Well now, I had some stuff in the room that you’d brought us the last time. We had a bit of a store going that I guess I’ve been a little more interested in as of late.” He sat down on the hospital steps and drank the rest of the water in one long gulp. “But I haven’t felt like this till just now. I don’t think my parts are working yet cause I haven’t had to make once.”

“What?”

“You know, go to the bathroom. Haven’t had the need. Maybe it was you showing up and getting me outta that room.”

My head was running with a million thoughts, but it finally began to settle on the here and now. “Okay, let’s get you home.”

Jude wasn’t home yet. I thought for a brief instant of letting Angus have Julia’s room, but the feeling of just having been punched in the gut nixed that idea pretty quickly. I wasn’t ready for that at all.

“Okay, you’ll stay in my room and I’ll stay in the spare.”

He looked at me for a second, but leave it to the cowboy to know when to just say thanks.

“Thank you, Em.”

I nodded. “Come on, the kitchen is this way. Not much there, but whatever you can scrounge up is for the taking. If you see a pack of Marlborough laying around, please refrain. They belong to Jude and she’ll shit herself if you take them. Let me know if you need more, I’ll get them.”

“Your aunt gonna mind me being here?”

“Yeah, probably, but not too much we can do about it. This is pretty much my place. I pay the rent on it so I think she’ll get over it pretty quickly.”

“Maybe I could pitch in. You know, cook or something.”

I started laughing. “Wait till you meet my aunt. You’ll see why that probably won’t go over so well.”

He looked around the kitchen, marvelling at its ugliness and tangibility.

“Angus, what is this?” I asked.

“I have no idea, Em.”

I nodded. “Well, until we figure it out, try to take it easy. Enjoy yourself I guess, who knows how long you’re gonna be here for.”

He sat down at the rarely used kitchen table and sighed. “This is something else. I’ve been dead for how long? And here I am, sitting in your kitchen. Mind if I make some coffee?” he asked, nodding towards the coffee maker curled up on the kitchen counter.

“By all means, help yourself. There’s probably creamer in the fridge and the sugar is in that cupboard with the cups.”

He found everything effortlessly and got straight to it. I left him and went to the bathroom. I caught myself in the mirror for a second and decided to keep on moving. No point in stopping to ask questions. There were no answers there.

I found the bottle I was looking for and headed back to the kitchen.

“Hey, cowboy. Take these. I have no idea how malnourished you are but I’m guessing with all the crap I was bringing you guys that you’re not in the best of shape.”

He looked at the bottle of multivitamins. “But these are for women!”

I started laughing. “It’s not like you’re going to grow tits or anything. Just take them!”

I sat down at the kitchen table and saw that two cups had been laid out alongside the sugar bowl and carton of cream. He carried over the coffee pot, filled each cup, set his vitamins down and returned the pot to its nest. As he settled down across from me he popped open the bottle of vitamins and took one.

“I know better than to argue with a brunette,” he said as he took a swig of his coffee.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Was your mama a brunette?”

He smiled and began mixing sugar and cream to make a descent cup of coffee. “As a matter of fact, she was. And anytime I didn’t do something she said I should, I was sorry for it. If I’d listened to her, my life would’ve rolled out differently.”

I smiled and brought the cup of black coffee to my nose. I breathed it in and felt the memories of early mornings with my mom in this very seat, drinking her black coffee. “Yeah, moms really do know best.”

I hadn’t expected it, but Angus charmed his way into Jude’s bedroom by the time I had to head back to work. She distrusted him for about two seconds. I thought about going back to my own room but decided against it. Julia was almost palpable in her room and I didn’t want to be alone.

Nothing had come to mind as to why Angus was whole now. I hadn’t set foot in a church since the day they baptized Julia so I had no faith to go on. All I knew was that he looked good and I’d seen my aunt eat dinner for the first time in recent memory. This was working out well for pretty much everyone so far.