Chapter 22...It's All Down Hill From Here
Run... That's all he could do at this point. Run... His legs carried him down the road as fast as they could. Run... What was he running from?
Eli woke up sitting up feeling the pain from falling asleep in a hospital chair. Eli remembered sitting down for just a second while waiting for the technician to tell him when the doctor would be able to see him. He remembered getting a phone call from a worried doctor late last night about something that happened to Luke. The doctor wouldn't tell him right then and there 39what was wrong so Eli came in the next morning early requesting to speak to the same doctor.
Sitting up straight Eli took in his surroundings looking at the slightly sickening cream colored walls with stains of blood and a multitude of other substances that he would rather not know what they were. The walls had been scrubbed multiple times, but the stains would rather stay where they were leaving the memories on the wall of the person with a cracked skull, fractured appendages, inmates who tried to fight off their officers and punched the wall or were slammed into it by the officer to make them surrender and the various other events that took place in the waiting room. He looked at the ceiling noticing many broken lights and then his eyes swept to the floor which made him pick his feet up as the bile rose in his throat. He decided he needed to get out of the waiting room and walked up to the front desk.
The man at the desk gave him a finger signaling one minute as he was on the phone with someone. Groaning Eli stood impatiently waiting for the phone to be put down and then the man's attention should have been directed at Eli. If the light music didn't drive him crazy, it most likely would have come from the guy behind the counter who took another phone call making Eli wait. Then the guy left never attending to Eli as his shift was over and he had no responsibility to helping Eli out. Holding back derogative language, Eli waited for the girl to notice him waiting by the desk and hoped she would help him out unlike the guy before.
The girl noticed Eli standing and walked over to help him. She called the doctor's office phone and he picked up letting it get known that Eli should head to his office on the second floor room 392. Smiling and saying thank you he ventured off toward the elevator anticipation on the tips of his fingers with each step he took. Would this be the moment he found out he was eternally free from Luke's watch or would it be something else?
A couple of knocks on the door alerted the man sitting in his chair looking over Mr. Carters file that his patient's son was here. Eli's hair on the back of his neck stood up as he stepped into the office he avoided since he learned of his mother's dead close to three years ago, but not quite three years yet. Thoughts flit across his mind as to why he received an urgent phone call. Picking on chair to sit in out of the two, Eli sat with his hands in his lap avoiding looking at the doctor.
Suppressed memories of the room broke through the mental barrier Eli put in his mind and he shivered involuntarily as the doctor spoke.
"Last night Luke's EKG began to flat line. His body seemed to be fine with the transplant, but as seeing the events from last night his body might be fighting against it. I thought I should let you know that we are doing a surgery tomorrow to help the body accept the new organ and if everything goes well and Luke keeps himself away from alcohol he should recover just fine, but incase everything goes the complete opposite I wanted you to be aware that at any second he could slip into cardiac arrest or just flat line."
Eli knew the words shouldn't have affected him as he never cared for Luke after his mother died due to his abusive alcoholic ways and anger, but something seemed to knock his breath out hearing that he could lose the last member of his family that he knew about. Eli never visited any grandparents so he assumed and had been told they died. Both his mother and Luke were from single child families so no aunts or uncles Eli knew about. Eli wondered how he would react if Luke actually did die. He always hated him, but death wasn't pretty. Pushing aside those thoughts the doctor and Eli spoke for a couple of more minutes before the two were shaking hands and Eli was climbing into the truck on his way back to the house.
He plugged in his music and began to sing driving along the Florida road with the wind in his face. One of Isabelle's songs must have gotten onto his playlists and he listened to the lyrics getting a vibe for the music and remembered most of the chorus and once it hit he sung,
"Everybody has something to show, I've got a thousand different stories, and nothing to hold. Someday, somehow, I'll make it home and I, I'll stick around..."
Some people walking down the sidewalk gave him a strange look, but then continued in the opposite direction. The contest was over and unless Anthem Falls was reforming while people were in college Eli's only time to sing was along to his music. He kept in touch with Jeff and Danny from the contests but as days passed Eli immersed him into work at the radio station. This was the first job he managed to keep for a while. The money was decent as the money he had not yet received from the contest was to be used for all of Luke's surgeries and medical expenses. College seemed to be looking like a not so possible situation as the bills kept piling up.
Jeff had planned to keep an eye on the bills for Luke's surgery, but after a while he was too caught up in his work that Eli's troubles were washed away for the moment. He wrote himself a note to make sure in the end Eli wouldn't have to pay a dime no matter Luke's outcome, but for now Eli had to pay everything and work as much as he could to afford everything while keeping himself well and healthy.
Pulling into the driveway of the house that Eli regretted so much he sighed opening the door to the truck and slamming it shut. He walked to the end of his driveway checking for any mail and if there was any he grabbed it before heading inside. Tonight was a night he decided to grab his acoustic and head to the beach. The beach late at night gave off one of the most peaceful feelings Eli could feel as the sand beneath his toes and the slight wind pushing his hair back brought him back to a day he could never forget and this was in the most positive way. Luke nor Stacy knew about that night, but boy did Eli remember everything.
He couldn't sleep and his friends were going to the beach that night and Eli never told his parents. They were out on a 'date' and Eli walked to the beach. He was fourteen or so. Zack West and couple other guys and girls were meeting up to have a fire on the beach. This was the summer going into freshman year of high school and this was the last party of the year and the only party Eli had and would end up going to besides for playing music which at the moment he didn't know.
Getting to the beach he ran to meet his friends and he grabbed a drink out of the cooler not caring what he grabbed. Not knowing he grabbed an alcoholic drink he began to have fun hanging out with his friends. At that point in time Eli had a crush on a girl who was on a higher social standard than him, but was one of his family's friend's daughter he had grown up with. In the middle of a game of truth or dare Eli walked off to grab a drink from the cooler and she followed. Eli smiled and handed her something and they talked standing by the fire. Before she had to leave she kissed him and said that if they ever met again she'd like to catch up with him and after that night she was gone from his life forever, but he had kissed his first crush and that was the last good thing that seemed too happened to him, so he held onto the memory.
Eli almost forgot about the girl, but he remembered her name and before he left he decided to look her up. Iris Kells. The blonde hair from her photograph on her profile reminded him of the blonde hair from back when he last saw he. Leaving her a message he left for the beach in the truck with his guitar. For the night it was a cool sixty-six degrees out and Eli smiled once he felt the cold sand between his toes. He walked along the beach for a way letting the waves gently run under over his feet with each step. Arriving at his favorite little cove he sat in the sand and strummed the guitar softly singing the song that played randomly in his truck this afternoon.
"Someday, somehow..."
The stars shone brightly in the night sky reflecting off the ocean's surface bringing a sense of calmness in the middle of Eli's chaotic life. The waves crashing against the sand, the quiet noise of the natural undisturbed life. A noise that nothing could beat, it was the noise that Eli could only find by serendipity, beginning way back when. Ever since that chance he took he tried to visit the beach late at night enjoying the quiet surrounding him.
A few hours later Eli decided to call it a night as he began to yawn and the sun was prepping itself to rise in an hour or two. Wishing he could stay to watch the sunrise he knew that he needed some sleep before going into work as today was his last day off because for the contest he took two weeks off. Climbing into his truck and shortly after his bed Eli checked Iris' profile to see if she had seen his message.
"Hey Eli,
Long time no kidding, I will be back in town tomorrow actually with my family if there's any chance you'd want to meet up. Message me on this number..."
He smiled, he knew he used to have feelings for Izzy, but he felt like lately she had begun to like another guy so he decided he would meet up. He believed that nothing would truly happen between him and Iris it had been years. Falling asleep with nothing troubling on his mind for the first time in a while Eli woke up sooner than he expected due to the damned alarm clock on his phone annoying the living daylights out of him.
Falling into his routine he got up and stumbled into the bathroom shutting the door that once used to shut completely, but as the house aged it no longer stayed completely shut and he didn't care because no one else ever was home beside him now. After his shower he got changed and brushed his teeth shirtless before leaving the bathroom with the towel slung over his shoulder and his jeans hanging onto his hips as he dug for a clean shirt or a relatively clean shirt that he could wear to work.
Falling out of his routine a little today so he could message Iris saying when he was off work and where they could end up meeting, but after that the routine was pretty much carried on out to a tee. Work seemed to go by slowly as Eli waiting in anticipation of meeting up with his former crush. Getting lost in daydreams, he had keep himself focused and productive so he wouldn't stare at the clock until he was done work with around five and would head to his favorite pizza place by six.
Dressed in one of his clean flannels and khaki cargo shorts Eli looked at him in the mirror smiling seeing the progress he had made over the years and he walked into town and sat at a table waiting watching the door for a certain blonde head to walk in. Looking at the pizza menu for a second the moment his eyes transferred to the menu the door opened silently and the fimliar blonde head he was looking for caught sight of Eli's mob of dark hair and asked, "Curly friends or regular french fries?"
"Tater tots."
The words flew out of his mouth faster than he could imagine and then he realized someone spoke to him. Iris stood in front of him. Her once shorter dirty blonde hair had grown out and reached past her shoulders and stopped about halfway down the shirt she was wearing and she had on black framed glasses and a smile that made Eli remember why he liked her. She stood inches below Eli as he stood, he didn't realize that he wasn't the same five foot eight kid he was back then. He stood at a height of six foot three and she was short now to him instead of being almost the same height back at the age of 14 and 15.
Sitting down after a quick hug the two of them ordered a pizza and then they conversed about what they had been doing over the years. Eli majorly bent the truth about everything that he went through and she placed a hand over his when he told her of his mother's passing and kept it there squeezing his hand gently after hearing about Luke in the hospital. His self-restraint to bite her head off about Luke was immense as he just continued the conversation and moved onto her life story over the years.
"After the party on the beach you would not believe what happened to me."
She began making Eli wonder what happened, he had never touched alcohol after that night after hearing about how someone got into a crash and was almost killed.
"So I had my permit and then next morning I was driving with my mom and this guy hit our car as we were on the board of Florida and Georgia. I thought I was going to die right then and there."
"You were the accident we all heard about back here?"
"Yea that a reason why we never came back partly. Besides my dad's job of course. My mom is doing wonderful now, except shes living in like California with her new boyfriend while my dad and I are planning to move back here, any houses open for sale around here?"
"Actually yeah, you know Mrs. Stevensen, she doesn't live next door anymore so that house is for sale." He wanted to mutter under his breathe that his house would be for sale.
"Wow let me text my dad quick because he's out of the search at the moment, I told him that I had to meet with a friend that would end up helping so I could come and meet up with you without being hounded by the parent."
"You're welcome Iris." He said smiling and the pizza arrived hot and smelled fantastic. The two of them dug into the pizza and it was as if they transcended into an alternate universe where they were the friends they were at the ages of fourteen and fifteen.
"I heard you won this huge music contest recently and America loves you, but you've kind have been flying under the radar after that."
"Yea I have to keep my job at the radio station to pay bills and take care of myself and the check hasn't come through the pony express yet so I'm not able to just drop everything."
"That's admirable, Eli, truly is."
"Thanks you're the first to say that, most people thought I was a shallow attention seeker at first."
Eli smiled looking at her grey blue eyes wondering how she was holding up now knowing that her mother betrayed her father and left them. He knew he had his own problems and that he had to fix things in his life if he wanted this to ever get better and slowly he was making progress, but that dwelled on him as how did other people deal with everything they had to go through and still end up smiling and acting like their lives weren't fucked up as much as they truly were. It just seemed like one masquerade ball that everyone was invited to and never revealed their true self from under the mask they held onto as they stepped onto the dance floor.
"Thank you so much for the pizza and it was nice catching up with you maybe we will see more of each other around."
Eli smiled and paid as the two of them walked outside to where he dad was parked and Eli said a hello and then began to walk home, but Mr. Kells had another idea and insisted that he gave Eli a ride home. He took the offer thanking him and then they parted ways after dropping Eli off. Eli was exhausted and questioned whether he like the adult life he lived or if he still could be a kid despite having to work constantly and take care of himself.
Getting ready for bed, a stray thought crossed his mind and he was out the door before he could think twice. It had been such a long time that he visited and he shamed himself for not visiting more often, but his life kept moving on and he knew that she'd always be there with him no matter how often he visited her grave.
"I miss you, mom, but guess what I won that contest I told you about a while ago. Sorry about not visiting, that competition and work due to having to make an income because Luke is a worthless father has kept me too busy to make a trip out here. I got offered a record deal to with his guy Jeff, we kind of look alike, I wonder if you were alive if you would know him. Iris came back to town today too, which was refreshing to see a new face who doesn't know all the trouble I've been through, nor will I let her. I still wish I had more than my high school diploma sometimes, but with everything going on now I don't think I'll ever go to college."
The wind howled and it felt like someone placed a hand on his shoulder, he could almost hear her voice saying, "I love you Eli, everything will work out. I am so proud of you; my baby is turning into such an amazing young gentleman." But that was all in his head and from the day he received his permit she said those exact words to him before he went to take his test.
After a conversation he well needed to have with his mom he headed home and went to bed. Eli slept well that night after getting things off his chest. But the nights following were troublesome for Eli as he couldn't stay asleep due to series of nightmares almost night terrors.
The water kept pouring and he couldn't shut his mouth. He was going to drown and there was nothing else he could do. He began to choke; spitting up water at the imaginary person pouring it. He began to lose consciousness and then everything went dark.
Panting and sweating Eli sat up in bed insanely fast coughing to make sure it was all a dream and that he actually wasn't drowning. He stayed up for the night and then fell back to sleep a few hours later.
This time he was in the hospital, there were doctors surrounding him. He couldn't move; however, he felt the sharp incision a scapula made as it was brought along his stomach. He cried out in pain and there was absolutely nothing he could do. He was getting surgery and the anesthesia had worn off. He tried to get their attention, but they just kept working minding their own business as they each cut into a different part of Eli's skin.
Looking around the room Eli woke up that night afraid to go back to sleep.