Promptings from Valhalla - 28. Tigers and Elephants and... Oh My!

The sun hadn’t risen enough to burn off the early morning fog, lending the landscape an air of mystery. Evan half expected ethereal arms to reach through the car window and carry him off to Neverland. Or maybe he just wished they would. It would be nice to get away after all he’d been through over the past couple of months. He sighed and glanced at the empty Styrofoam cup in the holder next to him. Today is going to be a two coffee day, he thought, and leaned his head against the cool glass of the passenger side window. He closed his eyes, allowing the thrum of the tires to lull his tired body into sleep.

Pain exploded through Evan’s head as the screech of tires preceded the car swerving off the road, coming to an abrupt halt in a roadside ditch. His heart pounded and vision blurred. He wiped away a sticky substance and blinked. Panic flooded through him at the sight of his blood-covered hands. He turned toward the driver.

“Oh my God! Ryan! Are you all right?”

Ryan gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white, matching his complexion. He turned toward Evan. His cobalt blue eyes were dilated and shaking. A chill ran through Evan’s body and he shivered. How the hell did eyes shake? Ryan’s pupils reminded Evan of a cat ready to pounce on its prey. Something was very wrong with his boyfriend.

“Did you see that?” Ryan’s voice shook. He rotated his body so he could look out the rear window.

“See what? I was sleeping. Was it a deer?”

“No! It wasn’t a fucking deer! It was a man in a suit balancing an elephant on his hand like a spinning basketball!”

Evan stared at Ryan. His immediate thought was drugs. Ryan had been acting strange for a while. He was distant and spent more time at the office. It was the typical relationship cliché. Evan first thought Ryan was having an affair, but dismissed the thought after reviewing their finances. They should be able to pay their bills with ease, with enough to put into savings with all the overtime Ryan was supposedly making. Instead, he had found a pile of past due notices and threats to disconnect services.

So Evan’s next thought was drugs. The money had to be going somewhere, and Ryan’s change in behavior made Evan suspicious of his partner’s habits. He cursed himself for letting Ryan drive. What was he thinking?

“An elephant? Really, Ry?”

Ryan scowled as his shaky eyes turned back toward Evan. “Yeah. Really, Ev.”

Evan sighed. “Where’s your phone? We need to call 911.”

Ryan dug into his pocket and removed his iPhone. Evan reached for the device, and Ryan screamed and flung himself against the car door. “Get away from me!”

Evan recoiled, alarm flooding through him. “What the hell? I just want to call for help!”

Ryan flailed all four of his limbs, narrowing missing Evan. “Ow! You scratched me! Get away from me! Leave me alone! Don’t kill me!”

Evan frowned. He hadn’t touched the other man. “Ryan! It’s me! What the fuck are you doing?”

Ryan continued ranting and leveling kicks at Evan every time he tried to approach. The phone had fallen into the cup holder between the two seats, landing right in the middle of both coffee cups. Evan hissed in pain as a kick connected with his arm when he snatched the device away. He exited the car, cursing when he stepped into ankle-deep water. He climbed out of the ditch and dialed 911.

“I’ve been in an accident. We need help immediately. Something’s wrong with my boyfriend. He swerved to miss a man with an elephant and now he thinks I’m a tiger trying to attack him and his eyes are doing this weird thing and—”

“Calm down, sir. Where are you located?”

“Route 82. West.”

“I’m going to dispatch help immediately. Is there a mile marker nearby?”

Evan spun around. He was on the wrong side of the ditch. It didn’t take long for him to scramble to the other side and locate a mile marker. Five minutes later, he heard sirens as the ambulance approached. He exhaled in relief.

*****

Evan stared at Ryan’s still form in the hospital bed, absently playing with the bandage on his forehead. He’d suffered a mild concussion and head laceration in the accident. The wound had required several stitches. He didn’t care, though. The only thing that mattered to him was laying a few feet away in a drug-induced coma.

After hearing the doctor’s news, Evan wished Ryan’s issues were from drug addiction. They weren’t. The nystagmus—the fancy name for shaky eyes—and hallucinations were the symptoms of a far worse issue.

Brain tumor.

Evan hadn’t heard much beyond those two words. He mentally berated himself for not getting Ryan help sooner, although from what the doctor said it wouldn’t have made much difference. It was operable, but with great risk.

A year prior, Evan’s mother had insisted the two men create health care directives and proxies. He was thankful she did, for the pieces of paper allowed him to make decisions for the man he loved who was now incapable of making those decisions for himself.

He wiped away a tear as the surgical team entered the room and prepared to take Ryan away. While not a religious man, he said a prayer for the first time since childhood.

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