Courtney and Jessie were sitting on the couch next to the hospital bed, and I was sitting on a chair. They had their eyes glued to the floor, and they were completely silent. I wasn't making a sound either. I kept my eyes on Billy. He was hunched over as he sat on the bed, his arms wrapped around his gut, as if he was shielding himself from cold air. His face was mostly blank, but I could see some anger laced within his eyes. He was shutting us out. Just a few hours ago, his mother—who he hadn't seen in years—walked in, just to tell Courtney and Jessie to accompany her for dinner. Then she called me a few choice words, causing Billy to explode at her. All that rage he had been keeping since he was an infant—he let it out, and first the first time ever, I heard him scream.
All I wanted to do was rush to his side and throw my arms at him, shushing into his ear and telling him that everything was alright. I wanted to pull him into a deep state of bliss—a state where he was allowed to truly relax. All the negligence he'd endured really had taken its toll.
But, Courtney and Jessie told me not to touch him, and I didn't question it. I just hated seeing Billy so...
sullen.
We sat in silence for a couple hours, until it was five o' clock.
"We should be going," Jessie said to Courtney.
"Oh, yeah..." Courtney said somberly. "
Dinner.
"
I spoke up. "Um... What would happen if you guys
didn't
go? If you stayed here?"
"She'd find a way to screw us over," Courtney said plainly. "Our mom absolutely hates it when someone doesn't make it to dinner."
"She seems like she hates a lot of things," I said.
Courtney scoffed. "You have no idea."
"And where are you guys going? Bevette's? That place is
expensive.
"
"Oh, I'm sure Timmy or Jimmy or what's-his-face will cover it," Courtney said. "Mom only goes for rich guys. She makes sure that they cum gold instead of semen."
Jessie barely held in a laugh, as did I. She turned her attention to me. "You think you'll be alright here?"
"I... I think so," I said, returning my gaze to Billy. He was like a complete statue.
"Sounds good," said Courtney. "But Ali? Can I talk to outside...before we go?"
A slight sensation of fear ran through my body. "Y...yeah, of course."
Courtney and Jessie both said goodbye to Billy as we left the room. Of course, he didn't answer.
"What's up?" I asked as we shut the door.
"Ali, when Billy gets out of this rut...I want you to know that he might get a little emotional," Courtney said.
"Ummm... Okay," I said. "Is... Is he going to cry?"
". . . Maybe," said Jessie. "He's hardly yelled like that before. I'd imagine that he might cry a little. I realize that it'll be awkward for you, but—"
"It won't be awkward," I assured them. "I'll take good care of him."
"Okay," said Courtney. "And after dinner, we're gonna stay here for the night. If he comes back to us when we're all with him, that might make things a little easier."
"Yeah, okay," I said, nodding. "That sounds great, actually."
They left, and I went back into the hospital room. I shut the door behind me as my eyes fell upon Billy. He hadn't moved an inch. I lay on the couch as I kept my gaze on him. He was doing a terrible job at hiding the turmoil and desperation that was transpiring within him. He breathing was heavy, and his body was trembling slightly. He kept his eyes fixed on his feet, his eyebrows tightened above his eyelids. For any other person without autism, the sight of them like this would have been odd. But with Billy and his...malady, it wasn't so weird.
The temptation to go over to him and touch him was almost overbearing. He didn't deserve be going through all of those mixed-up emotions. But there was still that fear of what would happen if I had touched him. Would he have become violent? Would he have screamed at the top of his lungs?
I jumped in surprise as I heard a knock on the door. A couple of seconds later, there was another knock, and the door opened. In came a nurse, followed by a woman my age, with long, blonde hair and big, blue eyes. She wore a tight, black dress pants and a green top, under a black overcoat. It was an understatement to say she was "pretty." I immediately began pondering who she was.
"Hello," she said as she gave me a big, toothy smile.
"H-hi," I said as I watched the nurse leave. "Ummm... I don't really kno—"
"Oh! I'm sorry," she said. "My name Maddi. I work with Billy."
I furrowed by brow. "You're...a detective?"
"Yep," she said as she took her shield out of the inside pocket of her jacket. "C.P.D."
I looked at Billy, then back at Maddi. "Billy hasn't told me about you."
"Have you ever asked about the people he works with?" she asked.
". . . No," I said.
"Then that's why."
Maddi was already starting to get on my nerves. I began feeling the needless tinge of jealousy—even though I was the one who was dating Billy. Just all of a sudden, in came in this pretty blonde claiming to be Billy's co-worker.
"So...you work with Billy?" I asked.
". . . Uh... Yeah?"
"How close would you say you two wor—"
"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" Maddi asked.
"I'm Ali."
"Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you." Maddi reached across Billy and shook my hand. "But yeah, we work pretty closely. He and I hang out for lunch quite often. His partner and my partner don't get along, though. They have this...rivalry. I think they just like each other but don't know how to express it. But Billy and I get along perfectly."
She reached down and ran her fingers through his hair. I flinched, afraid that he was going to give her arm a good smack. But he didn't; he remained perfectly still as she stroked his hair.
"You're such a good guy, Billy," Maddi said. "You're so nice, and sweet... I wish all guys were like you."
Billy didn't respond. He didn't say anything or look at her.
"B...Billy?" she said. "Can... Can you hear me?"
"He's, uh... He's going through a little rough patch," I explained.
"Awww," she said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "What happened? Was it his mom?"
I looked at her quizzically. "How do you know about his mom?"
"Harry told me about her," she said. "The things she's done to him, when he was little... Poor thing."
I finally asked the question I'd been asking myself for some time: "Why don't you guys arrest her?"
"It's...complicated," Maddi replied.
"
Un-
complicate it," I said.
Maddi took some time to think. She bit her bottom lip as her left hand rested on his thigh. Then I saw it. I saw her slight infatuation with him. She had longing in her eyes. She
wanted
him...
"Well?" I demanded.
"He doesn't want us to," she said. "He doesn't want her to be arrested."
"Why?"
"I don't know," she answered, giving me a look. "I don't know... Nobody does. Not even Harry. But we respect it, because of what he's been through. The less he had to deal with it, the better."
"Yeah," I said. "His sisters raised him well."
"They're only six or seven years older than him, aren't they?"
"I believe so."
"Wow... Amazing." Maddi gave Billy's thigh a pat. "So, Ali, are you, like, his friend or—"
"I'm his girlfriend," I said.
"Oh."
She didn't even attempt to hide the disappointment in her voice, but she did try to keep up her smile. I actually felt bad for her. Billy was an amazing guy, and any girl would be lucky to have him.
I wanted to make her feel better, but I didn't know what to say. I watched as she subtly took her hand off his thigh.
"I... I'm sure he treats you well," she said.
"He does," I told her.
Silence. Dead, awkward silence. I wanted to ask Maddi how long she was planning on staying there, but I figured that'd be rude. She seemed like a very kind, sweet person. I had always thought female cops and detectives were cold, dominant women, but Maddi showed me a softer side to that.
"So... What do you do?" she asked.
"Like...my job?"
She nodded.
"Oh! Ha ha... I work at an art gallery," I said.
"I see," she said.
"That's actually where Billy and I met," I told her. "He was there, and we talked for a bit, and he seemed nice, so..."
It seemed obvious what happened next, so I stopped the sentence there.
"Aw, that's sweet," Maddi said with a smile. "My love life is been shit."
"Really? Why?"
"I just... I don't know what I'm looking for
in
a guy, y'know? I think I'd like a guy that's nice and sweet, but they're just so...
rare.
Especially in a place like Chicago."
"Just keep looking," I assured her. "You'll find the one."
-----------
Not much else happened between me and Maddi. We ate dinner together (although Billy wasn't hungry), then I watched Netflix while Maddi piddled on her phone.
It was around ten o' clock when Courtney and Jessie got back from their dinner.
"How was Bevette's?" I asked them as they walked in.
"The food was good," Jessie said.
"But the company was terrible," Courtney finished.
"Did your mom mention anything about...?"
"Not a word," Courtney said.
"It was like it never even happened," Jessie said. "I hate that about her. I hate the way she just
brushes
things off and forgets about them."
"Hi, guys," Maddi spoke up.
"Maddi!" Billy's sisters said together.
The three of them united in one big hug. It seemed Courtney and Jessie knew Maddi quite well. There was the obligatory "How are you?" and "How has everything been?" and so on.
"I was hoping I could stay here for the night," Maddi said. "Is... Is that okay?"
"Of course!" Courtney said.
"We would
love
that," Jessie said. "Although...we don't have much spots for you to sleep... Courtney and I sleep on the couch, and Ali sleeps on the bed with Billy."
Maddi gave me a coy look. "Ohhh... Good for you, huh?"
"Yyyep," I said, smiling. "Lucky me."
Maddi's eyes thoroughly swept the room. "Ooh! I can just sleep on this chair."
I was tempted to speak up and say that I could have slept on the chair, while Maddi could have slept on the couch, and either Courtney or Jessie could sleep with Billy. But, given the state he was in, I thought it would be best if remained there.
"Well, uh... Okay," Jessie said.
Soon it was bedtime. Maddi was the only one of us girls that didn't bring pajamas. Nevertheless, she actually looked pretty comfortable on the chair. I figured her job had trained her how to sleep in rough places. As Jessie shut the lights off, everything grew quiet. I had my back turned to Billy, and my gut was pressing against the bedrail. It was very uncomfortable, to say the least. Billy was still hunched over, and he still had his arms around him as if he was freezing to death.
