Page 20 of Graced
“Time for the other two to take up their slack,” he muttered.He intended on bringing the subject up at dinner, and also to remind them that the end of the month was tomorrow.That was when they’d swap out who would get the use their one and only car.As luck would have it, he’d be the lucky fellow to claim the keys.
Stepping into the kitchen, he caught the faint scent of chicken noodle soup.The pot with the remainder sat on a back burner on the stove.The sound of the TV coming from the living room told him where the guys were located.
He turned on the burner to warm up the rest of the soup and washed his hands at the sink which contained a used bowl and spoon.
“Hey, guys?I’m not washing your dirty dishes for you!”he called out.“Just because I’m the last one home doesn’t mean I have to do your chores for you!Remember our deal?”
Taking a clean bowl down from the cabinet, he set it on the counter and strolled into the living room to find out why no one had answered him.Nash was watching something on TV.Welsh was nowhere in sight.
“Hey.”He nudged his roommate.“Where’s Welsh?”
“He was in his room, last I saw.I left you some soup on the stove.”
“Yeah, I saw that.You also left me your dirty bowl to clean, asshole.”
“I’ll get to it.Just leave the suds in the sink when you’re done with yours,” Nash promised.
Going back to the kitchen, Rhyne stirred the contents in the pot and took a tentative sip from the wooden spoon.Satisfied, he poured the remaining soup into the bowl, then set the pot back on the burner and turned off the stove.
He debated eating alone in the kitchen or taking his meal into the living room when a scream came from the direction of the back rooms.Racing down the hall, he nearly collided with Nash standing in the doorway to the master bedroom he shared with Welsh.
The man was sitting up, a look of stark fear framing his wide eyes.
“Hey, man!What’s wrong?”Nash demanded.
The room was empty, which begged the question—what had spooked the man?
Rhyne hurried over to the window to peer through the blinds, in case there was something outside that had startled the man.Not seeing anything, he turned around to find Welsh staring at him.
“That’s blue!”Welsh pointed a finger straight at Rhyne.“Your shirt!It’sblue!I-I-I remember that color because it was my favorite color growing up.Before I t-turned.You’re wearing a blue shirt!” He clutched his head.“Oh, sweet heavens!Guys!Guys, I can see color again!I can see colors!”
“No way,” Nash started to argue, but Welsh whirled on him with a snarl.
“Fuck you!Fuck you!I can see colors!”The man rubbed his eyes with his fingertips.When he opened them again, he blinked several times.“Ohhh, man.Oh,man!” The guy was on the verge of crying, and Rhyne couldn’t blame him.
“How is that possible?”Rhyne questioned.He didn’t call the man a liar.Not after what he himself had experienced not too long ago.A bigger question hung in the air over them.How did Welsh regain his color sight?
And where,Rhyne mentally asked.An impossible possibility reared its ugly head, raising more questions he didn’t dare voice.Not now.Not until he got more answers.
Welsh slowly shook his head.“I don’t know.I can’t…”
“Could it be from something you ate?Or drank?”Nash pressed.
Or drank?
AB negative.
Rhyne immediately dismissed that thought.There was no way…
His head jerked up.Unless a patient used that one bag Norris said was there, and he stashed it into today’s pickup.
He dashed out of the room and ran into the kitchen.Scooping the backpack off the floor, he emptied its contents onto the table.It held just two rinsed blood bags.Both were O positive.
He went next to the fridge and opened the vegetable bin where they kept their supply.Of the four bags there, none were AB negative.
“Fuck!Then how…”
The two men came tromping into the kitchen.Welsh’s face remained pale as he observed the mess Rhyne had made.“What are you doing?”
