Blue Like Elvis (21 page)

He didn’t say a word, but I felt him shaking. Pretty soon, he
was sobbing in my arms. We sat like that for a long time, neither of us saying
a word. When he finally grew quiet, I leaned over, reaching for the box of
Kleenex, snatching several for him and another wad for me.

He wouldn’t look at me for the longest time. I didn’t want to
say anything that might upset him, so I remained silent. After what seemed like
an eternity, he patted my hand and whispered, “Thank you.”

I squeezed his hand, leaned over to kiss his brow, then quietly
left the room.

It might not have been the miracle I’d hoped for, but it was
a start. A crack in the armor.

And for now it would have to do.

C
hapter 31

No question about it, I was head over heels, hopelessly in
love, and none too shy about the fact. I rushed through my patient visits every
morning then bee-lined to see him. I didn’t even care if Mrs. Baker walked by
and saw him in my arms.

The first time Rachel placed Cooper Christopher Bauer in my
arms, I couldn’t stop staring at him, touching him, cooing over him. Without
question, this little guy was a heartbreaker, and I was first in line.

Rachel looked on, her weary smile warming her face.

“You really should go home and get some rest,” I whispered.

“Shelby, if I hear that one more time I’ll scream. I’ll go
home when Cooper goes home and not before. End of discussion.”

I walked slowly around the room, the sleeping bundle of love
cradled in my arms. “I’m not sure, but I think your claws just came out. Remind
me to keep my distance.”

She’d been released this morning, but refused to go home.
They wanted to keep Cooper a couple of more days just to make sure his stats
all leveled out. He was a little jaundiced on top of everything else, but
overall he was doing much better. Once he was moved to the regular nursery on
Five, she stayed with him every moment they’d let her, rocking him in her arms
as often as possible.

She rocked, closing her eyes. “Comes with the territory. I
had no idea I possessed that kind of protective streak in me. Must come as a
package deal with the raging post-partum hormones.”

I lowered myself into the rocker beside hers and matched her
rhythm, laughing as Cooper nestled in my arms. “Oh, Rachel, he is the most
beautiful thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on. I’m so happy for you.”

She reached over, pushing a tiny curl from his forehead. “I
know. I can’t take my eyes off him. And I can’t stop thanking God for saving
him.”

“Me, too,” I whispered. “Rich said your mother arrived last
night.”

“Her flight got in at seven and by ten, I think she’d already
stocked the refrigerator with half a dozen meals. Rich is loving it. But enough
about us. Tell me about you. How’s it going with Tucker?”

“Good, I guess. He’s been working so much, I haven’t seen a
lot of him this week. But we had a good time on the campout. Well, until the
fireworks went off.”

She laughed, resting her head back on the rocker. “I heard
about it. I hate that I missed all the excitement. Burt and Bobby stopped by to
see me Sunday night after they were discharged. I’d just been taken to my room
and was still pretty out of it, but that didn’t stop them from giving me a
blow-by-blow account of the whole thing. Those guys . . .”

“Rachel, are they really that immature or are they
certifiable? You’re much more patient with them than I am. I just hope we can
keep Bobby from showing off his shrapnel, if you know what I mean.”

Rachel covered her face with her hands. “Eww?!”

I leaned over and kissed Cooper then gently handed him back
to his mother. “Well, I’d love to stay, but I need to get back to work. I’ll
stop by when I get off later, okay?”

“Sounds good. Love you, Shelby.”

“You too, Rachel. Bye, Cooper. Love you!”

I was still basking in a borrowed maternal glow when I
stepped onto the elevator. A doctor leaned against the back wall studying a
notepad. I knew he looked familiar but couldn’t quite remember why. Just as the
doors started to close, Mindy stuck her hand in, making the doors slide back
open in time to catch a ride.

“Shelby, there you are.” Mindy joined me standing against the
side wall. “I just ran into Tucker downstairs. He’s looking for you.”

“Yeah?” I felt the elevator start to rise. “Well, shoot. This
is going up. I meant to go down.”

“I get on the wrong ones all the time. Goes with the
territory.” She turned toward the doctor behind us, still engrossed in his
notes.

“Hi, Dr. Nichopoulos. Nice to see you.”

He looked up and smiled. “You too, Mindy. How’s baby land
this morning?”

“Busy as usual. Must have been a full moon this weekend.”

He chuckled and went back to his notes.

I felt my eyes go wide as I caught Mindy’s attention.
That’s
him? Elvis’s doctor?
I asked, asking by way of facial expression.

She smiled wide and nodded nonchalantly.

I stole another peek at the distinguished looking doctor of
one of the world’s most famous patients. Sure enough, embroidered in blue there
on his white lab coat, it said
George C. Nichopoulos, M.D.
His thick
head of white hair betrayed his age, but overall his Greek heritage had blessed
him with a handsome face which was remarkably well-tanned even for July.

I shook off my distraction. “So, where’d you see Tucker?”

“He stopped by the office hoping to catch you. He was having
a chat with Mrs. Baker when I left.”

“I wonder why he didn’t just page me?”

“No idea. I’ll see you later.” The elevator stopped at Sixteen,
and Mindy and Dr. Nichopoulos both stepped off. I pushed the button for the
lobby, but just before the door closed, another hand stuck in to stop it. The
doors opened again.

“We’ll talk to you later, Dr. Nick,” one of the men said. “We’re
gonna head out to the house for a while.”

“Sounds good,” I heard the doctor reply.

The doors closed after the three—two men and a woman—joined
me in the elevator. I must have been invisible to them because they continued
talking as if I wasn’t there.

“If you’d just stop aggravating him, he might get well. Every
time you go in there telling him you won’t go on tour, you just upset him
again. His blood pressure skyrockets. You’ve got to stop that. And I mean now.”

I didn’t recognize the man talking, but I knew immediately
who the other two people were—Ginger Alden and Vernon Presley, Elvis’s dad. I
smiled casually and looked back up at the numbers above them.

“Stop badgering me. I’m sick to death of you all running my
life,” Ginger growled under her breath.

Does she really think I can’t hear her?

“Bud’s right,” Vernon said quietly. “Whatever’s going on
between you two, put it aside for now. He’s got to get better. He can’t do that
with you aggravating him every time you walk in the room.”

She turned her back to me, but I could hear every word as she
stood only inches from Vernon’s face. “Fine. I’ll just stop coming. That’ll
make it easier for everyone, right?”

“Now, don’t go and do that, honey,” Vernon answered. “It’s
even worse when you don’t show up. He starts gettin’ all hot n’ bothered that
you’re gonna leave him. You know how paranoid he is. Can’t you just calm down
and put it all aside until he’s better?”

The elevator chimed and the doors opened. They stepped off into
the lobby and went the other direction. I couldn’t help smiling, wondering if
that might be the closest I’d ever get to Elvis. First, Dr. Nick, then the
girlfriend and his dad. Never a dull day at BMH.

As I approached the office, I could hear Tucker’s voice.

“But the back nine is rough. Especially eleven. I almost
always end up three-putting, no matter how close I get to the hole.”

“Oh, don’t I know it! Last week I had one of my best rounds
ever going, then I took a four-putt on eleven. About threw my putter into the
lake.”

“Well, trust me. It would find lots of company in that lake.
I know there’s at least a couple of my Titleists in there.”

They shared a laugh before Mrs. Baker waved me in. “Tucker
and I were just discussing the conditions out at the club.”

“Hey, Shelby,” Tucker said, turning to see me. “Mrs. Baker
gave me permission to borrow you for a little while. Is now a good time?”

I looked at her, then him, then back at her. “Oh. Okay. If
you’re sure that’s all right, Mrs. Baker?”

Mrs. B smiled. Clearly Tucker knew a little golf chat would
grease the wheels. “Go. Just listen for your pages, dear.”

“I will.”

As we left, Tucker guided me out the door with his hand on my
back.

“What’s going on? Why did you need permission to meet with
me?”

“I need to talk to you. Let’s take a walk.”

“Okay.” I felt the strangest sense of apprehension come over
me. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded, directing me toward the Union exit. The warm summer
air felt good against my skin as we walked out into the sunshine. Tucker put on
a pair of sunglasses and took my hand as we walked.

“I had a surprise visitor last night.”

“Oh? Anyone I know?”

“Jimmy.”

“Jimmy?” I slowed our pace. “I had no idea he was in town.
Why’d he come to
your
place?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Tucker?”

“Shelby, I think something’s going on with him.”

“What do you mean?”

“He wasn’t himself. Not even close.”

I stopped. “You’re starting to scare me. He wasn’t himself?
What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Have you ever known Jimmy to drink?”

“What are you saying? He was drunk?”

“Just humor me and answer the question. Does Jimmy drink?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him drink anything alcoholic,
but I guess it’s possible. I mean, he was in Vietnam, for heaven’s sake. Who
wouldn’t
drink after something like that?”

He started walking again, tugging me along. “I know. I had
the same thought. And don’t get me wrong—I’ve had a few drinks in my time,
mostly back in college. I just couldn’t remember Jimmy ever talking about it or
ordering alcohol whenever we’ve been together. Granted, I haven’t seen him much
since you all moved to Alabama. Just now and then, I’d hear from him, or he’d
call me up if he was in town. That sort of thing.”

“Was he actually drunk last night? Or did you just smell it
on him?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear more.

“Oh, he was definitely drunk. Smelled like a brewery, and he walked
in carrying two six-packs. I didn’t think that much of it at first, though it
caught me a little off guard.”

“Tuck, I don’t understand. Why didn’t you call me?”

“Because . . . I think it might have been more
than just alcohol.”

I stopped again. Something in the area near my heart began to
hurt. “Meaning?”

He wouldn’t look me in the eye, instead focusing on something
off in the distance. “I’m pretty sure he was also high on something.”

I just stared at him.

“Look, Shelby, it’s simple enough to understand. The guy’s
been through a lot. I don’t know about you, but he never talked to me much
about what happened in Nam, but I’m sure it kind of messed with him. And it’s
no secret a lot of stuff went on over there. It was a popular topic of
discussion in med school, all the addictions that were coming back with those
guys.”

“Did you ask him? Did you ask if he’d taken something?”

“No, I didn’t. I wasn’t sure what I might be dealing with, so
I just acted like it wasn’t that big a deal. He drank more than half the brews
he brought in. Kept slipping off to the bathroom, blaming his ‘peanut bladder.’
He got a little miffed that I wouldn’t drink with him.”

I kept staring at him, not wanting to believe a word he was
saying. I even wondered if he might be exaggerating. Though, for the life of
me, I couldn’t figure out why on earth he’d want to do that.

“After a couple of hours, he started getting really loud. All
worked up about something, but I couldn’t follow his train of thought. He wasn’t
making any sense so I just let him talk. At one point he kicked over my coffee
table and—”

“Oh, please,” I scoffed, dropping his hand. “You expect me to
believe that my brother got upset and started kicking over furniture?” I heard
my voice getting louder, but I didn’t care. “Give me a break, Tucker.”

“Listen to me! I’m trying to tell you! He wasn’t himself. I’ve
never seen him act like that. And there was a lot more to it than just drinking
too much. I . . . I noticed his pupils were like pinpoints. It’s
called miosis. That’s not something caused by mere alcohol.”

“Tucker, will you stop? Listen to me. You know Jimmy as well
as I do. He’s not violent. He’s the kid who’s always the life of the party.
Always working on a prank or, or—getting into mischief. Of all people,
you
should know that! But he’s not stupid. Sure, maybe he had a few drinks. Maybe
he’s trying to forget everything that went on over there. But he’s
not
a
druggie. And in my entire life, I’ve never seen him do anything even remotely violent.”

He grabbed my arm, but I wrenched it away. We stared at each
other.

“Shelby, do you mean to stand there and tell me you think I’m
making all this up?”

“Just tell me one thing,” I said, glaring at him. “Why didn’t
you call me? He’s
my
brother. If there was something wrong with him, you
should have called me.”

“I didn’t want you to see him like that.”

“What do you think I am, a child? So he was drunk. I’ve been
around a few in my time. I could’ve handled it.” I started to walk away from
him. “Where is he now?”

“He was sacked out when I left this morning. I assume he’s
still home sleeping it off.”

“Stop saying it like that! Like he’s some hopeless drunk!
Good grief, Tucker. I can’t believe this. I wish you just would’ve called me.”

“Then I’m sorry. Forgive me for trying to protect you.” His
tone grated on my last nerve.

“I don’t
need
protection!”

“Fine.” He turned around, heading back to the hospital. “Then,
assuming he’s still at my house, stop by and see him when you get off work. I’m
sure he’d be delighted to see you.”

“Why are you acting like this?” I yelled, rushing to catch up
to him. “Jimmy’s your friend. Why are you treating him like some freak who just
came home from the war?”

“I’m not treating him like a freak! I’m worried to death
about him, Shelby! You’re not the only one who loves the guy, okay? I think I
might have a few more insights—”