The First Three Rules by Adrienne Wilder

should stay.” He hoped he wouldn’t eat those words. Some of the sparkle dulled in Jon’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
    He put weight down on his legs and his muscles trembled. A deep throb began to beat behind his eyes. He tried to take a step but wound up gripping the arm of the chair so he didn’t lose his balance.
    Jon took Ellis by the arm. “Thanks.”
    “Any time.”
    Jon shut the passenger door and Ellis buckled his seat belt. The nurse gave Jon the bag of samples and the prescriptions from Dr. Bramblet.
    Rudy leaned forward and tapped Ellis on the shoulder. “What kind of doughnut are you going to get?”
    “I don’t think I’m in the mood for a doughnut.”
    “Oh… Then can I have yours?”
    “You don’t really need two doughnuts.”
    “But if you don’t want yours then it will get thrown away and that would be wasting a doughnut, and you always say don’t waste food.”
    Ellis massaged his temple. “Someone else will buy the doughnut.”
    “What if they don’t? What if it gets thrown away?”
    “Rudy…”
    “If you gave it to me, I wouldn’t throw it away. I’d eat it. But don’t get one with yellow cream or I’ll have to wash it out.”
    “Rudy…please.” Ellis prayed for a moment of quiet.
    The driver’s side door opened.
    “Maybe Jon will eat it.”
    “Eat what?” Jon said.
    “Ellis doesn’t want his doughnut and I don’t want it to get thrown away. He says I don’t need two doughnuts. So you’ll need to eat it instead.”
    Jon shut the door and cranked up the car. “I should be able to arrange that.”
    Rudy shook Ellis by his shoulder. Everything blurred.
    “Easy there. Ellis is hurt, remember?”
    “I forgot.”
    “Sit back.”
    “Okay.”
    “And don’t forget your seatbelt.”
    “I won’t.”
    Ellis laid his head against the seat. “Thanks.” The warmth of skin brushed against his hand. He opened his eyes.
    Jon frowned. “You sure you want to do this?”
    Ellis tried to remember what he wanted to do. All he could think about was Jon. His touch, his musky scent with a hint of spice. Did he use cologne or did he smell like that all the time?
    Jon turned off the car.
    “I’m fine,” Ellis said.
    “You don’t look fine.” Jon opened the door.
    “Please, I’m okay. I’m just tired. I just want to go home and rest.”
    Jon closed the door. The thump echoed through Ellis’s bones.
    “Ellis?”
    “It’s just the sounds. They’re loud and they make my head hurt.”
    “Like thunder?” Rudy said. “Thunder always makes my head hurt. I’m allergic to thunder.”
    “Rudy,” Jon said. “I need you to sit still and be very quiet. Can you do that?”
    “Am I in trouble?”
    “No. But talking makes Ellis’s head hurt so we need to be very, very quiet.”
    “Like the man in the funny hat who is always hunting wabbits.”
    “Yeah, like that.” Jon started the car again. “Are you going to be okay long enough for us to stop?”
    Ellis already felt nauseous. But if Jon didn’t stop, Rudy would worry them both to death about cream filled doughnuts. “I’m good.”
    “I’ll make it fast.” He pulled out onto the main road.
    “Thanks again.”
    Jon smiled a little. “For what?”
    “Do you have to ask?”
    “You don’t have to thank me, Ellis. I promise.”
    “With everything you’ve done, you deserve a lot more than just words.” Jon flexed his hands on the wheel and shifted in his seat. Ellis realized how that sounded, but he didn’t know what to do about it. And did he want to?
    “Like I said…”
    “You took me to the hospital and probably saved my life.”
    Jon stared at the road. His grip on the steering wheel turned his knuckles white.
    Did Ellis say the wrong thing? He rested his burning cheek against the cold glass of the passenger window. Watching the scenery slide past made him dizzy so he shut his eyes.
    The flurry of sounds washed Ellis in and out of sleep. It seemed like minutes from the time they pulled