- And you ended up driving him here. -
- Of course not, - he says.
I give him a quick look from above the computer monitor while I'm still typing. - But if you are here and he's now downstairs at the infirmary... -
- He walked here, - he says. – Actually he took two buses and walked for a half a mile. I followed him from a distance. -
I notice that every now and then he glances at my desk on which he is sitting, as per usual. Any change upsets him and, obviously, this desk is new.
- And that is because? - I ask. I'm missing some logical step, but I know sometimes I miss it because there isn't always a logical step with Tears. Nevertheless, I always ask, just to be on the safe side.
- Well, he had a broken foot. You can't let people with a broken foot go around alone, - he says as if it were obvious. And actually it is obvious.
I sigh and place my elbows on my new desk. - Tears, for crying out loud... - I put two fingers on my right temple. - What's the point? Why didn't you just drive him here? -
He spreads his arms. – Yeah right, so that next time he shoots himself in the head? You have to teach them when they're still young! -
I sigh. - Tears, why are you in my office? -
He fiddles with the pencils in the the pen holder. - I was bored and I was already here. -
I snort when the intercom sizzles. I press the button and one of my secretaries informs me that my assistant has arrived. Tears instantaneously growls. - Let him in, – I say. Then I look at Tears. - I think it's best if you go now. -
He has already gotten off the desk, put his hands in his pockets and a deadly look on his face. - I think so too, – he answers me.
Unfortunately, he's not fast enough, because when he opens the door, he finds my assistant right on the other side of it.
- Oh, hi Tears! - My assistant happily greets him.
- Fuck you, – he gets as an answer.
Tears shoulders his way out of my office on purpose.
Samuel watches him walking down the corridor, then comes in and looks at me. - Do you think he'll ever get over it? - He asks me.
- I think you can overrule that option, - I answer without even looking at him. I have to finish this last report before going to the meeting. I send the document to my printer, which does its work with a loud buzzing. Samuel goes to the coffee station.
- Coffee? - He asks.
- What, you just got here and you're already taking a coffee break? -
He puts down the coffee tin and gets the tea one. - Maybe an Earl Gray would suit you better? -
In the meantime, I open the files he sent me from the second dimension's base for today's meeting. As usual he forgot his monthly report on the number of Allies sent to this section. - Sam! Where's the Allies' report? -
He freezes with the tin still in his hand. He then selects another one. - Some chamomile tea, perhaps? -
- Sam... -
He tries to duck the issue. - Wait, before you lose your temper... - He pulls out a laptop from his bag. - I brought the computer with me this time, so if I forgot something I'd have it at the ready. - Pulling out the computer, he drops an incredible amount of sticky notes, which could easily correspond to the total of those we have in storage here at the Confederation. He picks them all up and turns them into a ball, then he puts the ball back in his bag. There are sticky notes everywhere.
I sigh.
I work with lamebrains. A big herd of imbeciles a dollar short for the bus ride home.
****
- You're an idiot, a moron! - She barks. Her dreads swing right and left, following her movements. She's taking gauze, vials and I don't know what else.
- But I didn't do it on purpose. - I try to justify myself.
- Sure! And you think I believe that? - She pulls the stool to the table on which I am sitting, and grabs my foot. She begins to clean my wound with alcohol. I inhale sharply. She must be really angry, this time she did not use the disinfectant that doesn't sting.
- You're so beautiful when you get angry. - I smile.
- Damn it! Do you think I'm in the mood for some flirting? - She bursts out.
- Well, maybe not now, but if I work on it... -
- Don't be stupid! I am seriously angry at you! You can't keep on injuring yourself just to come here! -
- Wait, it was an accident! I was cleaning my gun and... - She glares at me and I freeze for a moment. Then she goes back tending to my foot and I feel very guilty when I hear her mumbling 'Just like all the others ones.'
- What do you mean with 'I'm like the others ones?' - I chuckle a little to play things down. - You can't put me on Tears' level, for instance... -
- You all lie, each and every one of you! -
I'm a little perplexed. It takes me a couple of seconds, but I finally put together a few details I have noticed in these past days without being able to give them meaning. The diadem on her forehead, the black tattoo on her arm, and above all, the fact that she works for the Confederation. - You're an Ally too, right? -
She stops disinfecting me for a second, then resumes her job. - I don't go around killing people. -
- No of course, they give you points on your medical merits, correct? - She doesn't answer so I keep on talking. - That tiara on your forehead has the same effect that this bracelet has on me, but the kind of magic it blocks is of a different nature. Are you a psychic? -
She sighs and then blurts out. - How did you get it? -
I'm about to explain myself, then I think twice and simply let images and words run free in my head. I see her smiling and shaking her head slightly out of the corner of my eye.
- You are such an idiot! - And then she finally smiles.
I remain stunned for a moment, then I hasten to make some order in the images and the words in my head, which is always as messy as a teenager's desk. Like, for example, my own desk.
- I think I let you see a little more than what I had initially meant. -
She looks at me. - Zen, I've been able to see in your head since the first day we met. -
I'm stunned.
Wait, what?
I turn to stone.
Who knows what the hell went through my head all this time! I'm very embarrassed, and I think she can see that too. I'm panicking. By the Gods! Tune her look away from me, I can't even run away! I'm a lame duck!
She puts the disinfectant down and proceeds to bandage my foot. - I see in everybody's head and it's hard to avoid it, even with this tiara. This is not a gift, it's a curse. People never mean what they say and never say what they mean. We all do that. Like, say, you see an old woman trying to randomly cross a trafficked highway without using the crosswalk. The first thing you think is: 'By the Gods, why do they let old crazy people out when they end up being ironed flat on the highway?' But what do you end up doing, instead? You walk up to her and ask her if she needs some help and maybe you even get her to the other side of the highway. It's normal, but perceiving the thoughts that precede the actions automatically shies you away from everybody. -
- I can imagine what you see in the head of the people who usually come in here. A beautiful girl among big, rough ignorant men, preys of their hormones... -
Such deep and polite thoughts in this infirmary.
- So, half-assed thief, all done with your foot? - Tears appears at the door. We both look at him.
- And here it is, a perfect example of your average patient, - I say.
She shrugs and secures the bandage on my foot. – Actually, he's the exception. That is, without counting you. -
I don't understand. – What do you mean? -
- I can't get in his head. When I try to read his mind, I only see darkness. -
Nadja takes away the bottles and Tears grins, entering the infirmary.
- I suppose that is because he doesn't actually have a brain, - I mumble.
She giggles and he makes a face. Every now and then I do not understand who's the child between the two of us.
- Well, I know there are some cases where my power doesn't work, but he and his brother are the only ones I can't read. Or better, with Sin it's different. I can see in his head but I don't understand what I see, - she explains.
Tears taps his temple with his index finger. - Maybe that's because he's totally nuts. - Then he turns to me. - So, ready to hit the road? -
- Tears, wait! - She says. - I have to register this visit. -
She sits down at her desk and I put my sneaker back on. As I put my foot down I grit my teeth. It hurts like hell.
- So, - she says. - First of all, you have to walk as little as possible, and absolutely no running. - Tears swears. - Then you have to change your bandage every night and disinfect the wound very well. Lucky for you, you haven't broken anything. You only chipped a metatarsus. However, I wouldn't put extra weight on it. -
This means that if Sin attacks us, I won't be able to fight back.
Tears throws me a deadly look. He doesn't kill me right away only because there are witnesses.
I'm a moron.
I could have, say, shot my left hand...
Or maybe I could have not shot myself at all, for example.
I sigh. Well, it's too late now. The damage is done. I turn briefly to Tears and I hope he understands me. He raises only one eyebrow, trying to get it, then he finally understands, groans and leaves.
- I'll wait for you outside, dickhead, - he says, and walks away.
Nadja finishes writing on her log and gives me my badge back. - Zen, if you come back again for your own doing, I'll send you to another doctor. Understood? -
- Right. - I put the badge back in my wallet. – You force me to think about some new strategy. I'll have to ask you out. -
- I don't go out with my patients, – she answers sharply.
- But I'm not coming back anymore, so I'm no longer your patient. - I try to stun her with logic.
She sighs. - No, Zen. -
I try another technique. - You said that Tears, the brainless man, is the only one different from the others, except for me. Why? You can clearly read my mind. -
She looks to the left and sways her head a bit. - Yes, it's true. Let's say that you are one of the very few people, perhaps the only one, who doesn't cheat with his thoughts and feelings. You make a fool of yourself sometimes, but only because you're honest. -
I grin. - So? -
- So nothing. - And she goes back to the damn log.
- PRETTY PLEASE! - I beg her. – Let's go out together, just for an ice cream, just once, just to check it out. What have you got to loose? Pleeeeeease! - I stretch on the desk like a cat.
She rolls her eyes, then bursts out laughing. - By the Gods, Zen, this is what I'm talking about. - She's laughing so much that she has to wipe away a tear. - Now in your head there is just a big banner that says 'Please, please, please, let's go out, I'm begging you, please.' Generally this banner flashes in the head of all those who ask me out, not to mention those who just think: 'Come on, give it to me'. The difference with you is that you say it out loud. -
- On the bright side, I make you laugh! Worse case scenario you have a fun afternoon. - I'd jump up and down, if only I could.
She looks at me and then sighs. She goes to her bag, pulls out a flier and hands it to me.
I read it, it's from a pastry shop downtown. It opens this Saturday at 3pm.
- What is it? - I ask.
She's back at her desk and is going through her log, writing something down. - A new bakery. A friend of mine is running it. I have to go to the opening on Saturday and if, by chance, I find you there, well, I guess I'll be seeing you there. -
I think I deafened her both physically and mentally with the loud YAHOO! I shouted.
Once we get home, Tears takes an absurdly large amount of headache pills.
Comments (0)
See all