Affinity

by Dianne Wilson

  16

  Evazee crossed the hospital passage to Kai’s room and found him on the floor. He was propped up on the door, slipping sideways as if he were drugged. Her first thought was to run to the window and see if the trees were purple. Instead she knelt down and prodded him. Was this real or part of her dreams? Perspiration ran down his temples. All the bruises and cuts from his accident still marked his skin. She never saw those in her dreams. “Boy! What are you doing down there? Are you awake?” She leaned closer, peering into his face.

  When he didn’t respond, she did what any concerned friend would do under the circumstances. She smacked his cheek.

  He blinked and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  Evazee tucked her arm around his waist, got to her knees, and tried to hoist him upright.

  Kai groaned, mumbling words she couldn’t make out.

  “Don’t talk, save your energy. Let’s get you back to bed.” Evazee tried to hook his arm around her shoulders, but it flopped back down. This was not working. “You have to help me, Boy.” She should call a nurse, but that would mean leaving him. She shoved at his shoulder and managed to get him vertical though his head hung, chin to his chest.

  “DarKounds. Run…” His eyes were still rolling.

  Evazee flinched. “Not here, Boy. Just you, me, and the gap between us and your bed.”

  “Zee…is that you?”

  “Yes, Boy. Now help me here. Sit up.”

  “You can’t be Zee. She glows.” His head lolled back and hit the door. He stayed there, blinking and frowning at Zee.

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You’re a bit dull, you know?”

  “And you’re a bit concussed. Honestly, Boy.” Her cheeks turned pink. Trust Kai to flatter and offend her in the same breath.

  “Wait, what did you call me?”

  “Boy.” It felt weird calling him that to his flesh-and-blood face. “Your name is Kai, though, isn’t it?”

  “I think so.” With his back against the door, he managed to stay up. His pupils were shrinking, that was a good sign.

  She sat cross-legged in front of him, feeling awkward. “You’re back.”

  Kai squeezed his eyes shut tight, and then he stretched them wide as if trying to wake up from a long sleep. “Where is Bree?”

  “Bree? Not here.”

  “Are you sure she didn’t run past you? She has to be here. Why am I here again?”

  She shook her head. “You were hit by a bus. You were unconscious for a few days. You had some weird dreams while you were out. It will take time for it all to settle.”

  “Dreams? But you were there.”

  “It must have seemed very real. C’mon, help me. Let’s get you back in bed.” She held out a hand.

  He ignored it, running fingers through his hair.

  TrisTessa! She needed to know Kai was awake. How typical that he would wake up during the first time she went home to clean up. “Stay here, I’ll be back.” Eva was half way down the passage when she turned and ran back. “I don’t mean stay on the floor. You can go back to bed...”

  Kai frowned at her, lifting an eyebrow.

  “Oh, whatever. I’ll send a nurse.”

  ~*~

  Kai considered getting back in bed for all of two seconds. His chest stung and a trickle of blood ran down his arm from a needle puncture his skin. He must have been on an IV drip.

  “Well that’s a miracle, if ever I’ve seen one!” A short, round nurse stood grinning at him from the doorway.

  Her colleague pushed past her, huffing at the sight of Kai on the floor. “You picked a fine time to wake up.” She waved to the other nursing sister. “No time for chit chat. Let’s get him hooked up again, and get down the passage. We have a ward full of new patients to see to.”

  The short, round one took the chiding in her stride, and carried on chatting to Kai as they lifted him onto jelly-legs and walked him back to bed. “There’s been an outbreak of gastro at the school down the road. A bunch of kids have been sent in. We are running our legs off.” She checked his pulse while the other sister unwrapped a new needle for the drip.

  In minutes, they had the blankets tucked up around his neck, the IV drip back in, and monitors stuck to his chest.

  The round one patted his arm. “We’ll send for some food from the kitchen and be back to check on you in a little while.”

  Kai waited until he could no longer hear the clipping of their shoes down the passage. A cleaner’s trolley rattled closer and stopped outside the room next door to his. He had to get out of here.

  Grimacing as the needle moved in his vein, he pulled out the IV and ripped off the monitors for the second time. He applied pressure to the puncture wound, willing the bleeding to stop. There was no time to lose. He left it to bleed, found his jeans in the cupboard, and slipped into them. They smelled clean.

  Wasn’t there something he was supposed to be doing, something in his pocket? He felt around and found nothing. Thinking was like ripping down a stone wall with bare hands, painful and impossible. He shook off the nagging concern. He’d think later.

  He pulled the T-shirt with the purple paint splatter over his head, and slipped his feet into trainers. Images swirled through his head, strange people in a strange place. It had all seemed so real. He couldn’t quite believe that it wasn’t.

  Kai found a cleaner’s overall jacket and cap hanging on the cleaner’s trolley and slipped into it. The cleaner whistled to himself as he mopped next door, too absorbed in his task to notice Kai borrowing his equipment. Kai kept the cap down low over his eyes as he passed the nurse’s station, but no one stopped him. Apparently the stomach bug had them all tied up. He abandoned the trolley in the lift, stripping off the jacket and cap and hanging them up as they had been.

  Outside the hospital, a pale sun did its best to break through a spattering of clouds.

  Kai stared at it as though seeing it for the first time. The trees were brown and green, planted in neat rows, unlike the wild purple and teal he’d grown used to.

  Moving was painful, as if his body had forgotten how. He pushed on anyway. Familiar roads guided his feet and he soon stood in front of his door, dripping with sweat. He patted his pockets for the key. Gone. Must have fallen out. With a quick glance to make sure no one was watching, he reached up and felt between the broken plaster above the lintel for the spare.

  Riff was waiting as the door swung inwards. He wrapped himself around Kai’s legs, purring so hard, he nearly fell over.

  Kai picked him up and held him against him so he could walk without tripping. The tiny kitten sat in his hand, rubbing its chin against his chest. Kai shut the door behind himself. “Raff, where are you, boy?”

  It took twenty minutes to find the orange menace. He’d climbed into the base of Kai’s bed through a hole that hadn’t been there the last time Kai was home.

  Raff spat and hissed, but Kai was so happy to see the animal, he ignored the drama and cuddled the ginger kitten anyway. “You make me think of Bree. All prickly and tough.” His insides pulled at the thought of Bree. If she’d been more than a dream, there would surely be nothing left of her now.

  It struck him then, that his room was tidy. More than tidy, it was clean. All the scrunched-up songs he’d left, were straightened out and piled on his bed. His kittens weren’t starving either.

  It was all a bit weird. Somehow purple trees seemed easier to deal with. The place he’d been had seemed so real. Strong painkillers must do that. He needed a shower. And food. Afterwards, he’d pick up the threads of real life.

  He pulled off his shirt and something caught his eye in the broken mirror. Drawn in black charcoal on his chest. A perfect ladybug drawn by Runt.

  ~*~

  TrisTessa ran her fingers through her hair, scrunching some life into her curls. “How do I look? Should I go home and change?”

  Eva laughed. “You look perfect, just come!”

  �
�He’s really awake? And is he with it?” She drew circles in the air next to her head with her fingers. “Or messed up?”

  “It’s kinda hard to tell with Kai. You’ll have to decide for yourself.” She pulled the older woman down the hospital corridor, feeling more excited than she could remember.

  They pushed open the door to Kai’s room and found his bed empty.

  Evazee checked the cupboard but Kai’s clothes were gone.

  There was an old man in the bed next to Kai’s, eating soup.

  “Oh! I’m sorry to bother. Do you know where they’ve moved the guy who was here?”

  The man shook his head, completely focussed on his soup spoon.

  Evazee patted TrisTessa’s shoulder. “Maybe they moved him because he’s awake now.” She led the way to the nurse’s station, chatting all the way to cover up her embarrassment.

  “Hi, can you tell me where the patient from 2C has been moved to? He was unconscious, but he woke up and now we can’t find him.”

  “Let me check the system for you.” Her fingernails tapped a rhythm on the keys. “He hasn’t been moved. Maybe he’s in the bathroom. I’d suggest you wait for him. There’s a vending machine down the hall if you’d like something to drink in the meantime.”

  Eva turned to TrisTessa, whispering, “She’s wrong. His clothes are gone. I think he went home. We can go there now.”

  The older woman was looking every inch as skittish as a dog in a storm, as if she were ready to bolt.

  Eva hooked her arm through hers and dragged her. She was still dragging her when they reached the top of three flights of stairs zig-zagging up the side of the condemned building. Eva knocked on Kai’s door.

  TrisTessa stood off to the side, looking more ansty by the minute.

  Eva took the key out her pocket. “I just realized—I have Kai’s key. He couldn’t come home even if he tried.”

  TrisTessa looked relieved. “We should just go, then.”

  “You’re right. I’ll just feed the kitties quick. Who knows how long it’ll take us to find him. I don’t even know where to start.” She unlocked and found no kitties waiting at the door. Odd. Normally they’d be lined up, empty tummies rumbling. There were many hiding places in the large space, but they found the kittens curled up together underneath the bed. Riff stretched out on his back as Eva stroked him. She ran a hand over his stomach, round and full.

  “These cats have been fed.”

  “Have you had any more dreams, Eva?”

  Eva pretended not to hear. Instead, she frowned at the watery footprint on the floor at her feet. “I think he’s been here. Look.”

  TrisTessa found a running tap in the basin, an uncapped tin of shaving foam, and a razor still clogged up. “Something tells me he left in a hurry.”

  “How will we find him now?”

  17

  Kai sat on the pavement in a yellow pool cast by the streetlight. His guitar rested against the wall next to him and he had a map unfolded on his knees. The hat at his feet was empty—an afternoon of singing and no money to show for it. It didn’t matter today. He was here for a different reason.

  The wind came up, tugging at the corners of the page and raising goose bumps down his arms. An empty chip packet blew against his boot and stuck there. He kicked it off and it flew across the road towards the building he was looking for—Open Sessions Nightclub. A gaudy neon sign flickered against the brick wall and loud music pumped out each time the door cracked open. A queue was growing at the door, most of the mob appeared half-drunk and rowdy. The desert outside the black gates lined up with the hospital, and this, if his calculations were correct, should be Obsidian Square.

  Thoughts of the desert brought Bree back into his head. He gritted his teeth against the wave of guilt. Look after the live one first, and then mourn the dead.

  Runt could be inside somewhere.

  He checked the map again, brushing fingers through his hair. It didn’t add up. If buildings were people, this one would be a hobo. It was a rundown eyesore, nothing close to the dark beauty of the lava-glassed OS with its straight walls and clean lines. This building jutted and poked, decorated with enormous carved musical instruments that stretched up beyond the top of the roof on each corner. Tacky. Also, the OS was surrounded by a slum. This building was smack in the middle of the town, surrounded on all sides by a sea of other buildings. Granted, they were all in pretty bad shape, but they weren’t shacks.

  Either way, he had no other starting point. He checked his watch–10 PM. Now to figure out how to get in. Kai shrugged deeper into his jacket, wishing he could be invisible. He hated this part of town. For the hundredth time in the last half hour, he considered going home.

  He pulled his shirt aside just enough to see that it was still there. The simple drawing that defied all belief that he’d just been dreaming. Dreams don’t draw on one’s chest.

  It didn’t make sense, but Kai couldn’t stay out on the pavement debating much longer. He had to get to Runt. A sign on the wall told him that the cover charge for the club was more than he had on him. For the first time, he felt a twinge of regret at his empty hat.

  A commotion broke out near the end of the line that had grown half way down the block. A guy in black leather was pushing towards the door, carrying a guitar case. He looked flustered. He was probably late. The crowd let him through when they saw the instrument, some slapping him on the back as he passed. He jostled his way between them, nearly tripping as he got to the stairs. He staggered up, using the queue of clubbers for support.

  Kai cast a glance at his guitar. This could be his ticket in. He picked up his hat, flipped it onto his head. Sticking his chest out as if he belonged and ignoring his shaking legs, he crossed the street and joined the queue behind a pale redhead, tall enough to see the top of most people’s heads.

  He grinned at Kai, and pushed him forward. “Hey man, another muso. Get in there, bud!”

  The crowd opened up, making way for him. Inside the red double doors, he held up his guitar and passed the cashier without any questions. He followed the mob down a mirrored tunnel, his heart almost daring to beat again. As they reached the end, a bulky man with the word, ‘bouncer’ printed on his T-shirt, pulled Kai aside.

  “You. Come here.”

  Kai considered his options. Listen to the giant hulk of a bouncer and get thrown out, or run, get caught, beaten up by the giant hulk of a bouncer, and then get thrown out. The beating made up his mind. He pulled his hat down low over his eyes.

  “Yeah?”

  “You new here?”

  “First gig, actually.” Sweat soaked through the band of his hat. He forced himself to meet the bouncer’s eyes.

  “Backstage is through that door. You’re late.”

  “Great. Thanks.”

  Kai was half way through the door before he shouted back, “I’m sorry!” He shut the door behind, cutting off the faint light. He felt his way forward in the dark, picking up speed as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. For a moment it felt as though he was back in the dreams he’d had. Or whatever they were.

  His foot caught on something big and he came down hard, twisting his body to protect his guitar from the impact of the fall. It was the other guitarist. He must have been drunk enough to pass out.

  “Leonard! Is that you? It’s about time! You’re up.”

  A short, flustered man grabbed his arm and pulled him along. They reached the wings, blue-lit and cluttered with cables. The man was wearing skin-tight leather pants, with a black T-shirt. His belly objected to the constraints of leather and hung over the top of his pants, barely covered by his shirt. He lifted Kai’s hat.

  “You’re not Leonard.”

  “No. But Leonard is passed out back there, and I can play this thing.” He held up his guitar as if it were a golden ticket.

  “You’d better be good. Otherwise, they’ll have your blood. Get out there.”

  Kai found a barstool in the wings and carried it onto the stage. He set
it down, plugged his guitar into the amp, and adjusted the mic stand to his height.

  There was an angry buzz over the audience that made them seem like a room full of protesters. This would be interesting.

  Strains of thumping rhythm carried through the walls from another part of the club. This room was obviously for those who preferred their ear candy live. Kai had always thought of music lovers as more cultured, but his theory didn’t seem to apply to the hostile bunch in front of him.

  A fight broke out in the back corner.

  Should he call a bouncer, or just play? He tapped out a string of harmonics to check the tuning, twisted the knob on his E string. Perfect.

  A hush fell over the room.

  The fight at the back paused mid-punch.

  The strings were rough beneath his fingertips. Taking a deep breath, he strummed a chord and let it grow into a piece of music. At once aggressive and haunting, his fingers flew over the strings, drawing sound from the vibrations. The piece swept across the room, filling the air with bitter sweetness. He shut his eyes and let his fingers find the notes. Music soared from him, through him. It felt like flying. Minutes later, he picked the last few notes and opened his eyes to check on the audience.

  They sat in silence. This could be really good or really bad.

  Applause rippled through from the back corner, growing louder, then deafening.

  Kai tipped his hat. He chose another piece and played. Over the next hour, he pumped out song after song, taking his audience through every emotion, leading them out from anger to a place of peace.

  Hope.

  Kai put down his guitar and rubbed an itchy spot on his chest. As his wrist touched the Runt’s ladybug, a wave of heat washed over his face. A flash shot through his eyes. In an instant, the walls morphed back to black lava glass, green torches flickered along the walls and the people at his feet wore leather. He was back in the OS.

  Yet pure light radiated from the stage, engaging the green, and then snuffing it out. Whatever the light touched lost its grey and glowed in full colour.

  Kai’s knees gave in and he grabbed the barstool. In a blink, he was back in the nightclub. What on earth?