“Okay, then I stab you.”
Ryan lifted his light blue Providence PD T-shirt, the skin of his torso crowded with scars. “Pick a spot.”
I blew my bangs from my face, frustrated. “So, we just start looking in hallways, hoping he’s been moved to a room?”
“That’s the best option we have for now,” Ryan said.
“That’s not a plan. That’s hope.”
“Hope always seems to work for me.” He tilted his head, closed one eye and grinned, knowing I was going to make fun of him.
So, I didn’t. “That’s sweet, baby.”
“Yeah?” he said, surprised.
“No. That sucked. C’mon.”
Ryan followed me toward the main entrance, his hands in the air at his sides.
I kissed at him. “I’m just giving you a hard time. You’re the sweetest.”
“You are,” he said, holding the door open for me.
The halls were quiet at midnight. Only the nurses and radiology staff walked the halls, barely acknowledging us while the nurses made their rounds, their scrubs swishing between their thighs while they checked charts and answered room calls. The wheels of the portable X-Ray units whined between the tile floor, and the weight of the machine pushed by the radiology techs. Ryan still had to work to distract overwhelmed nurses while I peeked in rooms or at patient lists. Finally, we found Morgan on the second floor, sleeping and alone.
He still looked broken even though I’d heard his bones snap back together myself. The skin beneath his eyes were purple, his stats still low. He sucked in a shallow breath, in no hurry to exhale.
“How long does it take to bounce back?” Ryan asked, watching him with concern.
“It depends. Before Eden was born, it didn’t affect humans at all except for special cases like Kim. Now, they leave something behind. Like an echo. For some it takes weeks to get back to normal, some months. Morgan was shelled by the Devil. I don’t know that he will.”
“So, Eden saving him was all for nothing?”
I touched Morgan’s cheek. “We’ll know when it happens.”
“When what happens?” he asked.
“The reason for his sacrifice … and for hers.”
I shook my head at the curly-headed kid in the bed, crossing my arms. It was strange to feel sympathy for the boy I just saw murder my niece, a girl who was my most precious. We’d played hide-and-seek, she called me out on my snark—and gave it right back—when she was just four, and kicked my tail during training not long after that. She was my hero, and he’d killed her.
“Morgan,” I whispered, patting his cheek gently. “Can you hear me?” I looked back at the television hanging on the wall. There was a sign hanging from a single strip of tape that read Out of Order.
He stirred.
I patted him again. “Morgan?”
“Eden,” he whispered. Even in his sleep his face crumbled, and he mourned. His eyes popped open, and he stared at the ceiling. A tear fell from the outside corner of his eye down his temple, settling in his ear.
“It’s Claire, Eden’s aunt. Do you remember me?”
He blinked a few times and looked around, clearly exhausted and confused.
“You’re in the hospital. You’re alive,” Ryan said.
His tense muscles relaxed back into the mattress, and his eyes seemed heavy again.
“Morgan, what’s the last thing you remember?”
His eyes closed, and his bottom lip trembled. “Eden,” he said, saliva gathering in his mouth. “Eden.”
“Yes,” I said, running my fingers through his hair. “But you can still help her I think. I hope.”
He blinked again, his eyes slowly wandering to me. The sleeves of his hospital gown had bunched at his shoulders, the thin blanket probably not enough to keep him warm against the intense air conditioning.
“Do you remember anything else? Beyond the end? Something that might not belong to you?” I asked.
Ryan shook his head. “He doesn’t know what that means, Claire.”
“Sshhh,” I snapped.
His eyes fell away as he sifted through the past, and I wondered if he’d be able to communicate his thoughts if he did happen to remember anything helpful.
He raised a shaking hand just a few inches from the mattress, trying to point at something. I looked back. “Wall? White board? Writing? Chair?”
Morgan’s hand fell to the bed. He was exhausted.
“It’s okay,” Ryan said. “Take your time.”
Morgan noticed the television hanging on the wall in the corner of the room and raised his chin, concentrating on it for a moment. The beeping on his monitor kicked up a bit, but not enough to get the attention of staff. He blinked, and the television switched on. He blinked again, and the channel changed to All in the Family.
“What do the kids say these days? That’s lit?” Ryan asked.
I frowned. “It’s lit. And, don’t say it. You sound stupid.”
The grumpy, loud patriarch on the screen stormed out of his living room, slamming the door, and Morgan managed to emit a short groan.
“The old man?” I asked.
“Father,” Ryan guessed.
“Good one,” I said, nodding.
Morgan closed his eyes tight, and the television scanned through several channels.
“Whoa, whoa, slow down.” I stood, trying to keep up with the imagines. “It’s too fast.”
“All I see is blur,” Ryan said.
The screen went dark, and I looked to Morgan, who stared at the hall.
“You have a look. I’m not familiar with that one. Did you figure it out?” Ryan asked.
I sighed. “Door. He remembers her at a door.”
Morgan’s eyes fluttered, and he lost consciousness.
Ryan rushed over, touched him, then looked at the monitors, which all appeared normal.
“He’s okay,” I said, touching Ryan’s shoulder.
“Cool trick, but he could’ve just pointed at the door.”
I raked my bangs away from my face, blowing out a puff of air when they fell forward again. The door clue was very good and very bad news.
“Hey. You okay?” Ryan asked.
“The door. There are three doors in Hell. The way in, the way out, and The Oubliette. I can’t be sure that’s what he meant, but if he did … getting in and out of Hell is one thing. Getting past the door that leads to the dungeons—and out again—is another.”
“What do we have to do?”
“We don’t do anything. You can’t go down there.”
He wasn’t impressed. “You could sneak me in, I’m sure.”
I looked up at him, serious. “No, my love. Humans don’t leave Hell. I know you want to help, but you can’t go.”
He wasn’t happy but conceded. He couldn’t die, or, as his guardian, I would die, too. And that was one risk Ryan would never take.