Page 17 of Sebastian

Yet, before I could agree to Newt’s plan, I was interrupted by what amounted to a howl.

“Meehawww!”

The tortured shout came from down the hall, and immediately put me on edge. I’d heard people cry out like that before. I’d even made such noises myself, on the night my parents were killed. The words may have been nonsense, but the tone was unmistakable.

Desperation.

Noticing my reaction, Newt brought me over to a door I’d seen before.

“Sorry. I should have warned you. The John Doe woke up. Well, sort of. He’s making noise, at least. Though we still don’t know what he’s trying to say.”

Inside the private ICU room I’d visited before, the unnamed man still lay on his bed. He looked the same. Maybe a few less bandages, but definitely not someone who would be getting up any time soon.

“Eliiiii,” the man cried out, barely moving his mouth to form the word. It almost sounded like a name, but maybe that was my own active imagination trying to find meaning in noise.

“That one’s new,” Newt whispered to me as we stood in the doorway. “At first, it was just the one word. Mehaw? But early this morning, he started saying this second word. We’re hoping it means he’ll wake up soon.”

Although the John Doe wasn’t the man I was looking for, I still wished him a speedy recovery. I hated seeing someone in such pain, and felt guilty over the joy I’d found thanks to this unnamed man’s misfortune.

After all, without the John Doe lying on that hospital bed, I wouldn’t have met the fascinating little man standing beside me now.

Sadness crept into his blue eyes as Newt’s gaze sank to the floor. “I hope he wakes up soon. He’s held on this long. It would be a shame if he didn’t recover after all this.”

In a split-second decision, I took a risk and pressed a quick kiss to Newt’s cheek.

“With such a dedicated nurse, of course he’ll recover.” I flashed him a soft, understanding smile.

Just as I’d hoped, the sadness in Newt’s eyes disappeared and his face lit up with a smile once again. I decided right then and there that Newt should always be smiling. The world felt brighter when he did, and there was enough darkness in my life already.

I needed a little more light.

CHAPTER 8

Sebastian

It probably wasn’t safe to talk on the phone while driving. Thanks to my Bluetooth, I was able to keep both hands on the wheel, but Newt’s voice coming through the speaker still distracted me.

“Come on,” Newt begged, his words trailing off into a high-pitched whine. “Just a little hint.”

I chuckled under my breath as I pictured the pout that would be on his face right that moment. “No. You said you wanted to solve it yourself.”

“But I didn’t think it’d be this hard. My break is almost over and I’m no closer to beating this level than I was half an hour ago,” he whined.

A week had passed since our first ‘date’ and we’d played video games together almost every evening. We’d discovered that while I was better at puzzle solving, Newt was better at precision movements. When it came to things like platforming and speed-running, his nimble fingers somehow knew just what buttons to hit.

He absolutely crushed me at Mario Kart every time.

Of course, all of that was only online. Since our coffee shop date, we hadn’t played together face-to-face again. Newt’s two jobs kept him busy, so scheduling a time to meet was difficult, but I wasn’t going to complain.

I had my own job as well. That was why I was driving home alone so late at night despite the rain pouring down. I needed to meet with someone who unfortunately wasn’t available any other time and they’d kept me out until almost midnight.

“Okay, fine,” I relented. “One hint.”

Although Newt didn’t say anything, I could hear him moving around as he celebrated his victory.

At first, I considered just telling him what he wanted to know, but listening to him gloat over an achievement he hadn’t earned yet gave me a different idea.

“You have to breathe on yourself.”

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