Edge

On the fourth day, Barry opened his eyes and felt slightly better. Then he went right back to sleep after that and, on the seventh day, he woke up again. There was a clear improvement to his predicament, it was immediately obvious. His muscles were aching from the tension of the recent past, trying to break free from a frozen mold, and his whole body was sore, but he felt lighter, his mind clearer. When his eyes got accustomed to the semi-darkness, they wandered inside their globes without moving his head, and he observed the room again. Eugenie White’s bedroom. He didn’t remember how he had ended up here, but it made sense. She had to hide him. Had she carried him? Not without a miracle. The memory of it was absent from his mind.

It was a typical bedroom for an old building such as the one she inhabited, with two prominent closets towering everything opposite of the bed, a condemned fireplace inserted in the middle of them, to the millimeter. He counted precisely ten some half-consummated candles sitting on the fireplace, and noticed the picture of a house in a field among the candles with, as background, a spectacular poppy field. It had replaced the previous moon painting she had hung there, he saw. On the left, the only window of the room, whose curtains were lazily pulled, letting the sunshine enter the place. Barry rested his eyes on the light. It was the beginning of winter but its mat and dusty sun rays reminded him of spring. On the right, a door, which led to the bathroom. It was a strangely arranged apartment which circled around a loop.

Was he meant to toy with death in order to breech this flat? His thoughts were strange, presently, still oscillating between dream and reality. There was an interesting faith newly blossoming in his heart. What else to do after what he had been through and the very surprising way that Eugenie White had reacted? He was tempted to believe in something, in a novel order of things.

“Bullshit” he whispered, chased the thoughts away and slowly pushed on his elbows to rise, stopping halfway due to the pain that blew up in his stomach. He fell back on the pillow with a grunt but then, he heard something on the right. Ms White, she was coming. She had very good ears, typical of a teacher’s and trained to intercept the faintest murmurs in her crowd of students. He grumbled through the discomfort and lifted himself higher, this time, landing on his butt. He wasn’t about to look to her like a deflated balloon, not anymore, there had been enough of that. Eugenie White appeared at the threshold of the door and threw her hand against the light switch. A cozy pinkish lamp was turned on above Barry.

“Barry what is it?” She asked. He smothered a gasp at the sight of her. If at their previous face-to-face, she had seemed tired, presently, she looked stretched thin, pushed at the verge of survival. She was more gaunt, more hunched, wearing a wool jumper that looked like a cleaning rag with, on top, an apron saying Los Angeles Olympics, her hair was dirty and some oily locks were sticking to her temples, but her face was the most shocking part of her. Her cheeks had become hollow, her eyes buried deep inside some deep holes, ornamented by some fresh sets of wrinkles all around them, and her skin was grey and droopy. Barry held his breath, slightly horrified. What had he done to her? She resembled a scarecrow. “BARRY WHAT IS IT”

“NOTHING” he snapped out of it and presented the palm of his hand to her. With the other hand, he brushed against his abdomen. He could feel the thick bandages that he was rolled into under his shirt. Everything was dry, it was a nice sensation to be dry. “I’m okay, Ms white, are you okay?”

“What are you doing” she said suspiciously

“I’m sitting on my ass” he snorted, winced in pain, but kept on laughing “I’ve upgraded to uh… sitting on my ass”

Eugenie’s shoulders melted in a sigh of relief and she pulled a little stool that was placed next to the bed to sit by him “Holy shit, you scared me”

“You’ve had some uh… difficult days Ms White?”

“For sure, for sure. Are you really okay?”

“Yeah” he smiled, snorted, then, not able to restrain himself anymore, he gently grabbed her hand from her lap and stuck his palm to hers in a lazy high five “you did it, Ms White, you saved my ass, and now, I’m sitting on it”

She added her other hand to his, squeezed it while shaking her head in some disbelief and liberation “you were right, Barry, it worked out”

“I mean I didn’t know for sure you could pull it off”

“You believed in me”

“I had nowhere else to go” Barry let the harmless pleasure of some light banter continue to fill his heart with hope and joy again.

“You believed” she insisted, and she snatched her hand back jealously, wiped some invisible dirt from it on her apron “don’t get too excited, though, you can’t just jump around and swing from building to building, still”

“No cause that’s Arachnovitch’s superpower”

“You can’t uh, go bolting all over the town”

“Don’t worry Ms White, I still feel like absolute shit”

“How did you find my address” she frowned.

“In the phone book of course”

She squinted doubtfully, “in the ph— how did you know I was a nurse before?”

“Unfortunately, that’s confidential” he scratched his nose “hey, tell me everything”

She raised her eyebrows with an avid expression on her face “everything again?”

“What do you mean again?”

“We already had that conversation Barry”

“I don’t have any recollection of that”

She rolled her eyes but he saw she was amused, “That’s alright, you know that my job has always been to explain things over and over”

“Whatever, how have you been?”

“I’ve been terrible”

“What did I miss? How did you keep me alive?”

“Easy job, like, NOT at all”

“Tell me”

“Well as a start” she started speaking very close to his face like they were two children at the back of a tent at night on camping trip exchanging secrets above a flashlight, barely hiding her excitement to finally be able to talk –again, apparently. “The integrity of your suit prevented the bullet that hit you to dig deep inside of your stomach, so I retrieved it after a few tries”

“A few tries?” he cringed

“A few tries. I’m sorry I didn’t know what to do with it, with that bullet. I’m sure perhaps it would have been cool to keep it as a souvenir but”

“What NO” he gasped “uugh no no no”

“I also didn’t know, I mean, didn’t want to leave a trace, so I got rid of it”

“I don’t even want to remember that thing, it’s like, the lowest point in my life like, intergalactic low”

“Good” she stared at him awkwardly.

“What is it?”

Eugenie White lowered her eyes, “well Barry you… you understand that I haven’t practiced uh… being a nurse for many years, right”

“What did you do?”

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“Stitching without uh… some good instruments and with my uh… dexterity being uh… not so good, you know”

“Oh Lord”

“I’m sorry”, she took hold of his hand again and faced him with remorse, “you’re going to have to uh… explain some things when you go to the pool or to the beach or to a lake or uh to a river? To a stream, to—”

“To a body of water, yes?”

“Yes uh… swimming in general or when uh… when you have a girlfriend or something”

You made a monster, he thought “Now I will freak out the little children at the pool and the ladies”

She nodded, “that’s a very large scar um… messy, I would say”

Barry looked at her, entertained, as he didn’t give a shit about aesthetics, sure about his charms no matter what, “okay, I have heard enough” His hand landed on his abdomen once more, this time with more curiosity and a tug of emotion. She had indeed pulled it off. He was proud of her.

“But it wasn’t your first time, am I wrong?” she asked, “I saw another mark on your back”

Now he was the one who was a bit mortified, picturing Eugenie White flipping him like an omelette and discovering some of his secrets. “Ah yes no well” he cleared his throat, “can you believe it? my first time, first mission ever, and I got stabbed in the back, like a s'more, by a teenager”

“On your lower back, barely missing your kidney” Eugenie White said

“I almost died”

“You almost died before?”

“Of shame, yes”

Now, her mouth was hanging wide open, “you’re kidding” she whispered.

“I’m not kidding, Ms White, it was like, the first day of school and you’re trying to act cool and everything and then you trip on your laces at the cafeteria and fall into some mashed potatoes”

“Oh my goodness, what did you do”

“I kicked his ass” he nodded.

“He stabbed you with a knife?”

“A very small knife fortunately. But you know… I had my Team”

“Your… team” Eugene White was looking through him, trying to picture things, “where are they, Barry?”

He glanced at the ceiling, uncomfortable, saw that the arrangement of cozy fushia lights seemed like the face of an alien in pattern “I don’t know” he said sadly “I have to figure that out soon, I guess”

They didn’t say anything for a moment, both pensive, but Eugenie White must have sensed his guilt and feeling of powerlessness, as she moved on “well, your friends from the Team had much better skills and tools than I had to fix you, that’s for sure. Do you want some water?” She produced a bottle and a glass from somewhere between the bed and the night table and poured him a quick glass.

He took it, cheered at her “yes Ms White”

“Barry, at this point, call me just Eugenie, alright?”

He almost choked on the water “I uh” he cleared his throat loudly, “don’t think I can ever do that”

They both laughed again, and she let him drink the rest of his water in peace. She was watching him in the corner of her eye with some color returning to her face, like someone looks at the best deal they got out of Black Friday or the best birthday cake they’ve ever baked. I’m her masterpiece, he gloated inside. He looked to meet her stare and they shared this moment of respite, of contentment with how things had turned out, against all odds. She had the loveliest dimples when she smiled.

“Jesus, I was parched. And then what happened?”

She resumed enthusiastically “well, get this: I went to school and found your blood type, from your old student file” She must have been so lonesome all those days, unable to speak with anyone about what she was going through.

“I have a file?”

“Yes, I told you before”

“When?”

“When you woke up here, like, early on. I guess you forgot, you weren’t all there”

“A file?”

“From when you got vaccinated there, yes”

“What’s a blood type?” he asked

“Are you serious?”

“Is it like, red type or white type or whatever?”

She shrugged, “it doesn’t matter. You needed some fresh blood”

“And you did that?” Barry had never heard that blood had types, but he was interested.

“Yes”

“Where did you find some blood”

“Here” she brushed against the middle of her arm under her wool jumper, “it turns out we have the same blood types”

“WHAT”

“Don’t freak out it’s totally safe Barry it’s—”

“You did that?”

She brought the palms of her hands upwards, started juggling some invisible kiwis, “where do you think I could find some blood otherwise? It’s not like you can buy it at the supermarket. Don’t worry, Barry” she repeated, “I have excellent veins, they’re very thick and very flexible, it was a quick and smooth process”

“Did you eat a big sandwich after that”

“I ate a big sandwich after that”

“What was it?”

“Burger King Whooper, no mayo”

He nodded approvingly, “What are the odds that we are the same blood type?” he was still stunned.

“Very high actually. Forty percent of people have it, and even if mine was different, yours can be mixed with most of the other blood types. Stop looking at me like that”

“You’re a crazy bi— you’re a crazy lady” he smiled at her, fighting some tears that he had not expected.

“But regardless, it would have been more dire if you hadn’t patched yourself up before that, believe me, you could have lost way more blood, even perhaps fatally”

“So now we are…” he thought hard about it, blinked, “blood related” Oh no Barry’ heart skipped a beat. Eugenie White was the last person he desired to be blood related with.

“Sure. We have mixed your blood and mine. Maybe it will bring you some temperance”

“Some what?”

“Maybe my blood will cool off your super hot bl— I’M JOKING OK” She brushed it off.

“Does that mean if we ever had children they would be disabled or diformed?”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Barry?”

“N Nothing” he really needed to know more about that blood concern of his soon, without relying on asking questions to Eugenie White. “Anyway, and I was nicely asleep through all of that?” he genuinely wondered, disturbed by the black hole in the middle of his memory “I didn’t twitch, turn, flap my arms?”

“I used some empty whipped cream bottles to keep you in the land of dreams”

“Some wh— you see what I mean? You remember a lot of things from nursing school!”

“That was Google” she said.

“You.. just googled that shit up?” She nodded, put on the spot, “sacrebleu” he whistled “you took a gamble”

“You took a gamble”

“Snap, Ms Wh— Eugenie White, you are a genius”

“Thank you Barry” she was blushing now, and it occurred to him that she must be pleased with herself, possibly a little astonished, that she had actually delivered.

“It’s giving GIRL BOSS”

“Girl boss” she repeated in a murmur “how is your pain level?”

“High” he sneered.

She nodded “you’re quite remarkable yourself, making it through this ordeal, no painkillers, nothing”

“You’re impressed aren’t you”

“Very. Let’s see your arm, how does it feel”

“Brand fucking new” he grinned.

She leaned over to fetch his other hand on the left side, pressing expertly between his knuckles, “you have any weird sensations in your hand?”

“Some tickle, maybe, like some tingles” There was a real admiration dancing at the bottom of her eyes. She had never managed to teach him Geography but she had saved his life. He went on, “As long as I’m back in the ping pong game, I’m satisfied”

“You can be back in the Bingo game”

“How about bowling?”

She ignored him “I watched Avatar”

“AVATAR” he went from surprised to baffled.

“We watched him together but you fell asleep right at the beginning”

This was getting better and better, “you saw that scene with my favorite quote, when the two characters meet and the little mosquito thing lands on the girl’s bow and arrow, so she doesn’t murder the guy”

“Mosquito thing?” Ms White squinted, unsure

“Then he asks her why she didn’t kill him and she says”

“She says, You have a strong heart”

“Yeah”

“I still don’t get it, oh wait” Ms White shook her head, hiding a yawn behind her hand “I got you a couple of things” She disappeared from the bedroom in a flash and came back after a minute, hiding something behind her back.

“Holy molly Ms White, you got me a gift? What is it, is it chocolate? Is it a Nintendo Switch”

“Better” she wiggled her nose in front of his, sitting herself back on the stool, so he pushed himself up a bit higher. He stiffened in anguish but felt very happy. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had gifted him anything. Except for Hobbes and his Bolt suit, of course, but that was rather a calculated move. Eugenie White revealed her present, resting in her two hands.

“A phone?” Barry whispered, “oh my God, you got me a telephone!”

“The pin code for it is 2222, sorry I didn’t know your birthday”

“222, angel number, right place, right time, it’s perfect”

“You know your angel numbers”

“Hell yeah” and he admired at the little rectangle she had placed in his hand, swiped the screen unlocked, entered the digits. It was a cheap device, older than the last generation with some bumps on the frame, and she had probably purchased it second hand from one of the shops on her busy boulevard, but he felt a lump in the back of his mouth and something stingy creep up his nose, itchy eyes. “Can I, hm uh download Candy Crush on it”

“Are you fucking crying, Barry?”

She recoiled with concern and he laughed at her, heartily, painfully “it’s the nerves”

“You’re okay Barry?”

He brought the phone to his ear like he was on a call, “ex-cuse mee, hello” he brushed away one small tear, “it’s been a shitty month, so that’s like the whole highlight”

“I thought you might want to uh… call someone”

He sniffled, “someone?”

“You have been missing for a number of days, Barry. Isn’t someone worried about you, out there?”

He shook his head, blinked away more tears, get your shit together, Masquevert, “not for now, no. Besides, I’m not a millennial, Ms White, I don’t know any phone numbers by heart” She eyed him strangely, her head tiled on the side, “I’m sorry I’m imposing I’m uh, I just need—” She looked like she couldn’t hold it anymore and in a nanosecond, she half sat on the little available space next to him on the bed and took him in her arms, squeezed him tight, “aaiille, Ms White please, no” he protested feebly, a more formidable and menacing sob forming in his throat, the huge piece of cooling lava rock inside his abdomen poking through his rib cage, “no need to… no need to h—”

“Shhh, shut up Barry” she said, “you can stay here as long as you need, alright? It’s not an imposition” Now, his tears were flowing freely and he discreetly rubbed his nose on her shoulder, “whatever you have been through” she added, “it’s over for now, I will help you as much as I can” She smelled like plants and coconut and sweat and rubber. She let go off him and stared straight into his eyes, “it’s time for you to figure out your things, for yourself” Her words electrified him and he shivered imperceptibly. They were spoken un-complicatedly with the simple desire to reassure him.

Unable to follow through on this new roller coaster of honest emotions, Barry giggled nervously, nodded, wiped the water from his cheeks with both hands like a child. They smiled at each other in the silence. Their misadventures had taken a toll on her, but she was still delightful, her big brown eyes still had the same spark at the bottom of them, her eyebrows highly perched, her neck delicate, the mess in her hair making her look ethereal. She had very pretty hands, clutching the fabric of her apron.