“I don’t think I’ll be doing that.”
“Jacob…He stabbed you.” Tic walked over to protest, but Jacob shook his head. Which also hurt.
“It’s okay. I probably deserved it.” Serena and Tic gave each other an odd look. “Trust me. It’s okay. I’m not interested in pressing anything. I just want to talk to him.”
“Well you can do that when you’re up and ready but are you sure?” Tic responded.
“Of course. He’s my friend. What happened wasn’t his fault. Trust me.” Jacob sighed.
“Well I guess we’ll wait for the medication to wear off before we talk to you further.” Serena responded.
“But we’re glad you’re awake again.” Tic responded.
“I’m glad I made it.” Jacob smiled.
“There is something you need to know though…” Tic responded.
“What?” Jacob asked.
“Your bird… Teddy didn’t make it. When you fell backwards you… He’s”
“It’s okay. I know.” Jacob responded. “You…?” Serena began, but shrugged it off.
“He’s in a better place now. With open water and garbage all around.” Tic responded.
“We can get you another-” Serena responded, but Jacob brushedthem off.
“Not the time… Thanks though.” Jacob coughed and grabbed another sip of water. If he didn’t move things didn’t feel too bad- but when he did…
“They’re good people-” Jacob smiled and realized that he was talking to a Teddy that wasn’t there and felt a well of sadness in him. He looked around expecting him to pop out and snark at him, but nothing happened.
He looked at the cards and flowers- a couple from work. One from Garret telling him to get better so he can come back to work. Another from the church ladies. One from Jeff which included a brand new stamp… But nothing from Joe.
With a heavy head he laid back onto the pillow and closed his eyes. His thoughts were still swimming but at least he was able to just think about everything. He pondered if there was a way to bring Teddy back with some kind of latte-necrophilia, but that seemed like it was just asking for trouble. The television droned on in the background discussing the news, and the monotone voice slowly lulled him to sleep.
He didn’t have any dreams, but his sleep was fairly restless regardless. A couple of nurses and doctors came in to talk to him (turns out he wouldn’t be able to work for a few weeks—oh no?) but his brain was perpetually somewhere else.
He kept thinking about Joe. Their short time together. How much was real? What does he do now without him? Does he just go back to the coffee shop like nothing happened?
“Hey.” Jacob, lost in his thoughts hadn’t even noticed that Joe was standing in the doorway.
“Hi.” Jacob responded. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too.” Joe responded. “Tic told me you had woken up so I wanted to see you.”
“Here I am. Are you coming in?” Jacob asked.
“Actually I…” Joe sighed.
“You don’t have to. I understand if you don’t want to but-” Jacob started.
“No, it’s not that. I do. I should. I just-” Joe stammered. Jacob frowned. Normally he was the ineloquent one. After a moment of awkward waffling Joe came in and sat beside Jacob. “I need to talk to you.”
Fuck- here it comes.
He was worried about this. He’d died and as such the spell had broken. The others had all gone back to normal- so it was only logical that Joe had as well. But still…
“I feel…strange right now.” Joe began. Jacob could feel his insides wriggling themselves into a knot. “These past few days have been something I never expected but-”
