6. Ghost Boy

Chapter 6

Ghost Boy

T he body in the hospital bed was me.

I wasn’t dead. Was I dying then?

The woman in the room with my body smiled when she saw Sekani.

It didn’t make sense.

He offered her a cup of coffee. “Sorry. It took a little longer than expected. I’m Sekani Aelor.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a business card and handed it to her.

The woman looked down at the card, a small frown pulling her brows.

“Did someone hire you?” She looked up at Sekani.

“In a manner of speaking. Do you recognize this young man?” Sekani pulled my sketch book from his bag and turned to the second page, where I had drawn myself.

“How do you have this? This is Callum’s drawing.” She looked at the body in the bed.

He . . . I was Callum.

How . . . how was this possible?

“Callum. I’m looking for his family—a mother, father, anyone really.”

The woman touched the hand of the body lying in the bed—my hand.

“I’m his mother,” she said. “How do you know him?” She gave my hand a squeeze, her eyes welling with tears. “Are you a friend of his?”

“I’m a private investigator assisting a young man with some memory loss. I believe he may have a connection to Callum.”

“Oh.” She reached over and brushed hair out of my face. I was there, in the hospital bed but . . . not. Because I was standing right beside Sekani.

“Can you tell me a little about Callum? What happened to him?” Sekani asked.

“He was in an accident. A drunk driver, they say—hit and run. The doctors said most of the damage has already healed but we just can’t get him to wake up. Callum was a good boy. I’m sure he would help your friend if he could.”

“I don’t doubt that. Is there anyone else I could speak to who knew Callum well? Friends, or other family members? They might be able to help shed some light on my client’s memory.”

“Oh, yes of course. I have his phone right here.” She dug inside of the table beside the bed, taking out a cellphone. “All of his friends’ contacts would be in there. We didn’t get it turned off. When he wakes up everyone will want to speak with him. Luke would know the most, he was Callum’s best friend.” She handed him the phone—my phone.

Could anything in there help me remember?

“Thank you . . . I’m sorry, I never asked your name.”

“Clare Maslow. I guess you know now this is Callum Maslow.”

“It’s nice to put a name to the face. Again, thank you for this.” He lifted the phone slightly. “And if you don’t mind, can I hang onto it? I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can, and keep in touch in the mean time.”

“I don’t see why not. Lately, besides my husband, I’m the only one who visits but the doctors say that he can still hear us. I’m sure Callum would have liked you.” I looked at Sekani then down at my body. I guess if I wasn’t a ghost, I would have liked him.

He was pretty hot and now that he wasn’t going out of his way to be mean to me, he was a nice person. He cared about his family, helped his brother out without questions. He and Waylin were at odds but I was sure that was because of the cheating.

Sekani grinned. “You think?”

“He had a type,” Clare—my mother—said, shaking her head. But when she looked down at my body she was still smiling.

It was a sad little thing that made me want to hug her. Maybe I could just sit down and go right back inside of myself. I reached out, trying to touch my body, but my hand went through it. I could touch other things. I could touch Sekani.

But I couldn’t touch myself.

Why?

“Ah. Well, maybe when he’s back in the land of the living, I’ll buy him a coffee. Until then, while I look into my client’s missing memory, if I find out anything about what happened to Callum, I’ll let you know. The police are a little more limited than I am in their investigation methods.”

“You’d take on a case like this?” she asked, a bright spark of hope flaring in her eyes. “The police told me there was nothing else they could do.”

Stupid cops weren’t even trying to find out who hit me? What the hell?

“It’s notoriously difficult to track down one driver in a city this big. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can to help your son,” Sekani said.

“Thank you.” She brushed away a tear even as she smiled. “If you think anything else from Callum can help with your client’s memory please let me know.”

“Of course. Thank you again,” Sekani said. My mother looked at the sketch of me one last time before handing Sekani the book. He turned, walking out of the room and back into the hallway where River and Waylin waited.

“—could feel good,” River was saying as Sekani and I rejoined them.

“Stop fraternizing with the dead. Fuck’s sake.”

River only laughed, not caring that he was busted. “You finished up in there?”

“We found my body.” I stepped closer to Sekani.

What did this even mean for me?

He frowned. “The only thing worse than the dead? When they ain’t dead.”

“It’s Cypress Hills Graveyard all over again,” Waylin said.

“Fun times,” River joined in.

“You’re remembering it differently,” Sekani told him as we made our way down the hallway to the elevators.

Waylin pushed the button and we waited for one to come. “That’s because he tripped me and shut the door in your face in a bid to escape.”

“We all lived. A win in my book.” River seemed like the kind of guy who would shoot you in the knee so he could get away from the zombies.

Sekani and Waylin both looked at him.

“Dying so many times is fucking with your memory, River.”

“Wait. He’s died before?” I asked.

River was very much alive right now. So how could he have died? Was it like when your heart stops for a moment and then someone has to bring you back? They did say his dead time total was ten minutes, but they’d only done CPR for maybe two or three.

“Today makes the fourth time. One day, I’m not gonna give you CPR.” Sekani said.

“You’ll always give me the kiss of life.” River shot back. A few doctors gave him a weird look as they got off the elevator and we got on. It didn’t seem to faze him.

“Gross. Don’t call it that.” Waylin said.

“Oh, you have a problem kissing your foster brother but not my boyfriend? How noble,” Sekani snarked. I had the feeling things could get really awkward, really fast between the two of them.

“So now that we know ghost boy isn’t dead, I guess it puts banging back on the table,” River continued. Was this his way of stopping the two of them from fussing?

“I have a name. It’s Callum.” Callum Maslow. That was my name. It still felt strange because I didn’t have the memories of being Callum.

“I need to call Barnet, see what she can tell me about your case,” Sekani said.

He’d mentioned Barnet once, when I was teasing him about why he’d stopped being a cop. His old partner.

Maybe they would be able to help too? Did they know Sekani could see and talk to the dead?

“Okay.”

We had my phone now too. Maybe one of my friends was with me when I was hit. Maybe they could tell us more about what happened, help me remember.

“I should get back to ‘Orleans. Now you’re not possessed,” Waylin said.

“Don’t leave so soon.” River wrapped an arm around Waylin’s. “We finally got the gang back together; we can help Sekani with his haunting and then go to Vegas for my new episode.”

“No thanks,” Sekani said.

“Come on guys!” River tugged at them both, pouting, like he was a toddler instead of a grown man. “We hardly see each other anymore.”

“Whose fault is that?” Sekani asked. “Oh, I know.” He glared at Waylin.

“Are you gonna be mad at me forever?” The both of them stopped in the hall. I was all for having a good blowout, but was here and now really the right time? Or the right place, for that matter? Couldn’t they at least wait until we got to the parking lot like a normal family?

“No. Of course not. I’ll forgive you right after you unfuck my boyfriend and bring him back from the dead ‘cause y’know, I found him hanging in our bedroom two days after you guys blew my whole life to smithereens.”

I shifted from one foot to the other. That . . . that was a lot to unpack. And now I really felt bad for Sekani.

How could Waylin have done that to him? They were brothers.

“It was one time, Sekani. It was a mistake. We both regretted it.”

“Regretted it so much you didn’t tell me for eleven years. Thanks for that.” Sekani walked away; Waylin watched him leave. I wanted to follow but he seemed as if he needed a minute so I stood with the brothers, looking between them.

Regret or not, how do you fuck your brother’s boyfriend, even just once?

“I really fucked up, River. I don’t think he’s gonna forgive me for this one.”

“Just let him punch you a few times and it’ll be squared,” River said.

I didn’t think that was how it worked but it wasn’t my place to say.

“Yeah . . . he did—a couple times—after Deacon came back as a ghost. I never told you,” Waylin said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking ashamed.

River sighed, pushing his fingers through his hair. “He just needs an outlet. He hasn’t gotten any since Deacon died. So we pop this cutie back in his body and you keep your dick away from him.” River tried to make light of it, but I could tell he was just as lost as Waylin.

Clearly, he wanted his brothers to get past this, but I don’t know. I kind of agreed with Sekani. What Waylin did was a lot to get past.

“How do we even get him back in his body?” Waylin asked as we started walking. “The last time we dealt with the not quite dead, they just wanted a little sip sip from your skinny neck.”

“Oh yeah. He was hot.” River said.

“So why did you trip me and lock us in a fucking crypt with him?” Waylin asked as he glared at River. “No way in hell was I having a three-way with Sekani.”

“A three-way might’ve saved you from all this drama now,” River said.

“Oh gross.” Waylin shivered. “He’s our brother.”

I shook my head and rushed to catch up with Sekani. He was out of the hospital and halfway across the parking lot already; I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that he was going to leave without either of his brothers in the car.

“I’m sorry,” I said, softly now that I was getting a better picture of things.

“For what?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I just . . . I’m sorry you’re hurting I guess.” I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. He didn’t like ghosts but right now, he seemed as if he just needed a hug. And I wasn’t technically a ghost. I wasn’t dead—yet.

After a long moment, Sekani sighed and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I leaned into him and squeezed him tight, tucking myself under his chin. “I don’t know if I’m hurt or angry or a twisted combination of the two anymore.”

“If you keep it all bottled up, you’re going to pop.” Clearly he needed to get some things off his chest.

Maybe he and Waylin just needed to sit down and hash it out. If they used their words—or even got physical again—maybe it would help.

“Yeah. Maybe.” He rested his cheek on my head as I tightened my arms around him. He was warm and smelled like something spicy. “As much as I hate Waylin, he’s still my brother. There’s just shit I can’t say to him.”

I could understand not wanting to hurt Waylin’s feelings, but he might deserve a hurt feeling or two. “Why not? Maybe it’s shit he needs to hear.”

“A problem to deal with after we pop you back into your body condom. You’re dying, Callum. And I know why we haven’t seen your door. It’s glowing like a neon light about ten feet from the foot of your bed.”

“Oh,” I said. “I didn’t see it.” I guess I wasn’t quite dead enough yet.

“You probably won’t—not until you’re all the way dead, which won’t be long.”

I looked up at him. Knowing I was still alive, I wanted to stay that way. Somehow. We could go for that coffee he mentioned. “I . . . I don’t want to die.”

“I’m going to call Barnet, see what she can find out, show your picture around the long walk you did, contact some of your friends. If we can trigger some memories, maybe we can find some leads, discover what’s keeping you tethered here.”

Sekani’s arms loosened and I shook my head, keeping my hold on him. His grip tightened again as I turned my face into his neck. We stood in the parking lot for a long silent moment before he released me. We got in the car; Sekani turned the key as Waylin and River approached. He sighed, but he waited for them to get in before he drove off.