“I do,” Erik confirmed. “But I didn’t even register what language we spoke together. I had no idea about how we communicated either, I just spoke.”
Rino nodded at that. “You will never meet a ghost you can’t talk to, no matter if the ghost couldn’t speak when alive. In death they can communicate with all mediums. No. Matter. What.”
Chapter Seven
Dylan
Mike was a mess when he returned from his first work day. Rino had to drive him home and when Rino handed him over to me in the doorway, he was swaying on his feet. Rino helped me bring him inside and onto the couch, then started telling me what I could do to help Mike during this process.
“It’s rare that new mediums are this affected,” Rino continued, eyeing Mike with guilt and worry where he was now asleep on the couch. “I think it might be because of Erik’s presence. But both Erik and Mike want to work together, so there’s not much I can do to ease the drain on his energy.”
“I’ll do my best to help him,” I promised, watching the guy I was madly in love with make small snoring sounds.
“I know you will,” Rino smiled softly. “Can I have your number in case of an emergency?”
I grabbed my phone and handed it over without protest. I hated seeing Mike like this, so drained and utterly defenseless.
“I don’t have any ghosts here other than Erik, do I?” Pete had cleared my apartment once I’d gotten it, mostly so he could fully relax while visiting, but I could very well have acquired new ones without my knowledge.
“Only Erik,” Rino replied, still smiling kindly at me. “It’s the best place for Mike to rest up. The least amount of ghosts the better for his energy. Erik will keep his distance to help, too, but since he’s attached to Mike he’ll need to stay in the apartment. He can’t move farther away than that.”
“If Erik is the only one here, could he write stuff down on a notepad if I left it out with a pen?” I knew ghosts could touch items if there weren’t other ghosts around that they had to share energy with, but maybe this would be too complicated for Erik to do.
“He can,” Rino answered. “And he seems elated that he’ll be able to speak with you, too.”
“Great.” I breathed out a relieved sigh, then went in search of some paper and a pen, eager to converse with a ghost for the first time.
“I’ll leave you to it, text me if you need help with anything.”
I gave Rino a grateful nod and locked the door behind him.
“Since you can hear me, I was thinking that I would talk and you could write your answer,” I said, not knowing where Erik was but figured he would hear me just fine as long as he was in the apartment. “I’ve put the journal and pen in the kitchen so it’s farther away from Mike. If you leave me a note and I’m not seeing it, you have my permission to slam the cupboards or turn on the kitchen faucet to get my attention.”
I stood next to said journal and saw as the pen moved effortlessly over the page.
Thank you! I wish to be as much help as possible for Mike, but I need to keep my distance until he feels better.
“Did Rino say anything about when he should return to work? I doubt from the look of him, that Mike will be well enough to function tomorrow.” I was actually betting on him being a zombie for more than a day. The way he’d swayed into the apartment, his eyesvacant and lifeless. I’d never seen anyone look so depleted before.My poor Mike.
He’s off for tomorrow, but I didn’t catch more than that. I tried to stay as far away as possible when Mike started to stumble.
“Okay,” I nodded, feeling relieved by that. “I’ll make him more comfortable and cook some soup.”
I’ll stay in his room while he sleeps on the couch. Is it ok if I watch some TV in there?
I smiled. “Of course.”What a well-mannered ghost.It was obvious why Mike was so fond of him already.
Mike woke slowly around seven hours later. I’d been a nervous wreck, simply because Mike normally snored like he was warding off attackers in his sleep, but he’d only uttered soft snores every once in a while. I’d actually been so worried that I’d camped out on an air mattress on the floor next to him, so I could get some sleep too.
Now, Mike was blinking his gorgeous brown eyes open and staring around the darkened living room in confusion.
“Hey,” I said gently, my voice low.
His attention turned to me, and he smiled. “Hi.”
“Do you remember what happened?” I asked, getting up from the uncomfortable excuse for a bed.
“Yeah. I got drained way too fast at work. Rino started panicking and then he led me out of there. I don’t remember anything after we got into the car.”