“You changed my life a bit too, Galen,” she said, laying a gentle hand on his cheek. Galen snapped back to the present, the remembered pain suddenly fresh. “You know that.” She sat down, the sword still clasped in her hand. “Doesn’t feel like ten years, does it? Since Megan, since Rob…”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“How do you feel?”
“A little hungover. I have a headache I can’t shake.”
“There’s more.”
“Someone came in today. I thought I felt It.” Galen put an emphasis on the word. He always did when talking about the thing that had killed his father and uncle.
“What?”
“I’m not sure, but this man came in looking for frankincense and when he handed me the money, I swear he meant to touch me and let me know what was there. Then when he was leaving, he said ‘see you very soon’ and every warning bell in my head went off all at once.” He laughed. “Of course, I’m probably just being paranoid, a little hangover can do that. The scar’s been acting up too.”
“The scar’s acting up? Bad?”
“A little more than usual,” he said quietly, knowing she’d understand.
“Galen, maybe you should be worried,” Rhiannon said anxiously.
“I’ll be careful, how’s that?” He sighed and then smiled at her as he picked up the garbage from their meal.
“Five years, Galen, it might mean something.”
“It might, Rhiannon, I know, it’s just I can’t…” He stopped as a guitar riff started playing. Galen pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID and flipped it open. “Hey, Mike. What’s up?”
“Galen, hi. They brought someone in this morning, a John Doe, no ID, thought I should call you.” Mike Silva was an Emergency Room physician Galen had known for years. He called occasionally when he had a difficult case, or when something out of the ordinary came into the ER.
“I thought you didn’t like me playing in your sandbox,” Galen said with a laugh.
“I don’t, usually, but this guy has a bracelet like yours,” Mike said.
“I’ll be right down, meet you in ER?”
“Sure, see you in fifteen.”
Galen flipped the phone closed. “That was Mike Silva. Sounds like a Keeper was brought into the ER this morning. Whoever he is, he has a bracelet.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure I’m in the mood for the lecture. As soon as other Keepers find out who I am, I get the lecture,” Galen said with a sigh. “I deserve it, just not sure I’m in the mood for it.”
“Want a ride?” Rhiannon stood.
“I think I’ll drive, that way I can hide out for a bit, Flash wants to take me out tonight.”
“Strip club?” She shook her head. “The Flash panacea.” She gave him a quick hug. “Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks, I will.” He locked the front door of the store after her and grabbed his keys. Heading out the back door, he thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked over the shadow was gone. Galen paused by the jeep and looked over the parking lot one more time, unable to dispel the sense of unease building between his shoulder blades. With a shrug, he got into the car and turned the engine over, idly flipping through the radio stations while the car warmed up. Settling on the classical station, he pulled out and headed towards the hospital. He worried about the fact it was only one Keeper at the ER. They came in twos and if the other was dead, Galen knew this one wouldn’t last long. The image of his father holding his uncle’s body played in his head.
The lot was full when he got to the hospital. He pulled his car up to valet parking and hopped out, taking the token from the kid parking cars. He chuckled to himself, the attendant looked about twelve. Galen wandered through the hospital, winding his way through the maze-like hallways until he ended at the ER. He walked up to the harried-looking nurse sitting behind glass under the “triage” sign.
“Can I help you?” she said, looking up at him.
“Hi, I’m Galen Emrys, I’m here to see Mike Silva, he’s expecting me.” He smiled at her.
“Oh, yes, he told me you’d be here.” She stood and came out the door. “Follow me,” she said as she led the way back into the ER. “Wait here.” She left him standing in a quiet corner of the hallway.
A scream came from the room next to him, someone a couple of rooms over was crying quietly, a nurse was laughing. Galen let it all flow around him, trying to ignore his increasing headache. Finally, he saw Mike come out of a room down the hall from him. Mike smiled as he saw Galen standing in the corner.
“Were you chewing gum in class?” Mike said with a laugh. “Got stuck in the corner?”
“Ha, ha, Mike. I was abandoned here by a nurse.” He followed the doctor as he walked quickly through the ER.
“I get abandoned by nurses all the time,” Mike said with a sly grin as they stopped at the elevators.
“I’m sure you do.” Galen grinned back. They got into the elevators. “We’re playing at Rat’s on Friday.”
“I’ll bring Linda, she likes that sort of thing.”
“Linda? And that sort of thing?”
“Yeah, I met her a couple of weeks ago, friendly.” Mike wiggled his eyebrows. “She likes going to bars, hearing live music.”
“Right.” Galen laughed. “Want to tell me, Mike?” he asked, dropping the light, bantering tone.
“They brought him in early this morning. He’s not in good shape. He got worked over, cops chased the attackers off. I took over right before they sent him upstairs, noticed the bracelet.”
“No one’s been in looking for him?”
“You mean like last time?”
“Yeah.” Galen remembered the call from Mike eight months before. “How old is he?”
“Hard to tell, he’s a mess, but early twenties would be my guess,” Mike said. “Why?”
“It’s hard when the healer of the pair is wounded, hard on the younger brother. We saved the last one, I hope we can again. We’ll need to start looking for his brother. If the brother’s dead…”
“What?” Mike cut him off.
“He’s dead, too. We can save him now, maybe, but he won’t last long. Is there anything else?” Galen could sense hesitation in the doctor.
“Well, for an instant I thought he looked a little like…” Mike shook his head. “Never mind.” Mike smiled at the nurses sitting at their station. “Checking on my John Doe.” He led Galen to the room in the corner of the ward. Pushing open the door, he gestured Galen in ahead of him.
Galen looked at the figure on the bed, bruised, unconscious, an IV snaking into his arm. Something in Galen suddenly shattered, the world coalesced for an instant and something snapped. He felt it as a physical sensation. “How bad?” he managed to whisper.
“What?”
“How bad, Mike?”
“Not good, I told you. They worked him over good,” Mike said, looking over at him. “Galen?” Concern colored Mike’s voice.
“Will he live?”
“Galen?” Mike grabbed his arm. “What is it?” When Galen remained silent, Mike shook him a little. Galen turned, meeting the concerned gaze of his friend. “Do you know him?”
“Yes and no,” Galen said quietly.
“Yes and no? What the hell does that mean? Who is he?” Mike demanded.
“My brother, Mike. He’s my brother.”
