Page 15 of Brush with Death
“Well, I don’t know how your ability works exactly, but my advice is for you to rest as much as possible and avoid working for at least a few weeks.If anything changes, you can come back, but I really think that rest is all you need.”
That wasn’t going to be easy.Cyril wasn’t one to sit on the couch and watch TV.He always wanted to help people, but right now, he couldn’t.That meant that Vale would have to find a way to distract him.He was afraid that if he didn’t, Cyril would sneak out the window so he could continue working and helping people.
Maybe Vale should look into nailing those windows shut.
Chapter Five
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CYRIL STARED AT THEceiling.There was nothing else for him to do.
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t true.He could watch TV, even though there was nothing he wanted to watch.He could read.His headache wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t focus on a book.He could go bother Vale.His boyfriend wouldn’t say anything if he did.
But Cyril wanted to do none of those things.He wanted to go to work, but he was trapped on his couch.
It had been two very long days.Cyril had never gone so long without working.Even when he wasn’t reanimating people, he was answering emails and phone calls and scheduling appointments.All of that was in Robbie’s hands now, and while initially, that had been a relief, Cyril wished he could go back to doing everything himself.It would give him something to do.
The only reason he hadn’t tried sneaking out or grabbing his phone to peek at the schedule Robbie was working on was that he was scared.What if hitting his head had taken away his ability to reanimate people?What if trying to power through the pain had made things worse?What if Cyril’s choices meant that he would never reanimate anyone ever again?
He didn’t care about the money beyond earning what he needed to survive.No, he cared more about helping people.
He knew that most people thought he was weird and were wary of him because of how comfortable he was with death, but that had never mattered to him.Whatdidmatter was that he wanted to help families talk to their loved ones one last time.He wanted to help people make their peace with losing someone they loved.
All of that was out of his reach right now, and it might be permanent.What would Cyril do if that was the case?He’d have to find another job, but he didn’t know how to do anything else.He’d never had to learn.
His phone was on silent because loud noises made his head hurt, but it was on the coffee table, so Cyril heard it vibrate.He picked it up, hoping for a distraction, and smiled when he saw that his mother was calling.
“Mom,” he answered.
There was a pause.“I can hear from your voice that you’re not doing well.Does your head still hurt?”
“It does,” Cyril confirmed.It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before, but he could still feel it.“But that’s not what I’m worried about.”
“Of course it’s not.You can’t worry about other people when you should focus on yourself, though, Cyril.”
“I’m worried about myself, too.I don’t want tonotbe a necromancer.”
“I really don’t think that’s what’s happening here.”
“Then what’s happening?I can’t reanimate people anymore.”Oscar was lucky that Cyril had managed to make his reanimation permanent.If he hadn’t, his pet would be a small pile of bones in a corner of the room right now.Instead, Oscar was stretched out in a patch of sunlight, snoozing.His tentacles twitched every so often, making Cyril wonder if he was dreaming.There was so much he didn’t know about Oscar, how he’d made him, and how he was alive.
“You should take this as a small vacation,” Cyril’s mother said.“Most of your life, you’ve been focused on your gift and on helping people.Maybe this is a sign that your body needs you to focus on something else for a bit.Maybe you and Vale could go on vacation.I don’t think you’ve ever been on one without me.”
Cyril hadn’t.There was always someone dying and someone who needed Cyril to reanimate them.“I don’t know.”
“Well, I already texted Vale with suggestions on where to take you, so think about it.”
Cyril groaned.His mom had done that on purpose because she knew Cyril wouldn’t bring it up to Vale.She’d wanted to make sure that Vale would take Cyril out of town for a bit, so she’d gone around Cyril.
Cyril’s mother laughed, and even though he was still in pain, he relaxed.Vale, Robbie, and everyone else who worried about him did so because they cared.Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to allow them to take care of him for a bit.He wasn’t sure he wanted to leave town, but he could at least think about it.
It was never easy for Cyril to relax, but he managed as he listened to his mother talk about her friends and the plans they had together.By the time they hung up, Vale was bringing him lunch.Cyril tried to get up from the couch, but Vale shook his head.
“I bought a tray so you wouldn’t have to get up from the couch to eat.”
“We don’t need a tray.I can go to the kitchen and eat there.”
“Just because you can do that doesn’t mean you should.Stay where you are.”
