Retrospect

Fifty-two

   The five of us didn't see each other for over a week after that day we walked out of Hale. We'd all just needed time to ourselves, to understand what we'd been through. We'd all been evaluated for injuries that night and I had to get a special cast on my crushed arm that was taken off after only three days. Surprisingly, my arm was as good as new, though I'd heard Malachi didn't have as much luck with his broken leg. I wasn't sure what kind of condition he was in and I hoped I'd be able to see him soon. He lived in the Laurier Section now, not too far from my apartment that I was finally allowed to go back to.

   That first night back—sleeping in my bed, taking a hot shower, ordering a pizza—was heaven. I'd missed all of it so much. Occasionally, I'd go up to the roof at night and watch the city lights twinkle in the distance, feeling the cool wind blowing softly through my hair. Sometimes I thought about Mom and Dad when I was up there.

   They'd come and go from my mind in waves every day. It was always worse around dinner time, when the sun went down and I was left in my small, dark room alone. I guess the sudden realization that they were truly gone finally hit me and it was hard to accept. It was those particular nights, when I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, that I wished I was still running around through alleyways with the others.

   I wondered how they were all adjusting to their new lives. I knew Malachi was happy to be able to freely take the metro over to the Sera Section to visit his sister and mom. I'd heard Kay was working at the aquarium again, except this time she was running it and she seemed to be doing well, making sure Memorium would never be made there again.

   I found out Murl lived somewhere in Barnie now and Ana was awarded a place in the Sera Section. After that first week and a half back at my apartment, I'd decided to visit her and I was blown away by how big it was. She talked nonstop about her giant jacuzzi and she had all of these wild ideas about having some pretty crazy parties here. She told me I would be invited and so would the others and we'd all have a really fun time. Seeing her so proud of herself, that she'd taken down Hale with us and now owned a luxurious penthouse all by herself, made me smile. We both talked about what we were up to now, our plans, and then eventually Reeves came up in our conversation.

   "Man, I really wish he could see this," Ana had said, looking around the spacious living room and the floor to ceiling windows. "He probably wouldn't have liked it that much though. Not his style. He likes—liked the really cramped and dusty places," she said with a small laugh. "I miss him."

   Once it was time for me to go home, I said goodbye to Ana and took the metro back to Laurier Section, thinking of the gray-eyed man, how at Hale he'd jumped in front of Miles at the last second to save him. How was Miles holding up? I hadn't heard anything about him, where he was, what he was doing now.

   It was like I'd just imagined him the whole time and he hadn't really existed. The next day, around lunchtime, I wondered whether I should go to Ana's again and see if she knew where he was. Or maybe I could visit Malachi's or Murl's and ask one of them. But I ended up not having to do any of that because when I'd opened my apartment door to go find him, there he was, hand raised as if he was just about to knock.

   "Oh, hi," Miles said, putting both hands in his pockets. He was dripping wet, his hair a little spiky and his clothes completely drenched. I noticed tiny puddles of water out in the hall. "The rain covers weren't working today," he explained.

   "Oh," I said back.

   He just stood there for a couple seconds longer. "Can I...come in?" he tried. "Unless you're busy."

   "Oh! No, sure, come on in," I invited, opening the door more so he could get past me. "How are you?"

   He was walking over to my living room now. "Good, I guess," he said, as I shut my front door and let it lock automatically. "Had the opportunity to live in a Sera place but said no."