Dead End Job

Waugh or War?

"Hi, I'm looking for Gerard Way."

It was undoubtedly the strangest thing I had ever said in my entire life. But it was made all the more awkward when I was utterly ignored.

"Excuse me?" I prompted, only to not even raise a glance. "Hey! Are you listening to me?"

I leaned over to grab her arm and my hand went straight through. That got a reaction all right... from both of us. She glanced up, looking in my direction but through me. Me? I was totally dumbstruck. A single gasp of shock had left my lips and with my mouth remaining open, I stared back, unmoving, virtually unseeing.

"I'm sorry, Gerard," Mari pulled on my arm. "We should have told you."
"She can't see me?"
"No, I'm sorry, and you can't touch anything either."
"But I... I sat down in your house."
"That was different, Gerard," Mari, once again, didn't really explain. "We're back in your world now."

My world? This was all still very confusing. I was so sure I had touched something, but the more I thought about it the more I realised that I actually hadn't. Sure, I'd held the Book Of Death and touched chairs in Mari's home, but nothing from 'my own world' as Mari had put it. What did she mean by 'my world'?. Where had her home been if not my world? I felt sick, or at least I was sure I would have done if I could feel anything at all.

"This is going to make things a bit tricky, isn't it?" I offered up the biggest understatement of my life.
"Did you really think this was going to be easy?" Richard grumbled unkindly.
"I may not be able to touch stuff in my world, Richard, but I'm pretty damn sure I could deck you!"
"Well said, my dear. Richard, given that you are the cause of this mess, I suggest you restrict your comments to helpful ones."
"Look I'm no good at this and you don't want me here. I'm probably just going to mess up again, why don't you just let me go?"
"Richard..." Mari began only to be interrupted by me grabbing the man by his jacket lapels.
"Listen to me, you got me into this, you'll get me out of it. Whether you like it or not! And trust me, not liking it suits me just fine!"

As I let go, I watched him with narrowed eyes as he huffed and spluttered and smoothed his lapels. He tried hard to give me a dirty look, but he couldn't come close to matching the one I was aiming at him. Let's face it, I'm a master of dirty looks when I need them and I needed one now.

"How are we going to find my friends and Mikey?"

I turned to Mari; I had long since realised that she was much more than just a kind old lady. She knew so much more than anyone in a normal death situation should and I knew that from personal experience!

"The hard way, my dear, we look for them."

My heart sank; this was a big hospital.

"You can't sort of just zone in in them, or something?" I asked hopefully.
"You'd better hope not," Richard scowled.

I frowned in reply, only to understand his comment when Mari added:

"If we could, dear, they'd be dead."
"Oh," I sighed, nodding at the words.

Indicating to a map of the hospital on the wall near the entrance, Mari walked purposefully towards it and began pointing to areas she believed were likely and good places to start our search.

"Perhaps we should start with the ICU and possibly the head trauma unit?"
"Mikey had a broken or dislocated leg, I think, and Frank seemed okay."
"Your body is most likely in ICU," Mari stated with quiet sympathy.

I could tell that she needed to make the point, but she was doing it kindly. While I was glad she did, I really didn't like that she was referring to my body. It seemed... well, not just creepy, but... a little bit too final.