The Broken Healer

Chapter 23: Bowling Alley

The bowling alley was hot. And it stank.

"Uh. It stinks!" Evelyn whinned. She way laying on the bowling alley floor, nursing some pretty good wounds. She had her head in Newt's lap, as he held a cloth to a fresh bleeding wound.

"Up to high heaven." Newt laughed.

Evelyn gave him a weird look. Newt shrugged. The goofy look slid off his face, and he pulled his eyebrows together the corners of his mouth pulled down.

"Something my mom used to say." He said slightly confused, he was rubbing his forehead with his knuckles. "Usually in regards to my bloody bedroom. No matter how much I pushed dirty clothes and socks into the deepest part of the closet, the stench always wafted out when mom opened the door."

"Hmm. Must be nice. To remember a mom." She didn't mean it to come across snappy, but it did.

"Sorry." He snapped back. "Newt time I won't tell you a shuck bloody thing."

"Slim it ya British cranky twat!" She rolled her eyes. "What would your mother say if she heard such fucken launguage?"

He laughed right then, in the present day, no mother in sight, a nice belt of a chortle that made everyone within 20 feet give him a wary look. Then he threw his head back, shook out his shaggy hair from his face and yelled a loud string of curses. It made Evelyn cackle with joy. That made him laugh even harder. Their little security detail chuckled along with them, though not really understanding the whole conversation.

It had only been two days since Newt showed up at Goose's office, since her awful headaches and coughing attack. Since she felt her mind was almost whole. Newt said he had had an awful headache the night they had been separated.

Keisha had agreed to their plan. Newt, Evelyn, Goose, Spider, Ruffio and Jonesy had gone to Keisha's and explained everything. Goose insisted, quite kindly, that he would feel better if she stayed in their apartment complex. She was important to Newt and Evelyn, which ment she was under his protection.

Dante had given Evelyn a big smile and titled over to her and plunked down in her lap. She stopped listening to the conversation and started to play a silly game of peek a boo, drawing the smallest of giggles.

He had also given Goose and Spider a small smile, and that seemed to settle it for Keisha.  On the way back up to The Circus, Spider carried Dante who had fallen asleep on the man's shoulder. Keisha kept a close eye on them, but Spider looked calmer and his eyes looked glassy.

"My kid used to do this." He said wistfully. "That was a long time ago." He gently squeezed the boy a bit tighter, and gently laid his bald veiny head on the little boys.

Evelyn and Newt had written everything they could remember, or saw, or witnessed, how they felt...everything. Everything was recorded down in their journals.

Newt had helped her find a small backpack, and she kept her journal, and a bottle of water, she kept the bag with her at all times, she didn't have much in the way of possessions, but the journals she kept with her.

But Newt was starting to… slip.

Evelyn was already mostly there on a regular basis. It was hard to come back, and she seemed to be in an angry mood since last night.

They were slipping into an abyss.

The abyss.

Evelyn's mind… constantly jittered, now. It quaked. It wouldn't stay still. Keeping her thoughts still amongst all that squishy commotion had become tougher with every passing hour of the last two days. Her hold on reality was loosening, in both the here and now and all her memories from the Glade.