The Medium Kid

Chapter 49

"Alfie?" Koda's hoarse voice made its way into Alfie's dream. He dreamt that he was running through a long corridor, so long that the end plummeted into darkness. There was a deep voice whispering and all throughout the dream, Alfie had to find the owner of the voice, so he could understand what he was saying. The whispers were a secret, one he wasn't supposed to know- "Alfie?"

Koda's voice lifted the medium from his dream. He groaned a response. His eyes felt like they had sunken inches into his face.

"Are you okay?" Koda rested a chin on the side of Alfie's arm. It was 4 am and he had been instructed to wake the medium up every two hours.

"Yeah," Alfie whispered, trying not to wake up too much otherwise he'd feel the pain in his back and head. "Go back to sleep."

"Yep, good."

By the sound of it, Koda was half asleep too.

* * * * *

Morning came quicker than what Alfie would have liked. He wanted to lay with Koda forever in a comfortable state of bliss, where nothing troubled him, and all he had to think about was how warm the boy sleeping next to him felt.

"Alfie?" Koda asked and Alfie felt his breath against his nose.

"Go away," he grumbled, trying not to soften his frown at the sound of Koda's chuckle.

"Just checking that you're not dead."

"Wish I was."

Koda rolled his eyes and moved his face close enough for their lips to tingle. "Do you want breakfast?"

Alfie didn't have the energy to peel his eyes open. "I think I want-" he paused, frowning deeper. "What's touching my face?"

"My face."

The silence that came after was comical. Alfie tried not to smile, and Koda tried to stay as still as possible because if he moved even a millimetre, their lips would touch.

"Are you familiar with the term personal space?" Alfie asked, and their lips lightly touched.

"Yes, and I've heard that you're not supposed to give any to people you like."

Alfie opened his eyes and his heart swelled with love. His long-term crush was right in front of him and staring at his lips with as much affection in his eyes as Alfie had in his chest. "Good morning," he whispered. It hadn't quite dawned on the medium that Koda actually liked him, and they labelled each other as boyfriends, and they were developing a relationship that would hopefully last a lifetime.

"Good morning." Koda closed the millimetre gap between them and kissed Alfie, fulfilling the longing to be close. "Your mum said I can stay all day if you want me to."

"So, no college for me?" Alfie sat up and the pain zapped straight to his eyes like his skull cracked in two. "I need some paracetamol or something." His eyelids scrunched closed. Another pair of hands touched his head and Alfie almost stopped breathing when Koda held his face against his chest, delicately massaging his temples.

"There's some next to your bed, here." Koda handed him the painkillers and water. Alfie took it quickly and rested his head back against him, long enough for the pain to stop throbbing. "You're definitely having the day off."

"I'll be fine once I'm up." Alfie swung his legs over the bed one by one. He was used to headaches, but the pain from a concussion was a dozen headaches that formed together to create one big hammering ache.

* * * * *

The rest of the morning synced into Alfie's slow pace. By lunchtime, he was twiddling his thumbs and utterly fed up of doing nothing. "I have to be in my office."