Empath

Chapter 20

Al and Yui separated at the sound of Anabelle's voice.

"I, uh, think I have some trash in the room, yeah," Yui said, in a slightly disheveled way. He looked up, and Anabelle was coming out of her bedroom with a trash can. It seemed she hadn't noticed what was going on.

"Could you round it up for me and put it in this bin here?" She left the big garbage bin outside of their bedroom.

"Yeah, no prob!" Yui replied. Yui pursed his lips and rubbed the back of his head.

Al pushed his hair back from his forehead. He felt as though he had been brought back to reality.

They went up the stairs. "Hey, Ana," Al called toward her room, in a casual tone.

"Yes?" She opened her door and poked her head through.

"I got a job today, so I'll be able to pay rent soon."

"Oh, that's lovely!" She exclaimed. "Thank you, Al."

He smiled at her, before picking up the trash bin and carrying it into his and Yui's bedroom.

Al put the bin down and looked around the room for anything to throw out, when he noticed something on his bed. It was the nightgown that Anabelle had lent to him before. It was neatly folded and a note lay on top of it that read "you can keep it", with a little heart at the end. Al smiled softly.

"Hey, Al," Yui called to him, in a strangely quiet tone.

"What is it?" Al asked, casually, not knowing that Yui was very distressed.

Yui was looking into the trash bin. His eyes were wide and full of fright. He pointed at it and backed up, as though it might bite him.

Al started feeling a little wary. He slowly approached the trash can and looked inside it.

There was a drawing in crayon. It was obviously drawn by a small child. Al could just barely make out shapes that may have been a boy and his parents holding hands.

"What the hell?" Al exclaimed. He slowly started picking things out of the trash can. As he rummaged through it, he found the photo of Timmy that was once on the little table in the living room. The glass was cracked, like it was carelessly tossed in. He set those two things aside and continued going through it, finding more and more things connected to Timmy in the process.

"Why would she throw these out?" Al asked. "I thought something was weird about her giving us the bedroom and such, but... to throw such precious things in the trash...! Can she just... not bear to be reminded of him?" He squinted at the objects in consternation. "Yui, have you noticed anything like this before, with your previous patients?"

Yui didn't reply.

"Yui?" Al turned to him.

What he saw didn't look like Yui. He was white as a sheet, and staring wide-eyed into the distance. It was like what happened at the park, but worse. His skin looked clammy, and he was shivering profusely.

"Yui, what's wrong?" Al asked, in a panic. He rushed to him and felt his forehead. "Fuck, you're burning up! Here, lay down. I'll get you some water to drink and a washcloth." He tried to motion to the bed for Yui to lay there, but he wouldn't budge. It was like he didn't know Al was there at all.

"Yui, come on," Al urged, as he gently tugged Yui's arm.

Still no response.

"Get up!" He roared. Even his booming voice wasn't enough to shake him out of whatever this was. "Alright, fine," Al grumbled. He kneeled down, put an arm around Yui, and hoisted him up. He was so sweaty that his clothes were sticking to his skin. He made no attempt at standing, but he was so light that Al picked him up and plopped him down on the bed with no problem. He tucked him in carefully. He was still shaking like mad.