Cumin: Book 1

Just Afraid

"Ayako's in a bad state, but they managed to stop the bleeding. If we had been just a second too slow..."

"I will understand if you choose not to work with SPR after this, but I must ask your cooperation at least until John has exorcised the rest of the Kuman."

"Don't stress it, Naru, I'm not going anywhere, especially after what's happened while I was gone. You're my friend too, you know."

"I doubt this particular spirit cares about men. During the whole thing I was practically invisible." A pause. "Besides, this was my fault."

"Your fault? What, did you moon the spirit and dare it to come out?"

"...Takigawa."

"Jeeze, not even a smile?"

"If that's all, you can head back to the house. I've told John to wait until Lin or you meet up with him before getting started."

"Aren't you coming back?"

"I will once she wakes up. I'd like to not test her mental endurance further than I have to by letting her wake up in a hospital not knowing how she got there."

"Yeah, okay. I'll call when we're done."

"Thanks."

A squeak of hydraulic door hinge. A click of a latch.

And just as my consciousness had begun, so did my vision. I blinked at the off-white, industrial paneled ceiling. A random memory of throwing pencils at a ceiling much like this one in middle school floated down to me. We had made it a game to see if we could get the pencils to stick, and the teacher couldn't find the extra effort to care.

I turned my head to find Naru on a chair against the wall, one leg over the other, and a book in his hand. His default pose. As though sensing my gaze, he looked up.

"Hello," he said.

I turned back to the ceiling. A weird buzzing had filled my head and I lifted a hand to it. "What happened?"

"Lin helped me break down the door and took us to the hospital. Even though there didn't seem to be anything necessarily wrong with you, your shirt was covered in blood, and it's always better to play it safe. I don't look forward to the paperwork involved in paying the client for repairs on the door frame."

I sighed. "Well, I'm sorry, but was I right or was I right?"

His book snapped closed. "It wouldn't have happened if you had followed me. If you heard the conversation between myself and Takigawa, the ghost completely ignored me, as I figured it would."

"Oh shut up, you didn't know that. You were just upset about Ayako and got the stupid idea of solving the case by yourself before anyone else could get involved."

When he didn't say anything, I inwardly congratulated myself about being right. Naru, after all, did not lie...to my knowledge.

My smirk melted when an awkward silence fell in place like a sack of potatoes. The clock ticked on and I found my arms to sit up and examine myself through the hospital gown. Besides the IV in my arm, nothing seemed off, besides the two little bruises just above my breasts.

"How's Ayako?" I asked. "I heard she was okay."

"She's in the room next door," he said, having opened up his book again. "Her uterus had somehow ruptured and caused severe internal bleeding. She'll be on bed rest for a while, but should be okay. You can visit her before heading home."

I prickled with anger, then wilted. Of course. Home. He had said he'd fire me if I followed him into that closet. And since SPR paid for any injuries occurred on the job, my hospital bill was on his tab. Not to mention that I had just straight out ignored his direct order.