A week went by. A week of doing nothing but eating, resting and being pampered by Corey’s well trained staff. I thought I’d be bored but wasn’t, there was George to take care of my slightest whim and Mrs. Feeney, the Cook. Angel and some big black dude called The Saint. Angel and The Saint were part of the security team, kick ass bad dudes in black wraparounds who delighted in sneaking up behind me and scaring the be-jesus out of me. I believe they had a competition going to see who could make me jump the highest and maybe piss my pants.
Slowly, my belly healed with occasional bouts of nausea and diarrhea. Corey actually had a doctor who made house calls, he called it Concierge Medicine. Whatever. The first sight of my gut made him whiten but after that, he was cool. I spent a lot of time sleeping or just laying on the sleigh bed staring at the ceiling, and a lot of time with the Percocet bottle. The one time I’d tried exploring the house had resulted in walking in on Merle, Corey and Bill in some strategy session that ended abruptly as my presence was absorbed.
I didn’t have access to that Ghost thing, not even when I’d called it out to appear while I was inside my closet.
My appetite picked up some but not for anything exotic although Mrs. Feeney tried to tempt me; I stuck to ground beef, roast chicken and baked fish. We usually ate meals together in the dining room and mostly with Bill.
I asked if either of them had a significant other or even just a girlfriend but both denied it with Bill the only one who was married. To an upper class noblewoman from Amber.
Merlin told me he had to go back home, to leave the Courts too long so soon after his Coronation was to invite disaster. I could see he didn’t like the idea of leaving me and truth be told, I would also miss him. “You’ll be safe with Dad, Raven,” he said and sounded like he was trying to convince himself. He gave me a set of Trumps.
“You can use these to call for help, Raven. Dad will go over who’s safe and who to avoid. I can leave Ghost with you, too.”
I thumbed through the deck and the cards didn’t burn with that same coldness, there were significant differences in the portraits; many I had not seen before. “Really? That would be cool!” I enthused.
“It’s not really him, sort of a part of him you can access and use, like a cloned smart phone we can both tap into.”
“Where is he? Besides on your finger? I mean, is he a micro-processing unit or a mainframe somewhere? What’s his operating capacity, his memory storage? Can I see his tower?”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “I’m sure he’ll be glad to explain himself to you, Raven but he’s a tad bit paranoid. Where he is presents a multi-level challenge for any mere mortal to visit. He’s in his own self constructed Faraday cage in its own created dimension. I’ve gotta go. Take care, listen to Dad and Bill and we’ll talk when I get back.” He offered his hand and I took it, hugged him awkwardly and gingerly as I stepped back. I could tell he liked it.
“Thanks,” I murmured, keeping my head down. I felt a slight pinch of cold at my wrist and looked at a silver bracelet of chunky links at my right wrist and heard Ghost’s tiny voice.
“Safe trip, Dad. I’ll keep an eye on Raven here and one eye on you back home,” Ghostwheel said.
“You can be in two places at once?” I was intrigued. That was an awesome ability to own.
“I can be in multiple realities at the same time, bro,” the computer said. Uh oh, that was more than I needed to know.
“Like, you don’t watch me when I’m in the bathroom, dude?” I snapped. “That’s fricking gross!”
Merlin laughed, pulled out a Trump and walked forward into a room I had a visceral reaction to---it scared the hell out of me, it looked like a fun-house gone mad, designed by a Vegas Wedding Chapel owner on a Boris Karloff scale. Merle seemed to regard it as normal and waved as he disappeared.
“Where was that?” I shuddered.
“Shade called Styx,” Ghost answered. “A way station guarded by both Dad’s spells and me so no one knows where he pops off to.”
“Spells? So what, he’s like a wizard or something?” I tried to pull off the bracelet but it wouldn’t slide over my wrist bone.
“Chill out, bro. I can do some cool tricks while you’re wearing me,” Ghost said calmly. “As of now, you have a two inch barrier around your body that nothing but air can penetrate.”
“I hope air can penetrate,” I retorted. “Or I’ll suffocate. What happens when I need to pee or whatever?”
Corwin laughed. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. When you’re done Raven, come downstairs. I want to see where you’re at academically and physically. Ghost, don’t annoy him too much. He’s still medically fragile.”
“Sure, Corwin,” Ghost said near the vicinity of my head. I rushed to the bathroom and stuck the bracelet under the faucet but the water split in two streams over my wrist and didn’t even wet my sleeve.
“You can’t drown me, or short me out,” it said. I searched for a clasp or connection to open it but couldn’t find one.
“Before you try anything as stupid as cutting off your wrist, bro, I can’t be cut, broken, burned, frozen, scratched, stretched or removed except by a direct command from Dad or one of his appointed agents.”
“Don’t call me bro. I’m not your brother,” I said furiously, staring at my hand.
“Uh-oh,” it said. “You’re one of those---you’re crazy enough to hurt yourself to prove a point. You would cut off your hand to get free!”
I felt a prick on my wrist and a warmth that traveled up my arm. I fell slowly to the carpeted floor of the bathroom, barely registering the Ghostwheel’s words. “Sorry, bro. I’m knocking you out. When you wake up, I’ll be in a new place, new form and you won’t know what or where. Stubborn hothead, just like Dad.”
I closed my eyes on a tide of darkness thinking ‘how odd that the carpet smells like coconut’.
I woke up in bed, laid out like a corpse minus the lilies in my folded hands. It took me a few minutes to remember what had happened and when I did, I leaped out of bed, furious and yelling.
Bill was sitting in my recliner with an open book on his chest in mid-snore when I woke him. “Have a bad dream, Raven?” he asked calmly, closing the hardcover and placing it on the table.
I stood there, chest heaving and speechless. Finally, shut my mouth, cursed, sighed and stripped down to my Jockeys before I dressed in clean stone-washed jeans, long-sleeved Polo and soft boots. He watched me curiously, only standing when I went to the window/balcony and opened the French doors.
“Raven, what are you doing?” he asked nervously as I reached up for the overhead railing and the window frame. Before he could stop me, I was climbing up the wall to the roof via the balconies and windows. I had to go slow, the strain on my belly muscles translated to pain if I was too fast or abrupt.
“Raven!” he called. I ignored him and sat on the edge of the roof staring at the next over mansion. Had I been physically fit minus a half healed hole in my gut, I could have jumped down and across without any effort. In the condition I was in now, I’d fall and kill myself.
Surprisingly, I didn’t hear anything from Ghost and it was just as well, I would have done something stupid just to prove I could. Sometimes, I really missed Murphy’s common sense and know-it-all attitude.