Page 53 of Ravaged From Fate

What was the word she used last night to describe me as we were dancing? Joyous.

That’s what I am when I’m with her.

This is all tearing me up inside.

“Come on in,” Elsa says, inviting me inside her place on the outskirts of town. I’ve not been here before. “Make yourself at home. I’ll get that drink.”

As she disappears into the kitchen, I have a look around her living room.

“You live on your own?” I ask.

“Yep,” she calls from the other room. “I used to share with my friend, Piper. You met her at the bar, the first time we met.”

“Ah. I remember.”

“She went and got herself married, so she doesn’t live with me anymore.”

“I see.”

I wander around and stoop to check out the photographs of Elsa hanging on the wall. There are different people in each one. Friends. I spot Piper in one. They’re in this living room drinking and laughing. Cute.

But one person keeps popping up in multiple photos, more than is to be expected.

“Why do you have so many photos of you and Cyrus?” I ask Elsa, confused as to why the Samoan appears more than anyone else on her wall. “Is he your boyfriend? He certainly appears like he is.”

Elsa swans into the room, clutching a glass of wine and a beer. She hands the beer to me, laughing as she does so. She’s noticed the bewildered expression on my face.

“He is most definitely not my boyfriend,” she says. “He’s my brother. Half-brother, technically. Remember, I was adopted. Well, so was he.”

And, just like that, all the puzzle pieces slot together and I let out an audible tone of recognition.

“So you’ve been keeping secrets, Elsa? I thought I was supposed to be the silent, mysterious stranger.”

She rolls her eyes and chinks my glass with hers. “I wasn’t keeping any secrets, there just wasn’t any need to say anything,” she says. “Cyrus and I grew up together with the same dad.”

“And who’s your dad? You’re going to tell me he’s the President or something, aren’t you?”

“Nothing like that. He’s the town doctor.”

And more puzzle pieces fit together.

“That’s why you’re a nurse. He’s East Springs’ doctor and you’re the nurse.”

“I grew up in the clinic, that’s why,” Elsa replies. “Seeing everyone from town come in every day to talk to Dad about everything… it made me feel connected to this town and to the people in it. I helped Dad out a lot when I was a kid all the time, especially during summer vacation, so you could practically say I was a nurse from when I could be trusted to hold a stethoscope. Long before getting qualified. That’s why East Springs means so much to me.”

“It’s sweet, Elsa,” I say. “I wish I could have something like that. Something to be that passionate about.”

“I’m sure you do,” she says. “What about drumming?”

“I was passionate about drumming,” I reply. “Once.”

“And what about the performance at the bar with the Kill Joys? I saw your face when you were behind that drum set. That was definitely passion.”

“I just… can’t do it anymore,” I reply.

My mind goes to Ravaged. To my boys. A sharp pang of sadness hits me in the chest.

I really miss them.