336: Reaper Chat

“I’ve already met up with Death, but I wanted to get some pointers from the apprentice himself.” Taylor started floating towards the door.

“So he did come up to see you again?” Ever replied, eyes on Zoe’s peaceful form.

She rolled her eyes. “Dude, she has twenty-seven days left, not twenty-seven seconds. Let the woman sleep!”

With his lips pressed into a line, he tore his gaze away and followed Taylor out of Zoe’s room.

“You might want to go reaper mode,” she said. “Don’t want people thinking you’re crazy, right?” Ever agreed. Just as he turned into a virtual ghost, Taylor stopped to say hi to someone.

“Someone’s up early.” Even in the monochromatic shades of grey, Ever could tell from this ghost’s long coat that was a doctor when she was alive.

“Dr. Erica,” Taylor said. “This is Ever, Zoe’s partner.”

The doctor didn’t offer her hand, but did offer a raised eyebrow. “So you’re the one who saved Taylor then cut her hands off.”

“Dr. Erica here,” Taylor said, through gritted teeth, “has been introducing ghosts for me to reap at the hospital.”

“Thank you for helping Taylor… and me.” Ever replied with a smile that lit up his face.

With what seemed like a lot of effort, Dr. Erica’s mouth twisted into something resembling a smile. “You’re welcome. If you’ll excuse me.” They watched her float down the hall and turn the corner.

“She’s one of your friends here?”

“Probably, but she’s weird about it.” Taylor sighed. “What I do know is that she and the perve doctor have something going on between them.”

“What? Dr. Yang?”

“Yeah. Anyway, enough about them. I’ve got a couple questions for you. Let’s go somewhere where we might not be disturbed.”

She hooked him around the arm and led him down the hall and through the wall outside. As they spiralled down to the courtyard, she was glad that he didn’t seem to be pulling away from him this time. She let go of him and they settled on a stone seat, the only souls there.

“Back at the cemetery,” Taylor said, wrists on her thighs, “you said something about spending the rest of your time left with Zoe. Have you… got cancer or something?”

“Didn’t I ever tell you?” Ever said. “I was only ever meant to spend a year on Earth before I go back to the Underworld.”

Taylor became very still; Ever continued. “The day I started at Pagoto’s was my first day on Earth.”

“That was the start of summer,” she said, mind working.

“Right. What month are we in now?”

“The start of May.”

“I’ve lost track of time,” Ever said sheepishly. “But yes, I have around one month left on Earth. It just so happens that it’s around the same time as what Zoe has. A little bit more, actually.”

Taylor was uncharacteristically quiet, staring ahead. “So would you want to reap her before you go?”

Now it was Ever’s turn to become quiet. “I try not to think about it.” Together, they sat-floated on the stone bench, thinking separate thoughts. “You said you had a few questions?”

“Y-Yeah,” she replied. “The reapings are going well, but I’m finding that I just feel so damn tired when I do it. Is that how you felt?”

Ever was thoughtful. “Not really. Reaping was an energising process, for me and the souls.”

“I wonder what’s wrong with me.” Taylor bumped her chin with her wrist nub. “You know what, nothing’s wrong with me. The problem is that I’m doing someone else’s job for–”

Her eyes widened as the apprentice reaper swept in, his embracing cutting off the end of her sentence.

“Thank you for caring,” Ever murmured. “If the world’s flowers do bloom again one day, it will be all thanks to you.” They rose in each others’ arms, Ever’s gratitude buoying them both. They stopped just beyond the height of the hedge that surrounded the courtyard. The sun had mostly risen, casting rays of goldenrod through their ghostly forms.

Eventually, Taylor allowed herself to bring her arms around Ever. Drawing herself closer to his chest, she sent him a silent message: I’d only make the world’s flowers bloom again for you, idiot.

And for the first time since they met, she was glad that he couldn’t read her mind.