“Psychosomatic,” he reprimanded his senses in a whisper which sounded exceptionally loud in the quiet of the restroom. Sam was never one to just assume the paranormal when something had a reputation of having vaguely arcane or magical qualities. He could not, however, dispute the fact that the card had now quite the hold on his interest and suddenly he could absolutely understand little Radu’s fascination with it. It was not just the physical effects of what the item evoked, but much more the feeling of awe it held in that it felt almost alive in his hand, radiant with inexplicable energy. Sam thought of the tarot card as borderline conscious, as if it held locked inside it some sort of intelligence.
There was no indication of where the object was made or by whom, nor any name to credit the painter of the awful picture. It was certainly a guess as to the age of the thing, not that Sam could tell exactly, but it was obviously very old. Since he was not qualified to determine its age, he smiled at the idea he got as to who would be able to — Nina Gould. Although she was not an art expert, and although she specialized mainly in recent history, primarily German history, he knew she would be able to tell from what country it originated, at least.
He knew he had to show it to Nina the following day when she showed up to collect the camera from him. For a moment he reached for what was usually his jeans pocket to pull out what was usually his cell phone so that he could take a snapshot of the peculiar piece.
“Ag, goddammit!” he cussed under his breath when he realized just how inconvenient his life was without his phone. Sam had never been one of those super techy types who had the latest and the first in technology, whether it was information technology or communication gadgets. As a matter of fact, he could not care less what brand he was wielding at any given time, as long as it could send messages and take pictures, which was pivotal in his line of work.
Only now, here on the lid of the bog in the German hospital in the middle of the night, did he truly realize the value of his shitty Samsung. He liked his shitty Samsung. It worked effectively and was comfortable to handle, not those extra thin jobs where his strong hands would slip and slide, punching in two letters at once when he did not focus. Every time Sam would take his old phone people would look at him like he just whipped out his dick, but he did not care. He knew he had the means to buy the best, but chose not to fall for advertisements and status symbols.
Would Radu allow Nina to see it, though? Sam sat thinking on it for a bit, wondering if he should keep it with him until she arrived, but that would be common theft and he did not want the poor boy to lose his favorite possession again, dumping him into a torrent of frantic crying spells at his loss.
No, he would put it back and in the morning he would ask Radu if his lady friend could have a look. Why would the child refuse? He did not mind showing it off. In the quiet shadows he stalked back to Radu’s bed and with clumsy effort he pushed it back under the pillow without waking the lightly snoring Radu. Sam chuckled at the slumbering boy who grunted like a drunkard. Sam looked at Radu before he returned to bed.
Fuck, this would really awkward if someone had to walk in now, he thought to himself as he stared at the sleeping young boy, but the child intrigued him. He seemed to be completely alone in the world, even though the medical staff kept referring to his ‘aunt’, of whom he clearly had no knowledge. The whole thing did not sit well with Sam, so he vowed to keep a close eye on Radu to see if there was anything scaly about his dubious aunt. Inside Sam there was a distant longing to be a big brother, perhaps even a father. There was a sentinel heart in him, a need to right the wrongs and protect those who cannot see the wolves circling until it was too late.
Chapter 12 — At the hospital
“…Morgen, Herr Cleave,” her voice shook Sam’s brain into a state of alert and faded gradually into the white noise of his ears. Its sharpness pulled him reluctantly from the warm, safe darkness of the womb his mind was curled up in from the fatigue and the valium.
“Morning,” he groaned, sniffing and rubbing his eyes. His wild dark hair fell on his shoulders and framed his strong features and he ran his good hand over the top of his hair to get it out of his face.
“Good god, do we have to have the blinds open so early in the morning?” he complained with his hand over his eyes. Sam winced at the blinding rays that glared from all sides like daylight outside the entrance of a cave.
“The blinds are shut, Sam. You are just misty from the drugs. Relax,” he heard her more clearly now.
“Nina?” he smiled, still guarding his eyes with his hand.
“Aye.”
“So glad you could make it. To tell you the truth, I feel better with you holding on to my gear than some strange woman,” he said too loudly. From the small family visiting the old corpse patient, a teenager scoffed and chuckled at Sam’s words. Nina snickered with her, winking at the girl’s penchant for double entendres, and then turned back to Sam.
“Yes, no, I prefer to take care of it myself,” she said; then she lowered her head to Sam’s face and asked, “What’s on it?”
“It’s in the cabinet, Nina. First things first. Take it now. And put it in your bag and don’t let anyone get wind of the fact that you are in possession of that thing. It could cost you your life,” he whispered urgently, all the while savoring the sweet smell of her hair. His lids fluttered open at the onslaught of the white light and he saw that she did as he told her.
“So…what is on it?” she repeated, her eyes dwelling to the blood stained bandage on his chest and upper arm. She wanted to touch it, but she refrained. Her big brown eyes searched his for an answer and Sam remembered how nice it was to be in Nina’s company.
Really close to his face, she relished the scent of Sam’s skin as he recounted the whole awful business to her and why he was now being hunted, why she needed to get his camera out of Germany as soon as possible. She nodded as he explained, but his eyes strayed from her pretty face momentarily and Sam stopped talking altogether.
“Sam?”
He stared past her, his face a mixture of shock and disappointment. Nina turned to see what he was looking at, but saw nothing that could provoke such a reaction.
“Sam, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Where the fuck is Radu?” Sam asked out loud, exasperated.
“Who?” she asked, trying to calm her friend who was clearly upset, trying to get out of bed.
“Nurse! Nurse!” Sam shouted, and a nurse quickly entered the room to see what was going on. She asked him to stay in his bed, but he refused to comply.
The timid old man was the only one who did not stare at Sam’s outburst. All he wanted was a cigarette, but his daughter shook her head vehemently. Behind her the teenager watched Sam and Nina like a kindred, almost as if she was a caged captive behind the unseen bars of her parents’ control. She tucked her smokes deeper into her pocket to avoid her grandfather seeing it.
Finally, Nina apologetically lifted an open hand to the onlookers and visitors while Sam settled down at the nurse’s threat to call his doctor. He knew the doctor was only too keen on drugging him, so that was not something he wanted to test.