Trickster

The feeling of impotence ravaged Lis that night. It was almost three in the morning and she was in hospital for she found Adrian passed out on the living room. His black nail polished hands and his mouth were stained with blood. This made her think of the worst.

She was still in her pajamas and had thrown on a large burgundy flannel coat, her hair was a mess and her only contact with the outside world was her smartphone. Lis received a handful of text messages including one from her roomie, Daniel and felt the need to call back.

"Hi, what´s up?" said Lis with a rather harsh voice.

"Where are you guys?" he said in a heavier tone, "The place is fucking empty."

"Um, there´s been an emergency. I´m at the Saint Vincent Hospital down 12th Street. Adrian wasn´t feeling well."

"Oh great; what´s he done this time?"

"I have no idea. I´ve only been here for a half an hour and it looks as if it´s going to take longer than expected."

"Fine, can I come?"

"It´s best if you stay but I´ll keep you posted, alright?"

"Sure; I hope he survives the night, bye."



Lis deleted the previous text message from Adrian which said,

"Help me, I´m in Hell."

It made her feel very uncomfortable as she had been in the scene of a crime. She looked at the current weather in app,

36 degrees and cloudy

"At least it´s not raining," she said to herself. Finally she sat down and noticed the hall was almost empty except for a few nurses. There was a middle-aged man in the corner sounding like he was praying. He said , "Please be alright, Helen, please be alright."

Lis remembered the last decent conversation she had with Adrian. It was a Thursday around eight in the afternoon. They walked across the High Line a giant man-made garden that sprung from an old railroad track.
They decided to sort out a few things after working hard for the last six months on a new series of paintings. Adrian was this twenty-something skinny boy with long raven hair down to his shoulders, peachy skin and hazel green eyes.

Lisa, Lis for short was slightly younger than him, had long dark brown hair, was somewhat short and this sort of raspy voice. Actually she was the quiet type but whenever she was around someone she really trusted she went off like a firecracker.

She had been noticing that Adrian was becoming distant and fatigued.

"It was sure a nice idea to come here," he said. "I really needed to unplug."

"Yeah, well I figured this one out by myself," said Lis, "is this the first time you´ve been up here?"

"No, actually I have a friend who´s a kind of grafitti artist who lives a few blocks away."

"That´s great. You do I know why I really brought you, right? Besides getting out of your comfort zone."

"What´s wrong with the neighborhood? It´s so full of history and I appreciate that very much."

"I know but it´s just that you feel so wrapped up in this that you´ve forgotten about the simplest things. You hardly sleep or eat and I think that Daniel thinks the same way as I do."

"Oh I´m sorry, am I in trouble officer?" said Adrian sounding upset.

"No, I´m just saying that you shouldn´t go to extremes, that´s all."

"It´s a price I have to pay."

"Why?"

"Because this work is far more intimate than what I´ve done before. You know what it was like growing up in Elyria, right?"

"I remember it dearly, yes."

"Those are the kind of experiences that have a strong effect on you and you can leave them out. Art never lies and pain is sincere."

"Yes, you´ve told me that numerous times. I just want you know that we truly care about you so much that it would be disastrous to lose you just like that."

"Don´t worry about it, Lis! I´m not going anywhere." He sighed, "why do you think I´m always in trouble?"

She felt truly nervous and unconsciously clinged to his arm, "You would be mad if I told you."

"I´m already mad so I don´t see how this can get worse."

"I thought it through and I think it has to do something with my grandfather´s death. It was so sudden and he meant everything to me."

"That´s because he was nicer than your own father."

"I know, right? It happens and I don´t wanna feel like an exception but you seem like you´re always walking on thin ice."

"I´m chaotic. For me there are no schedules, probably deadlines but that´s just about it."

"But you´re not made of steel. There´s bound to be one time when you'll fall and crash."

Adrian stopped for a few seconds and looked away. "I´m sorry to put you through this. I promise it won´t happen again."

"Really?"

"Yeah but there´s a chance I´ll break my promise."

"Oh, come on! Be serious for a moment."

"You´re the serious one, Lis. Smile; it will make your life easier."




And so it became true; he literally hit the ground. "Why are you taking away from me the people I love the most?" Lis thought to herself. "Is it because I love them too much, am I suffocating them? Tell me."

The man in the corner reached out to her, "Is everything alright, Miss?"

"Yes it´s just that I hate the waiting; it makes me grow very anxious."

"Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

"Go ahead."

He was a simple guy; he dressed in a beige corduroy suit, was almost bald and had a sort of large face. "The name´s Mark."

"Lisa but my friends call me Lis."

"My wife Helen´s in there fighting for her life. She was diagnosed with lung cancer a few months ago and was going through chemo."

"I´m sorry to hear about that, Sir."

"She was doing well but she had a relapse. She´s a tough fighter though. Who are you waiting on?"

"My best friend Adrian; we live together, actually there´s three of us. It´s weird."

"And what seems to be the problem?"

"You what? I have no idea but he´s been driving himself to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes I think he does it on purpose to piss me off."

"Then I guess your friend shouldn´t be here; it sounds more like getting therapy."

"You´re so right but he responds with these long speeches he´s too cool for something like that."

"He´s sick with pride. Tell him that."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I have to go; I think I see the doctor coming. You have a lovely day, young lady."


Lis comforted herself updating her status trying not to include something compromising or dramatic. When that happens people start to grow more and more curious until they get the truth out of you. So she decided to put a quote from one of Adrian´s favorite books,

"My friend has stopped running today." Watership Down.

That way it would be something a few would truly understand but not speculate.

She rummaged in the pockets of her coat and noticed something an unfamiliar object. She took it out and it was a tiny wood carved red rabbit with the infinity symbol on its forehead. Adrian gave it to her when they were in high school.

"I´m not the religious type but I need to believe in something," he said once, "It worked for me so it should work for you."

Lis finally broke up in tears and squeezed the wooden rabbit. "Please be alright, Adrian, please be alright."



But the hole into which he had fallen was about to get deeper. A few hours later a small, Indian-looking doctor appeared amidst the poorly illuminated hallway and approached her.

"Are you with Adrian Black?" he asked.

"Yes, I´m his girlfriend," she said nervously.

"I apologise it took so long but we had to run a few tests to make sure what we´re dealing with. Apparently there´s a sign of damage in the esophagus."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that he has difficulty swallowing which could also explain why he´s underweight and dehydrated."

"But why was there blood on his mouth, can you explain that?"

"Yes, it was from the effort of vomiting."

"That sounds awful."

"He´s stable now but he will have to remain here for some days for observation."

"Can I go see him now?"

"Sure, right this way. I´ll also need for you to sign some papers."




Lis went into a dimly lit room and found Adrian very calm.

"Look at you," she said out loud, "I asked you to rest but not like this." Then she pulled up a chair and stared at him, "How could I be so blind? I guess you´re an expert at concealing too." She took his hand and caressed it. "Help me out here because I don´t know what to say."

"Lis?" he moaned. "Is that you?"

"Yes, of course!" she cried. "Sweetie, why didn´t you tell me you were feeling this bad?"

He spoked with difficulty, "I told you I didn´t want to upset you anymore. While you were out this Friday I felt this stabbing pain in my stomach. I never felt something like that before so I lied down for a while."

"Damn."

"But the pain didn´t go away, it burned. The next thing I knew I was throwing up several times until I started to bleed and that´s when I called you. After that I don´t remember anything."

"You passed out on the living room," she said, "You can image how I felt."

"I´m sorry, I failed you."

"Don´t worry; you´ll have plenty of time to rest."

"What about the exhibition?"

"It´s almost done. It´s all downhill from here."

"Man, I´m so sore I feel like I was run over."

"Try not to move so much."

"They didn´t open me up, did they?"

"No; are you afraid you´ll get a scar on that lovely skin of yours?"

He smiled maliciously.

"Daniel asked about you. Why wasn´t he with you when I was out?"

"He had something to attend and I was busy in my studio."

"Because normally he would have lured you into going clubbing."

"Well it looks as if that´s not gonna happen for a long time."

"The doctor will be here soon to explain to you about your illness. He asked you to be completely honest, you think you can handle that?"

"I´ll try."

"Listen, I need to head back to the loft and tidy up a bit. I´ll be back soon. I love you."

Then she kissed him on the forehead.







Lisa Summers was nothing but a mere assistant to Adrian but working for a life long friend was very rewarding. In fact he approached to come and work for him not so long ago. They so happened to be in the same city. They lived in a less glitzy, quiet part of Soho down Mercer Street in the last floor of the building. She took a quick cab thinking of getting a real cup of coffee and not from a worn out vending machine.

Around six the next Saturday morning Lis arrived visibly restless and greeted the guard on duty named Leo.

"Morning, Miss Summers, up so early?" he said.

"Yeah, I went jogging," she said sarcastically, "no, seriously I just came from the hospital."

"Oh, I see. That explains the ambulance at roughly three in the morning. Is everything alright?"

"It´s Adrian. Apparently he wanted he wanted to be all alone when he had little accident which could be mistaken for a suicide attempt. Then again it wasn´t; he´s just very sick."

"I´m very sorry to hear that."

"He´s human afterall."

"He´s what they call the eccentric type."

"Yeah, I have a knack for hanging around mad people."



After reaching the sixth floor she still felt a huge weight on her shoulders for this experience felt like an extended night and it wasn´t morning for her at least until eight o´clock.

The apartment consisted of two levels and on the main one there was a small foyer and living room, the kitchen and Adrian´s studio on the side and on the second one there were three bedrooms and one large bathroom.

Lis found Daniel sleeping on the leather couch with his phone by the table. He was younger than Adrian and from the looks it was almost like his boy toy. He was a model with a slight tan, brown eyes and a small mohawk. Unlike Adrian he was more ripped and had the libido of a fifteen year old.

"Hey gorgeous," said Lis. "And how was your night?"

"Everything was swell until you hit me with the bad news," he said. "How is he?"

Lis sighed as she plummeted into the couch, "The only thing I can say is that he has been spending some major time with the art of self-destruction."

"Oh God, he didn´t slit his wrists or take pills?"

"No."

"Did he OD?"