Trickster

"I´m sorry, Lis; I let you down. I can´t be perfect."





Lis couldn´t help thinking about that very exact moment when she discovered Adrian lying on the ground. There were traces of blood on his mouth and hands but he wasn´t wounded. She suspected what he had done and the idea of it was devastating.

She checked the weather through an app on her smartphone.

"36 degrees and cloudy," she said, "at least it´s not raining like the previous days."

It was almost 3 AM, a very unlikely hour to be at the hospital. They had been alone that Friday and Daniel, another roommate was away on a party. It was up to Lis to do the best she could to fix this mess.

But it wouldn´t take long for Daniel to call Lis.

"The house is empty, where are you? Is Adrian with you?" said Daniel in a rather heavy voice.

She was still shocked and stumbled upon her words, "Um, yeah. Listen, there´s been an emergency and I had to bring him. I´m at the Saint Vincent hospital over on 12 Street. Don´t come just yet; I´ll be back in a few hours."

"What the Hell happened to him?" he said desperately.

"He passed out on the living room. He´s been under so much stress lately I think he´s probably exhausted. It´s gonna take a while to get some decent results."

"I sure hope it´s not something more serious."

"Why would you think that?"

"What if he´s hiding something from us?"

"Of course not! Let´s not jump to conclusions. I´ll see you later."

She hung up abruptly and groaned. Because she had left the apartment in a hurry she only threw her large, flannel burgundy coat over her pajamas and a t-shirt with the image of The Sisters of Mercy.

She walked across the erie halls to clear her mind but it didn´t help much. Lis didn´t like being cooped up in a place where eventually somebody could die. The usual reek of disinfectant and the creaky sound of the ventilation system were making her uneasy.

There were only a handful of interns and nurses around and a man probably in his sixties who wore a beige corduroy suit and held a rosary between his shabby fingers. He kept saying, "Helen, please be alright."



The long, lavender hair girl finally decided to crash in a chair and called her mom who was back in Elyria. Although it was ridiculously late she was always there to listen.

"It sounds like you´re in a tight situation, sweetie," said Mom.

"I just can´t bear watching destroy himself everyday. I´m losing him."

"If that´s the case then he needs professional help. That boy has always been extra special but he´s a human being just like the rest of us."

"Do me a favor and don´t tell his parents or anyone else."

"But what if things get more complicated? You can´t carry that cross alone, baby."

"Give me some time and I´ll figure something out, ok?"

"Alright, is there anything else I can help with?"

Lis sobbed, "I guess the only thing left to do is pray."

"You do that. I´ve been the same thing for him for years. Bye now."



While rummaging through the pockets of her coat Lis found an object she hadn´t seen in a long time. It was a wooden red rabbit with the infinity symbol on its forehead. Adrian gave it to her while in high school and she remembered his words,

"This worked for me so it should do the same thing for you. I´m not religious but I still want something to believe in."

"The Rabbit of the Infinite Strength," she said in a lower voice. "Dammit!"




The old man couldn´t help overhearing and asked politely, "Is everything alright, Miss?"

It was very evident that she was sounding desperate and she was to blame now.

"Um, yeah," said Lis wiping the tears from her brown eyes, "I´m just having a hard time coping with this problem."

"First time here?" he said.

"Yes," she said as she sat closer to the man. He smiled with ease.

"The name´s Mark," he said as he shook her hands, "and yours?"

"Lisa but my friends call me Lis. It´s pretty catchy."

"Well, this is the tenth time I´ve been here in the last three months. My wife has lung cancer."

"I´m very sorry to hear that," she said.

"That´s alright. She´s been in chemo for a while and apparently she has improved but she had a relapse."

"Oh."

"She´s taking it rather well. She´s a fighter, I can tell. Helen is stronger than me," he coughed.

"I hope everything turns alright in the end unlike my friend..."

"If you don´t mind me asking what did he do?"

Lis took a deep breath, "He vomits frequently and not because he´s sick. He does it on purpose."

"You mean to say he´s one of them kids with eating disorders?"

"Perhaps. I just don´t want to come to that conclusion. I thought he was smarter than that, you know. Now they´re making me feel responsible for his reckless behavior."

"You can play the blame game for as long as you want but the problem will still be there."

"And that means it won´t solve anything, right?"

"He has to recognize he has a big problem and just solve it. That´s what life is all about."

"Thank you so much."





Roughly about five in the morning and after two lousy cups of coffee Lis a  Young Indian type doctor.

"Are you a friend or a relative of Mr. Black?" he asked with a rough tone.

"I´m his girlfriend," said Lis unconsciously.

"Sorry to keep you waiting so long. He´s stable now but he will have to remain here for a few days. We need to run more tests to get a full diagnosis."

"Thank God," she sighed, "you don´t suppose you can tell me what he has."

"We believe there´s a damage in the esophagus."

"Is that why he fainted?"

"It could have been from the tremendous effort that came after vomiting. He was also very dehydrated."

"Can I go see him now?"

"Yes but don´t disturb him too much. Come this way."