The shaman and the gorilla kept a bedside vigil all day, watching as the doctors tried in vain to get some response from the unconscious figure. Naboo and Bollo tried talking to him about clothes and sales at Top Shop but to no avail. I even tried to lure him in with a crimp, forgetting he couldn't hear me. Strangely, just after this, the other two seemed to have the same thought, crimping as though their lives depended on it, ignoring the strange looks they were receiving from the nurse outside the room. I joined in with them, desperately searching Vince's face for signs of recognition. And there is was, an almost imperceptible movement of his lips, a slight twitching of his hands, and Vince was back with us. He let out a loud groan, eyes fluttering open, wide and scared.
The doctors chased everyone out. I stayed. They couldn't really ask me to leave. They tried to ask Vince questions but he just mumbled incoherently, screwing his eyes up against the bright light they insisted on shining at him. His breathing was ragged and shallow, as though the simple act of filling his lungs with air was some great effort. Slowly he started to calm down, his eyes finally starting to comprehend the doctors surrounding him, the sterile looking hospital room, the bed he was laying on, the monitors that beeped around him. His tongue snaked out to moisten his parched lips but still he did not answer the endless questions fired at him. Instead he uttered one single word.
"Howard?"
"Mr Noir, you and Howard were in an accident…"
I didn't stay to hear the rest. I couldn't bear to see his reaction to the fact I had left him. I was supposed to be his best friend and I had abandoned him when he needed me the most. I made myself sick. What kind of pathetic excuse for a human was I? Silently I made my way back to the relatives waiting area, needing to be close to Naboo and Bollo, even though I couldn't talk to them. Entering the room, I leant back against the wall, almost sliding right down it in shock when Bollo nodded at me.
"Y-you can see me?" I whispered.
The ape nodded again.
"Bollo see lots of people. Sometimes it get confusing. Dead people look grey. Old people look grey too. Bollo not know whether some people dead or just old."
"And Naboo?"
"I can't see you, but I can hear you," the shaman affirmed.
"What about Vince?" I had enquired, stupidly thinking, just for one minute, that things might be ok.
"I'm sorry Howard, it doesn't work like that. Bollo can see you because he's an animal. Even shamen usually don't have any contact with the dead, except in very rare circumstances."
I tried not to be too disappointed.
"You'll tell him though? That I didn't leave him?"
Naboo shook his head sadly.
"Mortals aren't supposed to have any contact with the afterlife. It destroys the natural order of things. If he found out you were still here, it would be too much for him to handle. It would drive him crazy."