simple twist of fate

by red-starshine

part nine: hush

Chas had one foot across the threshold of the door when he stopped.

"Look," he heard a familiar voice say down the hall, in a clipped tone he recognized a little too well. "All I want to know is where his body is. I don't care if it's not ready for the funeral home yet, but the city morgue in Brooklyn said they sent it to this hospital when they ran out of room and after that phone call I got this morning, all I've been getting here is the run-around. You think I don't recognize a C.Y.A. maneuver when I see one?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Chandler," said someone else. "We have records of receiving your ex-husband's body from the city morgue, and we have records that he was placed in our morgue on-site, but it doesn't appear that we still have him."

A brief pause. "May I ask who does?"

Chas started to turn around, but John placed a hand on Chas's arm. "Not a good idea," he said.

"But that's Renee," protested Chas. "My ex. She thinks I'm still dead."

"Even worse idea," said John. "And I'm the patron saint of bad ideas."

Staring at John coldly, Chas pulled his arm free and quietly walked to the end of the hall, peering around the corner cautiously.

The hall ended in a large, nearly empty waiting room. The back of Renee's familiar blonde head was on the other side of the waiting room, in front of a long receptionist's desk.

Seated in one of the chairs less than ten feet away from him was his daughter, who was looking down at the floor and swinging her legs back and forth, trying to ignore the discussion her mother was having with the nurse.

She looked miserable. She sniffled and rubbed at her reddened eyes, and Chas nearly felt his heart stop again. She was crying about him. As far as she knew, he was dead.

"Geraldine," Chas said quietly, involuntarily taking a step forward.

He'd thought he'd said it too softly for her to hear, but Gerladine's head shot up. Her eyes widened when she saw him. She raced out of the chair and attached herself to Chas's middle. "Daddy!"

"Hey there, sweetie," said Chas, stroking her hair as she began to quietly cry. "I'm so sorry. I thought I was never going to see you again."

"Dad," sobbed Geraldine, burying her tear-streaked face against her father's sweater. "What happened? Mom said you'd died."

"He did," said John, walking behind Chas. "But he's not dead anymore, however. I take it you're Chas's little daughter?"

Geraldine stared up at John with wide eyes and gave a slight nod. Her eyes never left John's face. "Who're you?"

"Oh, so you can see me too, eh?" said John.

Slightly puzzled, Geraldine nodded again.

"Thought as much. In the blood, I suppose. Well, you can call me John, love."

"John's a friend," said Chas, placing one hand on John's shoulder. "He's the reason I'm alive right now, honey."

Chas hadn't thought it was possible, but Geraldine's eyes got even wider. "Are you a doctor?" she asked John, detaching herself from her father.

John snickered. "That's a better guess than your father's. He asked if I was an angel. The answer's still no, however."

"But you brought my dad back," said Geraldine, a look of confusion on her face.

"I did," said John. "And it was very, very complicated and I can never ever do it again."

Geraldine paused. "You're a mad scientist?"

John gave an amused laugh. "That's closer."

Chas heard the familiar clack-clack-clack of Renee's heels on tile. "Geraldine, I told you to not wander off," she said, completely unaware of her dead ex-husband and the blond man in a trenchcoat standing behind Geraldine.

John murmured something in Latin beneath his breath. A hum of magic in Chas's bones that he'd only been peripherally aware of faded.

"Mom," grinned Geraldine, taking hold of Renee's hand and tugging her down the hallway. "Look!"

Renee looked up, and her face turned pale. "Oh my God." She reached out towards Chas, then jerkily pulled her hand back before she could touch him. "Chas?" she said.

"Hi, Renee." He didn't know what else he could say, he didn't know how she'd react to seeing her supposedly dead ex-husband. Instead, he swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. "It's me."

Renee placed a hand on his arm, feeling the warm skin. "God, they told us that you were dead when they pulled you out of that fire," she said shakily.

"I was helping a girl escape," said Chas. "I should be dead."

"But you were," insisted Renee, meeting Chas's eyes. There was dark rings under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in days. "I had to identify your body after the fire. I remember that very, very clearly, Chas."

Chas opened his mouth.

"And don't give me any bull about that not being you," said Renee in a sudden burst of frustration, "I know that was your body they showed me."

Chas closed his mouth.

"John saved him!" said Geraldine before either of them could saying anything .

"John?" said Renee quizzically. She looked around the hallway, her eyes passing over John without seeing him. "Who's John?"

Chas turned back to John, who just raised a finger to his mouth and made a quiet 'shhh'.

"It's a little complicated, and you'll think I'm nuts if I go into details," said Chas. "But I was dead, then...I wasn't."

One of Renee's eyebrows raised. "Is that right," she said slowly. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your body mysteriously vanishing from the hospital's morgue last night, would it? I got a call a few hours ago saying they'd misplaced your body."

Chas ducked his head slightly, feeling the back of his neck flush. "That would be a pretty big part of it, yeah."

Renee was quiet for a long moment. "But you're alive now," she said. It almost sounded like a question.

"Yeah."

"So what happens next?"

"I don't know," admitted Chas. "I have to stay here for a little bit longer. After that..." He trailed off, unsure.

"You have to stay here as a patient?" asked Renee, looking slightly relieved that something was starting to make sense again.

Chas shook his head. "No."

Renee looked at him blankly for a moment, the silence hanging between them awkwardly. "You and I will talk about this later," she told him evenly, quietly, but firmly. "I want to know what's really going on with you, no matter how crazy it sounds."

"Of course." After everything she and Geraldine had been through, they deserved to hear the truth. If they would believe what had happened to him was another matter - Chas almost didn't believe it himself.

Renee nodded slightly to herself. "All right," she said. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Time for us to go, Geraldine."

Geraldine hugged her father's torso tightly. "I'm glad you're not dead, daddy."

Chas couldn't think of anything to say to that either, except the obvious statement. "I love you, sweetie. With all my heart."

John waved behind Chas as Renee led Geraldine into the waiting room. Geraldine waved back. "Bye John! Thank you for saving my dad!"

Renee gave her a strange look.

"That went better than I expected," said John after Renee and Geraldine were out of earshot. "No screaming at all."