Chapter 5

He slept better after that, but woke not feeling very rested. He showered then shuffled into the kitchen. Nothing sounded good. Grabbing his trench coat and keys, he started to leave the apartment. Arolyn wrapped an arm around his waist. Parvathi set an arm across her shoulders and locked the apartment. They walked together to the store where Parvathi grabbed a protein drink.

"Do you want anything, Arolyn?" he asked softly.

She selected a green smoothie.

They walked through the check stand together then headed back towards campus. He stopped at the park and sat against a tree. Arolyn snuggled against his side while they drank their respective beverages. Parvathi ran his hand across her shoulders a little before pressing his fingers into her back. He pulled them up and down a small portion of her spine before rubbing her shoulders again. He did this a few times before she moaned and pulled away from him.

Parvathi wasn't feeling much more awake then he had when he got up. So, he stood and waited for Arolyn to join him before they returned to the apartment. He lay on the couch and Arolyn went into her room. He woke later to the sound of sniffling. He got up and entered the kitchen where Arolyn was sitting. Her shoulders were hunched forward and her head was bowed. On the table was a notepad. Parvathi set a hand at the base of her neck. His eyes would not yet focus.

"How are your shoulders doing, Arolyn?" he asked.

"Fine," she choked.

"Then what's wrong?"

She pushed the notepad in his direction then got up to dig into the fridge. He rubbed his eyes then picked up the notepad. His eyes scanned the list of past due bills and loan amounts. A few of the numbers were smudged where tears had fallen and soaked into the page. Then there was a massive red scribble on the bottom that put off a lot of anger. Tearing the page out, he pocketed it as Arolyn set two plates, with half a foot long on each, on the table. Parvathi did not protest her silent giving, but sat next to her and started to write out meal ideas. After a few ideas, he slid pen and pad towards Arolyn.

"Thank you for lunch, Arolyn."

She nodded.

After a while, she picked up the pen and added many ideas. She then pushed the list towards Parvathi. He glanced it over then nodded.

"Do you work today?" he asked.

"In twenty minutes."

"Okay."

"Do you have class today?" she asked.

"No, but I have some business to take care of this afternoon."

"I didn't know you worked."

"I don't consider it work, others might."

She nodded, the edges of her mouth turning down a little.

"It's nothing like that," he said. "Gifted Sister needs more assistance in her sphere of work."

"You have a sister?"

"Two." He pulled his fingers through her hair.

"I'm not your sister."

"When you are awake you will be. Good luck this afternoon. I'll see you this evening."

She nodded and finished her sandwich before running out the door.

Parvathi washed the dishes before pulling out his digital drawing pad and stylus. He made it soon after having his gifts woken up because it made documenting the changes he saw and felt easier to capture rather than trying to draw 20 pictures to scale when the main part didn't change.

There was someone who'd want the Crane Theatre pictures as well, but not just yet. He left Arolyn a note, asking her to put together a shopping list and a list of anything else she'd need as winter approached. Then he left, jogging down the street to an old cathedral where Gifted Sister picked him up. She drove them to the next town over where a hardy tree had suddenly become sickly. Gifted Sister had done everything she could in the realm of her gifts, but could tell she was not getting everything. That's where Parvathi's drawings came in. He pulled a face as they got out of the car.

'Dead animal?' Gifted Sister thought asked.

'Possibly. Has anything been buried here recently?'

'Not that I have found as I have fertilized it.'

He nodded then sat.

She knelt beside him as he drew the tree and surrounding area. This he saved before studying and feeling the tree—how its illness affected the elements around it. He drew. Saved. Drew something else. Saved again. This went on for a while before he let the pad flip through them like a flip animation book.

Gifted Sister watched carefully before she played it again. Her hand hovered over the pad. She paused it part way through.

'That's it.'

Parvathi nodded then changed the image to his original so he could draw the changes.

Gifted Sister stood and approached the tree. Slowly and carefully, she cut away the layers. The shifts were small and subtle until she got to the place where she could identify the problem. He started to draw when something in him screamed.

'Don't touch that!'

But it was too late. Gifted Sister was knocked to the ground, a black energy started to burn a hole through her chest. Parvathi dropped his pad and ran to her side. He flowed water through her system using metal to scrape away some of it; and earth and wood to fill in the space. He couldn't do much and the tree's energy was flaring out everywhere. They were too close to the tree. Lifting Gifted Sister in his arms, Parvathi hurried to the car. He kicked up his drawing pad into his hand on the way. The tree's energy was furious as he set her in her car. Parvathi sped back to campus, keeping water flowing through her system.

She broke out into a sweat and her breathing turned shallow as they entered town.

'Gifted Sister?'

She shook her head.

Parvathi parked at the apartments and pulled her from the car. He carried her into the apartment and laid her on the couch.

"Parvathi, is that…?" Arolyn stopped as he knelt over Gifted Sister and set his hands on her ribcage. She stood frozen for a moment, not sure what she was seeing.

'Come on, Gifted Sister,' Parvathi thought as he pulled away centimeters of the dark, burning energy. 'Hold on.'

Arolyn closed her eyes a moment and fisted her hand over her chest. "What is this feeling?" she asked. "Why…?" Her eyes returned to Gifted Sister before she stepped forward. Setting her hand on Parvathi's shoulder, she halted his work.

'Arolyn, I…'

She pulled him away from the couch and set his hands against her back. His thumbs pressed into the groove on either side of her spine. Arolyn groaned, but knelt beside Gifted Sister. Parvathi knelt also continuing to run his thumbs up and down her back. Arolyn slid a hand under her back and placed the other over her heart.

'Hold,' she thought to Parvathi.

He stopped and just held the place where his thumbs were.

Arolyn smacked Gifted Sister's chest once. Twice.

"Bucket," she ground through her teeth.

Parvathi pulled a bucket out from under the kitchen sink and brought it to her as she smacked Gifted Sister's chest a third time. Gifted Sister coughed up a little water and gagged. Parvathi helped her roll over and she retched water into the bucket.

'Where…?' she thought as she finished. Then she saw Parvathi. 'The tree?'

He shook his head.

"No! No," she cried.