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Fiji had felt weird all day and she hadn't wanted to eat lunch. She'd gone to the diner and ordered a slice of apple pie as a late afternoon treat to tide her over until dinner. The pie was good but the uneasiness that prickled around her only increased.
The diner was always quiet at this time of day and Madonna had returned to the kitchen, preparing food for the evening meal. Manfred and Bobo were at the table reserved for residents, the only other customers present. They also had pie, and were deep in conversation. Not wanting to disturb them, Fiji sat at the counter and ate.
Olivia came into the diner, hips swinging, and sat next to Fiji. "How's the pie?"
"Fine," Fiji said, but she put down her fork, unable to shake the feeling of wrongness. She wasn't accustomed to seeing the future but she had no doubt that something was going to happen, the way she might see a dark cloud and expect a downpour.
Olivia was about to call to Madonna and order herself a drink when events began, surely the thing that Fiji had been dreading.
Manfred began coughing and as Fiji turned to look, she realised he was choking. Bobo looked concerned as Manfred took a gulp of his iced tea which didn't help. Manfred got to his feet, one hand clawing at his throat, the other pressed against the table-top.
Olivia moved towards them as Bobo stood, smacking Manfred on the back. He delivered several sharp blows but to no avail.
"Heimlich manoeuvre," Olivia snapped.
Bobo glanced at her, nodded. "Right." He wrapped his arms around Manfred, balled up a fist. He covered his fist with his other hand and tugged, ramming his fist in and up just below Manfred's ribcage.
Fiji was on her feet too, heart pounding. Time seemed to slow down.
Bobo swore as Manfred lost consciousness and he suddenly found himself with a dead weight on his hands. He lay Manfred down on the floor, Olivia moving to help.
"Out of the way." Olivia sighed. Kneeling down, she tipped Manfred's head back in an attempt to clear his airway and then gave three sharp abdominal thrusts, which were as ineffective as Bobo's efforts had been.
She pressed her fingers to Manfred's neck. "No pulse."
"I'll call 911," Bobo said, reaching for his phone.
"Sure," Olivia said. "But he'll be dead before they get here."
Fiji well remembered the time a temporary staff member at the diner had accidentally started a fire late one evening. The place would have been razed to the ground by the time the fire department finally showed up had not Lemuel and Joe intervened.
She put the heel of her hand on Manfred's chest, her other hand on top and began pressing down hard, arms straight.
Bobo rubbed at his face, frantic. "Maybe CPR?"
"What do you think I'm doing? This is CPR! I can't give rescue breaths when his airway's blocked if that's what you're thinking."
"What about that thing…cut his throat open?"
Fiji gasped, her hand going protectively to her own neck.
"Tracheotomy? I could," Olivia agreed, not ceasing her compressions. "I did do one once - don't ask for details. Let's just say it didn't end well. I guess it might be worth a try."
"We have to do something! Fiji?" Bobo turned to Fiji, eyes desperate.
Bobo's plea gave Fiji the push she needed to move from where she'd been standing, frozen in place by her mounting horror. She moved to crouch behind Manfred's head, put both her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes. There had to be something she could do to keep him alive until they could summon actual help. Some sort of stasis spell, maybe, though she'd never been that successful when she'd experimented with inducing dormancy in plants.
Fiji felt a chill run through her and tasted something sharp, almost metallic. She threw her head back, eyes opening wide. "Olivia, stop."
Olivia did as Fiji said, though she gave her a questioning look.
"You'll just hurt him." If she hadn't cracked a rib already. "I think this is magical."
Madonna came over, a dish cloth in one hand, demanding to know what the hell was going on, and what did Fiji mean, magic in her diner?
"I can sense it," Fiji insisted. "And I see it in his aura." Now she was looking for it, and in such close physical proximity to Manfred, the malicious streak was clear.
"Magic?" Olivia sat back on her heels, pushed back a strand of hair. "So is he dead or not?"
"No. More than unconscious but not truly gone." Fiji sounded uncertain to her own ears but then this was new territory for her.
Bobo grabbed at the hope she offered. "Can you fix it?"
"Maybe? I need to go and fetch one of my books."
Madonna folded her arms. "I can stitch up wounds but I can't do anything about magical trouble, that's your department. But you are not leaving him here. Dead, undead, comatose; it's bad for business."
The last thing they needed was out-of-towners dropping in for dinner and finding Manfred in such a state, Fiji had to admit.
"We'll take him home. Make him comfortable," Bobo said.
Fiji shook her head. "I made his house inhospitable to the dead and I don't know if whatever this spell is might react badly."
"The RV then," Olivia said and Bobo agreed.
*
Manfred remembered coughing as a bite of pie got stuck in his throat, and then choking, followed by Bobo thumping him, and then nothing until now.
Now was consciousness. The RV. Xylda looking at him with sympathy which was always worrying.
More worrying was the realisation that while he, or at least his spirit, was standing next to Xylda, his body was elsewhere. Someone had moved him from the cafe to the RV's bed in the rear of the van, and folded his arms over his chest. It made him look dead. Then again if he wasn't in his body he probably was dead.
"Oh shit," Manfred said.
"Yep," Xylda agreed.
"I'm dead."
His grandmother shook her head. "No. You're in-between worlds, neither dead nor alive."
"I'm Schrödinger's cat?"
She laughed. "Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humour." She patted him on the cheek and Manfred let out a deep sigh. He could feel her touch; it was a pleasant surprise.
Overwhelmed, he wrapped his arms around Xylda, hugging her tightly in a way he'd never expected to be able to do again.
"It'll be all right," she soothed, rocking him against her. "Your friends will figure something out."
Manfred pulled away and glanced over his shoulder. Olivia was sitting at the table, stony faced. Bobo was trying to pace the narrow corridor between the sink and the driver's seat which was difficult and pissing Olivia off.
"I didn't just choke then?" Manfred asked.
"No. It's a deliberate attack, magical in nature."
The culprit would have to have been close by, Manfred reasoned. It wasn't a pleasant thought. "Who would do this?"
Xylda shrugged. "We all have enemies."
Manfred rolled his eyes. "Go to Midnight," he said, for what seemed like the umpteenth time. "You'll be safe."
Xylda snorted. "If this had happened elsewhere you'd have no chance. Here, well - "
Fiji stepped into the RV, a large tome in her hands, almost colliding with Bobo. He apologised and moved aside so Fiji could sit opposite Olivia, dropping the heavy book on the table with an audible ‘thunk’.
"I was going to attempt to cast a spell for suspended animation," Fiji said. "But that's what's already in play here, more or less. And I don't think it's coincidence it started with Manfred choking. Nor that it was on apple pie."
Bobo's mouth fell open. "You mean like Snow White?"
Olivia rolled her eyes but Fiji nodded eagerly and opened the book to the page she'd marked. Amongst the beautiful calligraphy was an illustration of a woman in a long gown, wearing a flower crown, lying in repose on a marble slab.
"So, what, we need Creek?" Bobo spread his hands.
"Why?" Olivia asked.
"True love's kiss." Bobo flushed with embarrassment as Olivia stared at him. "I've seen Disney movies!"
Olivia shrugged. "I've never liked the idea that some guy comes riding along, sees an unconscious woman and thinks 'Hey, maybe I'll stick my tongue down her throat!' Doesn't seem like true love to me."
Fiji tipped her head. "Maybe the prince and Snow White are supposed to be soulmates?"
Olivia scoffed. "True love or soulmate; do you really think Creek is Manfred's?"
Xylda scoffed too. "I don't believe in soulmates," she said. "People you are destined to meet, maybe. But one person that's some missing part of you? No. Even if I did, much as Creek is a cute little thing, I agree with the dangerous blonde. Creek isn't going be in your life forever."
Manfred considered this for a long moment. "I suppose you're right. Assuming I have a life I can go back to, I wasn't exactly planning on marrying her."
Fiji had moved onto another train of thought, that the hero was a prince, and perhaps nobility could be important.
Bobo snapped his fingers. "Isn't there that disease that only kings can heal, supposedly?"
Fiji frowned, deep in thought.
"Scrofula," Xylda supplied, though only Manfred could appreciate her knowledge. "Skin disease. Causes swelling of the lymph nodes."
Manfred sighed. "Great."
"Am I going to have to kidnap a prince or a duchess or something?" It was hard to tell if Olivia was joking. Manfred got the impression she'd do just that if necessary, and was rather moved that she cared enough to consider it.
Of course Lemuel owed Xylda, and as her grandson Manfred got a bit of goodwill from him and, by association, Olivia.
As if she'd heard his thoughts, Olivia said, "Maybe Lem will have some ideas when he wakes up."
Fiji was still poring over the pages. "Oh, in some versions of the story the prince didn't kiss Snow White. He fell in love and asked to have her moved to his castle so he could gaze on her beauty forever."
"That’s not at all creepy," Olivia said and Manfred agreed with her sarcasm.
Fiji ignored the jibe. "As they moved the glass coffin it was jolted against a stone or tree stump. The piece of apple was dislodged from her throat and Snow White awoke."
"Guess the dwarves didn't know the ABCs of resuscitation," Olivia said. "But Bobo and I both tried to clear Manfred's airway. Whatever's stuck in there, it's jammed in good and tight."
Bobo shook his head, brightening as he thought of something. "Oh, remember when Rasta tried to eat Chuy's car keys?"
Olivia did not; she'd been out of town, Bobo said but Fiji nodded.
"Joe and Chuy took him to the vets and they fished the keys out of Rasta's throat with a- a- what is it? Right, endcoscope." Bobo was pleased with this idea.
Manfred was less so, turning to Xylda. "Now they want to take me to the vets."
Xylda cackled and patted him on the shoulder.
Olivia was also not keen on the idea of any medical intervention. "They can do the same for humans but we can't take him to a hospital. They'll decide Manfred's dead and stick him in the morgue. God knows what will happen if they try and autopsy him. Nothing good, that's for sure. Not for him and not for Midnight."
Manfred agreed.
There followed a brief discussion on whether Olivia could steal the right equipment and if they could safely use it if she did.
"Surely there's something you know of that can help?" Manfred begged Xylda.
"Nothing I can do from this side of the Veil," Xylda said. And no easy way they could tell Fiji even if there was, the irony being that only Manfred could see and hear Xylda.
"I can't just do nothing!" Bobo folded his arms, shook his head again. "I'm going to find Creek."
He left the RV, slamming the door in his frustration.
"I think she got a lift into Davy with Chuy and Joe. Wanted to get her hair done," Fiji said, adding, to explain her not mentioning this to Bobo, "But he needed to get out of here."
Olivia drummed well-manicured nails on the table-top. "How does this spell work? Manfred's not breathing, let alone eating or drinking. How long can he stay like this? Will his body decompose? The glass coffin suggests otherwise, though Snow White wasn't dead for long, right? God, when did we start treating fairy tales as real! Still, I mean, will his muscles atrophy? Do we need to think about physical therapy?"
Fiji shrugged helplessly. "I don't know."
"I'll go and fetch some coffee," Olivia said, getting to her feet, as antsy at her inaction as Bobo had been. "This is turning into a long day and could be a longer night."
When Olivia had left, Fiji put the book aside and moved to where Manfred's body lay unmoving. "There's always a way to break a spell. I just have to discover it. I will find it, Manfred. I promise."
She stroked at Manfred's hair, her fingers then lightly running across his cheek and her hand moving down until she rested her palm over his unbeating heart.
Nearby, Manfred lowered his gaze, touched by Fiji's vow and gentle affection.
Fiji closed her eyes. "Think, Fiji, think. We can't use science so it has to be magic but they're not so different…"
Her eyes flew open. "It can't be that simple?"
"What?" Manfred stepped forward eagerly though Fiji couldn't be aware of his presence.
Fiji paced as much as the RV's interior allowed for. She was muttering, attempting to recall a spell if Manfred was guessing correctly. She kept trying to find the right words, discarding them, and then she spun on her heel.
Kneeling down, she placed one hand on Manfred's throat, holding the other palm up, and began to chant.
Despite - or perhaps because of - a lack of physical form in the earthly realm, Manfred could feel the magical energy building up.
"Rise," Fiji ordered.
Was she trying to resurrect him? Manfred wondered if necromancy was the best idea here.
"Rise. Come on, you fucker!"
Manfred didn't recall hearing Fiji swear before but he sympathised with her frustration even if he didn't appreciate the insult being thrown at him. He had no way to help her drag his spirit back into his body or he'd be doing it.
"That's it, I've got you," Fiji said, panting with exertion, and Manfred realised she wasn't talking to him or his spirit, but the chunk of apple lodged in his throat.
Olivia didn't need to steal an endoscope when Fiji could magically lift the blockage.
"A little more. Little more."
Manfred put his hand to his throat feeling a heaviness there while the rest of his spirit body seemed to be getting lighter.
"Go on," Xylda urged, giving him one last pat on the cheek. "Back in your body, Manny."
Manfred coughed and wheezed, eyes streaming. Regaining his physical form was a shock, like being plunged into a cold bath, the experience made worse by the struggle to breathe. Fiji dragged him onto his side as he retched and finally spat out the apple.
It was a few moments before he got his breath back. Fiji waited until he could sit up before she went to fetch him a bottle of water.
Manfred sipped at the water gratefully though the cool liquid burned his throat. He was equally thankful when Fiji handed him a damp cloth and he wiped his face clean.
"Better?" Fiji asked anxiously.
"Yes. Thank you." Manfred finished the water.
Fiji found a tissue and picked up the apple slice. She wrapped it in a second tissue and shoved it into her pocket rather than the trash.
"You saved my life."
"Maybe." Fiji brushed at her dark blue skirt. "Or gave it back. Or something."
He nodded.
"Are you all right?"
Manfred nodded. "Sore," he said, gesturing to his throat and torso. "Like I got in a fight while I was unconscious. And tired."
"Olivia was pretty rough giving you first aid," Fiji told him. "You'll probably have some bruises. I'll bring you a salve. Tired is to be expected."
Creek chose that moment to come flying into the RV, half-hysterical. Manfred winced as she shoved her way past Fiji and enveloped him a hug.
"Oh my God, Bobo said you were dead or something and that I should come and -"
It was a while before Manfred could interrupt her ramblings.
"I'm okay," he said. "I'm okay."
Bobo was standing in the doorway, grinning in delight, clearly relieved to see him awake. Manfred caught Bobo's eyes over Creek's shoulder and mouthed "Help" as Creek tightened her grip.
"What happened?" Creek asked. Bobo approached her.
"Can we talk about it tomorrow?" Manfred asked. "Please?"
Bobo nodded and put a hand on Creek's shoulder, leading her away. "Come on," he said. "Let Manfred get some rest. Fiji will take care of him." He bestowed a smile on Fiji that made her beam and then once again turned his attention to Manfred. "Glad you're feeling better."
Creek protested but Manfred closed his eyes and Bobo insisted until finally Creek allowed Bobo to escort her from the van.
Just as Bobo stepped back inside, Olivia returned with the coffee. Fiji explained what she'd done. They were all impressed though Fiji insisted Bobo had given the idea when talking about the vet.
Manfred let Bobo and Olivia help him into the house where, they decided, he'd sleep better. Olivia left as soon as she'd got him sitting on the edge of the bed. Bobo lingered for a moment, making him promise to call if he needed anything. Fiji entered the room, having disappeared while they'd made their slow but steady journey from the van to the bedroom.
"I'll stay with him and make sure he's fine," she said.
It was quiet when Bobo had left too and the silence was calming. Manfred kicked off his shoes and slid under the covers, adjusting the pillows so he could sit upright.
Fiji handed him a mug with a drawing of two nuzzling black cats and You put a spell on me written on it. "From my store," she said. "Slippery Elm and liquorice tea with plenty of honey. It will soothe your throat."
Manfred took careful sips. "That's good."
Fiji beamed and pulled a jar from her pocket, putting it on the bedside table. Manfred had never realised her skirts were so practical. "That's the salve I promised you. Rub it in before you sleep and again in a few hours or whenever you next wake up. I'll just be downstairs if you need anything."
"You don't have to stay."
"Unless you tell me you don't want me here I'm not leaving. You gave us all a scare," Fiji said. "I'll feel better if I stay here a while. Maybe even sleep on your couch tonight."
Manfred took a gulp of the tea. "Thank you. For everything."
He wanted to tell her, needed to talk to someone about it but he hesitated before he said, "I - I was there. In the van."
Fiji tipped her head, moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "What do you mean?" Her tone was gentle, non-judgemental.
"I guess it was an out of body experience. My spirit was watching it all; I could see you all in the RV and hear you, though you didn't know I was there. My grandmother was with me, so I wasn't alone, but it was disturbing to see my body lying there."
Fiji's lips formed an "oh" of sympathy. She put one hand on his thigh, over the covers. "It must have been terrible."
"Yes. But I also saw how you were all trying to help me. I've not had that kind of support in my life before. You saved me, Fiji. I owe you."
"No. It was the least I can do. We support each other here in Midnight. You know that."
Manfred nodded. "I heard what Olivia said about Creek too." He added, at Fiji's shocked expression, "Xylda agrees. I wasn't expecting more from Creek but I guess I have to face up to it. It's not going to be a long term relationship. Xylda doesn't believe in soulmates at all, by the way."
"I'm not sure I do either," Fiji said, wistful.
"Doesn't mean you can't be happy. Xylda seemed to think soulmate implied you were missing a piece of your soul and looking for it; you have to be whole. A lover should support you, not complete you." Manfred's voice was getting hoarse. He finished his tea, stifled a yawn.
Fiji took the empty mug. "That makes sense. I'll let you sleep. Maybe later we can talk about who might have done this. I kept the apple in case I can use it to uncover who cast the spell but that’s a long shot. It would be easier if you had any ideas who want to hurt you."
He shrugged. "We all have enemies," he said, and Fiji looked as sceptical as he'd felt when Xylda said it, but she left the room without another word.
Manfred applied the salve to the tender spots, wincing as he did so, but the scent was comforting and the salve eased the pain and shortly afterwards he fell into a deep and healing sleep.