I Should Die

His breathing was shallow, and although I knew he wasn’t sleeping—couldn’t sleep . . . until his next dormancy—it seemed he wasn’t quite here either. I left him to rest and went to dig through Theo’s bookcase, settling for a coffee table book about Edith Wharton’s New York. I wasn’t surprised in the least when I saw mention of a Theodore Gold being one of Wharton’s circle, and smiled when I spotted him among a crowd of people at a society ball, wearing tails and a top hat.
    I kept checking on Vincent, but after a couple of hours, when he hadn’t budged, I put my book aside and went to look out the windows. I heard movement from the other side of the room and turned to see Jules watching me from his couch.
    “What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
    “Oh, nothing,” he responded. “Just that you come all the way back home and spend your whole time here cooped up in an apartment. Kind of depressing, isn’t it?”
    “Well, I did see a secret collection of supernatural-themed art hidden in the basement of the Met. That’s not too bad,” I retorted with a mock frown.
    “Wanna take a walk?” Jules said, pushing himself up off the couch and walking toward me. “It’s my first time in New York, and if I don’t pass out from blood loss, I’d like to see a little bit. Would you do me the honor of being my tour guide?”
    “But I shouldn’t leave . . . ,” I began.
    He took my hand and pulled me toward the door. “Vincent will heal faster without you hovering around worrying over him. Right, Vince?” Jules called as he grabbed our coats.
    Vincent murmured, “Show Jules New York, Kate, or I’ll never hear the end of it,” and pulled the blanket higher around his head.
    “See?” Jules said to me, and opened the door to the hallway. “Rest up, man,” he called back to Vincent, his voice now completely serious. “We just got you back. Now we need you to get stronger.”

TWENTY-NINE
    “WE’RE ONLY LEAVING VINCENT FOR A COUPLE OF hours, right?” I asked as we got onto the elevator, suddenly afraid that he might disappear while we were gone.
    “Is that long enough to take me up the Empire State Building?” Jules asked.
    I studied his face to see if he was joking. “You really want to go to the Empire State Building?” I asked. “The most touristy thing to do in New York City?”
    He nodded sheepishly. “I know. But how can I miss it? I saw the original King Kong in 1933 and have been wanting to go ever since.”
    “So your interest is purely from a cinematic history point of view,” I teased him.
    The elevator doors opened and Jules held his hand out gallantly to allow me to step off first. “There’s that,” he said, once again confident, “as well as the fact that I’ve always dreamed of standing at the top of the Empire State Building with a beautiful girl.”
     
    By the time Jules and I got back to Theo’s apartment everyone had assembled for dinner. Vincent had propped some cushions behind him and was now sitting up. “For you!” I said, holding up the enormous bag of clothes and shoes we had bought at Macy’s after we were done playing tourists.
    “A special present for a special recovering dead guy,” Jules jibed, visibly relieved to see that his friend looked stronger after just a few hours. “We thought you might want to change out of those overalls at some point, and I’d like my T-shirt back.”
    “Just as soon as I take a shower,” Vincent said. “I keep picking little bits of clay out of my hair. No joke.” He ran his fingers through his black locks and grimaced.
    He sounded like old Vincent again, not feeble Vincent who looked close to death this morning. “Have you eaten?” I asked, sitting next to him on the couch.
    “Don’t care about food. Come here,” he said, and taking my face in his hands firmly kissed my forehead and then my lips, scanning the room as he did so to see if Papy was looking. He was. So the kiss was short and sweet. “More later,” he whispered.
    “You should stay here tonight, Vincent,” said Theo, who was spreading an impressive array of take-out menus in front of Papy and Bran. “Even though you’re feeling stronger, I don’t think you should move to the hotel until tomorrow. And I’ve scheduled your plane to leave the following morning.”
    “We’re here another day and a half?” Vincent asked, surprised. “I really think Jean-Baptiste will need Jules and me before