Beyond A Substitute

arged from the hos

ded, monitored vitals, and adjusted IV fluids. Through it all, Kingsley said very little. But every time Katherine

the medicine, not the sterile sheets, not t

ing penthouse, Instead, he requested to be dropped off

here he wa

losed-down laundromat. It had peeling gray paint, creaky floorboa

just another forgotten sp

ngsley, it

quietly when Katherine steppe

a brown paper bag of groceries and he

but I just got it new, so I am still ma

began-his qu

t few days

a mattress lying directly on the bedroom floor, and a single table in the kitchen with t

filled in the ga

grilled chicken, homemade soup, or pancakes. She stocked his tiny fridge wit

urled up near the couch, always watch

ered, but she never s

space. She brought candles that smelled like fresh rain and lave

, and when Kingsley woke in the middle of the night, sweaty and breathless from dreams

l didn't

ot about who he was. Bu

r clean without saying a word. Just sitting there, eyes

his gaze and asked, "What?" with a s

would murmur. "T

he blushed an

arming. No, it was something deeper. Something distant. Like he was looking through her-l

ng at her across the room. There was something sacred about the w

ingsley had a past, and some parts of it were buried so d

e left the hospital that he began

. Just a

lone. He said he needed to feel the world again. The wind. The

him-a small plant he'd found at a street corner stand.

ilding. Quiet

tarted to shift,

ed low jazz when the sun went down. Katherine helped him hang n

egan to breat

harged from the h

ded, monitored vitals, and adjusted IV fluids. Through it all, Kingsley said very little. But every time Katherine

the medicine, not the sterile sheets, not t

ing penthouse, Instead, he requested to be dropped off

here he wa

losed-down laundromat. It had peeling gray paint, creaky floorboa

just another forgotten sp

ngsley, it

quietly when Katherine steppe

a brown paper bag of groceries and he

but I just got it new, so I am still ma

began-his qu

t few days

a mattress lying directly on the bedroom floor, and a single table in the kitchen with t

filled in the ga

grilled chicken, homemade soup, or pancakes. She stocked his tiny fridge wit

urled up near the couch, always watch

ered, but she never s

space. She brought candles that smelled like fresh rain and lave

, and when Kingsley woke in the middle of the night, sweaty and breathless from dreams

l didn't

ot about who he was. Bu

r clean without saying a word. Just sitting there, eyes

his gaze and asked, "What?" with a s

would murmur. "T

he blushed an

arming. No, it was something deeper. Something distant. Like he was looking through her-l

ng at her across the room. There was something sacred about the w

ingsley had a past, and some parts of it were buried so d

e left the hospital that he began

. Just a

lone. He said he needed to feel the world again. The wind. The

him-a small plant he'd found at a street corner stand.

ilding. Quiet

tarted to shift,

ed low jazz when the sun went down. Katherine helped him hang n

egan to breat