"But, you did. I saw you. When you yelled. In front of the house."

"Oh, that. I was using the lens to watch your meeting. When you told me to split I took a peek." She shook her head. "I'm an embarrassment to my profession. What a great photo op. I could kill myself."

Geoff wiggled his fingers, and flexed his wrist. "I don't think it's broken. Hurts like mad, though." He inhaled. Ribs seemed intact. "Oh, crap, look at that. They ruined my favorite T-shirt."

"I wish I'd gotten pictures of you. That was amazing. I didn't know you knew karate. Is that what that was?"

"That's what it was supposed to be. I've studied martial arts since I was a kid, but I never use it outside the classroom. Who were those guys?"

"I recognized the big fella," Glenn said.

"Yeah, Shoulders, from Union Station," he said.

"What did he say to you?"

"Shane?"

"No, the big guy, Shoulders. I thought he said something to you."

"Oh, something about questions. He didn't want anybody to get hurt."

"Maybe not, but those other two meant business."

"I wonder if they were together," Geoff said. "If the second group was their back-up? They were aiming to make us extinct."

"The one who grabbed me could have opened my carotid artery in a heartbeat."

"If he wanted. Which means he didn't want to. So, they wantedme dead, andyou alive?"

"I don't understand any of this. Except that I owe you my life. If you hadn't been there..."

"Think nothing of it, little lady," he said.

Glenn smiled at him. "That's the worst John Wayne I've ever heard."

"Take Piney Branch to Adelphi. We'll go in that way." Geoff waved his finger toward the windshield, and changed positions. "Man, that hurts. Now that the numbness has worn off."

"I'm going to get some stuff from the drug store, and don't try to talk me out of it."

Glenn pulled into a shopping center. Revco was open. She purchased gauze, hydrogen peroxide, ace and butterfly bandages, and aspirin. Then, she went next door to a liquor store, and bought a quart of overproof rum and a six-pack of Coke. Geoff was staring up at the dome light when she returned. All the life seemed to have drained out of him.

"Radio," he said. "Tune in the news."

"Think they'll mention Bleetz?"

"Photographer gets cooked in his own tub. Sounds like news to me."

They were in the student parking lot by the time the update came on. The announcer gave the details. Phil Bleetz, nationally known photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner, was found dead in his Prince George's studio apartment. There was a brief biography. Then, the statement that the police were investigating, but it appeared to be suicide.

"Suicide?" she said.

"That must be what they're telling the press."

"You know what's sad? Nobody will care. There's no widow or children. That's sad, isn't it? What kind of life is that?"

Geoff nodded. "Makes you think."

"How tragic to go through life without making a ripple. To leave the world without leaving a hole."

"Nature abhors a vacuum," he said.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"I think it means I'm delirious."

"Can you walk? I'll carry this stuff, but I can't carry you."

"Head for Byrd Stadium."

Glenn put her nose in the air. "Can't smell it without a game going on. No hot dogs, no perspiration. I'm trying to be amusing, to get your mind off your pain."

"Keep trying." Geoff inhaled. "Ah, the cold air feels good. Look at you. You look like a Sherpa. Let me carry something."

"Oh, I forgot. Only a flesh wound. Here, take the Coke. Are you warm enough? Don't want you to catch your death."

"I don't intend to die from the cold. When I go, I'm going to go out in a blaze of glory. How do you want to go?" he asked.

"I want to go like a Jedi Knight, like Yoda. You live a jillion years, and then just fade away. Then, I'd go around haunting people. What do you think would be the worst way to die?"

"Never thought about it," Geoff said.

"I want to go fast. Suicide would be bad. You dwell on it. Then, at some point, there must come a moment's hesitation when you think to yourself, 'this was a bad idea'. At least, that the way it seems to me."

Geoff's dormitory was cold and empty, and they made their way up to the third floor, and his room.

She said, "I don't want to hear any arguments. Drink this Coke out of the bottle down to about the top of the label." While he did that, she cracked open the rum. "This is pure alcohol, it'd eat away your insides if you consumed it undiluted. It will kill the pain...if it don't kill you first. Not really kill it, you just won't care about anything." She filled the Coke bottle with the rum, and swished it around. "That should water it down, and still give you a buzz. Go ahead. Sip, swallow, sip. This is not lite beer." She removed his blood-caked shirt, and he wilted like a limp wash rag. "I'm not crazy about blood."

"Sit down. I'll do it."

"I've got it. Once we wipe away the blood, it won't be bad."

Glenn cleansed the wound, then held the stained gauze away from her like a squished cockroach. She put it in the trash, and returned to Geoff who was guzzling the Coke. She packed the wound, and held it in place by wrapping an ace bandage around him.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself. How does it feel?"

"Good." Geoff looked at the bandage, and touched his side. "I feel like a mummy. Don't be afraid. I won't haunt you. Have I had enough to drink?"

"How do you feel?"

"Woozy. I think I've had enough."

"How about your arm? It's starting to bruise. Maybe I should wrap it. We ought to have a cold compress, but we don't have any ice."

"It's not broken. But, could have a hairline fracture I 'spose," he said.

She wrapped his right forearm, then stepped back to look at her handiwork. "Better put a clean shirt on. Where do you keep them?"

"I'm going to lie down now."

"That's a good idea."

Glenn helped him under the covers, then stepped back. He looked so peaceful. She could only imagine what that must feel like. She started pacing the floor, then stopped to look out the window. She took another turn around the room, then perched on Geoff's desk, drew her feet up on the chair, and wrapped her wrists around her knees. When the silence became unbearable, she took a couple of drags on the Coke. Then, she capped it, and placed it out of reach.

"What are you so somber about?"

Geoff lifted himself off the mattress, and put his head in his hands. He looked crumpled, like a wadded up piece of paper somebody had thrown away.

"I was just thinking."

"Uh-oh. About what?" he asked.

"I didn't mean it," she said, quietly. "All that talk about wanting Phil dead, and how nobody would miss him. I didn't mean it."

"I know that."

"I hated him. I wanted to kill him, well, maim him anyway. But, when I realize he's gone forever, I feel a loss, I guess that's it. Loss." She paused. "Am I gutless, or what?"

"Gutless? Because you value human life?"

"Don't get carried away. I never said Phil was human."

"You just don't think anybody deserves to be murdered."

"Is that what I said? No, I think people pretty much get what they deserve. At least I used to think that. Lately, it seems like I'm trapped in some cosmic pinball game."

"The cosmic gamester is going to have to come up with something scarier."

"Scarier than death? What's scarier than death?"

"I don't know. Life?"

"Very Zen. I also can't stop wondering if they are the same guys who killed Phil, and if we're next. I keep going over it, and over it."

"You need to get your mind off it. If you keep thinking about death you're going to attract it to us."

"I don'twant to think about it. Can't help it."

"There's a Scottish belief that death is attracted by the scent of the grave, like sharks on a trail of blood. There's a way to keep death from your door."

"Death repellent?" Glenn asked, with a smirk.

Geoff sat up on the edge of the bed. "In the old days people believed spirits roamed the earth. Spirits were powerful, but not very bright. You could fool them by wearing masks. All except Death. It takes something powerful to defeat him." Geoff got to his feet, and came toward her. "The only thing that will shake the scent of the grave from you is something life-affirming. Thus, the funeral wake. People gather in the presence of the corpse to eat, drink, and enjoy the company of the living."

"Living well is the best revenge?"

"Living. Period. It's the antidote for Death." Geoff put his lips in the crook of Glenn's neck. "I saw Death creeping up on you. Don't look now, but he's right behind you."

"Are you trying to scare me, or seduce me?"

"I'm chasing Death away." His lips brushed her ear lobe.

"And, this will trick Death?"

"What is more life-affirming than procreation?" He kissed the side of her face.

"You sure you want to tangle with me? You could get hurt," she said.

"You still don't think I'm man enough for you?"

"You are wounded. I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"That reminds me of a song. Want to hear it? I wrote it for you."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." She looked at him, and smiled. "You're good. I know you're lying, and yet, I almost believe you."

"Hush." He leaned close. "I breathe you inside me, The perfume of your name. The fire in your eyes makes my soul catch flame." He took her hand, and placed it on his chest. "Your touch melts my heart, With love's sacred pain, Come wound me at last." He cupped her chin in his hand. "Consume me again."

He kissed her, and she found herself believing the old ways. She put her forehead against his. "How does that go again? Your touch melts my heart ." She placed his hand on her chest. "With love's sacred pain?"

"Come wound me at last." His hand followed the contour of her figure.

"Come wound me," she said. "Consume me again."

His eyes played over her face as he traced a heart around her lips. She slipped her flannel shirt off her shoulders, and his fingertips touched her T-shirt. He ran his soft lips across the curve of her neck.

"This feels all wrong," he said. "You deserve better than this. Candlelight and Champagne, satin sheets. Give me a second," he said. "I know where I can find some candles, at least."

Geoff roamed around, finding candles, and lighting them. Then, he turned off the lights. When he returned, he swept her into his arms, crushing her against his bandaged chest.

"I love you," he said. "I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you."

"You did not. You were nasty to me."

"I had to be, because I loved you."

"Stop saying that."

"Would you rather just go through the motions? Wouldn't you rather hear the words, if they come from my heart?" He held her at arm's length. "What's the matter?"