39. The Oracle

Jaz rushed into the hospital, his flip flops smacking against the lino as he scoured the corridors in search of Sage.

"Jaz!" Sage called out, spotting him first. She looked a mess. Her eyes were blood-shot from crying and her hair was wild from her repeatedly running her fingers through it.

"Sage." He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her into a hug.

"How's Ezekiel?" He asked, feeling Sage's tears fall against his shoulder.

"He's in theatre."

Sage clutched onto the front of Jaz's Hawaiian shirt, as if afraid he'd disappear. But Jaz wasn't going anywhere. He stroked Sage's hair soothingly.

"The surgeons will do their best." He soothed her.

Sage didn't reply. Instead, she buried her face against Jaz's chest.

"What happened?" Jaz asked, frowning. Not long after Sage had called him, asking if Ezekiel was at the cafe, she'd called him again. But this time it had been to tell him that Ezekiel had been stabbed and was being rushed to hospital.

Sage bit her lip. A crowd of people were headed briskly down the corridor and Jaz pulled Sage to the side to save her from being mowed down.

"Jaz... I think there's something weird with my eyes." Sage's voice was small but Jaz heard her. He nodded slowly.

"Given where they come from." He glanced around, wary of anyone over-hearing. "That's not entirely surprising. What's different with them?"

Sage swallowed nervously and looked up, meeting Jaz's anxious gaze.

"I think... I think that I can see things that I... shouldn't be able to see. Things I'm not present for, things that are happening miles away, and..."

"And?"

"Things that haven't happened yet."

The hospital had a canteen. Jaz and Sage sat at table with two untouched coffees in front of them. Killing time whilst they waited for news.

"I think you're an oracle, Sage." Jaz mused thoughtfully.

"An oracle?"

He nodded. Sage gestured for him to explain and Jaz relented.

"There was a time when oracles were widely accepted. Hell, they weren't even uncommon. If you lost a family heirloom – you went to an oracle to help you find it again. If you were unsure about a business venture – you went to the oracle. Your nan would go to an oracle if she was worried about the girl you were marrying."

"What happened to them?"

"Oracles were the mouth pieces of the gods. When the gods retreated to Olympus– they disappeared also." Jaz shrugged.  "Conmen tried to replace them, but it wasn't easy to fake the sight, not over a long period of time. Generations went by and, having known only quack oracles, people assumed that all oracles were and had always been fake. They assumed that their ancestors had been fools, because that was easier than the truth."

"The truth?"

"That ancient knowledge and magic had left the world."

"But now, because of these eyes... I'm an oracle?" Sage was restlessly tearing a napkin to pieces.

"With practise, you might be able to control it. Like the oracles of the past did."

Sage swallowed it.

"I could have saved him."

"Sage..."

But Sage shook her head, refusing to be consoled.

"I could have saved him. When I saw him last, and we said goodbye..." Her voice trembled. "I told him that a bony hand would cover his eyes. I saw it. I saw the reaper, a creature of bone with black robes and scythe. I saw it's hand over Ezekiel's face." Tears rolled down her face. "And I ignored it."

"You didn't know, Sage. You had no way of knowing what it meant."

Sage sobbed.

"But now I do." She bowed her head. "He's going to die, isn't he?" She'd seen death close Ezekiel's eyes. She'd already made the prophecy. "He's going to die." Her shoulders shook as she wept. Jaz stroked her back, but had no words to offer.

Sage's heart felt like it was tearing. "I... I can't lose him like this." She wept, her words hard to understand through her tears. "He's always taken care of me."

She remembered a night, months ago,  when the gangs had been at war, and Ezekiel had slept on her sofa to ensure that she was safe. She'd misunderstood him back then. Regret made her tears fall faster.

"During my obsession, he gave me his clothes to wear so that I could sleep better. And when I lost my eyes, he was always there to help me." She covered her face with her hands.  "I should have taken care of him!"

"Sage, Ezekiel wouldn't want you to be like this." But these words only made Sage's crying worse.

"Why did he do so many things for someone as useless as me!?" She howled.

Later, Sage went to the ladies to splash water on her face. On her way back to Jaz, she walked through the hospital concourse. There were less people about the place now. She guessed that it was the early hours in the morning. A cleaner was mopping the floors. And a heavily pregnant woman in pyjama's was pacing, looking bored and flushed. Sage's steps were slow. She had nothing to rush for. They were just waiting for news, and Sage already knew it would be bad. Dear God...

Sage froze suddenly when the thought crossed her mind. She'd begun a prayer in her mind. But now, she finally remembered Ares.

"Ares." She called his name out loud. "Ares!" She called louder, not caring that the cleaner was casting her funny looks. Ares was a god. Surely, a god could save Ezekiel. He could freeze time, help the surgery. Anything that might save him.

Sage turned and bolted for the hospital's main doors. The revolving doors moved slowly, but eventually Sage made it out – to the crisp air of dawn. "ARES!" She yelled. She needed him.

But Ares didn't appear.

Sage frowned. Why wasn't Ares coming?

"You were gone a long time." Jaz commented when Sage sat back down on the chair opposite him. Sage's expression was strange.

"I was supposed to meet Ares tonight."

Jaz didn't reply, though Sage was looking at him – her gaze hard. "Did you see him back at the café?"

Jaz looked down at his second coffee.

"Hmm." He replied non-committedly.

"I've tried calling him. But he's not appearing."

"Ares might have heard your conversation with me on the phone." Jaz admitted reluctantly. "The first one. When you were looking for Ezekiel."

Sage closed her eyes. Her brain was a mess, she couldn't really remember what she'd said in that phone call. She'd been in a panic. But she could guess.

Ares had misunderstood. And now he was gone again. For how long this time?

A few days? A few months?

She twisted the bracelet Ares had given her, rotating it around her wrist. He'd called it a symbol of his love.

"Sage?" Jaz murmured her name hesitantly.

"I'm fine. Ares will be back." She'd trust that he loved her and that he wasn't gone for good. "Ezekiel is the priority now. I can't... think about anything else." Anything else was too much.

Jaz stared at the bracelet; his eyes drawn to it. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again, changing is mind. Now wasn't the time.

Ezekiel survived the surgery, but his condition remained critical. Sage sat in a chair by his bed. Ezekiel's lads had forced the hospital to provide a private room for their boss. A few of the gangsters were positioned outside the door, others were manning the doors to the ward – guarding their master. The nurses were skittish but Sage found the gangsters presence reassuring. They cared about Ezekiel. Just like she did.

The Mad Dog looked too large for his bed. His feet overhung slightly and the covers looked like baby blankets compared with his bulk. The hospital gown revealed more of Ezekiel's tattoos than he normally displayed. Sage had questions about them. She wished that she'd asked for the stories behind them. It was too late now. The machines beeped, monitoring his condition. Sage wondered how long he had. She dreaded hearing the machines go silent.

"Excuse me boys." Purred a seductive female voice. Sage stiffened. She recognised that voice. The lads hadn't been letting anyone inside the room, aside from hospital staff, but something about this woman made them instinctively obey. She had a beautiful aura, one that demanded worship and adoration. "Don't mind little old me." She simpered. "I'm here to chat with Sage."

Aphrodite caught Sage's eyes and smiled radiantly. Sage glanced nervously to Ezekiel and then back to the goddess. The goddess of love had chosen a strange time to make a re-appearance.

With little choice, Sage followed Aphrodite back out into the corridor to talk in private.

"Have you come to curse me again?" Sage asked, her tone clipped. Aphrodite shook her head, her long hair cascading down her back with the movement.

"I've come to make you an offer."

"I'm not interested." Sage growled. She was in no mood for Aphrodite's games.

"No? Not even I offer to save the dying man in the bed back there."

Sage's stomach dropped.

"You could save him?" She asked, her attitude immediately different. Aphrodite nodded. Sage quickly dropped to her knees.

"Please." Sage didn't mind begging. She'd stay on her knees how ever long it took. She'd grovel, if it meant that Ezekiel could live.

"Whilst this is fun." Aphrodite purred, clearly enjoying herself. "It's not what I want most."

Sage looked up at the goddess of love.

"Tell me." She held the goddess' gaze. "Tell me what you want me to do. And I'll do it. I swear."

Aphrodite's eyes shone with triumph. She always won in the end.