#the squirrels continue their deviant behaviour

[incompleteninny]

The one-hundred and fifth free, unedited chapter of my upcoming book, “The Heist at Cordia Aquarium” is now available on its website (or click https://www.kitfisto.gay/chapters/thea to read from the beginning).

Not a memory; not a ghost; not a disembodied voice. It's her: Gina, surrounded by beeping instruments and IV drips. Her body is less than flesh, but more than bone. A gown hangs from her jagged shoulders and disappears — alongside countless cables and tubes — beneath bunched thermal blankets. What remains of her hair sits smooth against her scalp, brushed and gathered into a ponytail. Waylon lurches toward her. How? "I'll let you two have the stage." Albert says. A pause, then heels clack, fading toward the door. Gina raises a hand is if to catch the sound. "Wait, Albert." She tugs on a bundle of cables. "Get the nurses to come take these damn things off, will you." Fabric swishes. Albert, making some grand gesture — their unworn sleeves sweeping after their arms. "As you wish." They say. Waylon hears the exchange of words, but each syllable falls from his ears. Nothing worth committing to memory. He staggers to Gina's side. There's an armchair near her bed, facing her. Crisp, clean, deliberately placed. Everything according to Albert's machinations. Waylon doesn't care: he collapses into it. [...]