“Definitely. Sometimes I pinch myself when I lie alone in bed at night because I can’t believe that all of this is actually real. Ouch! Hey? What's that for?” A sharp pain shoots through my body from my back.
“It’s all real, see?” Dayyan tries hard to maintain a serious look, but his lips twitch and the first laugh lines form around his eyes.
“How do you do that?”
“What?” The smile breaks through and I laugh along with him.
“You make everything so easy.”
“Superpower. The details are super confidential, sorry, can’t tell you.”
I throw my head back. “You’re impossible.”
“But you love me for it.” He looks up at me defiantly, and I surrender.
“Not just for that, but for so much more. I love you. Period.”
Chapter 44
Jannis
One year later
The phone rings. The alarm clock shows 3:27 a.m. Why is the phone ringing in the middle of the night? And why isn’t anyone answering it? Dayyan’s parents should’ve been back home long ago.
“Dayyan, phone.” I shake his shoulder emphatically, but all I get in return is a sleepy “Parents...”
“But they’re not answering. Looks like they’re not back yet.”
That gets his attention. “What? But ...? Huh, that’s the doorbell.”
And I think we both realize at the same moment that this is not good. Dayyan looks panicked, all the color drains from his face, I’ve never seen him like this before.
“Dad! Mom!” But no one answers. I hear his footsteps in the house, a bedroom door creaks open. When I don’t hear any voices, I climb out of bed and run after him, Flocke straight on my heels. Whatever is happening here, Dayyan needs me.
I grab his hand the moment he opens the door. Two policemen and a middle-aged woman in plain clothes are standing there.
“No. No. NO!” Dayyan’s scream is loud as he collapses next to me.
“Mr. Saleh, Dayyan Saleh?” Shit, my phone is upstairs and Dayyan isn’t answering. Fuck. My heart is beating three times as fast as usual, but somehow I’m functioning. I quickly wave the three of them in and close the door.
My legs are shaking as I pull Dayyan to his feet and wave again to motion the police officers to follow. He clings to my T-shirt with both hands.
“We don’t know what happened yet,” I whisper in his ear, but Dayyan shakes his head vehemently.
We fall into the soft cushions of the spacious sofa area, and I grab the tablet that is always ready for me to use for communication. Dayyan sits next to me staring into space. Flocke tries her best, nudging him softly, but not even she gets a reaction.
The police officers look at me expectantly, and I function as I did when I was six years old, when my mother lied dead in the apartment and I took care of myself for over a week. “I have selective mutism. I won’t speak to you, but I understand you.”
No sooner have I typed the words than I turn the tablet around.
“Thank you, may I ask who you are?” The question comes from the woman who looks at Dayyan sympathetically.
“Jannis Delfosse, he’s my boyfriend, he can stay, please.” I gently place my hand on the back of his neck and Dayyan’s head falls onto my shoulder.
“Mr. Saleh, we’re sorry, but we have to inform you that your parents were involved in a serious car accident. Help came too late and they were declared dead at the scene.” Dayyan hadexpected this news, that’s why he is so calm now. He knew it when they weren’t in their bedroom and the two officers at the door were the confirmation. A lonely tear runs down his cheek, and I reach for his hand.
“Both of them?”
