Hello my friends ! First of all I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas 🙂 I hope you are spending a marvelous moment with your families and friends. Christmas usually means gifts ! And precisely, I have a beautiful gift to offer you : Chapter 9 of Free Fall : Renaissance 😀 It is really the Chapter I was waiting to be able to write, because it is finally the moment for the true « reunion » of Marc and Kay ! What is going to happen ? Read and discover ^^

Chapter 9

Kay and me leave the train station silently. My heart is racing. I still can’t realize he is finally here, for real, by my side. Not somewhere else. Not in an altered state of mind. Not unanimated. He gives me a little look sideways and smiles at me. I answer him by a hidden smile, almost embarrassed.

We walk for several minutes and got to the banks of the Rhine, where we take advantage of the sun to site on a bench facing the river. I was sure it would be necessary for us to speak, at least to explain things to each other, because Kay has probably suffered a lot. He will want to talk about it.

– I never thought I would see you again, Marc, he begins. I had scrapped you after I left. You were the only support I had in the Task and you abandoned me. I know it was not an easy situation for you. You were taken between Bettina, your son, your job, your obligations, and me. Maybe I have asked too much from you, he throws at me. But I was at least hoping to have a shoulder on which to rest a little. Yours.

I feel the weight of responsibility and fault falling on me. He is not wrong. I look at him straight in the eyes.

– Kay, I … it’s true, you’re right. I didn’t know how to get through. I’m gonna be honest with you : I decided to break off all contact because I thought what I was doing was a mistake. That you were just an affair. This is only when Bettina came back that I realized how much I was wrong.

I mark a pause and contemplate the river again. I feel Kay fixing his gaze upon me.

– Why did you come back, Marc ? he asks me.

– I understood it was not only that. That it was so much more. You opened something in me Kay. Something I didn’t know about. You freed the real Marc. My life was so dull, so morose, so monotonous and so uniform. The only thing that motivated me, was to know I was about to be a father. Then you appeared. You changed all that. With you I was feeling myself. But I didn’t handle the situation as I should have. I was incapable of assuming. I didn’t admit things. And finally I have tumbled in free fall. Kay, if only you could know how sorry I am. You were right, when we argued in your apartment. I have only been a careless selfish. I only thought about myself. And when I finally realized all of this, I wanted to come back to you, I went to your apartment, but your were not there. You were gone. Kay, I felt so alone, so lost without you. I realized I loved you. Yes, that I was deeply in love with you. And that I didn’t want to leave you anymore.

Tears reach my eyes again.

– Hey, Marc, says Kay softly to me while taking my hand. The fact that you’re saying me all of this, it’s already resolving a big part of things. Why didn’t you confess all of this to before ?

– I didn’t have the nerve to do it. It was impossible for me at that time.

Kay brushed my face with his fingers. It gives me shivers all around my body.

– I also have something to admit to you, he announces me. I want to apologize too. I asked you too much. In a way, I have also been selfish, because I wanted you only for myself. I didn’t consider the fact that you already had a family. I thought I could reap you from your wife and your son, and it was not fair. I was furious. Furious not to have you by my side every night. I almost screwed up your carrier, because if someone had learnt for the both of us, goodbye the police.

His speech makes a world of good to me, because I feel that an abscess is burst. He gets up from the bench.

– Come, I take you, let’s continue this discussion in my home. I want to be alone with you.

Twenty minutes later, we arrive in the new apartment of Kay, located in the town centre, in a beautiful area. He goes directly to the fridge and grabs two bears, which he uncaps. His apartment possesses a small balcony on which we head. It reminds me the good old time.

– Why did you leave ? I finally dare to ask.

– You forget you are the one who advised me to get away, he answers me with an accusing tone.

– It’s true but … I didn’t think what I was saying.

– Anyway, I didn’t have much choice. As soon as Gregor Limpinski and the others learnt for me, I was fucked up. Gregor has started harassing me. After the little party at your house, he has found me and beaten me up, as you have noticed the last time we have seen each other …

I suddenly feel a lot guilty. I don’t know what to answer. Kay does it for me.

– But it has not stopped there. I have learnt few days later by Britt that he had been fired. For having assaulted you. I had taken a room in a small seedy hotel outside of town. Someone had given him my phone number. First, he called me. He was threatening me, saying that everything was my fault, that if I had not joined the team none of this would have happened. He has clearly made it clear to me that he wanted me dead. He was totally disturbed, crazy. I have shut down my phone line.

This explains why I have not been able to call Kay when I came back in his apartment.

– And I don’t know how, one night, he has found my hotel. He was vociferating outside of my room, completely drunk. I acted like I was not there. The next morning, I have fled somewhere else, hoping he would leave me in peace. I was not really afraid, I was just wishing to forget everything, including you, because it was too hard. Anyhow, no one was able to help me. In this story, I was alone.

I can’t believe it.

– Kay, I am so sorry. I didn’t imagine that this had come to such disproportionate consequences. We had not heard of Gregor anymore after Werner Brandt fired him.

– This is not your fault. So after that, I have moved to a new city. The fact remains that he has, I don’t know how, managed to trace me back. He had the address of my new apartment, and I have been forced to flee in haste, once again. It seemed like he wouldn’t stop until he would be able to destroy me. He shifts all his miseries upon me. So I have decided to go away even further, here, in Düsseldorf. I have not heard of him since two months now, I’m finally free.

Without warning, I seize him and hold him tight in my arms, as to protect him. He plunges his face in my shoulder.

– Kay, I am there now. And I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you from now on.

I take the photograph where we are together out of my pocket and show it to him.

– I’ve been there, I say, in this studio. I didn’t even know you were drawing. I realize I was ignoring so many things about you.

– We ignored a lot of things about each other, he adds. Stuck in our hidden relationship, we didn’t really have the time and opportunity to get to know better each other. Now we will be able to make up for the lost time. Drawing allowed me to keep a fragment of you by my side. But it was just an illusion.

We continue to discuss about everything and nothing, to look back on the good moments of the past, while trying to avoid the bad ones. Then we realize that several hours have passed. It is almost 8pm.

– Come, announces Kay. I invite your for dinner. I’m starving.

– With pleasure.

We go out in an Italian restaurant from town centre. We spend most of the meal to observe each other with knowing glances, as if the last three months where we haven’t seen each other had disappeared from our memories. I feel an unreal joy invading me. All I have ever dreamt of since Kay has gone is happening. I finally find him again, and we laugh together.

After the diner, we head back to Kay’s place. The night has fallen. The atmosphere is calm, serene and relaxing. We go on the balcony to smoke a cigarette. The moon is full.

– Kay, you scared the hell out of me last week, I can’t prevent myself from saying. When I found you in this bar, I really thought you were dead. Why have you done such a thing ?

– I was desperate. I was feeling like my life had no more meaning, no more sense. I have gotten out as I usually did, and I have drunk. Too much. Mixed that with pills. I don’t know what the fuck I was doing. Thanks for saving my life by giving your blood. The entire week I have felt miserable. Pathetic. I have really hesitated to come find you at the railway station. I was ashamed by what you could be thinking.

Kay gets closer to me and nestles in my arms. I feel he needs affection. He who could sometimes seem so detached. I embrace him.

– It’s a fortunate thing that you found me, he continues. Think about it, how many chances was there that you discover me there, at this place ? I think it is fate that has reunited us. If two persons are meant to be together, eventually they find their way back.

– Do you really believe that ? I ask.

– Yes.

– So do I, I admit. When you were not there anymore, it is my faith in you that has helped me resisting against chaos.

I approach my lips near Kay’s and kiss him passionately. He answers my invitation, and I feel both our tongues joining together tastily. My hands go down along his body. I take off his t-shirt, and I feel he is doing the same thing with mine. Little by little, we go back inside the apartment while leaving the doors of the balcony wide opened. We throw ourselves on the bed and remove tenderly the rest of our clothes. No light is opened. Only the moonlight illuminates our naked bodies, stuck against each other. A little breeze fills in the room and the transparent curtains of the balcony’s doors float in the air. The place is plunged in a bluish, nocturnal atmosphere.

I hold Kay so tight against me, I contemplate his eyes and his magnificent body. I don’t want to release him. His soft hands are caressing my legs, my back, my chest and my face, propelling me in a kaleidoscope of unimaginable sensations. I also kiss Kay’s body. I savour every bite, every inch of his porcelain skin. I feel the excitement of my senses rocketing.

We start to make love in a delicate back and forth, full of tenderness. Kay grabs my hand. He gently deposits a delicious kiss over all my fingers. My mouth nibbles and titillates his chest, his nipples, his neck, his cheeks, and his ears. I can’t stop myself from breathing the exquisite perfume of his golden hair. Waves of intense pleasure go throughout our two bodies, both merging and melting into one another.

All notions of time have disappeared, as when we met up again at the train station, and I ignore how many minutes, even hours, lasts our delicious embrace, until we reach the point of no-return where we come together at the same time while kissing each other.

A few moments later, shut-away in our bubble of affection, where we feel like nothing can affect us, we fall asleep peacefully in each other’s arms.

We are awakened the next morning by the first beams of the sun, which come tickle our faces. I realize I am drowsed on Kay’s torso, my hands around his stomach.

– Hello you, he whispers while plunging his hands in my dishevelled hair.

I lift up, approach my face near his and kiss him.

– I feel like I’m waking up in Paradise, I say while smiling.

We stay in the bed lazing one more hour, enjoying the present moment. Then we finally decide to get out of the bed. We take a shower together, the occasion for us to spend a new complicit moment, and for me to admire the beauty of Kay. I massage and wash carefully every part of his body which seems fragile. I feel the deep need to protect him. I discover on his right arm the scar of the transfusion from last week. As to erase a bad memory, I pass my hand over it with some soap.

After having washed and prepared ourselves, we get out to have breakfast outside. We spend the rest of the Sunday in Cologne, near Düsseldorf, to walk, discuss, laugh, as if nothing had changed, as if it was like a first love, innocent and pure. We don’t give a damn about the look people may give on us. We visit the Dom, Cologne’s huge cathedral, and finish the day by going to the beautiful zoo of the city.

Then it is time to come back to Düsseldorf, and for me to go home. On our way back, we remain silent in Kay’s car, hand in hand, because we know that in less than one hour, we will no longer be together until next time. Back at the apartment, I pack my stuff and Kay escorts me to the train station. I feel sadness rising up in me. The kind of sadness that is gut-wrenching when you have to leave a person you care a lot about before a long journey.

– I don’t want to leave, I say silently.

Kay joins me and takes me in his arms. I put my head on his shoulder. I savour this last moment we have left before my departure.

– And me I wish so much that you stay. But you have to leave. Your son is waiting for you.

– I come back next weekend, promised.

– Marc, I have spent two formidable days by your side. I would have never imagined before last week that we would find back together. I had abandoned so much hope that I had forgotten the possibility that it could happen. For me it was just an illusion. I have not even tried to come back to you. Thank your for having had this courage, this strength, to find me. It means a lot to me, more than you can imagine. No one has ever done this for me.

I deposit a kiss on his lips, then get into the train which just arrived. I turn back..

– See you next week, I throw at him.

– Hurry up to come back, he answer with his malicious air.

Then the door closes. When the train starts to move, he shouts at me :

– Pussy !

I laugh and give him a finger. As I move away, I observe him through the window. Little by little, I see his silhouette growing shorter, until he disappears from my sight. I thought I would be terribly unhappy, but I surprise myself to smile, because I know I will see him again very soon. See you in one week, Kay.

Chapter’s Song

Chapter 8, finally ! A chapter tremendously awaited by a lot of you because it marks the most important turning point in this fanfiction, the very reason why I created it in order to please myself and the others. To compensate a thing that frustrated us all : Free Fall’s ending ! I don’t say you more and I let you discover all of this. Just as a reminder, I still have 2 chapters to publish before it all ends 🙂 Have a good read and gros bisous ❤

Beautiful Fanart by Lupera-GER

Chapter 8

After several hours of driving, I come back home totally exhausted. It is about noon when I arrive. I find Lena and my son Max with a great pleasure. After these intense past days, I feel like I need some calm and most importantly some rest, and the fact to be with Max do me a world of good

– He has been very quiet, announces Lena, who is cooking a meal with a succulent smell.

I hold Max in my arms and he does a great smile to me.

– I’m starving !

– So sit down, says Lena while preparing plates.

I’m so hungry that I serve myself up twice. Then, down on my last ounce of strength, I head to my bedroom where I collapse on the bed. I sleep almost all the afternoon. Sunday comes to its end and Lena leaves the place. She will come back tomorrow to take care of Max.

The next morning, I get back to work with difficulty but I am happy to see Matthias again. During one mission outside of the barracks where we are together, I tell him about the last news and announce him that I have found back Kay.

– I am really happy for you buddy, he smiles at me while patting on my shoulder.

On Wednesday evening, we all go have a drink in a pub of the city. Lukas and Lena are also there. Max sleeps peacefully in his pushchair.

I go out have a smoke with Lukas and also inform him about my difficult reunion with Kay.

– I go back to Düsseldorf on Saturday. I hope he will be there.

– If he loves you and still cares for you, he will be, Lukas reassures me. You have still and all made that entire trip to find him while you did not even know where he had gone. He cannot ignore that. A few people would have done the same, Marc.

– I know. But this is also thanks to you and the others. You have all offered such an amazing support that I won’t ever know how to thank you all. You made me aware that I had to move myself.

– And it was worth it. I sincerely think that Kay will be there.

Despite Lukas optimistic words, I don’t receive any call from Kay during the week, which worries me a lot and casts doubt for a while on my will to go back to Düsseldorf. Did the nurse who took care of him hand over my paper ? Or is it maybe Kay who does not wish to hear about me anymore ? But a promise is a promise and I will go to Düsseldorf on Saturday morning.

The rest of the week passes at an incredible speed and I avoid asking myself too many questions. On Friday evening, I am not able to find sleep. The bay windows of my bedroom are wide opened and the curtains are floating in the air. I observe the stars in the cloudless sky, contemplative. I can’t stop to worry myself sick thinking about tomorrow. I’m afraid that Kay won’t be at the meeting. Maybe he hasn’t forgiven me to abandon him. To have been selfish. Maybe he has even someone new into his life. I banish all those negative thoughts from my head as best as I can while trying to be optimistic, but it remains difficult.

Finally, morning rises and now it is not possible to turn away anymore. My destiny is underway. Lena arrives around 7am to keep Max for the whole weekend, as I am not sure when I will be back. I finish packing a small suitcase where I’ve put the necessary things then head towards the living room to say goodbye to my son. When I’m about the leave, Lena joins me.

– Good luck, she whispers to me while kissing me on the forehead. I hope you will find what you’re waiting for.

– Thank you, I say, a bit stressed.

I finally take the car and drive to the train station where I take my train for Düsseldorf. The trip lasts a couple hours during which I stay totally impassive and silent. I think of nothing. I only feel a ball of anxiety intensifying little by little inside me, as the train gets closer to the final destination.

I arrive in the Düsseldorf train station around 11am. I scan the platform as the train slows down to finally stop. I grab my suitcase and get out of the railcar. I stay unmoving on the platform and look around. No Kay to be seen. I start to move forward to join the inside of the train station.

What can I do except waiting ? Maybe Kay has already come, already waited and has already left not seeing me arriving. It is true I was not even able to specify him when I was arriving as I did not have any mean to contact him directly. I should have perhaps taken a train before to arrive early enough. Something I had not thought about.

During long minutes, I stare at the travellers going back and forth. I feel like an intruder in this crowd in movement. Not being at my proper place. Little by little, the train station gets empty, very few trains landing on the platforms. The calm reappears. Being unable to stand still, I get up and start to pace up and down through the building.

I’m losing my time. Kay didn’t come, is not there, and won’t come. How to forgive an idiot such as me, despite all the possible efforts ? How to forgive someone who abandoned you at the moment where you needed support the most ? I ask myself how I would have reacted in Kay’s place.

Lost in my confusion, I don’t notice that I stand rooted alone like an imbecile right in the middle of the strain station. People around me must think I am crazy.

But suddenly, I hear a voice in the distance, behind me. It reaches my hears like an unhoped melody, one that I thought I would never hear again. I immediately recognize this typical, sarcastic tone :

– I didn’t think I would see you again one day.

I only need a fraction of second to recognize Kay’s voice. I turn around, stupefied, stunned, unable to believe it.

He stands there, in front of me, fifteen meters away from me. His face is magnificent, his look angelic, his air fragile. He has a much more beautiful appearance than the one from last week at the hospital.

No word is able to get out of my mouth. We look each other for several seconds. I feel like I face a mirage, or an illusion. But he is really there, I don’t dream, I’m sure of it. I’ve been waiting this moment for months. However I’m afraid of tempting anything. Is he furious ? Will he send me packing ? Whatever.

I let my suitcase fall on the floor. Tears start to trickle on my cheeks. I stagger slowly as a zombie towards him. He launches his usual little lopsided smile at me and begins to walk in my direction too. It puts my mind at rest in one go.

We literally throw in each other arms. This is only when I feel the contact of his skin that I’m sure I’m not dreaming. In this specific moment, nothing else matters. Time has frozen. I hold him as tight as possible, not wishing to let him go. His sweet fragrance reaches softly my nostrils. I don’t how many seconds, even minutes, we stay like this, embraced.

Then, finally, he whispers gently in my hear :

– You’ve come back.

I finally manage, with difficulty, to let escape fragments of words.

– Kay, I am so sorry.

He loosens from me, takes my face into his hands, and with his thumbs dry my tears.

– Let’s talk about this later.

Without warning, he throws an ardent kiss at me to which I succumb instantly, powerless. Several months ago, I would have sharply pushed him away, embarrassed, stuck in the constraint of decency, of the unsaid things, of shame. But today, I’ve changed, and I don’t give a shit of people around me or what they can think.

I answer Kay’s invitation by kissing him languorously. I feel like a part of the nightmare and my demons are dispelled, exorcised. I live a moment of pure happiness. One that I have not lived since a long time ago, except for Max’s birth. Life finally offers me an illuminated flower after having left me cloistered in dark room.

I press my forehead against Kay’s. I run my fingers across his golden hair.

– Thanks for coming, I murmur him tenderly.

– No, Marc. Thank you for finding me … and to have saved my life, he replies while sticking his face against my cheek.

It is as if we had never left each other. As if our past complicity was intact.

– Come, let’s go for a stroll, says Kay. We have a lot to talk about and to catch up.

Chapter’s Song

Here comes Chapter 7 !! Since I’ve started my new job, I’ve got less time to write as when I come back in the evening I’m pretty tired, hard to find the motivation. But I am so wishing to finish my story that I will achieve it, I promise. I loved writing Chapter 7 cause there are a lot of passages I wanted to write since a while and I can finally set them down on paper. This is pretty emotional. I hope you will feel the same things as me when I created it. You will notice the apparition of a new character, Kuba, directly taken from the gay movie Floating Skycrapers : this is a little crossover I wanted to make because I liked this movie a lot. Have a good read ! And see you soon for Chapter 8 I hope 🙂

P.S. : I translated Chapter 7 as fast as I could so you can read it as soon as possible. So if native speakers see some weird sentences or expressions just tell me so I can correct them ^^

Chapter’s Song

Anger and despair invade me while the ambulance disappears. I slam my fists on the ground, of rage. I see my tears fall on the asphalt. Several seconds pass by during which time seems to have stopped. I do not even hear the sounds of the city anymore around me.

I am extracted from my confusion when I feel two warm hands grab my shoulders and help me to stand up. I don’t understand anything but I let myself go. The person holds me firmly and brings me apart, while the crowd who was observing me starts to scatter. I am placed on a bench. It is only at that instant I realize that a man aged around 30, pretty cute, with beautiful blue eyes and wearing a little mustache as well as a goatee is sat by my side and stares at me. He is the one who helped me get up.

– I saw what happened, are you ok ?

– Thank you, I am barely able to mumble.

– My name is Kuba.

I can’t even answer, just gulp. Surely the effects of alcohol mixed with the shock of having found Kay just to lose him straight away.

– Tell me, who was that guy ? Did you know him ?

– Long story.

– Follow me, I’ll offer you a coffee, I think you need one.

Kuba grabs my arm and passes it around his shoulder and we get in a few meters away in a Starbucks still opened. After having installed me at a table, he comes back with two cafés latte.

– Thanks …

I swallow a boiling mouthful and it gives me an immediate boost.

– Why didn’t you go into the ambulance ? asks me Kuba.

– I was not authorized to do so.

– You must deeply love the guy who was taken by the ambulance to be so desperate. Why don’t you try to catch it back ?

– I don’t know …

I decide to tell the whole truth to Kuba and explains him what brought me to Düsseldorf. I owe him at least this for his help. He is the only one in that greedy crowd of onlookers to have come across me.

– Wait, you just found back your “lost love”, and you let him fly away like this ? Move yourself, god damn it !

– Fate doesn’t stop putting spokes in my wheels. What will happen again this time if I see him again, uh ? Tell me !?

– Calm down … What I’m trying to say, is that you must stop to let fate decide for you. You already did that by coming to Düsseldorf, and you must continue by finding Kay once again as soon as possible. Let me tell you something … I’m polish, and a few years back, when I was still living in Poland, I fell in love with a man … while I was in a couple with a chick. It was crazy love. But the kind of totally impossible love. His name was Michal. The problem is that I didn’t do much to keep him by my side. I screw everything up. I didn’t take the right decisions at the right time.

– And what happened ?

– He died … He was found with the skull smashed in an underground parking.

– I’m sorry, I pronounce intuitively, shocked.

I cannot even imagine how I would react if such a thing happened to Kay.

– But the worst, he continues, is that the girl with whom I was became pregnant. Hopefully, she finally decided to abort after a moment. Because I made it clear to her that I had discovered my true nature. That I would not have been able to bring the necessary love to this child. And it was out of question for her to raise the baby alone. After that, I decided to start over and to flee from Poland. I don’t regret it. I’ve left my old demons behind me.

His story reminds me my own a lot. But it also comes to me as a bombshell. Thanks to him, I understand more than ever that I must do everything to get back Kay. Now that I know where he is, I will not abandon him anymore. All my efforts won’t be useless

– You need to find your Kay back. Contrary to me, you still have the possibility to change things. Don’t let that chance escape from you.

– But, how can I know where they brought him ? There must be several hospitals in this city !

– That’s the point, chance, you’ve got some. I’m a nurse nearby. I know well the hospitals in the region. Let me make one or two phone calls, I will find where Kay has been brought.

Kuba stands up immediately and gets out. I wait a few minutes, totally stressed. What if he is not able to find where the first aids brought Kay ? Kuba finally comes back and sits down again in front of me.

– It’s ok, I found him. He was taken to the UniversitätsKlinikum. It’s not that far, I will drive. You can’t take your car with your tiredness state.

I feel a crazy light of hope surge in me.

– I feel better, trust me ! I say in a hurry, ready to go right away.

– You don’t even know where it is ! Stop saying bullshit. So, come one, let’s go there right now.

We leave the Starbucks then head up to Kuba’s car parked near. I am so excited that seconds pass by without I can realize it. On the road, Kuba starts talking to me :

– Listen, I don’t want to alarm you, but according to what the doctor I got on the phone told me, it’s pretty serious. They found a lot of drug in his blood. His state is critical. They have already started to do him a double lavage. In a first time, a stomach lavage, to be sure there is no trace of drug left in his alimentary canal. Then, they will take out some of his blood and transfuse him fresh one at the same time.

I totally freak out at the idea that Kay is not able to endure this. All this process seems very heavy. After several minutes that I don’t count, we finally arrive at the UniversitätsKlinikum. I immediately get out of the car and run to the entrance of the hospital, soon followed by Kuba.

– Follow me, he orders.

We meander through several corridors before arriving in the emergencies service.

– Wait here for me, I’ll go find the emergency doctor in charge tonight.

I go round and round a hundred of time in the hallway, impatient. At a moment on, I see the first aid worker who had refused me to get in the ambulance dropping in the corridor. He stares at me with a strange air. I’m so mad that I would enjoy smashing my first in his face, but I restrain myself. Better not to look for trouble at the moment. He must reed the fury on my face because he quickly goes on his way.

Kuba finally comes back accompanied by a man in his sixties with a serious face.

– Good evening Sir, he greets me. I’m the emergency doctor.

– Good evening …

– I present to you Marc Borgmann, a close friend of Kay, insists Kuba.

– Your friend got himself into deep shit, Mr. Borgmann. We have proceeded to the stomach lavage, but the entire drug has already penetrated his bloodstream. He risks a cardiac arrest. We have tried to contact his family to inform them but couldn’t find any phone on him, just his wallet, and of course, the rest of his drug … We are now going to proceed to the blood transfusion.

– How is it about to go on starting from now ? I ask.

– Well, generally, we use one or several blood bags to fill in the blood which is being evacuated, all of this mixed with medicines. The problem is, that we don’t have bags with Kay’s blood group anymore, we ran out of them earlier today. We just asked a nearby hospital to bring us some urgently. They are already en route, but the best would be to have a donor from whom we could perform the transfusion directly to avoid losing time.

– What is the blood group of Kay ? speaks Kuba.

– From a first checkup we made when he arrived, A Positive.

I can’t believe my eyes.

– I am also A Positive, I say. Use me. Right now !

– What a godsend ! exclaims the doctor. But before doing anything, you must undertake quick tests and a compulsory questionnaire, we cannot take anyone like this, I’m sure you understand that.

– Let’s not lose some precious time, make these tests now.

We immediately head to a nearby room where a nurse performs some verifications. She does a blood test that she puts into a machine, then asks me diverse questions while the tests are being made. As I have not undergone any surgery or operation in the previous months and do not have any medical history, I am eligible. Which is confirmed once again by the blood tests testifying among other things my blood group.

– Thank god, I think quietly. Kay, I’m gonna get you out of here.

The emergency doctor comes back, and after having received the approbation of the nurse, takes me through the hallway then to a treatment room. There, I find Kay, totally asleep, an oxygen mask on this face. His complexion his more deathly pale than ever, almost cadaveric. This vision hurts me and I feel even guiltier not to have tried finding him back before. We could have prevented all of this. I get closer to him and grab his cold hand. I try to warm it up. With my other hand I caress tenderly his face. I notice that the doctor observes me.

– Who is he in relation to you, actually ? he questions me.

– That’s a long story. But … I love him. And I will never abandon him anymore. So, let’s start, I finish by drying the tears reaching my eyes.

The nurse penetrates in the room accompanied with two other auxiliaries and after several minutes, everything is set up. I’m lying on a bed next to Kay’s, and a cord links up my left arm to his right arm. His left arm is connected to the machine that will extract his blood fouled by drug. I feel the doctor thrust the needle in my arm, and suddenly, I see my own blood reach Kay’s body.

– Well, this will take a few little minutes. Once this will be over, we will have to transfuse you some blood because you are about to give Kay a sizeable amount of yours.

– Very well, I answer.

I grab Kay’s right arm and hold it tight, while I feel my own blood reach his veins. It appeases me to give him my energy and my vital force. I gaze with attention at his sleeping face. It seems to me like he already recovers, which makes me happy.

– Kay, stay with me, I whisper. No more running. No more lies. You are the one I love. Now I’m sure of it, more than ever.

I close my eyes and imagine holding him in my arms. After some minutes, the nurse comes back in the room.

– I think that will be enough, she announces me.

She heads toward the control computers and analyse the data.

– It seems his vital functions are once again stable, his heart beats less fast. He will need a lot of rest now. We have to let him sleep.

The drainage tube is removed from my arm.

– You can follow me, speaks the nurse after putting me a little band-aid.

I wait for her to leave the room, and before joining her, I get closer to Kay, take off his mask even if it must be forbidden, and kiss him gently on his mouth. His lips are still so soft and intense memories surface like flashes upon their contact.

– See you soon, my love.

I surprise myself to let out this sentence I would have never thought saying one day, even to Bettina. Love takes an all-new sense for me now. I have discovered the secret of it, its very essence. I put Kay his mask back, observe him one last time, and then rejoin the nurse. I am given a quick transfusion to fill in the blood I gave to Kay.

Kuba was waiting for me in the hallway. I am surprised to find him still there.

– Kuba, I … I wanted to say thank you for everything. If our paths hadn’t crossed tonight, I don’t know how I would have managed all of this. I would have maybe let Kay to his own fate. Just to think of it, it disgusts me.

– No worries my friend. The nurses told that Kay’s state was a lot more stable. He will go through. Come, I will bring you to your car, you can come back to see him tomorrow morning.

– Ok. But before that, I would like to let a message to Kay. Because I have to leave tomorrow, unfortunately.

I scribble a few words on a piece of paper quickly : “Kay, I am sorry to have taken all this time to come back toward you. I abandoned you like a coward. I don’t know if you will remember our reunion when you will wake up, but know that if it is the case, it was not a dream. I was there, by your side. I will be back in Düsseldorf next week, on Saturday morning, at the train station. I have to go home under obligation. Here is my number if you want to contact me meanwhile. You will wait for me there if you wish so. In any case, I will be there myself. I love you. Marc.”

I address the message to the nurse who took care of me, and ask her to promise me to give it to Kay when he wakes up. I would so much like to stay here until his awakening. Except that I must be back tomorrow at the barracks. My little break is over and my son awaits me.

Kuba brings me back to my car in the town centre of Düsseldorf. Before leaving him, I thank him once again for his precious help and take his number to keep in touch with him. I go back to the hotel but decide not to go to bed. Anyhow I know very well that I won’t be able to find sleep. I pack my stuff, pay my room and leave straight away. When I cross the bridge overhanging the Rhine exiting Düsseldorf, I look one last time in direction of the illuminated city, of the hospital, of Kay.

Then I grab the picture of us I found in his previous apartment and contemplate it while driving.

– Kay, if you’re really willing to give me a second chance despite the bad things I made, then I hope you will be there next Saturday.

Chapter 6

Here finally comes Chapter 6 of Free Fall : Renaissance ! I hope you will appreciate it because I know you were quite a lot to wait for it given to the numerous positive comments I got 🙂 I would like to thank you all once again for your great support. Yesterday, my website reached a record number of 203 daily visits, this is amazing ! Don’t forget to let me a little comment to give me your opinion ^^ Good reading, and see you soon for Chapter 7 !

I drive straight to Düsseldorf. The journey takes me a few hours. When I finally arrive, it is very late in the night and I’m exhausted. By doing a quick search on my phone, I find a cheap hotel located at the border of the city. I decide to book a room there in order to rest myself and start my researches tomorrow.

I’m so excited at the thought of finding Kay back that I’m hardly able to sleep. When I wake up it is 9am. I take a quick shower, then have breakfast in the hotel restaurant. After having eaten, I go to the reception to book an additional night.

I take the car and drive to the Düsseldorf town centre. It is about 10.30am when I get out of my Golf. I have absolutely no idea where to begin. I have no phone number. No address. No contact. Kay could very well be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack !

However, there has to be somewhere to begin with. So I decide to walk aimlessly in the streets of the centre. At least to discover a little bit the surroundings, as I’ve never been in this city before. I meander like this for three hours. Feeling the hunger coming up in me, I buy a sandwich that I devour quickly. I am unable to stand still. I’m so on edge to be so close to Kay but to have no idea where he is exactly.

After my lunch break, I head myself to the banks of the Rhine where I walk along, thoughtful. Who knows, maybe Kay is also walking alone in the city. Maybe we are both wandering, like two solitary and lost souls. No, he surely has found a new job.

I’m suddenly extracted from my thoughts when I catch sight in the distance along the promenade of a man from behind with short blond hair, with both the frail but athletic stature of Kay.

– Hey ! I shout in his direction.

There are so many hubbubs that the person doesn’t hear me. I start to run in his direction. But the crowd is so big that when I arrive at the place I thought I noticed Kay, I don’t see him anywhere. People turn back when I pass on and look at me with strange faces.

– Pfff, I must have illusions. This entire story is going to my head, I think in a whisper.

I sit down on a bench and decide to make a quick call to Lena to have news from Max.

– Everything is going on fine, she reassures me. Max is in the best of health. What about you ? Do your researches bear fruit ? Still no trace of Kay ?

– No, not really. But I’m getting closer to my goal. Someone told me he was in Düsseldorf.

– What ?! Düsseldorf ? You’ve gone that far ? That’s a bit of a trek, says Lena, surprised.

We continue to discuss during a few minutes then hang up. I continue my stroll, but, as I’m at the end of my tether, I find it preferable to go back to the hotel. I stay a couple hours in my room looking at the TV and dozing.

Suddenly, an idea crosses my mind. I remember that Kay loves nightclubs, and there must be a lot of them in the town centre. This thought gives me a renewal of energy. I quickly change my clothes and dash directly to my Golf in order to join to centre of Düsseldorf. It is almost 11pm.

After having walked a few minutes, I find what seems to be a hip place. I get inside and order a glass of alcohol to relax. I can’t help myself to examine every entry and every departure hoping to see Kay. I stay two hours before taking the initiative to change to another place. I’m wasting my time, there must be dozens of night clubs in a big city like Düsseldorf.

I walk along several streets before going up in a large artery called Bahnstrasse. The street is quite lively. At one point, I come face to face with what seems to be a gay club, named 2Box. I enter it by any chance and sit down on a small sofa. A few minutes later, a waiter comes to take my order. I choose a double whisky.

While drinking my glass, I observe with curiosity the numerous persons passionately swaying their hips on the dance floor to a background of electro music. It reminds me the terrible weeks I lived after Kay’s disappearance and my break-up with Bettina. I had become used to this kind of place because of my nervous depression. It was the only way I found to escape from reality. I came back every time dead drunk. I almost got fired from the police team because of my constant lateness and my bad performances. Luckily, from one day to the next, I decided to never set foot again in this kind of clubs and I rather started to run again in the forest to evacuate my anxiety.

I look at my watch : it is almost 2am. I feel like my face is burning and decide to refresh myself in the toilets. When I enter the room, I don’t notice anyone. I head for the washbasin, run the water then rinse thoroughly my face. It makes me feel way better. When I lift my head, I discover in the mirror that I’m not alone.

In the extension of the toilets where the WC cubicles are located, I see the legs of someone lying on the floor, as unconscious. The rest of his body is hidden behind the wall, which extends the toilets perpendicularly. As I do not see very well what is happening, I turn back and decide to get closer, surprised. I discover another old man with a paunchy belly kneeling over the torso of the person on the floor. Most likely two drunk guys giving themselves over to a suspicious hobby. But the man on the ground doesn’t move at all and seems really unconscious. The old one is fondling the other guy unbeknown to him. It worries me even if I know I should not interfere. Certainly my cop instinct.

When I get a little bit closer to see the person on the floor, I discern a washed-out jean, a beautiful white and soft skin, a black t-shirt. An angelic face, magnificent blue eyes and golden blond hair. Kay is just in front of me. He is the one lying on the ground.

The old man lifts up his head in my direction and looks at me with a sadistic air :

– So, what the hell are you doing, are you gonna stay there ogling or will you enjoy with me ?

At first, I don’t reply nor I move, totally shocked. Then, like a thunderbolt which doesn’t warn, I feel an irrepressible furiousness rise in me.

– You disgusting faded pig ! I grumble.

The man stares at me, surprised. I rush at him. I feel madness invading me. I grab him by the scruff of the neck violently, administer him a punch in the face then throw him away.

– Clear off right now before I crush your head beneath my feet ! I scream.

The deviant leaves the toilets in all haste, afraid.

– Kay ! I scream with all my strength while flinging myself at him. I lift up his back.

I stick my face to his. I feel tears flood my face and I see them reach Kay’s cheeks. I can’t believe Kay, my Kay, is here with me. We are finally reunited after all these months. What an incredible coincidence ! How many chances did I have to find him now ? For the first time, I feel like destiny is giving me a little help. But I would have preferred to find Kay in a better state even though.

– Kay do you hear me ? Wake up !

I try to shake him softly, in vain. I pull up his pants, which had been untied by the old pervert. Then while frisking quickly Kay, I discover in the palm of his left hand a sachet filled with pills. I also find LSD in one of his pockets. He took drugs. And he lost consciousness. Or worst. I thought he was only drunk. I feel panic swell in me. I check his pulse. He still breathes. Swamped by fear, I don’t see other solution than calling Emergencies with my cell phone. Someone answers and after having asked me the address and little details, I am told that an ambulance will arrive as soon as possible. But I have already stopped listening.

All my attention is now focused on Kay. His face once radiant and smiley is lifeless and it worries me. I hold him very tight in my arms. I try to warm up his cold body. We stay there on the floor for what seems like an eternity. I didn’t even take the time to warn someone in the club. All that matters to me is to create a protective envelope around Kay with my body. I don’t want to let him go away. Not anymore. At a moment on, I see Kay opening slightly his eyes. I suddenly feel his hand grasping mine strongly, and my pulse accelerates.

– Kay ? Kay ? It’s me Marc ! Don’t worry, I’m here ! You have nothing to fear ! I am back ! I say to him while fixing his woozy eyes. It seems to me I glimpse a little smile on his lips but I’m not sure of it.

Kay loses consciousness right away again. I fear the worst. Luckily, a few seconds later, two people who must be the owners of the club penetrate in the toilets in all haste, accompanied by emergency doctors.

– Why the hell did you not warn us ?! yells at me one of the bosses.

I don’t know what to answer. Then, everything happens so quickly that I don’t understand anything. My heart beats wildly. Kay gets snatched from me. He is extracted from the toilets. I try to lift up and follow the cortege to the outside of the club.

– What happened ? I’m asked briefly.

– I don’t know, I found him unconscious on the floor. I … I think he took a large dose of drugs, I explain while trembling.

Two doctors place Kay on a stretcher and put an oxygen mask on his face. A first-aid worker shouts at me and asks me additional questions about Kay, like his first and last name. While I’m occupied with the worker, I barely have the time to turn back to see Kay being shoved in the ambulance truck.

– Can I come with you ? I beg at the first-aid worker.

– Are you family related to this person ?

– No.

– I’m sorry, you can’t follow us then. We have to go right now, he will surely need a gastric lavage. Hoping that he survives, of course.

I feel like receiving a hammer blow on the head. I stay unmoving. In less than fifteen seconds, the ambulance has started and disappears in the darkness. I collapse on the ground. I shout in rage. The echo of my voice reverberates through the whole street. Several persons look at me but I don’t pay attention to them. I didn’t even think of asking where Kay was about to be brought. And no one took my phone number.

Barely do I find Kay back that he is taken from me straight away. Why is fate so cruel ?

Chapter’s Song

I chose this song from Mylène Farmer (probably the most famous female singer in France) in duo with Jean-Louis Murat for its extraordinary and spellbinding beauty. The story of two separated souls, one « alive », the other « dead », and which as a consequence cannot really meet up. This is also likely the same case for Marc and Kay for whom destiny don’t do any favor. But one must always keep hope alive and believe in his lucky star, otherwise no chance is given to tomorrow.

Hello ! Here is Chapter 5, well motivated to write it following your warm comments. Eh Eh I leave you languishing, when Marc will finally see Kay again ?? Or perhaps never ? Continue to read Free Fall : Renaissance to find out 😀

Chapitre 5

Contrary to what I had imagined, track down Kay, or at least his new living place, was not that complicated. A brief look in the police files to which I could have access thanks to an internal contact taught me Kay had asked for a transfer in a town located about 80 kilometres far from here.

It took me around two hours to reach that city. Once arrived near the obtained address, I park in the street. I hesitate during what appears to be long minutes before getting out of the car. This is completely crazy. What am I about to say to Kay ? How will he react when seeing me ? I tremble just by the thought of it. The last time I saw him, I clearly suggested him it was preferable to leave in order to avoid troubles and I had abandoned him. He will never be able to forgive me.

I reflect on this entire story. Actually, I have been a perfect egotistic from the beginning to the end with Kay. This is him who has always bent over backwards for me, to help me, for us to live our relationship secretly. And I have almost never expressed all the love I truly felt for him in return. He was entirely right when he said me “With you Marc, it’s always me, me, me”. I never thought about him, about his problems, about everything he could feel. By the way was he really in love with me ? Maybe our relation was just physical. At least, I will know for sure when I will see him. As for me, I know I have deep feelings towards him, otherwise I would not come up to here.

When I finally decide to get out of my Golf, I join the building where Kay is domiciled. It is the beginning of the evening, and I dare hope he is home right now. When I arrive in front of the block, I realize an entry code is necessary to get in, and there is no intercom.

– Scheisse.

I’m blocked outside. This only thing I can do is go back to my car and hope having the chance to see Kay get in or get out. Just when I am about to leave, an old woman waves at me and come open the door.

– You come to see somebody ? she asks me.

– Hello. Yes, I come to visit Kay. Kay Engel.

– Come in young man, I’m the janitor.

I penetrate in the entrance hall of the building.

– Are you sure you are at the right place ? Kay has vacated the premises not so long ago, she says to me while turning over.

I am surprised and terribly disappointed at the same time by this announcement.

– How long ?

– Nearly two weeks now. He has departed so quickly, in all haste. So well that he has left a mount of stuff, and the landlord pesters me for his apartment to be cleared. There are a lot of personal objects, I don’t know where to start.

– Would you mind showing me his apartment ?

– No, no problem. Follow me.

We take the stairs to go to the second floor. The old woman opens the door of the apartment.

– Have you forgotten something at his place ?

– Uh, yes, I lie, destabilized by her question. He had borrowed me a document I need urgently.

– Very well, I let you. I will verify that the cleaning agent has washed the bathroom and that it is in order for the first visits meanwhile.

While the janitor is leaving, I go in Kay’s bedroom. Everything is tidy and the bed is made. I can’t help myself sitting on it and breathe the sheets while sweeping my hand on them. I have the impression of smelling the sweet scent of Kay.

My gaze turns upon the bedside table. I open its drawer and find with surprise a damaged photo inside. I grab it and discover with emotion a shot of Kay and I we took during a jogging session we made in the forest. We are smiling and we look happy. I had completely forgotten that picture. I had let it to him because I didn’t want to take the risk that Bettina finds it, even if it would have change nothing in the end.

Emotion rises in me at the sight of this beautiful image, so well that tears start to fill my eyes.

I get up and join an adjacent room filled with darkness. When I open the light, I discover with surprise a place full of paintings and sketches left as they are.

– Young man, your friend has left many drawings and paintings, as you can see, tells me the janitor while arriving at the bedroom doorstep. Isn’t it what you’re looking after ?

Surprised in my loneliness, I discreetly dry my tears and turn toward her.

– What are you talking about ? Uh no, the canvases don’t matter.

She joins me and enters the room.

– Have you found what you were looking after then ?

– No, I say while hiding the photo in one of my back pockets.

– So this is maybe in this room after all. Cast a glance there.

– Kay has created all of this ? I say with astonishment.

– Indeed.

I never knew Kay was drawing and painting. He never talked to me about it and I never saw any painting in his last apartment where we used to see each other. I’m struck when looking more precisely at his drafts to realize they all represent a masculine figure.

– I’ve discussed a little bit with Kay, he confided in me sometimes. He was a solitary person, with a hidden nature, explains to me the old woman. From what he has told me, all these paintings represent a boy he used to know, a certain Marc.

I feel a thrill travel across my back but let nothing of it appear. I then approach myself from other canvases and observe closer the drawings. There is no doubt we can recognize some of my physical features on them.

– What looks strange, is that Marc seems so sad on these canvases. Like jaded, bitter, she says to me.

– Or heartbroken, I mumble.

– Kay never said to me who this Marc was.

– Maybe he was just his model ? I throw to cover myself in case the old woman would recognize me from the drafts; I prefer to stay discreet as much as possible.

The janitor gets closer to me and points a finger upon several sketches.

– It may have started that way, but it became more. Look at the way he … captured Marc. The curve of his back. The softness of his skin. Kay was under the spell of Marc, spending every waking moment painting him. He was in every brush stroke. I know it doesn’t concern me, but Kay loved this man, it’s obvious.

– But they were not together, I say trying to put up a smokescreen. Kay never talked to me about a Marc.

– Frankly, I find that hard to believe. I don’t know, maybe Kay wanted all this to remain secret. Maybe they broke up. Painting was probably the only way Kay had to be able to live this romance.

– But if they loved each other so much, I asked, why would Marc push him away ?

– Maybe there was someone else, someone that don’t wanted them to be together. Or Marc didn’t feel worthy of Kay, he doubted the way he felt about him. Or all of this together.

I remain silent a few moments. Until I notice the gaze of the janitor looking hard at me.

– You’re Marc, isn’t it ? she questions me.

I gave myself away.

– Yes … I admit in a whisper.

– I figured it out the moment I saw you arrive. I was telling myself that your face was familiar to me. I had already seen it on those sketches several times.

I don’t know what to answer her.

– It is not for something that you came back. It’s for Kay.

– And he is gone now, I finally answer her, bitter.

A few tears flood my face.

– I love him so much. I would give anything to find him again, I say while touching smoothly one of the sketches, which represents me in Kay’s arms, as if nothing could separate us, as if we were together for eternity, frozen into that pleasant position.

– I can perhaps help you. The only thing I know is that before leaving, Kay told me he was heading to Düsseldorf, to flee as far as possible. To start over.

– Did he give any address ? I ask feeling an insane hope invade me.

– No. As I told you, he left so quickly.

I stay a few more minutes inside the apartment. I take care of getting back some drawings as a souvenir, in case I would never see Kay again. I dry my tears and after having warmly thanked the old woman, I leave the building.

In the street, I take back out the photo where I am with Kay. Why do you escape me when I finally decide to repair my mistake ?

I hold on to my deep desire to see Kay again. As long as I won’t have found him, I won’t surrender. I get back inside my car and turn on my GPS.

Direction Düsseldorf.

Chapter’s Song