He raises his good hand and lets it drop back down on the bed.
“You even fail better than I do. You get kicked around and end up rich. I try to buy a cruller and suddenly I’m the Elephant Man.”
I sit on the wooden chair next to his bed.
“Does it hurt?”
“Look at me. Of course it hurts.”
I hold up the bag I brought with me.
“You want a drink?”
“Some of that Aqua Regia crap? No thanks.”
“No, this is good stuff. Remember a million years ago how you gave me my first Kurosawa movie?”
“You uneducated prick. Yeah, I remember.”
I hand him the bottle from the bag.
“I’m returning the favor. Suntory Toki. Straight from Japan. The guy at the shop gave me a taste. It’s smooth. Like having a fruit salad punch you in the face.”
Kasabian examines the bottle.
“What’s the gag? Did you spit in it or something?”
“Only a little.”
Kas gives me a look, then fails miserably at opening the bottle. He tosses it to me.
“You do it.”
I twist off the top and look around.
“You have a glass in here somewhere?”
“If it’s good it doesn’t need a glass.”
Kas upends the bottle and takes a long drink.
“Not bad,” he says.
“Not bad? It’s better than anything you buy.”
“Don’t rub it in.”
He sits there with the bottle propped on his chest looking already half-dead. I actually feel sorry for him.
“Did you see who hit you? I could stop by and have a word. Maybe shake some money loose.”
“Some kind of SUV. You know, the big kind with wheels.”
“Maybe I could get a potion from Vidocq. Something to help you remember better.”
“Oh yeah, the French nutbag who turned himself immortal by mistake. You think I want to be immortal like this?”
“Okay. Maybe Allegra has something. I could at least get you some painkillers.”