Elias

"Elias?" Abigail poked at his bicep. "Hey, are you awake?"

He rolled over and groaned. The light streaming in from the balcony door hurt; he clamped his eyes shut. "What time is it?"

"Eleven. How're you feeling?"

"Can you shut the blinds?"

Without opening his eyes, Elias flung back his blanket and slid off the couch. The light dimmed as Abigail adjusted the blinds. Slowly, he took the risk and opened his eyes. Everything seemed blurry and shadows of featureless figures drifted at the edges of his vision.

"Did I get drunk yesterday?"

Abigail shook her head. "You're not hungover."

Then why do I feel like I've been mauled by a rhino? Elias' shirt and jacket smelled of vomit. He examined his suit. It wasn't the striped navy one he wore when he was going out, but the black one he had bought for job interviews. The suit and the shirt were wrinkled throughout. No surprise considering he had awoken in it. More curious were the dirt and bits of plant matter stuck onto his trousers.

Wait.

Everything that had happened the previous day tumbled over Elias with the velocity of the Niagara Falls. Holy crap. It hadn't seemed possible, but the throbbing in Elias' head worsened.

"Abby, the name Ramiel means something to you, right?"

"Yeah, you didn't dream him up or anything. But when I woke up he was gone."

"He got what he wanted. Why should he hang around?" Elias pulled broken bits of eucalyptus leaf off his clothes. He could scarcely believe he had allowed himself to fall asleep while in this state. "I'm going to clean myself up."

Elias' first stop was the laundry closet, where he and Sam kept their first-aid kit. There was little of use there. Sam had pulled his shoulder at work a few weeks prior and subsequently had used up their supply of painkillers. Groaning, Elias moved onto the wardrobe in his bedroom. He pulled out the first jumper and pair of pants within reach, then fished through his sock-drawer until he pulled out a small, plastic bag. The hoard was pitiful — six caffeine pills and two ecstasy tablets. He needed to refill his supplies, but unfortunately, he had to wait until payday. Capitalism makes slaves of us all.

The ecstasy would do him little at the present moment, but a hit of caffeine was worth a try. Elias dry-swallowed two of the pills and hid the bag back under his socks.

His phone vibrated and Elias fumbled as he pulled it out of his back pocket.

"Hello? Elias speaking."

"Good day. This is Johann from Sydney University Student Services. How are you doing?"

"I'm awake," Elias replied. "Can't claim much more than that."

"Yeah, I feel you." Johann's voice was perky and smooth. "You've made an application for special considerations, is that correct?"

"And? Do you have the outcome?"

"It has been accepted. However, you must be aware that you may not be admitted to the practical portion of your degree at the next stage of study. It would be problematic from a patient protection perspective."

Elias ran a hand through his hair. "I'll need to repeat a year. Is that what you are saying?"

"It's a possibility, yes."

"That's bloody amazing."

Johann winced. "It blows, I know. If you want my opinion, do what you can and sit the exams. Then the university will be able to give you leniency in the marking at least."

While Johann sounded sympathetic, Elias wanted to give him the finger nevertheless. He was probably some sixth-year Arts/Media student, who thought exam study meant thirty minutes of reviewing lecture slides between a lunch date and an early afternoon beer at the uni bar. If only it were as easy as that for a med student. And Elias had Abigail to look after as well.

"Thanks, I'll consider my options," he said without bothering to attempt sincerity. "Thanks for your call."

The next day there was no sign of Ramiel either. If not for Abigail's obsessive need to analyse and re-analyse what had happened, Elias would have happily concluded that the angel and their night-time stroll had been only a product of his over-active imagination. And as much as he had been annoyed by the call from student services the previous day, now that he was back on campus, he was glad to be there. The last two weeks had been a trial and although he got along with Abigail well enough, it had been years since they had spent so long at such close proximity.

The comforting familiarity of the university campus, however, cracked and splintered into a thousand shards when the sliding doors to the Law Annex cafe pulled open in front of Elias. He couldn't possibly miss Etienne, who was taller and darker-skinned than the vast majority of the students. And who, at the present moment, was hugging Jordan Hammond. Elias hung by the door until Jordan pulled back and after a careless wave, walked away.

"Etienne!" Elias called out.

Etienne's smile faded when he saw Elias. He cut through the line of students lining up to order. When he made it over to Elias, he hesitated, then offered his hand. Elias tried to produce a polite smile as he shook Etienne's hand.

"My condolences, Eli," Etienne said. "How are you doing?"

Elias shrugged. He was growing very tired of hearing that question.

"Grab us a table, I'll take care of the food. Chicken schnitzel, right?"

"Sure," Elias muttered.

Although it was only mid-morning, as usual, all the tables were already taken. Elias walked back outside and chose a spot on the lawn a couple of metres away. He whiled away time on his phone until Etienne slid onto the grass beside him, then thrust the chicken sandwich and a cup of scorching hot coffee in Elias' hands.

He's changed his aftershave.

"Thanks," Elias said. "How much was that?"

Etienne waved Elias' question away. "So you seriously need notes?" he said. "I'd have thought you'd take the rest of the semester off."

"It'll only create problems down the track. Besides, it's best I keep busy. Idleness doesn't suit me."

"Yeah, I know."

Elias looked away. They had been over this already and more than once, but Etienne's cold tone hurt nevertheless.

He was at least speaking to Elias civilly again, this was more courtesy than any of their mutual friends were willing to offer Elias. Etienne had been far from Elias' first call in his quest for lecture notes, but apparently, Etienne had won their entire cohort in the break-up.

"So how's the family?" Elias asked. That's the kind of thing people ask when they have nothing else to say, isn't it?

"Dad just came back from Bamako. He... It's not a good topic, is it?"

"It's fine."

It wasn't. At the word "dad" a knot had twisted in Elias' stomach. But he had brought up the subject and when you made your bed, you had to lie in it.

Etienne gave Elias a dubious look. "He has all sorts of nasty stories to tell at dinner parties now. My step-mum is furious; he's already planning to head back and work another mission." He dug into his bag and pulled out a notebook. "The notes you wanted. I didn't have time to type them up yet."

Elias flipped through the pages of Etienne's familiar, spider-like handwriting. He had a lot of work to catch up on. "Thanks," he said. "What about you? Wouldn't you rather he stay in Sydney too?"

"Well, sure. Mali is a tad more dangerous than your standard shift at the Royal North Shore. But then, I think, am I just a selfish arse? They're so short on doctors over there. I don't know, where do you draw the line?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I always wanted to try my hand at aid work too, but I don't want to get kidnapped in the Congo or something. Or maybe I'd just crack under the pressure." Elias sipped his coffee and hissed in pain. "Why is the coffee from this place always hotter than the pits of Mount Doom?"

"The baguettes make it worth it. Have you —"

The microwave beeps. Balancing her laptop in one hand, Abigail reaches for the plastic bowl inside the microwave. She sets it on the tabletop and pulls off the lid. Steam wafts up. Abigail turns to open the fridge and feels the laptop begin to slide.

"Klutz," she mutters, setting the laptop on the tabletop beside her breakfast.

Elias rubbed his eyes. That was the fourth vision in two days. Less than two days really. It was only half past ten now. He could only assume this was because he had drunk Ramiel's blood. Previously, he rarely had a vision more frequently than once a month.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Elias asked.

Etienne paused mid-sentence and narrowed his eyes. "You should make an appointment with Stafford. My notes don't do justice to his lecture. Have you been taking something again?"

"I haven't," Elias replied. Other than the Nurofen and the caffeine pills, of course, but that wasn't what Etienne meant. "I told you, I'm done with that shit. Couldn't afford to waste money on anything of that kind at the moment even if I wanted to. Do you remember what Stafford's office hours are?"

"You spaced out and your pupils widened far too much for the amount of light out here."

"I drifted off on an odd trail of thought, nothing more. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you, I've got a lot on my mind."

Etienne rolled his eyes as he pulled back the wrapper on his baguette.

"Fine," Elias said. "I was thinking of the jam sandwiches mum used to make for us."

Although his words were a brazen lie, Elias enjoyed Etienne's chastised expression. Elias had spent the past two months as the guilty party and no one hesitated to remind him of it.

"Anyway, I'll copy the notes tonight and get them back to you tomorrow." Elias clambered up. "I have a meeting with Wong in ten. You know how she is about punctuality. Again, thanks for the coffee and for... well, for not hanging up on me."

"No worries," Etienne sighed. "Good luck getting out of Wong's office before three."

Nodding, Elias turned away. He walked as slowly as he could without making Etienne suspicious. His meeting with Professor Wong wasn't for another half an hour, but he didn't think he could stomach another minute of this stilted conversation with his ex.