Vera had a feeling she already knew where this was going and he was right. She DIDN'T like it. "…what is it?"
Kane shrugged but wouldn't meet her eyes. "You could kiss me and try to make him jealous. Sometimes I can tell when he's about to take over because the spot where he is in my head is more active, for lack of a better word."
"Once again, you're terrible."
"You aren't willing to try then?"
That wasn't what Vera said. This might simply be Kane trying to take advantage of her but if there was even the slightest chance of it bringing Casey back…
"I'll do it but I really doubt it will work," Vera said before forcing herself to kiss Kane. This was so wrong!
It felt like kissing Casey but it wasn't. She just needed to forget that for now. Act like this was normal. Like it was actually the man she loved in there.
After she murmured his name, Kane briefly pulled away. "I think it's working, keep going!"
Was it really? Oh, PLEASE let it actually be working!
Desperate, Vera kissed Kane harder and rubbed his back under his shirt. Tears came to her eyes as she felt his scars now that she knew what they were from.
He pulled her down onto the bed and started taking her shirt off before opening his eyes and looking around in confusion. "Uh, Vera? Where are we?"
Casey! That was her Casey! Kane's ridiculous plan had actually worked!
Vera hugged Casey tightly. "We're at the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"
He let out a miserable sigh. "Yeah. I short of thought that was just a nightmare when I woke up to you kissing me. What's wrong with me? Why did I forget? Things blur together a lot but I always thought it was just stress…"
She tried to break the news to him as gently as possible, resting her forehead against his and holding her hands against his cheeks in an attempt to ground him. "Kane wasn't just a hallucination, Casey. He's an alternate personality your brain invented to take care of you when you couldn't take care of yourself."
Casey cursed, which he hardly ever did. It was very Kane of him. It was followed by a hysterical laugh.
"Of course. Of course! I'm even more broken than I thought."
"You're fixable though! You are. I promise. I love you so much and I'll be here with you every step of the way as you try to get better. Hold on to that, okay? For me."
Vera was practically begging. She couldn't let the man she loved disappear on her. Having him but not him would be excruciating. It already had been. Being aware of what Kane was and how often he showed up was soul-crushing.
Casey took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Okay. For you."
Relieved, she let go and flopped forward so her face was pressed up against his neck. "Thank you."
Vera didn't have to lose him over this. As long as that was true, she could handle anything.
"But Vera? Why were you kissing him?"
She sighed in disgust, thinking of what Kane said earlier. "He thought it would work to draw you out and it did. I didn't know what else to try so I had to go along with it."
"How did you know it was him?" Casey asked after a long moment of silence.
"He keeps your bangs up. I officially met him yesterday since he came out while you were understandably breaking down. It would have been impossible not to realize something was going on since he had no clue what was happening and was acting completely differently."
"I see. What's he like then? I'm curious how he compares to the hallucination version."
Vera had to think about it for a moment. They really hadn't talked that much. "Clinical. Way too dismissive of trauma. Almost scarily calm. Easily annoyed. Wry humor."
"Weird. That's pretty accurate. I wonder if I cubconsciously—subconsciously—knew," Casey said quietly.
That was a valid question. They would never know though, would they? How this all worked. What mattered was solutions. Keeping hallucination Kane away and getting alternate personality Kane to reassimilate.
"Maybe. You said he didn't like taking care of you. Neither does this one. He said he thinks I can take care of you for him. Without a job left to do, he wants to disappear."
"I'll have to figure out how to do that then."
Vera truly was relieved that Casey was willing to work at this. Even though it would probably be really hard.
She kissed his neck before sitting up. "Come on. You should talk to the doctor. Everyone here has only talked to Kane. I'll be back tomorrow. Do you want me to bring anything?"
"Could you bring me some books and long-sleeved shirts?"
The latter made Vera's heart twist. The shirt he had been given in here was short sleeved. He didn't want anyone else to see, not assuming they would all be like her.
"Of course. I love you so much, Casey! I'll see you tomorrow."
"I love you too," Casey said tiredly, hugging her one more time and kissing her forehead before going to find the doctor as she was on her way out.
That went about as well as it could have. All three of them were on the same page. Getting Kane to disappear. With that in mind, wouldn't they be able to pull it off?