concept
A bond.
It hadn’t made a lot of sense at first. He would get flashes through her eyes. As if he was seeing what she was seeing. It was startling, to be seeing through another’s eyes and hearing through another’s ears, blind and deaf to his own world when it happens.
Sometimes, he would try to speak. Not much would go through, but he felt something. Confusion? Fear?
Then they would catch sight of each other. This woman… he felt something in her that reminded him of himself. Loneliness. And she recognized it in him as well. He could see her lips move, but there were no words.
It became the new normal. When things seemed different, he would freeze. Wait. Watch. Her world was a sad one. People who didn’t care, people who didn’t value her as they should. Her absorption in her studies. Her ache for recognition.
Charlie is sure she sees the same from him. And she understands.
One night, he throws caution to the wind. He’s bloody from an altercation, pride wounded, aching for someone. Anyone. Including that woman he hallucinated.
So he closed his eyes and reached out to her. When he opened them again, she sat in front of him, eyes tracing over him with concern. The smile he gives her is radiant. It’s a relief. They don’t try to speak, but they start to gesture.
Chest. Face. What?
No. You. Me. Rest.
You. Me?
The signs are rudimentary, but the meanings are somehow understood. Charlie nods.
You. Me. You… make me feel better.
You… me. Glad to… help.
The meanings… are clear. He can’t hear a voice, but he understands.
You make me feel normal.
Me, too.
You make me think that I’m not alone.
You make me feel needed.
They stare at one another for a while. The woman smiles at him, and he feels his heart tighten. I’m Thandi.
Charlie.