Ace of No Trades

Chapter Twelve

 For the millionth time, I regretted not having a driver's license. 

After Ace had left, I bid goodbye to a distraught Misses Wilde and quietly went back to my home. I sat in my room that night, researching about the condition. My heart sank further and further with each web page that came up. It was genetic, something he had inherited. 

From what I could learn, it was pretty common. It would progressively result in central vision loss, sensitivity to light, which might explain his frequent bouts of headache and colour blindness. 

I skipped dinner that night and lay quietly in my bed. I kept thinking about Ace, the silent, tough war he was battling every day. How had he never told me? How had he never even expressed? 

And the worst, most agonizing thought of them all encased me in a suffocating shroud of despair and sorrow so great, I wasn't sure I could even feel it. There was nothing I could do for him. Simply watch as he withers away.

Maybe there was the long-suppressed optimistic part of me that hoped something could happen. There were ways to manage his condition, reduce the onslaught. And who knew what new technology they might come up with in the next few years? From what I had found out so far, intensive research was already going into it. Perhaps I was thinking too much, but I needed the hope. What did I have without it? 

I stared at the shadows masquerading against my bedroom wall, darker than I remembered.

What if he was lost? What if his eyesight was fucked so bad that he got into an accident and couldn't reach for help?

I shut my eyes and gulped, my chest heaving with sudden breathlessness. Why was this affecting me so much? 

I sighed and sat straight in my bed. There was no way I could just blissfully go to sleep when he was so alone out there. I called him, not really expecting him to answer and therefore receiving a shock when he did. 

"Ace," I spoke breathlessly, "Wh-where are you?"

"The Drive," he answered shortly. 

"Okay. Stay there. I'm...I'm coming." I realized he had already hung up and sighed. How was I going to go see him anyway? I couldn't drive and it was pretty late. But I had no choice. I would take a cab and find him. 

I made my way downstairs and quietly made my way to the front door. It was almost ten and I wasn't sure my mom would approve of me leaving home so late, but I had no choice. The thought of a scared and alone Ace was way worse than anything I would ever have to face at home. 

I called a cab and sat quietly, my heart hammering. I hoped he would be where he told me that he was. Although, the Drive was almost a kilometre long promenade and I had no way to know where he really would be. On the right side, the town of Haywood extended into a shroud of scattered lights. On the left, I could hear the sounds of the serene ocean. I wondered if a high tide was scheduled today.