Where Nerves End

looking for on my tongue?”
“You can tell a lot about someone by their tongue,” he said so matter-of-factly, I felt a bit like an immature school kid for completely misinterpreting the comment.
“Can you, now?”
Michael nodded. “The color and the texture say a lot about whats going on elsewhere.”
I cleared my throat. “Really?”
“Mm-hmm,” he said. “For example, looking at yours, I definitely need to focus some attention on your liver and kidneys. Probably the gallbladder too. Between your tongue and your wiry pulse—”
“Wiry pulse?”
Another nod. “Its a sign of your liver being out of balance, as well as a secondary deficiency in your kidneys.”
“So, what do I need to do about that?”
“Id recommend coming back to see me,” he said. “Between the acupuncture, some dietary changes, and maybe some herbal treatments, I can get everything back to functioning the way its supposed to.”
I exhaled. “How many times do you think I should come back.”
“Itll probably take at least seven or eight visits to really get you back on track,” he said. “After that? Its up to you if you want to come back in for regular treatment.”
I scowled as I mentally calculated the cost. Michael mustve seen right through me or encountered this a lot, because he said, “If money is an issue, especially since insurance doesnt usually cover my treatment, we can work out a plan. I cant give away my services, but if I can help you, Ill do what I can to make the treatment accessible to you.”
“Thanks,” I said quietly. Tempting. Very tempting.
He gave me a few of the usual pointers—hot packs, hot packs, hot packs—and then removed the needles from my shoulder and my feet.
I put on my shirt and shoes, and Michael led me back out into the hall. On the way back to the waiting area, I had to squint a little while my eyes readjusted to the brighter lights of the fluorescents overhead and the sun coming in through tinted glass. Why was it so surreal to be out here again? Even my own car out front, the shopping center outside, the view of the mountains, seemed…strange. Like Id been in a different world for a little while, and my short absence from this world had turned everything foreign and unfamiliar.
We shook hands, and while I settled up with the receptionist, Michael took another patient back. As he disappeared down the hall, I debated taking him up on his offer to work out some kind of financial plan.
I just couldnt decide if I wanted to come back for the acupuncture or the acupuncturist.

CHAPTER 3
    Five years ago, my business partner, Rico, and I had gotten our hands on a deserted factory on the eastern edge of the Light District. After pouring an unholy amount of borrowed money into renovating the place, not to mention getting liquor and the permits to pour it, wed hung out a sign, lit up the dance floor, and Lights Out was born.
    “Like a phoenix from the ashes,” Rico had said, beaming from behind the bar as our deejay played to a packed house that first night.
    With the cash flow these days, I was more inclined to compare it to a reanimated zombie no one had the heart to shoot in the face with a twelve gauge.
    Tonight, the club didnt open for a couple hours yet, so the lights were on and the chairs were up. deafening techno music, the black-painted clinking bottles, humming refrigerators, running water, chattering voices, and the muted, tinny music coming from the smaller stereo behind the bar.
    With the regular lights on, the walls were plain blue, black, and white. Once we turned on the black lights later, dozens of loud, brightly-colored designs would appear. Not that anyone paid any attention to them, considering everyone was either drunk, flirting, or both, but it made for a cool atmosphere.
    As I walked across the club to the staircase, Brenda, one of the bartenders, spoke to me from behind.
“Wow, Davis.” When I turned around, her eyes widened. “You get some new drugs or something?”
“Uh, no. Why?”
She shrugged. “I dont know, you just look…different.”
“Really?”
Brenda looked toward the bar. “Hey, Tony. Come over here a second.”
Tony sauntered out from behind the bar. “Yes, dearest?”
She nodded sharply toward me. “Does he look different today?”
Tony peered at me, looking me up and down. “Well, you do look more awake.”
“Seriously?” I raised my eyebrows. “Do I usually look that bad?”
They both laughed.
“Davis, darling.” Tony clicked his tongue