Sentinel Event

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

"Now this is an interesting case," said Dr. Ana deTarlo, tossing a thick manila file onto her wide fabricated desk. The man sitting across from her raised an eyebrow, then leaned forward to pick up the folder and open it. His Passer watched in the background.

Chester Williams was thirty-four and young for the influence he wielded as the leading voice in the country in Passerism, which along with Passerist, were terms he had coined for himself as an expert in the study of Passersby – or as they were commonly called, Passers. He did not take requests for medical consultations lightly, though he rarely reviewed them in person. That was what his assistants and affiliates were for. But the problem with a personal favor was that it had to be, well, personal.

He smacked his lips in mock patience as he read the information in the folder, his icy dark eyes skipping quickly through it. More than once, Williams had been referred to as a "punk" or "arrogant little twit" by his critics, and he had the looks and attitude to support their statements. He even seemed to embrace conflict.

"Why would you call this patient interesting?" he asked, his eyes still on the file. "I'm familiar with this name; I think St. Cross sent me information about this, but my people decided it was nothing and blew it off."

DeTarlo exhaled sharply as if in amused fortitude.

"Keep reading," she answered. She was at least fifteen years Williams's senior and had played no small role in building support for his reputation in the psychological field; she never let him forget it.

"Patient has been coming to the hospital with a variety of injuries and accidents for twelve years," Williams summarized aloud, looking up. "Each time claiming that a Passer was responsible and offering no other explanation. There have been dozens of cases like this since the Sentience began. It doesn't mean anything."

Dr. deTarlo stood up and bent over her desk, rudely snatching the file back out of his hand and plopping it open before her. The light from her lamp reflected off the clean white sheets and illuminated her face in the semi-gloom caused by the closed blinds on her window.

"What kind of an idiot do you think I am?" she snapped.

Williams smirked and sat back in his chair, tapping his fingertips on the end of the hard plastic armrest.

"You tell me. I didn't come all the way from Denver because I think that Fort Wayne is beautiful this time of year."

Ignoring his response, deTarlo explained, "Just days ago, this patient was admitted to the psych ward after a botched suicide attempt. Since then, he has suffered two more 'attacks'; the first time a phlebotomist was harmed in the process, and the second time, another patient killed himself in the same room."

Williams arched an eyebrow, but didn't speak.

"Sounds like a typical dangerous psych patient, I know," Ana continued. "But the phlebotomist was adamant that the patient was 'being attacked.' She claims to have received injuries from the Passer involved, the one the patient identifies as 'Rubin,' though no spirits were visible at the time."

There was a flicker of recognition in Chester's eyes, though he said nothing.

"During the second attack," said deTarlo, "the patient began seizing and bleeding from the mouth, at one point asphyxiating. When the nurses and orderlies attempted to revive him, the defibrillator malfunctioned and has been examined and shows signs of electromagnetic radiation."

That caught Chester's notice and both eyebrows went up. He remained motionless in his chair but appeared to pay closer attention.

"Also strange is that no injuries were found to the patient's chest, heart, lungs, stomach, anything. The bleeding eventually stopped, but a source wound couldn't be found. A significant amount of hemorrhaging occurred, yet there was no internal bleeding. He was covered in bruises and scratches, but no actual incisions."