Dream Phantom

Chapter Fourteen

His hands were sweaty. Much too sweaty to hold a knife. He licked his lips, tasting the salty residue of his fear above his upper lip. The pungent odor of his own beer-breath offended his nostrils. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to concentrate.

"I can do this," he whispered. "Another one can't die because of me. I'm a good doctor."

He stole a glance at the sleeping patient. He was under anesthesia. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead.

The patient's eyes suddenly opened and the doctor stumbled back, causing the tray of tools to come crashing down.

The patient slowly rose, his hospital gown tinged with blood. He pointed a finger at the sobbing doctor and moaned, "Murderer!"

"His brain activity is spiking," the nurse said as she looked at one of the monitors connected to Oliver.

The doctor beside her nodded, "He's probably dreaming."

"Hopefully, that means he'll wake up soon."

The doctor gave a slight shrug. He had been monitoring the patient's vitals for the past few weeks and nothing had improved. He had been going on three days without a decent night of sleep.

"You doing okay, doctor?" the nurse asked.

The doctor smiled, "Of course." He patted Oliver's hand before stepping away, wishing he could go home and have a drink.

~~~~~

Helen stared at Dani as she stuffed napkins into one of the napkin holders at King's Diner. Oliver has been in a coma for over a month.

"Are you doing okay?" Helen asked, a wrinkle of worry etched across her forehead.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Dani asked. She was concentrating on shoving the napkins in their holder. She grimaced as she tried fitting more napkins than the holder could carry.

"Acting like nothing is wrong isn't healthy. If you want to talk about it--"

Dani slammed the metal holder against the table, drawing the attention of some nearby customers. She scolded at Helen, "I don't need to talk to you about Oliver. It's not like you'd understand anyway."

"Of course I would. He's one of my best friends."

Dani scoffed, "That's why you waited years to show up in our lives? Excuse me if I find it hard to believe you care about anyone else but yourself."

"Whoa...what is all of this about? I thought we talked about this and you understood why I left you."

Dani's eyes focused on the metal napkin holder, "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me lately. I've been so stressed and Oliver still hasn't woken up...and--"

"If you don't want to talk to me did you at least talk to Jax?"

"Yeah, he's trying his best to find out who hurt Oliver. I'm sorry. I really am."

Helen bit her bottom lip, "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Dani rolled her eyes, "Not this again."

"I just want you to be careful. I would love having a grandchild but not if it means losing a daughter."

"Nothing is going to happen to me. I thought about this. I've been through too much to die now."

Helen couldn't help but smiling, "That's true. You're definitely a fighter."

"It does make me wonder if this ability we have isn't also a curse."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't have a normal life with this ability. Seeing people's nightmares is scary enough but it feels like I'm always attracting danger. I'm worried."

It was rare for Dani to open up to her so Helen pressed on, "About what?"

"I'm worried my ability has me cursed and I'm terrified it's going to impact the people I love."

"Like Oliver?"

Dani nodded, "He never hurt anyone. He was the nicest man I'd ever met. He didn't deserve this."

Dani felt Helen squeeze her hand, "Oliver is going to wake up and things will get back to normal."

"I hope so."

"Is Jax going to pick you up?" Helen asked.

Dani shook her head, "No. He has to work late."

"Didn't he get a new partner?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Dani began removing some of the napkins from the holder.

"Is it a man or a woman partner?"

"A woman. He doesn't like her too much."

"Jax is a good man," Helen said, "but you always need to be careful about other women."

"I trust my husband. "

"As you should. I just want you to be careful about those kinds of relationships. Men and women that work together tend to depend on one another. It deepens their relationship."

Dani stood, "I should get back to work. I trust Jax. He wouldn't cheat on me with his new partner."

Even as she said the words, a heavy cloud of apprehension surrounded her.