The Mind Virus

Chapter 13 - Part 3

The emergency room was bustling. Jim found comfort in this. It wasn't like him to feel better while surrounded by crowds of people, but at this moment, it was an antithesis of sorts to the dark factory he had been in moments before, and that raised his spirits, though not by much. God only knew how he'd managed to drive his car all the way to the hospital. It seemed like he would need to get used to handling things between the sides of his thumbs and the palms of his hands.

"Jimmy!" came a jovial voice from around the curtain.

"Officer Roberts? They sent you for this?"

"And why not? I'm on duty, aren't I? They need to send someone. And for the last time, it's Chris. I thought we'd gotten over this."

"Yeah, sorry, I guess I'm not in the right frame of mind," Jim said, lifting up a pair of hands in casts.

"Ooh, that's rough." Officer Roberts pulled up his notepad. "You know the drill, Jimmy. Tell me what happened."

And so he did. "It started when I received a note. It said..." Feeling like he could trust Officer Roberts somewhat, albeit not enough to say where the note came from, Jim told him about the contents of the note he'd received, but asked it not be included in the report. He told him about the meeting, about the bald man with the mask, and about the sad fate of his fingers.

"And then he just let you go?" Officer Roberts asked.

"Yeah, I guess he'd made his point."

"So how do you feel about that?"

"How do I feel about what?"

"About his point." Officer Roberts was looking at Jim intently.

"I mean, I feel like I'd be better off if he'd just asked politely and left my fingers alone."

"Are you going to be taking it to heart, though?"

"I don't understand what you're asking me."

"Are you going to cease your attempts at an investigation into the suicides?"

What a queer thing to ask at a time like this, thought Jim. "Well, I dare not find out what his next move would be now that my fingers are all broken," Jim said before a long exhale, "so yeah, I guess I'm throwing in the towel." He had made that decision the moment he'd found out he was locked in that room with Old Shiny Head, but saying it out loud made it real for the first time.

Officer Roberts could obviously pick up on his resignation. "Don't feel too bad about it, Jimmy. It's for the best. Let us handle it."

"It just seemed like no one else was. That's why I stepped up, for all the good it's done me." Jim lifted his mangled hands again. "Though I suppose Officer Spaulding is still looking into it."

"About that, I don't know if you two were close or what, but Officer Spaulding is no longer with us."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, but he was afraid he knew exactly what Officer Roberts meant.

"He'd dead, Jim. Some sort of car accident. The whole thing went up in flames with him inside it. No one could get close enough to pull him out with the way the fire was raging, and by the time the fire department arrived, it was way too late."