The Only

CHAPTER TWO - Karl

"Dr. Jensen!"

In two quick strides, he made his way to the gurney. He checked the patient's pulse, but it was just for show. Karl knew the young woman had died before the nurse shouted for him. His ears always rang from the odd high-pitched death scream from a patient suffering from the virus. And there was no mistaking, she had it.

The strange woman was right.

He heard crackles and diminished breath sounds in both the young woman's lungs. One of the clots must have broken apart and traveled to her heart. She didn't have a chance – just like all the others. Now she was just a number – fifty-three to be exact. Too many. The unexplainable virus ruined his perfect record.

Until two months ago, Karl had never lost a patient. A sick person would come in; he'd be paged to apply his expert assessment and move on. If it weren't for his superior intellect, many people might have died. Only he was able to diagnose and treat the most complicated cases. Everyone at the hospital knew that about him. They didn't like him, but they did depend on him when things got difficult. And the appearance of this virus was very difficult.

Karl turned Alex's face toward him. It felt like a chilled can of soda. Algor mortis. The death chill. Goosebumps bubbled up along the back of his neck. He quickly rubbed his hand on his pants. She shouldn't be that cold so fast.

The nurse sighed and covered up the body with a sheet. "I hate that we've lost another one."

Not as much as Karl.

Yes, his diagnostician skills were supreme, but his people skills were subpar. If only he had the power of ordering the nurse to tell the strange lady about her friend. It would make his life less...messy. Dealing with people and their feelings was just too awkward. He didn't comprehend people's need to be so...needy...and touchy. Why did the strange lady have to touch him? She didn't even know him.

Neima. She said her name was Neima. Hebrew in origin, meaning pleasant, agreeable, likeable. Karl smiled. His eidetic memory never failed. She was different. He wasn't sure if her name matched her demeanor, but she was smart. Not as smart as him, but definitely smart.

She was a doctor and even managed to diagnose her friend correctly without being a practicing physician. What kind of person goes to medical school and then doesn't bother to practice? An odd one, that's who. Weird.

Now he had to go tell her that her friend had died. His smile faded, and his shoulders caved in. Torture. He'd rather get a cavity filled without Novocain. If he had only listened to his medical school advisor about going into research, he would be in a nice quiet lab away from people.

He adjusted his glasses to perch even closer to the end of his long, pointy nose. It was best to get this over with quickly. Inhaling deeply, he busted through the curtains to face his fears and confront the unusual woman.

Karl found her sitting upright on the gurney, her head against the pillow, her face sporting a large pair of sunglasses. Her cheeks were puffed out from her deep escalations of air through her nose, and then rapidly flattened as she let the air out her through her mouth. It appeared to be some sort of meditation.

Karl sucked in his breath and prepared himself. It was part of his duty as a doctor that he conveyed information to patients' families. He needed to bite the bullet.

"Ms. Addison?"

Startled, she jumped, bouncing against the bed and causing her glasses to fall into her lap. Neima lowered her head to look for them, and Karl clearly saw one brilliant, blue eye and one dark, sparkling brown one.