Page 10 of Sebastian

The sound was raspy, and not actually that loud despite all the effort that had been put into it. Just as quickly as the John Doe responded, he fell still once again. Neither the doctor nor any of the other nurses looked surprised, so I assumed this reaction had happened before.

Meehaw?

What did it mean?

It didn’t sound like anything in English.

Spanish, maybe?

The word almost sounded like Mija, a Spanish endearment for girl or daughter.

Could the John Doe have a daughter?

If that was true, then we definitely needed to figure out his identity.

My spiraling thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of my name being called out by someone behind me.

“Nurse Clary, you’re not on duty today.”

I spun around to see Administrator Constella standing just behind me with her typical stern expression etched on her face.

“No, I’m not on duty today, but I was here for something else, and I just wanted to see how the patient was doing. Sorry. I’ll get out of the way.”

Something that could almost have been called a smile twitched the corners of her lips. “Actually, this is convenient. The DNA test for our John Doe came in. I need you to call Mr. Roth and give him the information.”

She handed me a file, which I automatically accepted before I’d fully processed her words. “Of course, I… wait, what? You mean Bastian Roth, the guy who was in here a few days ago? You want me to call him?”

Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor as she walked away. “Everyone’s very busy dealing with this new development, as you can see. It’ll only take you a few minutes, so handle it on your own. All the information should be in there, including the phone number.”

Then she was gone, and I was left standing alone in the hallway. My mouth gapped like a dying fish, trying to form words that never came.

Eventually, I managed to pull myself together enough to stumble out of the hospital. I rode the bus all the way back to my apartment, clutching the file with one hand while pouring M&M’s into my mouth with the other. Luckily, I always had a bag or two on me. No day was complete without chocolate, and in that moment, it was the only thing keeping me sane.

When I opened the door to my apartment, I was desperately glad to find my roommate, Frankie, already home. I stood in the doorway, still dressed in my scrubs with the file held out on front of me like a bomb about to blow up.

Frankie looked up from where he was cooking in the kitchen.

“Hey, Newt. How was...” As soon as his gaze landed on me, his smile fell. “Oh, no. What happened?”

“Mayday.” I held the file up a little higher. “Frankie. It’s a disaster. I’m going to die.”

With all the patience of a god, Frankie took a seat on the couch and patted the spot next to him. “You’re not going to die. Tell me what happened.”

I tripped twice as I kicked off my shoes, let my jacket fall to the floor, then collapsed on the couch. Frankie’s lap became my pillow as I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling with the file clutched to my chest.

I first met Frankie in college, where we’d shared a dorm room, and we’d been friends ever since. We even pursued similar careers, though he focused on physical therapy. It was a running joke between us that we were medical bookends. When someone got hurt, I was the first person they saw, and he was the last.

After years of friendship, Frankie knew exactly how to handle me when I was in panic mode. One of his hands ran through my hair, taking out the hair tie and the barrettes that kept everything in place.

I kept meaning to get a haircut, but I could never find the time.

“Okay, what’s the problem?” Frankie asked when he’d dropped the last barrette on the side table. “The world isn’t ending, so it can’t be that bad.”

I groaned and slapped the file against my face. “It may as well be ending. You remember that guy I told you about the other day?”

Frankie tipped his head to the side, dark eyes looking down at me with curiosity. “We each see a lot of patients every day. You’ll have to be more specific.”

With my face still pressed against the paper surface of the file, I mumbled as quietly as I could. “The PI who came in for the John Doe.”

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