Page 19 of Private Exhibit
The doctor tensed even more. “What?”
Devon slowly looked around. “It's so quiet,” he whispered in awe. He closed his eyes, reveling in the peace of it. This wasn't an attack cutting off sensory information. It was better. An actual quiet, calm space, away from the chaos of the world.
When he opened his eyes, he found Dr. Gerard looking at him strangely. Then the man gave a start, shook his head, andshot out of the chair. “You'll probably need to check in with H.R. before you get started–”
“I already did,” Devon replied, holding up his hospital security badge. “And then they sent me to I.T. to set up my credentials for your computer system. They started to give me a crash course in how to use the software, but honestly, it's so intuitive and organized, it took me about five minutes to figure out how it all worked.”
The doctor's eyebrows went up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
Dr. Gerard narrowed his eyes. “Show me,” he said, gesturing at the desk.
Devon glanced at it, the glass surface still littered with tablets and files. He shuddered.Oh gods. How was he going to function with all that chaos in front of him? He took a deep breath. It had to be done. This was his job now. He'd just have to deal with it.
He set his lunch bag down on a chair, then stepped around behind the desk, almost having to squeeze right past the doctor to do so. Devon felt his heartbeat kick up, being so close to the man.Gods. Focus!He moved in front of the chair and started to reach for the tablet the doctor had been using, then stopped with a gasp.
“Oh my gods,” he gushed, staring at the desk itself. At least, what little he could see of it. “That's an Atlas Two-Fifty-D. Oh my gods!” he repeated. “I've always wanted to play with one of these! It's got integrated holoprojection and the Hyperion processor which issomuch better than the previous version. I mean, the Albatross processor was good, but this! This thing can outperform anything that's ever been on the market–” Devon cut himself off when he realized he was babbling, feeling his cheeks go hot.
“I have no idea what any of that means.” Dr. Gerard rubbed the back of his neck. “And I honestly don't even know how to turn this damned thing on.”
“Really?” Devon reached under the desk, running his fingertips along the edge.
The desk surface lit up with a blue glow.
“That's it?” the doctor asked incredulously.
Devon nodded. “Just right here,” he said, pointing, then slid his hand first to the left, then to the right. “Off. On.”
The doctor reached past him, his arm brushing Devon's chest, and tried it himself. “Well, I'll be damned.” He drew his arm back, then looked down at Devon with an eyebrow cocked. “Alright.” He grabbed the tablet and held it up. “Show me what you can do with this.”
Devon took the tablet, seeing a patient file with a lot of incomplete information.
“I've got this one on ice,” the doctor said. “No identification of any kind,” he went on. “We need to figure out who he is so we can notify next-of-kin.”
Devon blinked. That was it? “Oh. That's easy.” He noted a blood sample attached to the patient file, so a DNA analysis had already been done. Devon ran a quick search against the hospital database, but didn't find any matches. He switched apps and started to run a network search, then grimaced and shook his head. “May I use this instead?” he asked, pointing at the desk.
The doctor gestured permission, then crossed his arms over his chest.
Devon propped up the tablet, sat down, and turned the desk back on. The blue glow was soothing in the otherwise dark room. Tapping on the glass surface, Devon scanned his fingerprints to log into the server, then opened the touch keyboard. He couldn't help smiling at that. Typing on glass felt so much nicer than an old-fashioned, traditional keyboard like he had at home. Thesmooth, cool surface sent a chill of pleasure right through his fingertips.
He typed in the patient ID number, opened the patient's profile, and ran a network search, looking for a matching DNA file in any database to which the hospital had access. When nothing turned up there, Devon hesitated only for a second before he pushed the patient file aside and opened a new command prompt. It would have been so much easier without all the chaos cluttering the desk surface, but he couldn't stop now. He had to prove that he could do this job.
With Dr. Gerard looking over his shoulder, Devon remotely logged into one of his computers at home, accessing one of his custom designed hacking protocols. He fed the unknown patient's DNA into the program and ran a search through any and all databases to which he still had a backdoor.
Thanks to years of hacking into various medical facilities across the land, there almost wasn't a single database that Devon couldn't reach.
University Hospital had always been the great exception. It wasn't so secure as to be unhackable, but no matter what Devon had tried, he'd never been able to access Dr. Gerard's files on his Ashworth-Grahams study. But now, with credentials, things might be different. If he was very careful, he could dig into their files—into Dr. Gerard's files—and see if there were any promising leads for his condition.
That was doubtful, considering the doctor had apparently given up his study, but Devon still had to try. He could also get better access to the files for Dannika, Oliver's friend. Then Oliver might have some answers and some closure.
But Devon had to keep this job in order to accomplish all that.One thing at a time. He finished the search, then grinned as three matching results popped up. Devon opened the files, liningthem up side-by-side on the desk screen, confirming the DNA profiles were in fact a match.
“There he is,” Devon announced. “His name. Some address history. Looks like he has both parents still living, but no siblings that I can see. No spouse or children–” Devon broke off, sucking in air between his teeth. “Gods,” he gasped.
“What?” Dr. Gerard asked, leaning down over his shoulder.
Devon shuddered, the warmth and scent of the man threatening to distract him. “Um.” He quickly tried to shake off the sensation, then pointed at one of the files. “He changed his name at some point, but it's clearly the same man since the DNA profile is an exact match. Looks like he was implicated in the gang rape of a teenage girl several years ago.”
