Chapter Thirty-Eight: Lost and Found

Days had passed and still the police made an occasional visit to the park. The cause of death remained a mystery, although the bodies had finally been identified – a couple of college kids out on a walk after leaving a café. No motive had been established and the police had found themselves under close public scrutiny and pressure to find answers. The park had been searched by dozens of officers, including agents from the FBI and yet they failed to notice a figure beneath the nearby bridge.

Wet with sweat and shaking, Sam found herself completely alone. She couldn't bring herself to go home and she didn't know if she would even be able to find the way if she wanted to. Her stomach was knotted and ached, but the thought of eating never entered her mind. Shifting between a state of shock and bouts of sobbing and fear, Sam stayed huddled in a dark corner under the bridge – a place that was normally reserved for pigeons and other birds. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she finally fell forward into the water and was quickly swept away with the current.

Tourists crossing over the river on Virginia Street continued on their way and never noticed the pale body floating toward them, beneath them and then away. It was only moments later when a small child called to his dad that someone was “swimming” in the river that she was discovered. The man jumped into the water and pulled her to the edge of the river near the Automobile Museum. He picked her up and carried her to the lawn, where he laid her down. Other tourists rushed over and quickly encircled the two, a few of them dialing 911 at the same time. Her skin was white and she was obviously unconscious, but she was breathing and clearly alive.

* * *

A guard stood outside the hospital door as Chris approached. He had been told that the police were there, but didn't yet know the details about what happened. The nurse at the entrance to this part of the hospital explained that the officer outside the door was simply a precautionary measure. Having appeared suddenly near the area of the deaths of the college students, they were desperately trying to determine whether Sam had been involved in the murder, whether she had been a victim herself or whether it was purely coincidental that she ended up where she did. No one that the police talked to remembered seeing Sam there. Nor did anyone remember seeing her anywhere in the area the day she was found.

After presenting identification, Chris was permitted to enter the room where Sam was still unconscious. He sat near the side of her bed with his hand on her arm. The heart monitor blipped rhythmically and the machines hummed in the otherwise quiet room. Chris debated in his mind whether to talk to the seemingly lifeless person next to him. He had been in the same situation before and couldn't recall whether anyone had talked to him. The frustration he was already feeling compounded with the anxiety and fear that he felt from not knowing where to find Sam. Now that he was there it was more than he wanted to deal with. He started to stand up and walk for the door.

“Hey.”

A raspy voice squeaked behind him and he spun around. Sam, her eyes now open, looked at him in a way that made him shudder.

“What's wrong?” he asked in a voice that was starting to tremble.

“I killed some people.”

Chris didn’t know how to respond. The words combined with the terror in her eyes and left him speechless.

“There’s something wrong with me, Chris. Really wrong.”

He slowly made his way back to the side of the bed, trying desperately to put his own feelings aside in order to help her. He knew that he had to be a support for Sam, even though in his mind it felt like a shotgun blast of thoughts and feelings. He wanted to be comforting and casual, but was beginning to understand the seriousness of the implications. Not sure whether to address the comment that she “killed people” or that something was “really wrong” with her, he sat in silence for a moment longer.

Tears began streaming down her face, following the same path that they had hundreds of time over the past days. She turned her head away from Chris and toward the windowless wall across the room. Skirting the issues at hand, Chris finally said, “Should I get the nurse? They said you’ve been out for a while.”

“No, I don’t want to see anyone yet. I don’t know what to do.” Sam turned her head back toward Chris and gave him a sobering look. “I don’t know what happened!”

“Don’t get worked up, Sam. You need to relax. Don’t talk about it right now.”

A nurse walked in and saw Chris and Sam looking back at her. “I thought I heard some talking in here.” Noticing that Sam was obviously distressed she immediately came to the bed and began taking care of Sam. Chris thought he would be asked to leave, but the nurse just carried on with casual conversation while replacing Sam’s blankets with new, warmed blankets, wiping the moisture from Sam’s face and checking the readings on all the machines. The confident, nurturing manner of the nurse calmed Sam down and having Chris next to her now helped her to further relax.

“The doctor’s gonna’ want to talk to you now that you’re awake. He’ll be by in a few minutes.” With that, the nurse turned and left the room.

Chris was hesitant to return to the subjects that had caused Sam to get so upset, but the questions nagged his mind. Besides, it might be a good time to talk now while she was alert. They would only have a few minutes before they could expect the doctor to come in. “So, tell me what happened?” he ventured.

“I just felt like walking by the river and I lost track of what time it was. I started to walk back toward the University and passed these two people. They were right in front of me and I suddenly had the thought come in to my head that I wanted them dead. I don’t know why I thought that, but while I was looking at them they just fell over. I killed them with my thoughts somehow.” As Sam spoke the tears began to well up in her eyes again and her lips trembled.

“That’s not possible, Sam, and you know it!”

“That’s not all. Other weird things have happened. What about your arm? When it became permanently connected to your arm it was right after the fight at the diner. I had wished that you had your arm back and then that happened. I don’t know how it disappears, but it reappears when I wish it to be there!”

“It’s just a coincidence, that’s all. I know it seems strange, but it’s just a coincidence,” Chris tried to convince her.

“No, it’s not a coincidence. I’ve thought a lot about it – I can hardly think about anything else.”

The doctor walked in, the room once again became quiet.