25. Bella and Dr. Mercer
Chapter twenty-five
Bella and Dr. Mercer
Silas, Tom and Lena are asleep. Finn is staying in the extra room tonight, which has become his. I can’t imagine running this clinic without him.
It’s now late. The harbor lights are distant and blurred through a creeping veil of fog. Inside, everything feels smaller. Contained. Manageable.
That’s what I tell myself, anyway.
Lena is stretched out on the bed now, wrapped in blankets, her breathing finally even enough to pass for sleep. Not deep sleep—her fingers twitch now and then, her brow furrows—but it’s something.
Tom is still quiet, almost coma-like and taking the IV well. Silas is quieter than usual. Mostly healed though the wound is still looking odd. Abnormal.
Finn lasted about an hour before the pull of sleep won out.
“I’ll set an alarm and check on them in a few hours,” he said on his way to his room. “I need a few hours of sleep.”
“Thanks Finn, you do need some sleep,” I replied. “Text my phone or yell if you need me.”
I turn the lights out in each room on a final check.
Then Charlie and I go upstairs. I admit I’m exhausted, too.
Charlie shifts when we get to the bedroom.
He doesn’t act alarmed or tense, just aware.
He lifts his head, looking past me. Walks slowly across the room.
Then nudges the old journal with his nose.
The journal of Dr. Mercer on the night table.
Pay attention, Bella, he says.
I stare at the journal.
“I didn’t leave it like that,” I say under my breath, reaching for the journal. It’s open on a different page.
Patient intake: November 3
Female, early thirties. Presents with fatigue, warmth of skin without fever, elevated pulse. Chased by something in The Wilds and slightly injured. Blood drawn exhibits unusual surface tension—movement inconsistent with expected clotting behavior.
I feel something drop in my stomach.
A strong line of vein webbing appeared on arms and legs after being chased. Elevated temperature.
“That’s what happened to Tom, the webbing! But I didn’t see anything strange on Lena’s arms. And not on Silas, either.”
I flip back to the previous entry.
Male, mid-fifties. Puncture wound at neck. Rapid tissue closure observed. Clotting delayed.
Like Silas.
Seven others in town suffering from anemia and bruising. No explanation why.
The air shifts subtly, like someone just stepped into the room. I look up but see no one. However, I feel a watchful presence and Charlie starts wagging his tail again, like he did last time.
Bella, he will help. Be nice.
“Are you showing me this?” I whisper to the empty space before I can stop myself.
Silence. Charlie’s tail moves. I swallow.
“Okay,” I say. “Thank you. I think I should check for webbing.”
Charlie huffs, looking at me as if agreeing, and then looking back at the empty space. You’re catching on, Bella.
“Charlie, the words feel ridiculous, just talking to empty space. But they don’t feel wrong, either.”
I decide to walk back down to Lena’s room. She’s sleeping fitfully. I reach for her wrist again. Her pulse is faster. Faster than it should be in sleep.
“I don’t like that,” I murmur.
I lift the blanket slightly. Her skin looks flushed. Warmer. She’s running a low temperature.
I examine her arm. At first, I see nothing other than the scrapes I cleaned up earlier.
But, I lean closer.
Along the inside of her arm, I see something. It’s barely there, very faint. A shadow beneath the skin, like a line. A webbed line. Following the vein, or maybe in a vein? It emanates from her wrist wound.
I freeze.
“Finn,” I whisper automatically. He’s not here. Right. I’m letting him sleep. He needs it.
I press my fingers gently along the line. Lena stirs.
“Doctor?” she murmurs.
“I’m here,” I say quickly. “Just checking on you.”
“Feels weird where you’re touching, on my arm,” she says, eyes still closed.
“How?”
“Like … it’s buzzing,” she whispers. “Inside.”
My pulse spikes.
“That’s okay. Just stay still. We’ll figure it out.”
Internal buzzing? Odd webbing under the skin? A temperature?
I look back at Dr. Mercer’s old journal. Then back at Lena.
Whatever she has seems to be spreading in the blood. At least, that’s my guess at the moment. Something inside her, maybe inside her blood.
A floorboard creaks behind me, soft and deliberate. I straighten slowly.
I hear the creak again, closer. But Charlie doesn’t growl. Helpful vibes. He telling you to pay attention, Bella.
I step toward the hallway. It stretches out, dim and narrow, shadows pooling at the far end. And there, for a fraction of a second, I see it.
A shape. Pale and misty. An older man wearing a doctor’s coat. Standing just beyond the edge of the light.
My breath catches.
“Hello?” I say, softer now.
The shape doesn’t move but doesn’t come closer either.
It lingers, somewhat translucent. And then I hear a voice faintly, “You’re on the right track, doctor. Follow the clues. They need you…”
Suddenly he’s gone. The space is empty now.
I exhale slowly.
“Well,” I murmur, “Seems we have an ally, Charlie. I’ve never seen a ghost before but I think we just did…”
Bella, Charlie says patiently, we established the existence of ghosts several days ago. And the dead rarely interrupt without reason.
He’s right.