The Patient by Jasper DeWitt

Author:Jasper DeWitt [Jasper DeWitt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780358181774
Publisher: HMH Books
Published: 2020-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

April 10, 2008

This part of the story is where things start to get really hard, and, honestly, it’d be a lot easier to just stop here. But in some sense, writing this is like sucking poison out of my system, albeit years after the fact. But I won’t bore you with my agonizing.

Dr. P—— gloated the entire way to the top floor and the medical director’s office. “I had your number from the minute they hired you. When I heard they were bringing in some Ivy League wiseass to work on my staff, I knew you’d cause trouble. I told her everything was going fine, she shouldn’t muck it up with some smarter-than-thou baby doc. But no, she was taking you on as a favor to an old friend. And to think, you were actually doing pretty well with your other patients, all things considered. Man, you high-and-mighty brats always think the sun shines out of each other’s asses, so she even hoped you might actually get something out of Joe. But now she’s gonna be so disappointed. I warned you, motherfucker. Don’t forget that. You’d still be the golden boy if you’d listened to me. But you had to meddle with something you don’t goddamn understand. You arrogant lightweight. You . . .”

Seriously, the jabber went on for the entire ten minutes it took to get to Dr. G——’s office.

I had no idea what was going to happen to me, and I was stumped as to what had gone wrong. I suppose I also felt a sort of relief at being caught, considering that lying and subterfuge were not my professional goals, but I was in agony that Joe remained trapped. At the same time . . . what the hell had I heard from Joe’s room? I kept replaying the things Joe had said, then going back over Dr. G——’s warnings about his madness being contagious, wondering what was true. Or had everyone just been lying to me the whole time?

I’d felt that unholy laugh in my bones. Had my fears of being caught made me snap? Or, if I was sane, how had Joe mirrored a laugh pulled from my worst childhood nightmare?

My frantic, confused thoughts were interrupted as Hank yanked the door to Dr. G——’s office open and shoved me inside without a word. My nose nearly made contact with the carpet as I fell forward, and it took me a moment to steady myself and focus on the people in the room.

Yes, people. Dr. G—— was there, of course, standing in front of her desk and glaring down at me with an expression that made me think of a hawk regarding a rotting carcass and deciding it wasn’t worth eating. But seated behind her, in the well-crafted leather armchair usually reserved for the medical director, sat a wizened, tired old man in a heavity patched sport coat, regarding me with hard eyes over a pair of well-worn silver spectacles. I had no idea who this stranger was, but if Dr.

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