Chapter 14: A Doctor's Explanation
The following morning when I woke up, Dr. Ian was still there, his eyes were sharp and it seemed he haven't slept. Again, he was staring at me unsmiling. He was wearing his lab coat and sitting at my bedside, "Why don't you say something Robin?" he said sternly.
It was my first time to see my therapist this pissed at me, and we had a relationship that lasted for years. "I couldn't", I said. I said. The realization hit me like a wall, I spoke! I couldn't help but grin.
"You're a very lucky idiot!" he said to me massaging his temple looking relieved. "That demon isn't vanquished yet. Salt won't kill it, just ward it away for the time being, "as he continued to massage his temple, "What kind of idiot are you to let a demon into your hospital room and as a bonus you even allowed it to poison you, didn't you know that your condition was turning from bad to worse everyday?"
I shook my head because I really thought I was getting better. "You would barely notice, given the stat you're it. But just so you know she was poisoning you with morphine. Your doctors were beginning to wonder why you have high levels of it in your blood, that at times they think that you're overdosing on purpose because of all the pain that you're under." I must have given him a strange look because he quickly added, "It was all on his notes. I'm not God you know!"
Yes he wasn't but his appearance stirred a lot of questions that I had been holding back for a very long time. The doctor continued, "Robin, you're not crazy if that's any consolation", he said.
"Yes I think so too", I replied promptly, "so this validates that Annie Villafuerte is alive?"
The doctor shifted in his seat, he looked uneasy, clearing his throat, he said, "Yes, and no. As we speak Annie is in a kind of suspended animation, neither dead nor alive. Have you ever heard of Schrodinger's cat?"
I nodded, "She is in the same state, teetering between life and death. Technically she was supposed to die after the accident but her family had begged me to save her."
"What do you mean?" honestly, I couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Annie's body and soul is alive, but because of what had happened years ago her soul was ripped out of her body, turning it into a hollow shell. The demon whom the family had made a contract with has took the place of her soul in her body, leaving Annie's soul displaced.her parents sold their souls to the devil just to revive her," Dr. Ian said all those things a wee bit too fast and honestly, beyond belief, I wanted to interrupt to clarify a lot of points but he went on.
"But a displaced soul and its body have this unbreakable bond that could only be broken by death, and since Annie wasn't dead to begin with there are those moments that Annie gets the chance to get back in her body, those are the times that you get to see her, or an image of her. But of course the demon will take over once more and will place Annie's soul locked away or displaced."
"What does it all have to do with me?" I finally blurted out
The doctor's face darkened, as if the story wasn't scary enough. "You are the Traveler."
"The what?"
"The Traveler, Robin, it's the term that people like us use for people like you. Travelers are those who were bestowed by God the ability to kill demons that have plagued this earth through vessels like Annie, but the catch is you can only do it once, and only for a specific person. That's why you are called a Traveler, your gift travels from one person to another once you have done your job."
Okay...pause...rewind...play. Everything was so hard to swallow. It wasn't logical, not that these past few months have been, but this was just a bit too much. Demon-killing? I'm not a Winchester because all of these things are more of a plot for a television show than real life. For crying out loud, I'm a police officer and this case happens to be riddled with a lot more things that I couldn't barely understand. In fact, after all this time I still couldn't get myself to accept or understand whatever has been happening.
"Why me?" I finally got to say it, my frustration, in two clear words.
"Because you are justice in the eyes of God. Your parents died that day, and the Villafuerte family had cheated the death of their youngest, like it or not you are the aggrieved party here, the one entitled to some justice."
"But I thought you said that she wasn't dead to begin with?"
"But she was barely alive either. She was dying Robin, at this time and date she could have been saved but back then it was impossible."
I was silent again, thoughts were flooding through my head that I couldn't choose what to comprehend first. Annie wasn't dead yet, but her life is slipping away like water. Deep inside me, I wanted to save her, she was my mission, my first case, and the one I'm not going to fail.
"How do I save her and her family?" I said slowly.
The doctor didn't say anything, but only placed something on my hand, it was cold and metallic. I looked down and saw my service firearm, that was my answer. The doctor patted me on my shoulder, whispered and left.
"Sta. Isabel Manor, address is in your bag." were Dr. Ian's last words before he left
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