A new gastroenterologist, Dr. Cantor from Columbus, was hired by Montbleu and started work October 1. The new interns had arrived in July, and Claudia had agreed to allow two to visit the Women’s Center twice a week. Dr. Pileggi had, one morning after taking his shower, forgotten to dress after putting on his underwear and driven to work in his bathrobe. A quick call to his wife had gotten him whisked out of there, and he had not been back since, a great relief to the rest of the Montbleu staff.
Claudia enjoyed her work at the Center, and the company of the other doctors and nurse practitioners, especially Harper Chang, who was also a midwife.
“How is Richard doing?” Harper asked Claudia between patients. “Is he still seeing that weird man in the apartment? Did they adjust his meds?”
Claudia frowned. “If he is, he’s not talking. His doctor gave him a serious going over and said the meds he’s on seem to be working fine. He’s rational in every way but that one. The shrink can’t break him on that issue, no matter how hard he tries.”
“Does Richard have a cell phone of his own?” asked Harper.
“Yes.”
“Well, tell him to get a picture of the dude then.”
Claudia nodded. “Brilliant, woman. Why didn’t I think of that?”
~~~
“Oh, no,” said Richard that evening. “He won’t go for it! No pictures. Besides, he said it would just look like haze in the photos. No use even trying.”
“Is that so?” said Claudia. She felt rather nasty. “Well, if you want me to believe he exists and that you’re not crazy” — that word really pissed Richard off — “then you’re going to have to prove he’s real. End of story.”
Richard had cooked dinner, which he was doing more and more often. Amazingly, he was good at it. Tonight’s menu was Mexican Chicken casserole with a field greens salad.
“He still wants to meet you. Why don’t you let me set up a time?” asked Richard coolly.
Claudia had downed a homemade martini and was feeling quite cavalier. “All righty then! Let’s just set that little meeting up, bro! What should I wear?”
“Oh, he wouldn’t care what you wear, Claud.” He paused, deep in thought. “I’ll tell him you’re ready.”
~~~
Claudia was off for the weekend. Harper Chang was on call with one of the RNs. After a bit of cleaning Saturday morning, then bringing home the groceries, Claudia decided to soak in the tub and read a novel. Richard had gone on a day trip to Ithaca with his group from the psychiatric clinic.
She turned off her cell phone, lit a couple of candles and settled into the tub. The water was steaming, and it was pleasant to feel her muscles unwind as she leaned back and soaked. Eventually, she picked up the razor and began to shave her legs.
When the stranger suddenly appeared by the sink, she screamed and slashed her ankle. Blood curled into the water while she frantically fumbled for the towel to cover herself. As soon as she saw his face, she knew who he was.
“I’m so sorry to have disturbed you,” the stranger said. “Now if you don’t mind,” he added, and walked to the tub. She was speechless with terror. He reached into the water and touched, with a long index finger, the spot on her ankle that was bleeding. Immobilized with fear, she could not look to see what he’d done, though later she would find no mark at all where the cut had been.
She had never been this frightened in her life. Though she knew that this was the person her brother had been seeing and not some regular murderer/rapist, another source of terror was working itself through her frantic thoughts. Just as Richard had said, his man, whoever he was, did not look normal. Claudia had studied many bodies, and not just female, during her training, and she had never seen one like this. Not only was his face somewhat odd, but he seemed to give off a slight glow.
“I have been waiting for a chance for us to talk,” he said. “Richard, while a nice enough individual, is usually in the way. What we have to discuss is not for his ears.”
“Who are you?” she managed to squeak.
He moved toward the toilet, and for a moment, she thought he might sit down, but no. Raising one elegant hand for emphasis, he said, “The real question is, who are you, Claudia Linstrom? Do you really know? Do you remember?”
What in hell was he talking about? “Do you mind,” she said, regaining some of her composure, but not much, “allowing me to put on some clothes?”
He backed toward the door. “No, why would I? I shall wait for you out there.” And he disappeared. Into thin air.
Why was she not surprised? Hadn’t he appeared into thin air? She almost fell getting out of the tub and scrambled into her clothing, which consisted only of underwear, since she’d not counted on having to fully dress in the bathroom. Wrapped in a towel, she found him standing at the end of her bed.
“Do you never wonder why you have wanted to doctor females since you were a child? Do you never wonder why you are different from either of your parents?”
He walked into the hall, she assumed to give her some privacy.
“Do you have a name?” she called as she frantically finished dressing.
“I am Jabril,” he said.
Why did that sound familiar?
“You have forgotten the contract you made,” he told her when she located him in the living room. “This happens, of course, when you agree to be born on earth. But I have come to recall you to your mission.”
“Mission?” she said weakly. Was she totally losing her mind? Had she somehow manifested Richard’s affliction? Did it run in their genes?
Jabril apparently read her mind. “It does run in the genes, my friend, but not in yours.”
She found that she was trembling; she felt so cold. “What is this mission you’re talking about?”
“To plant the seed, Claudia. The seed. It is nearing time for the conception of the next Avatar. You are the assistant for the planting of the seed.”
“What?” This was outrageous. She had to be hallucinating! What had she eaten that day? Lunch — tuna on whole wheat with a sliced tomato and some corn chips; breakfast — yogurt with granola and raisins, coffee. What the hell?
“Leave me alone!” she cried.
“As you wish, Claudia,” he said. “But I will return. It is not good to agree to a mission only to renege on it. I want to remind you of that.”
He vanished.
Oh, my God. Should she call Richard’s shrink right now? She darted frantically about to locate her cell and was about to speed dial Dr. Nevin, when she abruptly stopped. Let’s just think this out, she muttered. If this shrink gives her a DSM diagnosis and insurance covers her meds, this is going to be on her record. Could she risk this, just starting her career? She set the phone down and stared at the wall. For the first time in her life, she understood how Richard might feel.
Jabril left her alone for a couple of weeks, though Richard remarked that he’d seen him once. Claudia did not jump down his throat when he mentioned this, and Richard noticed. “You’ve seen him, too, haven’t you? I can tell, I can tell!”
She felt like they were back in junior high.
“No!” she snapped; then, “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“You saw him!” said Richard, who danced away into the kitchen. “I’m making spaghetti!” he yelled.
She managed to file the frightening invader away into some dark little compartment of her mind. This was a talent she had learned from her father, long dead from having chosen to cross a street at the wrong time.
~~~
About Margaret Karmazin
