My Familiar Stranger Read Online Free PDF Page A

restored to a random abstract of mottled blue and purple with an occasional streak of yellow or splotch of sickly green. Medical staff often develop a macabre sense of humor to cope with their jobs. One nurse joked that the patient was a work of art – a watercolor relief in an otherwise completely white room.
    One day a nurse came in to check the I.V. and left the door open out of habit. Elora heard a masculine voice in the hallway just outside that caught her attention. He was asking questions about a patient. She couldn’t place it at first, but knew the sound was familiar and comforting.
    One of the young doctors entered with the squishing sound of soft soled shoes. On the way past the foot of Elora’s bed she said to the nurse changing the I.V., “You left the door open again, Janna.”
    “Sorry, doctor. It’s hard to remember to keep doors closed.” The doctor peered over Elora with dark, almond shaped eyes and her best bedside manner. “Good morning. I’m Doctor Ivagi. Can you tell us your name?”
    “Lorrr Aikei”. Elora Laiken wasn’t going to be possible until more of the swelling around her lips receded.
    “Lor, can you tell us how you’re feeling?”
    “Urzzz.” Pause. “Berrrr.”
    “It hurts, but you’re doing better?”
    “Hmmm.”
    Dr. Ivagi smiled at that. “Okay. Good girl. Now I need you to listen to this carefully. I’m putting a device with a button into your hand. Feel that? You’re going to be able to control your pain meds yourself from now on. When you need more, just push the button and a measured dose will release into your I.V. Do you understand?”
    “Ezzzz.”
    The medical community ascertained that patients would typically administer a smaller dosage of pain medication when they could self-regulate. As disabled as she was, Elora welcomed regaining even that little bit of control.
    Improvement continued so rapidly that the medical staff looked forward to coming on duty so that they could marvel at the change from the day before. Everyone involved knew they were witnessing something unique, part mystery, part miracle.
    One day when Monq stopped by the infirmary to check on the patient’s progress, he found Engel Storm standing in the hallway looking through the glass of the newly constructed recovery room. Quietly he asked one of the nurses if Storm came by frequently. The nurse snorted at that and said he was a fixture, that the staff was so used to having him stand in that spot that they walk around it even when he wasn't there.
    Gleaning a kernel of opportunity, Monq suggested to Sol that Storm be asked to assist with the discovery phase of evaluating the subject for threat risk. Storm was called into a private meeting during which Sol and Monq proposed giving him carte blanche clearance to visit within limits of medical advisability and suggested that he use the time to learn what he can. They went on to say they would provide him with a list of questions.
    Storm was indignant. “I’m not a spy and, frankly, I’m surprised you’d ask this.”
    Sol leveled his gaze and spoke evenly. “It’s not spying, Storm. It’s simply gathering information so that we know the best way to proceed. We do that every day.”
    “You want me to pretend to befriend her for the sole purpose of gaining information and reporting what she says. Sounds like spying to me.”
    Sol glanced at Monq then continued. “Her name is Lor. So far she hasn’t said much, but she is responding to treatment and soon we expect her to be able to talk without difficulty. We’d like her to be thinking of you as a confidante by then.”
    Storm shook his head, turned his back, and walked away, but stopped at the door. “It feels... wrong. It isn’t what knights do.” He turned around to face them. “And you both know it. Since when do we compromise principle for expediency? Or have we always done that and I’m the naïve tool who thought we were better than that?”
    Monq started to interject.