Chapter 9: Comatose

Conner caught up with Sara outside police headquarters the next day.

“Sara, I found the threat in my area. So, I got Ed to pass on the address to the CIA,” he said.

“Good job! I found nothing in my area. I saw some criminal activity, but nothing like the level you were expecting.”

“Sorry I couldn’t find you last night, or I would have told you. Too bad we don’t have phones as ghosts.”

“No worries. I was thinking we can scan our respective areas regularly, perhaps once every week.”

“I agree, as long as I pass the intel to Ed. It must be significant, too.”

“He’s all yours. I find it annoying to ask him for help.”

That was exactly what Conner wanted. Sara was working for him and he controlled access to the asset.

“I’ll be at police headquarters often if you need to contact me. If you find a worthy case, we can discuss how we can handle Ed,” said Conner.

“Thank you. I visit police headquarters often. I look forward to working with you.”

The new Russian safe house was a farmhouse outside of town.

Currently, three agents discussed their plans.

“We lost an entire team because of him. We should make him pay,” said agent #1.

“All in good time. We also lost a valuable asset in Langley. We lost the intel he provided,” said their leader.

“With the frequency he visits their local office, he is an active agent. He might have some useful intel.” (agent #2).

“That and his visit to the yakuza means he’s connected to the local underworld. His software job is just a cover.” (agent #1).

“Perhaps we capture him and ship him back home to Moscow? They can torture him there without risk of his escape.” (agent #2).

“I was hoping to get some payback for the damage he did to us.” (agent #1).

“Whatever we do, we should move soon. His presence in Seattle is a threat to our operations here.” (agent #2).

“Da. I agree. Capture and send him to Moscow. We can extract him from his apartment,” said their leader.

The next day, Ed returned to work, arriving early. He checked in with his boss before diving into work on bug fixes. As he sat in his cubicle, a ghost appeared near him. He recognized this one. It was Conner Price, the former CIA agent.

Ed smiled and stood and was about to walk to the janitor’s closet.

“Ed, I can tell you here. I’m just giving you advance notice. I’ll stop by your apartment this evening, ” said Conner.

Ed nodded and sat down again. This was an improvement. Normally, when Conner stopped by, it meant he had to leave work and visit the CIA office.

Ed resumed his work on bug fixes.

Later in the evening, he closed up and drove home.

No sooner than he arrived in his living room, Conner appeared with another ghost.

“Hello,” said Ed.

“Good evening, Ed. May I introduce Ellen. I brought her to meet you, as you might find her case interesting.”

Ed looked at the other ghost. She was female, brunette, and looked about thirty. He might resent the disturbance, but Conner was polite. He preferred Conner to Sara.

“Hello, Ellen. What’s your story? How did you die?”

“Hello. I don’t quite know my story. I don’t know when or how I died.”

“Do you have any unfinished business that keeps you here as a ghost?”

“I don’t think so. I really can’t say why I’m here.”

“Conner, is this why you brought her? She has no memory of her death. I don’t know how I can help her.”

“Yes, she is a puzzle. To me, something is different about her,” said Conner.

Ed considered her for a moment.

“Conner, it would help if we knew where her body is. We might discover a cause of death and other answers,” said Ed.

“Didn’t you work with Ian to find his body? Perhaps that would work for Ellen.”

“Perhaps. If we assume she died in the Seattle area. Ian found when he approached his body he could feel a tingling sensation.”

Conner nodded.

“Why not leave her with me? We’ll float around and see if she can sense anything,” said Conner.

“That works for me. If you don’t find a body, I can’t really help her,” said Ed.

Conner turned to Ellen.

“Please come with me. We must go search for your body,” he said.

Conner and Ellen floated out through a wall and were gone.

Ed fixed himself dinner. Later, he went to bed.

After leaving Ed, Conner introduced Ellen into the ghostly art of flying. They floated above tree tops and buildings.

“Ellen, tell me if you sense any tingling. We’ll fly around and cover lots of area this way.”

She nodded, and they floated off.

Several hours later, she called a halt.

“Conner, I feel something from over there!” she said.

“Good. Now we must pinpoint where.”

They descended and circled the area to pinpoint the source of the tingling.

“In there!” said Ellen.

“That’s a private clinic,” said Conner. He floated down and memorized the name and address. He’d need that later.

“I wonder why my body is there?”

“Maybe they have a morgue.”

They entered the building and floated through rooms and corridors. It was clean and had a modest number of patients. Conner thought it was a good place to hide while healing after an attack.

“This way,” said Ellen.

Their search brought them to a private room on the second floor. Ellen floated through the door. Conner followed.

They’d entered a dimly lit room.

“Hey, this is your body!” said Conner.

Her body was in a bed, surrounded by medical equipment, complete with beeping noises and displays showing various data.

“And I’m not dead! They have me on life support.”

“Your body is in a coma. This is different. I didn’t know you could be a ghost of someone in a coma.”

“It appears so. What do we do now?” asked Ellen.

“We regroup. Our plans have changed. We don’t need a cause of death, but we need to rescue you.”

“Rescue me?”

“Wake you up then. I want to understand why you’re here in a coma.”

“Why can’t I wake up now?” asked Ellen.

“See that bag hanging there beside your bed? That’s a saline drip. The label says it’s got a drug in it. That’s to sedate you. We must take you off that drug before you can wake up.”

A few minutes later, they left the clinic.

Ellen returned to the clinic a few hours later. She found it surreal to watch her body in a hospital bed. It was a genuine out-of-body experience. She wondered how long she’d been in a coma.

A nurse entered the room, disturbing Ellen’s thoughts. The nurse checked the body and the machines before turning to leave.

Ellen followed her out to the nurse’s station. The nurse took a seat and picked up a coffee mug. Ellen read her ID badge. It said her name was Hope Dixon.

All at once, Ellen had an idea. This nurse was the key to her escape.

She reached out her hand to the nurse, who was unaware of her presence. She touched the nurse on her forehead. Still no reaction.

Ellen tried to project a thought into this nurse. “Hope, what you’re doing to that lady is wrong. She’s not sick. You’re keeping her drugged.”

Nurse Hope looked down the corridor toward Ellen’s room, frowned briefly, then returned to her coffee.

Something worked! She got a small result.

She tried it again. “Hope, if you don’t help her, you’re as bad as whoever put her here.”

Nurse Hope again looked down the corridor. This was going to take some effort. Ellen could influence the nurse, but was it enough?

Once again. “You should take her off that drug. Switch it for just saline.”

The nurse looked up but didn’t leave her seat.

Ellen put her best effort into this. “You want to help that lady? Get up and do something, now!”

Nurse Hope put down her coffee cup. She appeared about to stand, but decided not to.

Ellen sighed. This would take more time.

The next day, Ed drove to work. He passed a cemetery on the left and noticed several translucent ghosts wandering around the graves.

Ed quickly looked away and continued his journey, making a mental note not to drive that way again. He needed more ghosts in his life, like a hole in his head.

Ed would have to avoid various places where ghosts were likely to be. If they didn’t know he existed, they couldn’t seek his help.