Extreme Medical Services Box Set Vol 4--6

by Jamie Davis

  “Partially correct,” Gary replied. “Our patients are, uh, unique in that they can’t be returned to society. We have the funding to keep them here in this residential community until the church can schedule an exorcism. You see, these patients, they are possessed by demons.”

  “So we’re back to the old school definition of mental illness,” Dean said. “I thought we were past all of that.”

  Gary waived his hands in front of him. “No, you misunderstand. I know mental illness is a real thing. These people aren’t technically mentally ill. They are just possessed by demons. The Catholic church in Rome has homes like this set up all over the world to hold them until such a time as an exorcist can make the journey to perform the exorcisms.”

  “Today for some reason, one of the patients is more agitated than normal. He said he felt his brother die and has been inconsolable for the last hour or so. I don’t know what to do with him. I was hoping you could help me calm him down.”

  “We can try,” Dean said. “Could you answer a question for me, though? Are you human or Unusual? You said you work for the church, so you’re a catholic priest?”

  “I’m a monk actually. There are several orders devoted to helping the sick and injured. Ours is the order of St. Antony of the Desert, the patron saint of all those who battle demons. At our ordination, all of us are given the power to talk with and resist the influences of demons. While we cannot command them or banish them, that is the purview of the divine, we have the ability to enable those who are possessed to resist while awaiting the exorcism of the demon. In this case, though, I’m unable to communicate with the human side anymore. The demon has subverted him completely, which is concerning to me. I’m unsure of what to do and the priest of our order who performs the exorcism won’t be here for six weeks.”

  Dean looked at Barry and his partner nodded. “Well, Dean, we can try and sedate the person. That should help keep the demon under control. Let’s go inside and see what we can do.”

  Gary smiled and seemed a little more relaxed as he took them inside. Dean noticed a foul smell immediately on entering the foyer of the home. There was a man tied to a kitchen chair in the living room to his left. A group of five men and two women, all dressed in pajamas or sweat pants, stood in the hallway to the right. He made a point to keep an eye on the rest of them. If one demon possessed patient could lose control, so could the others.

  Dean and Barry approached the man in the chair. He was about forty years old and was pale with a serious case of bed head hair. Dean let Barry take the lead while he kept an eye on the others in the room.

  “I’m Barry, what’s your name?”

  “My name doesn’t matter puny human. I’m not giving you back this one until I exact revenge on the bitch who killed my brother.” The man in the chair spewed spittle as he yelled at Barry.

  Barry stepped back and pulled out a pair of clear-lensed safety glasses. No sense risking getting spit in the eye. Dean did the same, but remained in his position of watchfulness. He needed to have his partner’s back in case any of the other residents decided to get involved.

  “Okay,” Barry said to the demon possessed man. “I understand you’re upset. I would be upset if my brother was killed, too. But you can’t stay tied up like this forever so why don’t you let us talk with you and try to help?”

  “There is no help, there is only my getting loose and having my revenge on the witch who killed my brother. It is one thing to destroy our human forms. We return to the netherworld and await our opportunity to be reborn for the final conflict here on your pitiful earth. That bitch killed him, destroyed him utterly. I saw it all happen through his eyes in the end. She burned his soul from this existence and he is gone forever.”

  Barry looked at Dean and mouthed the word “Haldol” to him, mentioning the potent antipsychotic drug and sedative that could, maybe, calm this guy down a little. Dean started to assemble the syringe and draw up some of the medication for the patient.

  He came forward and handed the syringe to Barry and then took hold of the patient’s restrained arms while his partner pulled the waistband of the man’s sweatpants down to expose a portion of the buttocks to inject the medication into the muscle there.

  They didn’t get the chance. As soon as Dean touched the man’s arm with his bare hand he craned his neck to look into Dean’s face. He saw raw hatred in those eyes as they stared back at him.

  “You. You are related to the witch who killed my brother. He had a mission to accomplish and she killed him before he could complete it.”

  Dean made the connection then. This demon, who possessed this patient was the brother of the demon from the incident with Jo earlier. This man, or demon, or whatever, knew about it and wanted revenge on his daughter.

  “Hold up, Barry. Don’t sedate him yet.”

  “You’re the boss, Dean.”

  “How do you know I’m related to the one you seek to harm?” Dean asked the demon-possessed man.

  “I feel the tie that binds you, and something else, too. You are not what you seem either. You pretend to be a man, but you’re no man. But it doesn’t matter. Whatever you are, know that I will hunt down and kill your offspring, making her beg me to end her as I slowly tear her skin from her body.”

  Dean felt a sudden surge of anger. He would not let this guy, demon or not, threaten his family. He reached up and grabbed the man’s head in his hands as the anger took over. He felt his mind losing control, but he could not stop what was happening.

  “You will not touch one hair on her head, creature of the netherworld. Damn you. Go back to your hole in hell and never return to this earth again. If I run into you again, I’ll end you just like your brother, do you hear me. Go back to hell and never return.” Dean found himself shouting at the end of it, his fingers digging into the man’s skin as he pressed in on his skull. The man’s eyes went wide and then he slumped in the chair, limp and unconscious.

  The room was silent when Dean stopped yelling and he was embarrassed by his lost temper. He had not truly lost his temper in years. The adrenaline was coursing through him and he felt the tremors in his extremities from the natural drug coursing through his system.

  “Dean, what the hell was that? What did you do?” Barry asked rushing forward to check the patient. He reached over and took the man’s pulse. Then wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm to assess him fully.

  “Is he dead?” Dean asked, fearful about what had happened.

  “No, he has a pulse and his blood pressure is good. Everything is normal and it appears he’s just sleeping. That was weird, though. You’ll have to teach me that one sometime,” Barry said.

  “I don’t know what I did. I got angry at him when I realized he was talking about hurting Jo and I just lost it.”

  Gary came forward and laid his hands on the man’s head. He closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, ending with an audible amen. The monk looked at Dean when he opened his eyes. They were filled with a look of wonder.

  “How did you do that?” the monk asked. “The demon, it is gone from him.”

  “Gone, you mean it escaped?” Dean started to pull out his phone to warn Jaz and Jo.

  “No, I mean gone as in, sent back to hell. Even the exorcist must use his powers to call upon God himself to intervene and banish the demon. You didn’t invoke God, you did it yourself, as if you possessed the power to do it on your own. That’s impossible and yet I saw it happen.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Dean said. “I just yelled at the guy. He was threatening someone I cared about and I was scared for her.”

  Gary crossed himself and pulled a rosary from his pocket. “I have never seen anyone other than an exorcist banish a demon back to hell, and that with much prayer, invocation and difficulty. You did it like the apostles in the Bible, like Christ himself.”

  “Okay, hold on there. I think that you’re blowing things out of proportion here. I just said some things I shouldn’t have said
to a patient.” Dean wondered what the Chief would say if he heard that he was telling patients to go to hell. He’d lose his job. He tried to defuse the situation and settle the man down a bit.

  “Look, Gary, whatever happened, it looks like it solved your immediate problem,” Dean said. “Barry and I can come back if you need us, but I don’t think there’s anything else we can do here.”

  “Nothing else you can do?” Gary protested. “There are seven more people here who can use your help. Can you not banish their demons, too? Would you deny them the service you provided this man?”

  “Look, it’s like I told you. I didn’t do anything other than lose my temper and shout at him. I’m nothing special. I’m just a paramedic. Call us back if you need help again, but I am not the guy to help you out with the rest of your residents right now. You have a priest for that.”

  Dean picked up his bag and motioned for Barry to grab his. He started towards the door as Gary called after him.

  “I will not forget what you have done here, today, paramedic Dean. You have a gift, a gift from God himself. You cannot deny that for long. Your chance to save yourself and those close to you is near.”

  Dean heard the words but chose not to acknowledge them as he left the home and walked back to the ambulance. He caught Barry looking at him out of the corner of his eye and ignored it. He knew that something happened back there. It was something he couldn’t explain or begin to understand. He was not sure he wanted to understand it. He didn’t want to acknowledge it or do anything that didn’t involve being a paramedic. He and his partner loaded up and drove back to the station in silence.

  Chapter 24

  Dean had a lot on his mind as he wrapped up his shift. He had a teenager who needed a lesson in foreseeing consequences of her actions. He had to come to grips with his apparent ability to dispel demons from possessed individuals. The ability to control or influence demons was scary and he needed time to do some research and try to identify why he had such a gift, if that was what it was. For all he knew, it could mean he was part demon himself.

  At least with the first problem he had some help. Jaz would be there to participate in their family discussion about Jo’s disobedience and rash actions earlier that day. He was angry at her, but he was also angry at himself for not foreseeing the possibility that she would not want to stay cooped up in his apartment all day long. This was something he should have seen coming. Maybe he should have let her come to the station with him a few times and hang out with Freddy there while he was on ambulance calls.

  Jo had said it was just to do some shopping. He knew it had more to do with hanging around kids her own age. It was tough being fifteen. Lord knows he never wanted to be fifteen again. The pimples, the awkwardness around girls, and his frequent run-ins with school administrators and teachers all made him glad to be past that time in his life.

  He could only imagine what Jo must be feeling, thrust into the past where she knew no one, with parents who didn’t know her, no friends, and no connections. She had planned to return back to her own time and place in the world after helping him and Jaz rescue Ashley. She had never planned on getting stuck here for an extended period of time. It was like going on a trip that never ended, never allowing you to go home.

  Dean shot Jaz a text message to see if she needed him to pick up anything else on his way there. He was planning to get the loaf of bread and other items she had requested earlier. She suggested a nice bottle of red wine for the two adults. She even added a smiley face emoji. He laughed when he saw it, in spite of how he was feeling. She was starting to let her guard down. It was good to see there was a person under that tough hunter exterior.

  He texted her that he’d pick something up for them to take the edge off before their parenting conversation with Jo. There was a small liquor store near the station that was owned by a nice family. They even had some grocery items so he’d be able to shop all in one stop. He knew very little about wine, but the proprietor of the shop would help him select something that was nice but not too pricey. Paramedics could not afford expensive wine.

  It was a quick drive to the store and then ten more minutes afterward to get to Jaz’s apartment building downtown. Dean grabbed the bottle and other groceries, along with his duffel bag with a change of clothes, and headed upstairs. He hoped Jaz wouldn’t mind if he changed out of his uniform after work and put on some civilian clothes. He pressed the call bell at the exterior door to her building and she buzzed him up, the door opening when he pulled it.

  Jaz answered as soon as he knocked on her door and he was surprised to see her in plain blue jeans and a red blouse, no BDUs or tactical pants and leather jacket.

  “Good, you remembered the wine,” she said as she took the bottle from him. “Make yourself comfortable. Jo is in the spare bedroom sulking or something. I told her if she couldn’t be nice and help out in the kitchen she should stay in there by herself.”

  “Sounds reasonable,” Dean said. “It’s likely a good parenting move when dealing with sulky teens. Hey, is it alright if I change out of my uniform? I always feel grimy after work and need to change.”

  “Absolutely. Feel free to take a shower, too, if you want. Dinner isn’t going to be ready for forty-five minutes or so anyway. I’ll crack open the wine and have a glass waiting for you when you come out. There are spare towels in the hall closet opposite the bathroom.”

  “Thanks,” Dean said. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”

  He went down the hallway and found the linen closet just where she told him it would be. A quick shower would hit the spot. He took his bag and towel into the bathroom and turned the water on.

  When he came out of the shower ten minutes later, the smells of the cooking food had permeated the whole apartment. It smelled delicious. He got dressed in his civvies, and since he didn’t have a comb, just ran his hands through his short hair to straighten it out a little. Jaz was standing at the stove when he went into the kitchen.

  “Can I help with anything?”

  “No, I’ve just got to stir the sauce a bit and then I’m going to take a break and let it simmer.”

  “What are we having?”

  “I’m not much of a cook. It’s spaghetti. My mom was Italian so I at least know how to make a gravy. That’s tomato sauce to you uninitiated in the ways of the famiglia. Your glass of wine is already poured over on the dining room table. I’ll be right out.”

  He walked from the small kitchen and saw the two filled wine glasses on the dining room table. It was already set with plates and silverware for three. He picked up one of the glasses and took a sip. Not bad, he thought. He’d have to stop in the liquor store again and thank the manager for his recommendation.

  Looking around the apartment, he thought that Jaz had done a good job of creating a place that was her own in such a short time after the explosion destroyed her family’s office building and home apartments. There were even a few pictures around on the walls and shelves. Good for her.

  Jaz came out of the kitchen and picked up the remaining glass of wine.

  “Sit down,” she said, gesturing to the couch in the adjacent living room. She followed him in and sat down across from him on the same sofa. “How was the rest of your day?”

  “You have no idea. More strangeness in a job filled with strange things.” Dean told about getting called to the possessed man in the halfway house.

  “I know Heaven’s House well. We drop the occasional possessed person off there if their particular demon is not a real danger to others. I assume you met Brother Gary?”

  “Yeah, nice guy. He kind of freaked out when I managed to banish the demon from the patient for him.”

  “You what?” Jaz said, leaning forward in her seat. “That’s impossible. It takes a full exorcism ceremony and a trained priest to do that. What happened?”

  “When I touched him to hold him still while Barry gave him a shot of Haldol to sedate him, he freaked out. He said he knew who I was and w
hat Jo had done to his brother. I assume that was the demon Jo killed at the mall. He threatened her and that’s when I lost my temper with him.” He met Jaz’s eyes. “I just grabbed him by the head and told him to leave her alone and never come back.”

  “Dean, this is important. Tell me exactly what you said.”

  “I don’t really remember. It was something like, ‘Damn you. Go back to hell and never come back.’ When I said that the guy initially struggled with me, then he kind of fell asleep. Brother Gary looked him over and Barry checked to make sure he was okay. Gary told me the demon was gone and seemed really impressed that I could do it. He called it a gift from God.”

  “It might be exactly that, Dean.”

  He laughed. “I can think of a lot of things I’d rather have as a gift from God than the random ability to banish demons.”

  “Dean, this is not a normal ability that just crops up in humans. Casting out demons is a function of connection with divinity. Our enchanted hunter’s swords do it through being blessed by an ordained priest or other holy person during their crafting. We need that holy blessing on our blades to accomplish the task. We can’t just lay hands on a person and throw the demon out.”

  “What are you saying, Jaz? It’s not like I’m some sort of god on earth.”

  She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Lord knows that is true. No, you’re not that, but maybe you’re something close. Remember when we rescued Ashley, and you handled her heavenly blade, even though you should not have been able to touch it without getting injured or burned or something?”

  Dean nodded. He remembered how unusual she and the others there thought it was at the time. “I still don’t think I have anything to tell you now that I didn’t then. I’m just a normal guy who is a paramedic. I’m nothing special.”

  “I think you need to stop saying that, Dean. This is not something I’ve ever seen or heard of before. Maybe if Ashley or Ingrid were here, we could ask them what it means, but Ashley is not coming back anytime soon. Plus, I’d rather not invoke Ingrid right now. She’s a bit too chaotic to have around given current events here in Elk City.”