The Bodark

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
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Chapter 8
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The ER was slow this afternoon, and I easily spotted the two men waiting for me as I rounded the corner into the waiting room. One was sitting quietly in a chair and the other was standing with his hands in his pockets, staring out the windows that overlooked the ER entrance and parking lot.

As I approached, both men swung their heads in my direction, scrutinizing me as I walked the length of the waiting room toward them. The one that had been sitting, rose to his feet as I drew nearer.

Now standing in front of them, I was taken aback by their above average size. The younger of the two probably in his mid twenties, easily towered over me at what I guesstimated to be near 6'4. Well built and sleek with muscle, he was extremely intimidating, but undeniably handsome. His dark blond hair was worn in a trendy short layered style with sideburns, and he was dressed in dark blue jeans, a tight black t shirt and work boots. 'Wow bet the ladies like him'

The other man looked a bit older than his colleague, by perhaps a decade or so. Though not quite as tall or GQ looking, he certainly still easily fit into the ruggedly handsome category, with his stocky barrel chested frame and bold masculine features. His reddish brown hair was cut in an extremely short caesar style, molded close to his scalp. Wearing a pair of dark pants and shoes, accompanied by a white polo shirt, he was dressed a bit nicer of the two.

The older man offered his hand first. “Dr. Maslova?” he inquired in a incredibly deep voice.

“That would be me.” I confirmed as I accepted his hand.

“I'm detective William Smith, and this is my partner detective Chris Harris. I was wondering if we could have a few moments of your time to ask some questions regarding a missing patient of yours.”

Ahh..well this was obviously about the John Doe who had wreaked such havoc in my life this past week.

After shaking hands with detective Harris as well, I nodded my head in understanding.

“Oh, our missing John Doe..has he been found yet?” I asked somewhat eagerly.

The two detectives exchanged glances and Harris answered smoothly speaking for the first time, “I'm afraid not, we just need to ask you a few questions about what happened the night he was admitted.”

Disappointed to hear that John Doe still hadn't turned up, I regarded both detectives who were looking at me expectantly.

“Of course I don't mind answering your questions, should we go somewhere where we can have a bit more privacy?” I offered.

After quickly agreeing with my suggestion, I led them to an unused family conference room located just off from the ER waiting room. Set up with comfortable waiting chairs, a small table, and a coffee station, it was the room doctors used to update a patients family and loved ones in privacy.

Settling in one of the chairs, I silently gestured for the two detectives to follow suit.

Once we were all seated, a silence descended in the room, as I waited for their questions.

“Um..So your a doctor?” Harris asked. Then added, “You seem bit young to be a doctor.”

The irrelevance of the question caught me off guard for a moment, but I mentally shrugged and answered.“I'm 27 and a first year intern, I get that a lot about my age.”

“So your still in medical school?” he seemed confused.

“No..I've already graduated medical school. I'm required to intern one year, then I'm free to either go into a private practice or start a second year internship as a specialist.”

Smith cleared his throat to gain my attention before he asked, “The night of the “incident”..can you tell us exactly what happened?”

“Sure..um..wait..don't you need to write this down?” I asked out of curiosity seeing no pad or pen in sight. 'Shouldn't detectives be taking notes?'

A slightly startled look crossed the faces of both men, before they looked at one another then back at me. I was beginning to wonder about their investigative methods when Harris interrupted my train of thought.

Tapping the front of his forehead with his index finger, he said, “It stays all up here doc. No worries.” Then he gave me a disarming grin that flashed a perfect dimple in his right cheek.

“Please continue.”

I quickly gave them a condensed version of what happened from the moment John Doe arrived at the hospital to the next day when I discovered the patient had disappeared, leaving out only a few inconsequential details. I most definitely left out how strange the patients eyes were before he attacked me, and the bizarre growl that was ingrained into my memory. 'No need to look like a hysterical drama queen if at all possible'.

When I had finished my story, detective Smith murmured quietly in his gravely voice almost to himself, “ So he bit your shoulder..” and then he looked up at me and inquired, “May I ask how the bite is doing..how are you feeling?”

Appreciative of the concern, I gave him a reassuring smile and waved dismissively, “Well he got me pretty good, but it's actually healing amazingly well and now I'm back at work feeling great.”

Again the two men glanced at one another in silent communication and I thought, 'What's with all the weird looks between these two?'

Taking advantage of the silence I decided to ask, “Do you guys have any leads on who this guy is...or what happened to him?”

Staring directly at me again, Smith said, “We are doing all we can right now, but we will be sure to let you know if we find anything out.” That being a cue, both men rose to their feet to leave.

I had been internally struggling the whole interview on whether or not to share information about the missing blood. If they investigated that particular lead, I knew certain toes would be stepped on down in the lab. Now seeing them ready to go, I quickly made up my mind. 'Screw hospital politics'..

Biting my lip in trepidation, I quickly added while I could, “Umm..One more thing. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the situation, but it's just kind of odd...”

Both men were completely focused on me again, “You see we drew blood that night in the ER, and it seems to now be ...er..missing. Vials and all.”

Having revealed the information I waited for their response....and waited.

If I had somehow believed this disclosure would gain a surprise reaction or alarm, I was sorely mistaken. To my eyes both men neither looked surprised or worried at the revelation.

Finally giving me a raking grin Harris said, “We'll certainly check into that.” 'There's that damn dimple again'...

Somehow I wasn't feeling the sincerity in that statement, but I just nodded my head, “Well..good...”

I shook detective Smith's hand first as he said, “Thank you for your help doctor. We appreciate your cooperation.” I painted on a polite smile in return of his.

Next detective Harris took my hand and did the same, only instead of releasing my hand immediately he continued to hold mine it in his much larger one. His dark blue eyes stared intently into mine and I was suddenly finding it almost impossible to look away from his intense gaze.

“Yes..Thank you ...Rachel.” It was the first time either men had addressed me by my first name and he seemed to be testing my name on his tongue, somehow making it sound suggestive.

“Let me assure you that this meeting has been...informative.” Then he took a step closer almost invading my personal space, and breathed deeply through his nose. “We'll be seeing you again soon.”

I was beginning to feel seriously uneasy when what he had actually said registered. 'WTF... seeing me soon?!' The guy was looking at me as if I was dinner and dessert all rolled into one. 'And..did he just smell me?'

“Christopher.” A deep growling voice rolled through the room. Almost immediately my hand was dropped as Harris stepped back away from me again.

Blinking out of my stupor, I looked over at the now stern looking Smith. The amicable looking man from before now appeared as menacing as he sounded, and I was suddenly thankful that look wasn't directed at me.

Then just as abruptly, as if nothing had happened, Smith looked back at me with a disarming smile.

“Again..thank you doctor. We will be in touch.” he said before he turned and walked out the door.

Harris followed right behind him, but not before turning his head and sending me a teasing wink.
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Walking into my apartment that night, I was just glad to be home. The mental confusion of the day had left me feeling somewhat more tired than usual.

This was my thought as I wearily took off first my jacket then trainers before placing them in the hall closet.

The apartment was dark and quiet as usual, but that didn't stop me from calling out mockingly, “Honey I'm home.” chuckling to myself.

It was humorous in a sad way because there hadn't been a man to share my space in a very long time.

A very long time...'HA'...most would consider five years without being in a real relationship an eternity. Sure I've been on a dates, but my last serious boyfriend had been back in college.

After a year of dating and 5 months of living together, Sam and I both came to the undeniable realization that our lives were heading if different directions. With my plans of staying in North Carolina to attend UNC school of Medicine, and him being offered a fabulous out of state job working for a fortune 500 company, we were both too career focused at the time to give up or change our dreams.

Looking back, I often ponder if I was ever truly in love. At the time I honestly thought I was, believing I was simply sacrificing love for my career. Now I wonder....if it had been real love would it have been simple?

So where does that leave me now? Twenty seven years old, with a hard earned MD under my belt, and a lonely apartment when I come home every night. Sadly the only man in my life these days is my fish Angus, and whether he's even a male is up for debate.

Speaking of my fish, I walked over to his bowl and peered in, making a mental note to clean it out soon. Grabbing the fish flakes, I threw in the usual amount.

Tapping the side of the bowl in greeting, I watched him gobble up his food. For just a moment I let myself imagine what it would be like to have such a simple existence. Just swimming around all day and waiting for someone to feed me. 'Yeah right, within an hour the sheer boredom would have me committing suicide by jumping out of the bowl'..

Dying to get my green scrubs off, I was just about to head to the shower when my cell phone sounded off.

Hearing the my Grandmother's ring tone, “I'm A Believer” (My Baba is a huge Neil Diamond fan), I rushed to answer before it switched over to voice mail.

“Hello Baba..” I answered with a smile.

“Hello Malyshka.” Her warm deeply accented voice came through across the miles calling me by my pet name.
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“You are off work, yes?”

“Yeah, I'm just getting in.” I said as I walked toward the kitchen. Opening a cabinet, I grabbed a wine glass from the top shelf.

“I wanted to tell you some exciting news.”

Reaching into the refrigerator and grabbing the half empty bottle of Rose Pinot Noir wine, I paused before setting it on the counter.

“Oh really? What exciting news Baba?”

Her elation was palatable through the phone as she explained, “Well..You remember my friends from the book club? Sarah and Wilma?”

Searching my memory, I vaguely remembered her mentioning those names the past few phone calls.

“Sure, I remember.”

“Well, we were discussing one of our books at lunch the other day, and somehow going on a cruise came up in the conversation.” She was breathless with excitement now.

With a small squeelch the cork gave way from the bottle of wine, and I began to pour some into the glass as I continued to listen.

“Sarah was saying how much fun it would be to go on a cruise together, just us girls...so we decided that it would be...and we are!” she exclaimed.

I loved hearing my Grandmother so happy. If anyone deserved it, she certainly did.

My Grandparents were Russian immigrants who moved to the US over forty years ago. Understanding very little English at first, they struggled to make ends meat for many years while supporting their two children, my Father (Andrei) and Aunt (Helina).

After moving to North Carolina and opening a successful Russian restaurant, things did improve for my Grandparents, and they were happy and comfortable for many years.

Unfortunately my Grandfather, Dimitri Maslova, passed away almost 20 years ago from a heart attack. No doubt a direct result of his very Russian habit of chain smoking and vodka. That's how I remember him, a tall boisterous man, always smoking and laughing.

This left my Grandmother suddenly widowed with a restaurant to run, which she managed to do quite admirably despite her grief.

Then tragedy struck again just five years later.

One night on the way home from a Christmas party, my Mom (Sharon) and Dad were killed in a car accident. They say a drunk driver crossed the center line and hit them head on.

So that is how at the age of twelve, I came to live with my Babushka. Stepping up to the daunting task of raising another child at her age, she wouldn't hear of anyone else taking me. For that I will be forever grateful.

I settled down on my couch and sipped on my wine while Babushka nattered away happily in my ear, with me only asking a few questions here and there.

I made a mental note to do a little shopping and buy her something special for her trip.

At the end of the conversation Baba said, “Is everything ok Malyshka? You've been so quiet.”

Again I thought briefly of sharing the events of the last few days, but I just couldn't bear the thought of marring her excitement with worry.

“Just listening to you Babushka..and I'm a little tired from working.”

She tsked at me, “Rachel..you must take care of yourself! You need to be eating all your meals and getting plenty of sleep with your work hours.”

After being lectured for the thousandth time about not taking proper care of myself, it was time to hang up.

“I will call you when I have the dates of my cruise, yes? I love you.”

“Ok Baba, I'll talk to you then. I love you too.” I said before I pressed the end button to my cell.

Standing up and stretching, I wandered toward the balcony doors in my living room. Pulling back the drapes I peered out through the window to stare at the New York City skyline. A little cloudier than last night, I could still just make out the first quarter of the waxing moon.

I felt almost hypnotized as I stood there and gazed up at it. Shaking my head a bit, I quickly drained my glass of wine and headed off to take a shower then bed. 'Baba's right..I need more sleep, I have the stares..'
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A/N
Thank you to everyone for reading..and another special thank you to my reviewers. Also got 15 rates..yay!
I'm sorry if the story plot seems a little slow. I just wanted to firmly introduce the main character, and build up to the action. Let me know what you guys think! :)
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Dani