Page 31 of Dark Visions

“I think we need to go to the emergency room,” said Aislinn.

“What?Why? Are you sick?” said Kane, touching her arms and head.

“No. No, I’m not sick, but if I touch him again, maybe we can see more. Maybe, we can see something else,” she said softly.

“No! No fucking way! Aislinn, are you crazy, honey? That shit made you so sick you couldn’t lift your head!”

“I know, Kane, but if we don’t do this and someone else dies, I’ll feel even worse. Please, we can just say we need him to check something, vision problems because of my headaches, anything. I just need him to touch me.”

“Christ! Woman, you’re asking a lot of me!”

“Kane,” said Adam calmly, “I think she’s right. I could go with you and maybe tell him I wanted a second opinion or something.”

“No, we aren’t going to involve you anymore than I already have!”

“Brother, I’m in this to the end. You know that.”

“I know,” he said, grimacing. “There has to be another way.”

He pulled Aislinn into his arms and held her tight. Touching Krauss again meant she would expose herself to all his demented torture once more. What would happen if she couldn’t find her way out of this vision? What would happen if he couldn’t help her find her way out?

“Alright, we’ll go if he’s working this evening. But I do the talking, not you. Adam? Can you wait for us in the car? If we don’t come out in twenty minutes, you come in.”

“Done. I could call Flip,” he said hesitantly.

“I don’t think he’d come,” said Kane. “We need to give him some space to figure out what’s going on with him.”

Adam nodded as they finished their meal. A few hours and they would be right back where this nightmare began. In the hands of Krauss.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The emergency room was slow but with steady streams of people filtering through. The male nurse behind the desk lifted his head to see the couple that looked somewhat familiar approach.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Aislinn softly. “I was here about a week ago and saw Dr. Krauss. I was wondering if he’s in tonight. I’m having some residual headaches.”

“You’re in luck. He’s in the lounge. I’ll go get him. Why don’t you two have a seat right here,” he said, walking them into a curtained area.

Aislinn nodded at the nurse and hopped onto the table, her hands shaking with fear. She shivered, not from the cold but from terror. The terror of what might come tonight.

“I’m right here, honey,” said Kane, standing at her back. “Nothing will happen to you.”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Krauss,” he said, extending his hand.

“Y-yes,” said Aislinn, slowly raising her hand, “we met last week. I had a severe headache.” He eyed the young woman up and down and then stared at Kane.

“Right, yes, of course! Sorry, I see a lot of people here.” He shook her hand solidly and then shook Kane’s hand. “Tell me about these headaches.”

“Well, they have plagued me for years. I get them suddenly, and they are quite debilitating. I just want to be sure there’s nothing serious happening.”

“Have you had an MRI? CT Scan?” He listed off a dozen other procedures, and Aislinn nodded at them all, eyeing him cautiously. “Unfortunately, that’s about all we have in our medical hands at this time. I can give you something for the pain and something that may stop the headache at onset, but that’s about it. Do you need a referral to a neurologist?”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary. I just wanted to be sure,” she said sweetly.

“Well, you look as though you’re in great hands,” he said, grinning at Kane. Kane nodded at the doctor but didn’t smile. “No charge for today. We’re slow tonight anyway, but don’t tell administration. They’d hang me.” He winked at the two and left the exam room.

Kane grasped Aislinn’s’ hand, and they strode out the sliding doors into the parking lot, where Adam waited anxiously by Kane’s truck.

---