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Monday - September 20

I look at Ted, and then I put my face right into Stevens and say, "Julie and Dr. Parks are dead. And it's pretty damn obvious who killed them."

Stevens's eyes widen. As he begins to turn away, he says, "You're a damn liar, doc. I just saw Julie about thirty minutes ago, and she was alive."

"Well, supposedly she isn't anymore," Ted contributes.

Stevens starts to re-enter the elevator, but I grab his arm and we both begin to struggle. He pushes me out of the elevator, and I fall flat against the wall, losing my balance and sliding to the floor. I jump to my feet, making a fist to punch the asshole, when his fist smacks me in the middle of my face. I feel my nose being punched hard, as I stumble back and fall again. As I lay on the floor with a bloody nose, I notice Stevens's gun lying near the elevator door. I start to crawl towards the gun on my hands and knees, when Stevens kicks me in my side, causing me to roll over with terrible pain and gasping for breath. As I try to stand, I hear a loud bang. I turn around and see Stevens lying on the floor with a hole in his head. I look at Ted and see Stevens's smoldering gun in his hands. Ted looks at me and says, "I... I... John... I... he was... he was going to kill you. I saw him looking at the gun, so I grabbed it, and shot him. I shot him, John. I shot another human being."

In the distance, I hear footsteps approaching. Quickly, I get up, snatch the gun from Ted's hands, wipe off his finger prints and put mine on it instead.

"John, what are you doing?" asks Ted.

"Covering your ass."

"But... why? It was self-defense."

"Not for you it isn't, but for me it is. Keep your mouth shut, Ted, and let me do the talking. Here come the guards. Keep your mouth shut."

The CDC guards, along with Monica, reach the area and see Stevens lying on the floor with a hole in his head, dead.

"What happened here?" asks the guard.

I give Ted a look he understands and proceed to tell the guard about my discovering Julie and Dr. Parks's bodies, and how I approached Stevens and accused him of killing them. He panicked and started to fight me. In our struggle, his gun fell onto the floor and when we both reached for it, the gun went off, and Stevens was shot in the head. "It was self-defense, and you'll see that once you go to room forty-seven and find the bodies of Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Parks."

The guard orders two other guards to go check room forty-seven and to report back to him on the walkie-talkie when they arrive.

Monica looks at my nose and gives me some tissue to put pressure on it. She presses my nose, making it hurt more, but says, "It's not broken, John. But we need to look at it anyway and get it dressed."

"I'll be okay. So," as I direct my question to the guard, "what do you need to know?"

"I want to wait until I hear from..." the guard's walkie-talkie interrupts him.

"Yeah, go ahead. What do you have?" he asks one of the guards sent to room forty-seven.

"There's nobody here. The place is vacant and we don't see any signs of any disturbances, or dead people anywhere. Over."

I look at Ted and Monica, and then say to the guard, "There was blood, lots of blood on the floor. Julie was lying in it."

The guard gets back on his walkie-talkie and says, "Are you sure? Dr. Bennett says there was blood on the floor, lots of blood. Do a good sweep. Over."

"There's not much to sweep. The room has a desk, a bed, and three chairs. That's it. No bodies. Over."

"Okay. Lock down the room. I don't want anyone going in until it's checked over thoroughly. You two get back up here with a gurney. Over."

"Ten-four. Over."

"I don't understand. I'm telling you, Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Parks were both dead. I checked their vitals. They were dead. They could not have gotten up and walk away on their own. They were dead!" as I try to convince everyone.

Monica and Ted look at me as if I'm nuts. The guard continues to look at Stevens, and then asks, "Where's the gun?"

I take it out of my pocket and hand it to the guard, who wraps it in a handkerchief and carefully places it in his pocket.

"I'm going to have to check out your story some more, Dr. Bennett. But, in the meantime, I know I don't have to tell you not to leave town," he chuckles.

The guard turns to Monica and asks, "Will you please take Dr. Bennett to the infirmary and have him checked over."

Monica nods her head, and then takes my arm and says, "Come along, John. Let's take care of your nose."

As Monica and I begin to walk away, I turn around and look at Stevens, and then at Ted. Ted continues to look at me, wondering why I took the fall for Stevens's death and not him. The two other guards who went to room forty-seven return with a gurney. They put Stevens's lifeless body onto it, and then roll him away to a lab for a possible autopsy.

Monica and I reach the infirmary. "John, sit down while I get some supplies," she orders.

I sit my sore, beaten body on the bed and wonder how the guards didn't find Julie and Victor's bodies. There wasn't more than fifteen minutes from me discovering them until I told Ted and Monica. There's no way anyone could have cleaned the mess up and get rid of the bodies that fast. Unless...

"Monica?"

"Yes, John."

"You believe me, don't you? I mean about Julie and Dr. Parks. You believe me?"

Julie begins to wipe the blood from my face and says, "John, I don't know what to believe. But I do know that you need some rest. When was the last time you slept?"

She doesn't believe me.

"John? Did you hear me?" Monica stops wiping my face and waits for my response.

"I know what I saw!" I push Monica away and say, "You don't believe me."

"John, I do. I do believe you. But... you heard the guards. There were no bodies in room forty-seven. Are you sure it's room forty-seven and not another room?" Monica continues to look at me as if I need psychological counseling.

"I don't need this shit! You don't believe me! But I know what I saw! Julie and Victor were dead! Dead, I tell you!" I jump off of the bed and leave the infirmary.

"John! John, come back!" yells Monica. I ignore her and leave her to her own conclusions.

As I head back to my office, I can't stop thinking about how someone could have moved the bodies so quickly; and who is that someone? I reach my office and order the door to open. I slam the door, go to my desk, pick up Claire's picture, and as I clutch it to my heart, I fall to my knees and begin to cry hysterically. "What's happening? God, what's happening? What the hell's going on! God! Help me! Help me!"

As I clutch Claire's picture firmly against my chest, I collapse onto the couch. I look at her face and run my fingers over her. "Claire. Oh, baby, what happened? Who killed you and our child? Who killed you, Claire? Who killed you?" I begin to cry so hard, I fall asleep.

Palm trees sway in the breeze as I walk along the beach. I find a colorful seashell washed ashore. I bend over to retrieve it, when someone touches my shoulder and whispers, "Raw fish can be poisonous, John. But it can also be so much more."

I awake, startled, bathed in sweat. Night time has fallen and the stars are bright. The moon shines through my office window, reflecting off the wall clock. It reads 1:00 a.m. I realize I had fallen asleep, but remember what I had dreamt about: raw fish. I sit up, still holding onto Claire's picture, and then I recall what Julie had said earlier. "Raw fish can be poisonous, John. But it can also be so much more."

"Oh, God, this can't be. It can't be."

Quickly, I scramble down to room forty-seven. When Iget there, it has a yellow caution banner prohibiting anyone from entering. Idon't care. I give the command to open the door. The lights turn on when Ienter. I whisper to myself, "It's got to be here. What did she do with it?" Ilook frantically everywhere for Dad's journal, but it's not here. "They took it."I turn the light off before I exit. I peer out the door to make sure it's safe.I quietly shut the door and head back to my office. I turn the corner and thendarkness.