I sipped from my cup that Dr. Bose had brought me, the two of us sitting in a cafeteria-like setting.
It was a long hallway with glass windows on one side of the room, stretching from the white tiled flooring to the brightly lit ceiling. Tables lined next to each other, several with other patients and their doctors or nurses sitting with them - some talking, others working with them. Styrofom cups were next to several people, mostly the doctors or nurses - though they never seemed to drink from them.
"Where are we, exactly?" I asked.
Dr. Bose set his cup down, the liquid clear in the white form, "Miss Martin, do you know what heaven is like?"
"If you're telling me that I'm dead, I think we might have an issue," I answered.
Dr. Bose let out a hearty chuckle, a smile spreading across his features and illuminating his laugh lines, "No, Miss Martin. You're not dead... not yet at least."
He leaned to his side, one leg crossing over the other, "I've brought your... spirit, let's say, to one of the places I call home. Well, 'called' is more of the word now, isn't it?"
I took another sip before nodding, "I saw you outside a room, calling for someone named James."
"James was Jimmy's real name," Dr. Bose supplied, "I was trying to get your attention."
"Well, it worked."
Dr. Bose nodded, folding his hands in front of him, "I'm glad it did. I've only had one other success with contacting the living, but I'm sure Amy's told you a bit about Maya."
"Yes, but only that she was a teenager who visited and has a similar gift to what mine is. I have heard Jimmy talking to another about her as well. They mentioned that I was a... 'bad egg,' just like how Maya was."
"Maya was... a visitor of the Sea View Hotel. She came in last year during a storm when she was supposed to be camping with a group of her friends on the music festival grounds. She and her friends had denied the performance - which sparked outrage in Hugo."
I cocked my head, "As in Hugo Punch? His comedy character?"
Dr. Bose scratched the corner of his nose gently, "Maybe it's best that I start from the beginning..."
He leaned back in his chair, hands folded together:
"I was contacted by Rose Hall, whom you know as Jimmy Hall's mother, and was asked to come to the hotel. When I asked why, she said that there had been an incident between Jimmy and another guest, a young girl, and she had taken a tumble down the stairs - and that she had died."
"So you knew about Amy's death?"
"Absolutely," Dr. Bose nodded, "however, there was no proof that Jimmy had caused the girl's death nor did anyone know how the alcohol had gotten into her system. The doors to the cabinet in the bar were unlocked and there was no one in there, so some assumed that she had gotten into the cabinet, found the bottles and assumed it was something that she could drink without any issues before she took her fall. Even to me, at the time, it seemed like a logical conclusion. Kids, especially between the ages of 9 and 12 are always up to something."
I agreed, "That's true, but what made you change your mind?"
"It was the discovery of a dead animal in one of the offices," Dr. Bose answered, "Though Jimmy claimed he didn't remember doing anything that would physically harm or kill an animal, he had set traps in the courtyard out back and was catching birds and animals like hares, squirrels, and chipmunks - even catching several mice. His uncle had gotten caught in one of the traps during my stay and needed stitches in his ankle as the trap was a combination of wiring and an old bear trap that had been a part of a display in the hotel on the third floor."
"Poor Mr. Hall! He was alright, though?"
"The man was fine, but he was very upset with Jimmy. Even Rose was concerned, especially since she was afraid that Jimmy would set a trap for her eventually."
'Well, she had a right to be,' my mind thought.
"And it wasn't just the dead animals or the traps either," Dr. Bose continued, "Harvey, in particular, had told me he was worried about Jimmy's mind. For a boy his age, his imagination was... quite outstanding.
"He would draw things that he claimed was in his mind; cutting things open, attacking creatures or people, building traps that would lead to certain death - it was all very concerning."
"The pictures in his room? Amy showed me that."
Dr. Bose nodded sadly, "Harvey showed me those drawings and I was concerned, not only for Jimmy's well-being, but also for the other guests in the hotel as well as his mother and uncle.
"I decided to test Jimmy. A part of me felt that there was something wrong with his empathy skills, but another part of me thought it was something more. I asked Jimmy if he would do something nice for me. As he was a smart boy, and a finder of various objects, he asked me to follow him to the kitchen so he could show me what he was going to do. So I followed him.
"Once in the kitchen, he pulled out an old chef's hat from who knows where and put it on his head and asked if there was a particular type of meal he could prepare for me."
"He is a very good cook," I agreed, thinking back to the hearty meal the two of us shared that morning.
"And that's exactly what I told him," Dr. Bose smiled slightly, "I told him what kind of sandwich he could make for me, as I was a bit nervous about what would happen if he tried to make soup or something that involved using any of the equipment in the kitchen. Then, I told him that I would be up in my room when he was ready and if he would bring it up."
"I take it all was good?"
"Not exactly," Dr. Bose's face fell, his lips a thin line, "When Jimmy brought up the sandwich, he... had this mischievous look on his face. And after a few bites of the sandwich, I realized why. My throat had felt like it was on fire with little needles pricking into the skin. I began to cough uncontrollably and discovered blood on my hand."
"The bathroom..."
Dr. Bose nodded, "I discovered he had placed broken pieces of glass in my sandwich. The pieces were so fine, like sand, that I couldn't even taste it. Jimmy was trying to kill me by slitting my throat and voice box with the invisible shards- the tears in the flesh could have easily made me bleed to death, if it didn't slice my stomach or other internal organs first."
I swallowed hard, feeling sick to my stomach.
This morning, it was so easy to forget that Jimmy was capable of doing these things - especially since I had eaten the food he prepared without a problem. Now, it seemed I was going to have to take everything and anything he placed on a plate in front of me with extreme caution - or go into town to get my meals from now on.
Dr. Bose continued, "I realized that Jimmy could be a danger to himself and to others. I had to get him to calm down in order to do a more thorough investigation. All I had on my person was a bottle of Diazepam - not the most ideal for the circumstances, but would work nonetheless.
"I ended up chasing him around the hotel that whole afternoon. When I did catch up to him, he was screaming like the devil had a hold on him. It scared not only Mrs. Hall, but many of the guests as well. He started screaming that I had attacked him and beaten him."
"But you didn't," I answered, "You were just trying to get him to take his medicine."
"I wish you had been there to say the exact same thing," Dr. Bose sighed, "The only person who believed me was Harvey, Jimmy's uncle."
"Not even Mrs. Hall?"
"No, she believed whatever Jimmy told her. It was frustrating, trying to explain what had happened and that I would never harm a patient, especially one who was as young as Jimmy was, like that."
I tapped my fingers against my cup, asking, "Was Jimmy still about ten during this time?"
"Ten, going on to eleven in a few weeks," Dr. Bose confirmed.
"What happened afterward?"
"Well, Harvey somehow convinced Rose that Jimmy was lying about the so called abuse going on. She permitted me to continue to examine him, under the condition that I would never force her son to do something he didn't want to do. I told her about the broken glass that had been placed into my sandwich and even showed her my blood-stain handkerchief. It was then that she revealed a secret that changed my perception of what it was that we were dealing with."
The doctor squirmed in his chair, "I know this goes against doctor-patient confidentiality, but you should know - especially since that other side of him knocked you out only moments ago."
I wanted to reach up and touch my bandaged forehead, but balled my hands into fists, my nails digging into the flesh of my palm as I resisted, "Amy mentioned that you believed Jimmy had two separate personalities."
Dr. Bose nodded, "Unfortunately, that is true. Rose mentioned that Jimmy had been hurt several times from the day he was born up until a little after his second birthday. Though he was never taken to the hospital, out of fear of what would happen, Jimmy seemed to turn out just fine. Much of the problems only started when he was about five or six, starting with the fight in the school yard - forcing Mrs. Hall to homeschool her son and call in for assistance from Harvey."
"Who hurt him? What happened?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Rose never said who nor why," Dr. Bose answered, "However, I do believe that it was the reason why she was protective of Jimmy. Any sensible parent whose child who had been abused would always be on the lookout for markings or anything else that could be tied to abuse again. It was also due to that abuse that my belief on Jimmy's diagnosis was changed. I believed he may have DID."
"DID?" I asked, uncertain.
"Dissociative Identity Disorder," Dr. Bose explained, "it used to be called 'Multiple Personality Disorder.' It's a mental disorder that is characterized by the maintenance of at least two distinctive and relatively enduring personality states."
"So, if my sister had that," I thought, "it would be like two people sharing one body?"
Dr. Bose rolled his eyes in his head, moving it back and forth in thought, "Pretty close. Regardless, DID is a distressing and debilitating illness, often - but not always - associated with childhood abuse. It also does not, in any way, correlate with immoral or criminal behavior. So, having a child - like in Jimmy's case - set dangerous traps, place broken glass in food, and accuse people of beating them didn't sit well with me. I decided the best option was to try and get Jimmy to work with me.
"And he did, for a few hours. Then, he turned around and told Mrs. Hall another lie - this one the worst lie possible."
"Wh-What did he accuse you of this time?" I asked, shrinking into my chair.
Dr. Bose's peached face turned grey, "He accused me of the worst crime possible - taking it from a newspaper story he had read in the paper one day over breakfast... He accused me of beating him and raping him."
My jaw dropped as my eyes began to water.
"Mrs. Hall believed him again and, this time, she wasn't going to see reason behind his lies," Dr. Bose continued, "The police were called and I was arrested. I lost my license to practice medicine, my job, my whole life! And it was all because of Jimmy Hall's lies."
I reached out, touching the older man's hand. When he had grabbed it in my room, it was warm and comforting. Now, it was cold and clammy - as if all life had been drained out of it. I looked up, and my eyes widened as his face had ashened and the once lively eyes were lifeless. The badge that had been around his neck was replaced by a long rope, the noose wrapped around his neck like a tie with bruising buried deep into his skin.
"I snuck back into the hotel one night while I was on bail," Dr. Bose's voice seemed distant, "I tried first with a piece of fishing wiring and a rolling pin, but it snapped. I decided on rope instead..."
"Dr. Bose," I whimpered, "Why? Why would you want to take your life there? Why would you take it at all? I understand that your career was ruined, but you could've fought for it! You should have fought for it!"
"Kylie," The specter's hand reached up and touched my cheek, even though I barely felt anything, "I couldn't fight anymore. I felt my life was over - if I couldn't practice what I loved, then I couldn't do it. Even if I had tried, and was successful, that was on my record forever. Jimmy Hall was the last patient I ever worked with, so it seemed fitting to die in the same place he had been born and raised in."
"But, you couldn't have known that you were going to be trapped in that hotel, could you?"
"I'm not sure what I thought," Dr. Bose chuckled dryly, "But I remember my last thoughts were 'Please forgive me.'"
"What happened after?"
Dr. Bose looked down at our entwined fingers before speaking softly, "I awoke in the hospital. But, I wasn't a patient - I've become a spectator. It is my punishment, I guess, to be forced to walk the halls of the place I used to work and where I had taken my life."
I sighed, looking down, "Did Maya know about your story?"
"Only up to my suicide, Kylie. Everything after is what you know," he released my hands, standing slowly, "Come, Miss Martin. Your spirit needs to return to your unconscious body - I don't want to know what will happen if you are gone for too long."
I nodded and grasped his hand.