The Society of Guardians Ch. 03

Her passion stalled a moment as she realized I wasn't reciprocating. "What's wrong? I know it's been a while, but..."

"We need to talk about something else." I said quietly. I removed my influence from her mind. Suddenly, she saw me, instead of Phillip.

She immediately jumped back in panic, "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Shhh!" I reached out quickly to take her hand. As I did, I took her voice away.

She raised her head to scream, but nothing came out. She backed away against the shelves on the far wall, fear evident on her face. She kept trying to scream, her face getting paler and more terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt you." I needed to find a better way to do this in the future. It didn't quite happen the way I hoped. "I really need your help... but I think I can help you too... well, at least help quite a few of your patients."

She had calmed a little, but she still kept as much space between us as she could.

"I have some abilities that..." I smirked, "Well, you just wouldn't believe... You've seen a few. I can help quite a bit if you'll let me."

She slowly nodded, still not trusting her eyes.

"I'm going to give you back your voice, but please don't scream again. I can't let everyone know what I can do. It could be dangerous... for both of us." I stepped towards her slowly.

At my first step she flinched against the back shelf, trying to back away further.

"I just need to touch you to give you back your voice... then I'll answer any questions you have." I stretched out my hand and held it there.

She stared at my hand for a moment before ever so slowly, lifting hers towards me. As quickly as she could she lashed out her hand to swat the back of mine.

"What the hell are you?" She asked immediately, "How'd you take my voice? What happened to Phillip?"

"Slow down. Phillip was never here. I made you think you were seeing an old friend... Until yesterday, I was a nobody. I was an IT helpdesk clerk... but something happened to me yesterday. Now... I'm..." I shrugged, "Exceptional, I guess. Like a superhero or something."

She was still plastered against the far racks, "What do you want with me?"

"Yesterday, there was a rash of... accidents. People jumping off ledges. Running into traffic. Suddenly, being severely suicidal. Although, they probably had no history of any mental illness... There were also probably a few... unexplainable mental... conditions."

I could see her eyes flicker with acknowledgement.

"Yeah, you know."

Her eyes hardened glaring at me.

"OH, NO! That wasn't me! That was... someone I dealt with." I backed away from her, just trying to put her at ease, "Look. I guess the only way to explain this to you is to start at the beginning."

"Please do."

"Two nights ago, I had a... nightmare..."

* * * * *

It took me the better part of an hour to go through everything that had happened. She asked questions regularly and even asked for demonstrations of certain things. It was strange. You would think her medical mind would have a hard time believing what I was saying, but she seemed to accept it.

When I was done, she was sitting on an overturned bucket nearly within an arm's reach of me. Her face was relaxed and somewhat determined.

She looked at me and sighed, "If you had told me all this two days ago, I never would have believed you... but after everything I saw yesterday..." I could see the pain in her eyes.

"I could help with that, you know." I offered.

"With what?"

"All the mental trauma you have. I can help you through it... ease it from your mind."

She looked at me for a moment, before shaking her head, "No. All that stuff is part of me. It's made me who I am. Wounds and all." She stood up, "I've chosen this. There are a few people here that haven't. Maybe you can help them." She gave me a measuring look and nodded, "Dr Cecilia Shepherd. It's a pleasure."

"Jacob Winters."

She took me first to get cleaned up, scrubbed down and she got me approved as a visiting doctor to allow me into the restricted areas.

"There's a few people that came in yesterday that... I think... you might be able to help." She led him down one of the hallways, "If you can't..." she shook her head, unable to finish. "We've had to sedate them both... heavily." She continued after leading him into an elevator. "One just cannot seem to stop... hurting herself." She winced, "She keeps asking for us to hit her... or slap her. Even scratch her. It's... unnerving." She shivered. "The other..." the elevator dinged at their floor, and she led him off. "... is... insatiable... sexually. Worse, she seems to be... contagious... sort of." She glanced at me like I some inkling what she was saying. "As soon as she touches someone, they can't help but... attempt to satisfy her... like it's some sort of compulsion."

At this point, my eyes did alight a bit. "Sadly, I do have some understanding of that."

She nodded, "I thought you might."

They made their way through the maze of halls and doors until they came to on with a large male orderly watching the door.

"It's okay, Miguel. He can see her." She told the man as she opened reached for the door.

"Are you sure? She's due for her next dose shortly. I wouldn't want her waking early with him in there."

She frowned and nodded, "Thanks. We'll be careful." She opened the door to lead me in.

Miguel gave me a hard stare but nodded reluctantly.

I stepped into the small room, while the doctor closed the door behind me. The patient on the bed was a young woman, probably early twenties with dark hair. Her sleeping face was sweaty as though she had a fever. It was obvious she was an attractive woman. Her thin nose and high cheekbones gave her an exotic look, while her full lips seemed to exude sensuality. Her arms and legs were strapped to the bed, preventing her from moving, but they were lean and toned.

"Whatever she has, it's much more effective against men than women, so we needed to be careful who we let in here," Dr Shepherd watched me curiously as I approached the woman's bed.

I sat next to her and reached out to take her hand. I wasn't entirely sure how this worked, but I knew I needed to touch her. As I touched her hand, her eyes popped open. Her big brown eyes were filled with lust.

"OH, YES! Fuck me!" She gripped my hand hard, refusing to let go. "Fuck me like the whore I am! Hard and rough!!"

I felt a momentary urge to jump on the bed and do just what she wanted, but just as the compulsion from the man's voice yesterday, it seemed to slide off me.

"It's going to be okay." I told her. I could feel the taint within her. Like some sort of parasite, eating away at her. I focused on it, trying to wrench it free from her. It was a weird feeling. Flexing a part of my mind that I'd never used. The whole time I worked on the taint, I could feel the lust emanating from her, trying to get me to do what she wanted. To fuck her. Hammer her tight little whore ass. Pound her like she-...

I wrenched my thoughts back from her influence. Sweat was breaking out on my forehead as I fought against her desires. I just wasn't sure how to remove this damn thing! And the whole time I was trying to figure this out that parasite was eating away at me... Just like her! If I didn't figure this out soon, I'd pound her into next week! Possibly worse as I'd shown restraint with Tracy. I had the feeling if I really let loose, I could probably kill this woman instead of helping her!

The taint was buried in her memories, but I couldn't read her mind... But I did know what I was looking for! That man's voice! I'd heard it already. The compulsion hidden in her mind, bending her will to do someone else's bidding was tied to that voice!

I focused on that sound and encouraged her ignore it.

"Oh, my god! What'd I do?!" She broke down, crying brokenheartedly. The lust haze disapated and I was holding hands with a broken woman. One who'd spent the last day demeaning herself in the worst possible ways.

Dr Shepherd was still standing at the door holding Miguel back, her eyes staring at me in disbelief. Miguel's eyes were staring at me strangely. Not angrily, but certainly not friendly.

"Uh, doctor. Could I please have a moment? We need to discuss some things with the patient privately." I wasn't sure how much Miguel had seen, but I didn't want him to see anything else.

She shook herself for a moment, glanced at Miguel, "Uh, Miguel? Could you give us a moment, please?"

Miguel kept staring at me strangely. Suddenly, his eyes shifted and he shook his head.

"Uh, yes, doctor. I'll be in the hall." He nodded politely to us both and backed out.

She walked over to the bedside with a sad look on her face as she regarded the distraught woman.

I leaned over and whispered, "I can make it so she doesn't remember any of it... but it might be difficult for her to pick up her life."

Dr Shepherd looked at her, then at me, "It's a difficult thing. While it seems great to remove the memories, the hole they leave could create different issues." She worked to remove the restraints on the woman.

I shrugged, "You're the doctor." I helped with the last restraint and the sobbing woman curled into a ball, hugging herself while sobbing nearly hysterically. "But you have to let me do something."

She considered it, "With many people in traumatic events, the mind will sometimes blot out the events itself... forgetting what happened." She looked at me, "Maybe that'd be the same as what you can do."

"I'd hope so."

"If you make her forget, can you bring them back later?"

My brow creased, "I think so..." I really wasn't sure. Arman had shown me how to work to remove disturbing memories. Basically, encouraging the person to forget them. I'd assume it'd be possible to get someone to remember them. The Catch-22 was obvious though: How do you remember what it was you forgot?

"I guess we'll find out..."

I leaned over and touched the woman's shoulder gently. The massive wave of humiliation, sorrow and pain hit me like a ton of bricks. The stream of images of her memories flashed through my head, turning my stomach and making me blanch. I grimaced and immediately started removing the horrible memories. Her crying lessened slowly as the wave of distressing images died down.

As the painful images from her finally dwindled down, both of us were drawn and exhausted. I collapsed into a chair next to her bad letting out an explosive breath.

She looked up at me, confusion in her big brown eyes. Her mouth opened to say something a few times, but before she spoke, she blinked a few times and fell asleep peacefully.

Dr Shepherd pulled the blanket over her shoulders and brushed the hair back from her face. She took her hand and felt her pulse for a moment. "She seems to be resting well... and I don't feel anything strange when I touch her." She looked over at me, "Are you feeling okay?"

I was slouched over in the chair, leaning heavily one hand still staring at the sleeping woman. I was still floored by what she'd been through. I'd seen her memories of the days before as if I'd lived them... it wasn't pleasant.

* * * * *

It'd begun a normal day at work for Katia. Clyde (the shmuck. Finally, got his name... Meh, whatever!) was wandering the halls leering at everyone when his eyes lit on her.

"Did you need something?" she asked politely. He was a sleaze, but she wasn't quite rude enough to call him out on it.

His returning grin chilled her blood. "Yes. I want you bent over your desk right here!"

"In your dreams, you pervert!" She answered hotly. She stood up to give him a piece of her mind, but as she walked in front of her desk, suddenly she turned and bent over her desk. "WHAT THE-... NO!!!!!"

Clyde didn't waste any time mounting her, lifting her skirt, ripping off her panties and stuffing himself into her dry pussy. Her screams drew everyone from the office.

"Great! Now that everyone is here. Let's have some fun... Katia, you love this!"

Her screams of pain suddenly became screams of joy as her pussy suddenly gushed, "FUCK YES! FUCK ME!"

"Awesome! Gentlemen let's form a line! Everyone gets a turn." He grunted as he fucked her. He was just too excited, and he came quickly. He pulled from her gooey quim as another took his place behind her. He walked around to her face, "This will teach you to turn me down, you little bitch!" He shoved his dirty cock into her mouth forcing her to taste herself. She swallowed his cock eagerly, slurping it into her mouth savoring his flavor. "From now on, every person that touches you will want to nail you like the slut you are until they cum all over that pretty face of yours!"

His words took immediate effect as the guys behind her slapping her ass as he pounded her harder, "You fucking whore! You fucking love getting treated like a skank, don't you!"

Clyde grinned as he pulled out of her mouth, "Ladies, please sample her tongue. It's exquisite!"

* * * * *

I hoped I found Clyde again someday. I let him off far too easily.

Dr Shepherd took me from the room to let Katia sleep, they walked out past a stunned Miguel. She spoke to him quietly, "I think things are ok here now. You can go about your normal duties. Thank you!"

He stared at Cecelia for a moment before suddenly turning to look at me, a surprising anger on his face before he turned and stalked away.

I stared at him a moment confused, not quite sure what I'd done to anger him.

"The next patient is a younger girl that... can't stop hurting herself."

"The barista."

"Excuse me?" Cecelia stared at me in confusion.

"The shmuck that I... dealt with yesterday... lusted after her. He was disappointed finding out she had a padded bra." I really needed to hunt down that bastard and meet out an appropriate level of justice.

I felt a sad murmur in the back of my head.

I stopped walking and took a deep breath.

Revenge was an easy one to give in to.

"Are you okay?" Dr Shepherd asked, "We can wait on this one if you need to rest. She's not really a threat to herself or anyone else at this point... she's just... disturbed."

"No, I'm okay. I just needed to reset myself."

We ended up having to walk to nearly the other side of the hospital for the other patient. Dr Shepherd and I spoke along the way. I did very good about not asking questions. She seemed excited enough to get to know me, that she was more than happy to talk about herself as long as I answered her questions every now and then.

Dr. Cecelia Shepherd was an amazing woman. She'd graduated from John's Hopkins near the top of her class. She'd gone on to complete her residency at Massachusetts General before ending up here working the ER by choice. She felt she performed her best when she was under pressure. She'd seen several other doctors fall apart under the never-ending stream of patients, but it only made her feel more alive. The ones she lost were difficult, but all the ones she saved made it all worth it.

Her personal life wasn't going quite so well. Phillip had been someone she worked with in Boston. He was looking to set himself up a private practice doing cosmetic surgery for the rich and famous. She had always hoped he'd realize how superficial that made him. To become a doctor because of the money seemed a complete waste to her. Some day she thought she'd open a private practice, but she'd be doing Family Medicine instead of specializing.

In the meantime, she was here working the ER and doing her damnedest to save every person that came through.

Eventually we made it to the Psychiatric Ward of the hospital. The patient looked to be a young girl, probably nineteen or twenty. Her dark hair had been chopped at haphazardly, shaved some places with raggedly cut clumps around her head, cuts and gashes marred her face. She sported two black eyes, a broken nose and her face was bruised, swollen and puffy. She was currently sedated and restrained hand and foot to her bad.

"All of this was self-inflicted?" I asked in abhorrence.

Dr Shepherd nodded, "Sadly." I could hear the distress in her voice. Here was another patient she was powerless to help.

I took a breath and stepped forward. After helping Katia, this one seemed easier. As I laid my hand on her shoulder, it took me just a moment to isolate the sounds of Clyde's voice and make her ignore his commands. It happened so quickly I didn't even catch much of a glimpse into the scene... for which I was grateful! Reliving Katia's was enough for me.

"She should be better now." I told Cecelia, "You'll know when she wakes up."

Dr Shepherd looked at me and nodded. "Thank you... I-..."

"No thanks are needed. I'm just glad I could help." I assured her. We shared a look that said it all.

We then went into the ICU. I felt dwarfed by the conditions of the people around me. Too many people hanging on to life by a thread. The first person was in a coma. His eyes bruised and swollen; his head wrapped in bandages. The heart monitor was beeping faster than I would have thought. As we looked at him, he tensed and shivered.

"Mr. Williams evidently jumped off the balcony at a restaurant. Seen by multiple witness, he just threw himself to the payment below."

I touched his foot. I could catch flashes of his dreams. Fear-stricken and horrified of not being in control of his own body. A passenger in your body as it jumped off the railing. I quashed those feelings and removed those memories. Leaving him to a peaceful slumber.

"What'd you do!?" She watched in awe. "I swear he just relaxed... somehow." She checked his readings, "His vitals are improving." She stared at me, her eyes glistening, "How? I-..." She wiped her eyes. "These are always the worst. There's nothing to do but wait and see. It's demoralizing. All my training. All my studying and there's nothing I can do."

"You'll still have to, unfortunately. I can't heal him completely, but I can set his mind at ease... Hopefully, that will help him relax and come through."

She nodded hopefully.

She led him through the ward. He spent a few moments with each patient. There were some I couldn't do anything for, but I was able to set many at ease. She stared at me in wonder. Reaching up to blot her eyes regularly.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forget what you've been able to do here today..." She began.

"Oh, please, Dr! It'd only be a piddling against everything you do here every day!" I wasn't about to let her think she wasn't the more valuable one here, "Every time you're here, you do far, far more! I've helped a handful. Probably really only just those two. The rest... I've just set at ease. You're the one that's helped them survive!"

She nodded somberly.

At least she didn't argue with me about it!

"Look, I can't say what else is going to happen in the future, but I have the feeling other... unusual patients may come your way." I pulled out my phone and handed it to her, "Let me have your number. I'd like to connect with you later. I think we could help each other in the future."

We were standing in the hall as she entered her information into my phone. I glanced over her shoulder, and I noticed a hospital employee surreptitiously trying to watch us. As soon as he saw me notice him, he ducked around the corner. I didn't get a good enough look at him, but it certainly could have been Miguel.

I didn't need the panicked chill up my spine from Arman to know something was wrong.

"Dammit! Sorry, Cecelia! I have to go." I pulled my phone from her hand as soon as she finished her number. "I'll call you later. It's not safe right now."

"Wait... Uh..." She started after me a moment, then looked around nervously.

I lifted my phone to her indicating I'd give her a call when I could. She nodded and ducked down the hall away from me.