Ghost

by Charmaine Ross

  “You can’t go there, Cassie. It’s too dangerous and as I said before, I cannot protect you physically. Will you reconsider?”

  “I’m not going to,” I said. “It’s the only way to help Henry. He can’t hang about here for eternity. That’d be hell. Oh.” I put my hand to my mouth. That’s exactly what Elliot had been doing for who knew how long. “I’m sorry, Elliot. I didn’t think.”

  Elliot wiped his hands over his face, “To tell you the truth, it had crossed my mind, too.”

  I leant back in my chair and regarded him. “Do you remember anything about your life—or your death?” I hated to say the word. Somehow the thought of death and the vibrant man I was talking to didn’t match.

  He shook his head, his eyes clouding with frustration. “Nothing.”

  “What about... in between. You have to have existed somewhere.” I could feel the frustration pouring from him “I don’t know who I am. Why I’m here. And here I am hanging around you, for no apparent reason. It seems so…useless.”

  “There has to be a reason. If you believe that there’s some reason for us to exist at all.”

  “Do you, Cassie? Do you believe I exist?”

  His gaze pierced me and I felt the full weight of it. As though my answer would be very important to him. I wanted to make him feel better. I really did. The truth was I was just as out of my depth as he was. I hesitated before I spoke, hoping that I was choosing the right words, “Even though Mum sees spirits, and now I know she does, I’d never seen them for myself, or remember if I did. Training as a doctor, you think what you see in front of you is all there is. That life ends with the physical world. But that doesn’t mean it’s not there. I don’t see germs and bacteria, but I know they’re there. I don’t see ultra-violet light, but it is there, too. As for should you exist, then yes, I believe you should. Why go through life, all its hardships, stand up for things you believe in if it’s for nothing? Why work hard and voice your opinion at all? Why remember experiences? Why love your friends and family? You’re a detective. You stood up for what you believed in. Made it your life. Of course you exist. You have every right to exist in death as well as life.”

  His features relaxed as he seems to process my words. “That is logic I can’t deny. You make a valid argument.”

  “What I see is an honourable person in a difficult situation.” As I said it I utterly believed it with every part of my soul.

  A moment passed as his gaze roamed my face. “You’re a decent person too, Cassie. I’m glad I was chosen for you, if that is the reason I’m here.”

  Something warm slipped through me. Maybe it was the way he regarded me, knowing he wasn’t a person to say things he didn’t mean, and that made what he said more pertinent. “Think, Elliot. You must have been somewhere before the morgue.”

  “There’s nothing but…” His gaze found mine and sharpened, “Grey mist. No time. No sound. The sensation of…being…lost. I could have been there a minute. Or an hour. Or decades.”

  I shuddered, putting myself in his place. I couldn’t stand the thought that he’d been there at all. But, how long exactly? He looked as though he was the nineteen twenties era, but I couldn’t be sure. I stood, coming to the other side of the desk and sat on the edge facing him. “Do you remember anything about being a detective?”

  He shook his head. “It’s just a blank.”

  I could see frustration biting his heels. “Do you remember how old you were..? Are..?

  “Nothing.”

  I clicked my fingers and pointed at him, “What about things that aren’t personal? Like events, or exhibitions, or…weather? Imagine a stormy night and see what pops to mind.”

  Elliot’s gaze became introverted. I could virtually see the clogs turning in his brain. He had to have been someone, made a mark somewhere on society, or business. Especially a policeman. Had to have friends. Maybe even a...wife? I swallowed, for some reason I didn’t like to think about anything like that.

  I swung away from the desk. What was I thinking? He was a spirit. I was here to help him get to the next life beyond this one. Then he would leave. I didn’t want to get too close to him. Just close enough to feel happy when he left. Just close enough so that it wouldn’t hurt too much when he wasn’t here anymore. I pushed the errant thought aside to the matter at hand. It was pointless doing anything less.

  “It happened in October.”

  I blinked myself back into the present, my attention riveting back to the man in front of me, “What did?”

  “An event. An air disaster. Miles from the city. In the Dandenong Ranges. It was a few days before…”

  “Before you lost your memory.” I couldn’t bring myself to say his death. He was more alive than some people I knew.

  He looked so sad for a moment, before he drew himself upright, “Yes. Before I lost my memory.”

  This event must have happened before he…when he was still alive. I ran back to my seat and clicked on the internet, “Can you remember anything specific? I’ll Google it.”

  “Google?”

  “Yeah. The internet. Computers.” I could have told him a man had walked on Mars.

  “If you can think of something specific, I’ll try and get more information for you. Come and I’ll show you how it works.”

  He stood behind my shoulder, bending down towards the screen. “And what is this machine called?”

  I was aware of his height and ‘physical’ presence, although it was the presence of his essence. Maybe that made me tune into him so easily. I didn’t even have to force myself to concentrate. He was there, and I simply felt it. The connection was almost a natural one with the ease of long lost friends, but that was clearly ridiculous. I simply couldn’t have known him before.

  “It’s... ahh,” I swallowed. “It’s a... computer.”

  “I’ve heard about those things. They’re used to calculate basic sums. Right?”

  “Partly. There are programs for that. Like Excel.” I turned back to the screen and typed in You Tube, “Let me show you a few things. Life’s a little... different now.” I flicked through some music, fashions, and today’s news. He didn’t comment on anything, just watched and assimilated information. When I faced him, though, the strain was evident. It would be no different to a time traveller being dumped in a time period so foreign, that there was no resemblance to their former life.

  I wanted to reassure him that I might actually be able to help him. “Let’s find out about the plane disaster.” I typed some keywords into Google. Instantly a page was listed from Wikipedia. I followed the link and read the start of the article.

  ‘The Kyeema airline crash took place on the 25 October 1938 when the Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 Kyeema, tail number VH-UYC, flying from Adelaide to Melbourne, Australia, commenced final approach to Essendon Airport through heavy fog and crashed into the western slopes of Mount Dandenong, also known as Mount Corhanwarrabul, killing all 18 on board instantly. ‘

  “Hell,” I whispered. “Nineteen thirty-eight.” I waited until he had read the whole thing. “Does that ring a bell?”

  His gaze became introverted. He was here, but in his mind, was miles away. I waited, watching. Hoping.

  “It was only a few days ago for me. A Douglas DC Two Kyeema crashed into Mount Dandenong. I knew someone on that flight. A barrister. He was coming to see me. Leonard Abrahams. We’d set up a meeting. A personal meeting. It was important. Very important, but I don’t recall what it was going to be about.” He made a frustrated sound. “I can see his face in my mind, but I don’t know why it was so urgent I see him. I just know it was.”

  “Well, at least we have a name and a date. October twenty-fifth, nineteen thirty-eight. Do you remember anything after the plane crash?” I asked.

  Elliot shook his head, running his fingers over his head and spiking his hair. “Nothing but shut doors.” He spun on the balls of his feet, as though something had just occurred to him. “What year is it now?”
<
br />   I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t know if I should tell him. It would come as such a shock, but then again, everything in the past few days had been a shock. To him as well as me. I took a deep breath. “Twenty sixteen.”

  His gaze didn’t move. I could almost see the information sifting through his mind. I watched undisguised emotions flicker across his face. He sank into the chair opposite my desk, as though he hadn’t the energy to even pace my small office anymore. “Seventy-eight years.” He sounded so lost. So alone. I raced across to his side of the desk and took his hands in mine, forgetting for a second he wasn’t real. My hands went right through his and sank to the arm-rest.

  I wished I could reach out and touch him, just to feel something solid beneath my fingers. Basic human touch. We watched each other for endless seconds. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

  He stood then, and I had to tip my head back to look into his eyes. “I should be sorry,” his voice was a low murmur.

  “Why should you be?” He’d lost his life, and everybody he’d ever known. Anything he’d ever known. He was here without knowing why or how. He’d been thrust into this situation, a foreign world, a foreign time.

  “You’re as stuck as I am. Seeing me and every other spirit that wanders past. Trying to help Henry, as well as myself. That can’t be easy for you.”

  I swallowed. Truth be told, if I had Elliot beside me, it wasn’t such a chore as it could be. Or, I had to admit, so scary. “I’ll get through it.”

  He sent me a lop-sided smile. His whole face lit with warmth and I had a glimpse of the carefree Elliot beneath the tense mask. It was breathtaking. I couldn’t help but smile back. “We still need to answer the question why? Why would all of this happen? Why you? Why me?”

  He levelled a gaze at me, uneasiness crossing his features, “I have the feeling that I can’t be anywhere else but with you. There’s an anticipation that’s hanging around, quietly biding its time when it will be revealed, that what you and I are doing here is important.”

  “Wow. That’s...a massive statement.” I’d only seen these events as a pain in the rear end, but he’d revealed a whole other view. “How can you be so sure?”

  “I can see you wherever you are. There’s a light surrounding you. A magnificent silver aura that I can feel. It’s warm, gentle. Soft. Just like your soul. It shines so brightly. I can see you wherever I am. I can always find you. I find that’s something I like.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s different for Henry. He hears voices. I see you. As for why? I have no idea. I don’t know what I’m doing here, only that you need help and I hope I can give it to you.”

  Although the whole idea that I was here at all talking to a ghost with a missing memory, facing a problem of another ghost who’d had his will falsified was so far-fetched I would have laughed it off if it wasn’t happening to me right here, right now but I was strangely comforted by his words.

  There was a knock at the door and George Campbell came into my office. “Are you alone, Cassie?” A frown crossed his forehead. “I thought I heard you talking.”

  I glowered at him. I didn't like the way he'd come into my office like he owned it. Irritation itched just below my skin. I didn’t seem to have the patience for him I once did. “Telephone. And you’re here because?”

  “Ahhh—I have your oncology reports.” He handed me a manila folder. I frowned. They were from Henry’s autopsy. Maybe he hadn’t heard I’d been black-banded yet, because he certainly wouldn’t be here handing me these if he did. But he shouldn’t have them at all either.

  “Thank you, but…how did you get these?”

  His face faltered, just for a millisecond, and then his smile came back full force, “Henry was your patient. I was in oncology, saw your name and I thought I’d save you the trouble of collecting them for yourself. Give me an excuse to talk to you.”

  “And why would you want to talk to me?”

  Campbell propped on the edge of my desk, flashing me a dazzling smile. It looked as though he’d had his teeth whitened. Again. “I was wondering if you’d like to have coffee. With me.”

  A couple of days ago, I would have jumped at the chance. I mean, every hot-blooded female at the hospital would. The guy had charm, he was smooth, sophisticated, but now that I’d met Elliot, he’d lost his shine. I wondered why he’d ask me now, when any attention he’d given to me in the past was barely there.

  “Thank you. But not today.”

  He stood. He was quite short, his head only topping mine by a centimetre or two. Maybe the fan club that usually surrounded him made him look taller. His smile widened, “Maybe wine, then. And dinner. Tonight?”

  I glanced at Elliot. His brows slashed into a frown and he was glaring at George with a look I wouldn’t want to be on the end of. Overprotective. Possessive. A look that left me feeling more than a little flustered. I looked back to Campbell. “Thank you, but I have other...things…to do tonight.”

  His mobile rang and he plucked it out of his pocket, answering it while he kept his gaze locked on mine. A sliver of irritation ran through me. He frowned and turned away from me, sliding from the desk towards the door. “I told you not to ring me at the hospital. I’ll call you back. In private.” His voice was low, but not too low that I didn’t hear the annoyance in his tone. I was glad I wasn’t on the end of his phone call. He turned and flashed another high-wattage smile at me. The change in him was black to white, leaving me momentarily stunned.

  “Raincheck, then. But I’m going to keep you to your word.” I didn’t point out that I’d not agreed to anything. He winked at me and left my office. I was left stunned, staring at the back of my door.

  “Where did that come from?” I asked out loud.

  “I don’t like him,” Elliot said.

  “He’s harmless, although he’s probably responsible for the increased birth rate with employees at this hospital,” I said dryly.

  “Don’t go on this dinner date. He hasn’t any honourable intentions towards you.”

  I wondered if there was a bit of the cave-man in Elliot. Instead of being irritated, I was...flattered. I knew he was protecting me. And cared enough to say something, but still, I tried to brush it aside. “That’s absurd.”

  “I know men like him. Some things don’t change over the decades. Believe me, a woman like you is too good for the likes of most men, let alone him.”

  “Oh.” I’d never had that type of consideration from a man. If they weren’t intimidated by my job, they were by the number of hours I worked. I’d not been adventurous, but I’d had a couple of boyfriends. None tended to stay too long. My job, my responsibilities had to come first. I saved lives. That was more important than being on time for dinner. Most men didn’t cope with that.

  Elliot indicated the reports George had brought “Well, while we have them, we should take a look.”

  “You’re right.”

  I sat the desk and slowly opened the folder, not quite sure if I really wanted to know what had happened to Henry but the threat of a mal-practise suit had me reading. “Henry was supported by Jane Murphy, his nurse in charge when he passed. He had massive doses of valium in his system. I don’t get it.” I set the papers on the desk, staring up at Elliot, “Why would Jane have given him valium? I didn’t prescribe it. He was doing fine. Any pain would have been controlled by simple Panadol.”

  “Maybe there was a development through the night,” Elliot suggested.

  “It's doubtable. The surgery was only simple, a minor cut that I cauterized ...I’ll need to speak to Jane about this.” It didn’t make sense either way. You didn’t treat pain with valium. This was a mess that I needed to sort out.

  I read the rest of the document. Everything seemed to be in order, until a hand-scrawled note stood out to me. “There’s a note to send all his personal details to Elder and Slate. But why would this note be in the report? It has nothing to do with his surgery.”

  “In my experience, when things seem like they are just a coinci
dence, they usually are much more than that. There are no coincidences.”

  “The detective at work,” I mused. “You’re certainly working your call now.” Part of me was happy that Elliot was at my side. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why I felt this way, only knew that he was dependable. And understanding. And thoughtful…more of his qualities scrambled to the fore, surprising me with just how much I had thought about him.

  I plumped some loose paper into a neat pile, needing something to do with my hands to hide the flush of warmth that crept up my neck. I was getting used to having Elliot at my side far too easily. I had to remind myself I was helping Henry to find his after-life. What would happen if, and when, Elliot remembered who he was? Would he continue to be here, or would he progress to whatever it was that waited for him in the next life. There were no coincidences, that’s what Elliot said. Henry would go when everything was sorted. I would be happy for that to happen.

  But I didn’t know if I felt the same way about Elliot right now.

  Chapter Five

  “Mum? Dad? What are you two doing here?”

  I hadn’t made it into my living area before Mum ran into the hallway and gathered me into her arms. I drank in her smell of dried rose petals and the heat of the sun and let her embrace me, like she did when I was little. Her arms gave me strength and I stayed in their circle of security, sagging against the warmth of her body, happy in the relief she gave me.

  I don’t know how long I stayed like that but when she finally released me my face was wet and I sniffed in a very unfeminine way. I used the back of my sleeve to wipe my face and nose. Also, unfeminine—and slightly unhygienic—but I didn’t have to pretend I was anything else but myself around Mum.

  She placed her hands on my shoulders to study me. “Gary, can you put the kettle on and make us a cup of tea? Now, come in Cassie, let us take care of you and tell me everything.”