Disclaimer: i don't own CSI:MIAMI or Psych, I'm just having fun with them.
MY NAME'S Erik Delko, I'm 35 and I used to be a CSI in miami. I say, "I used to be" because I'm seriously thinking about quitting my job, since, well, I think I'm seriously on the verge of losing my mind…
"Erik, you know it's not true. I know what you RE thinking, but I swear, it's true. I'm not a fragment of your imagination…"
I'm sitting on the rocks, in front of the ocean, waiting for the incoming sundown, more depressed than ever, although I've to admit that, when I steal a glance to the figure that's suppose to be sitting next to me, I feel the depression increasing.
"I know you are not a fragment of my imagination – I whisper to myself – it's just my brain creating new connections."
"After two years? Please, Erik, man, you're not a stupid. You know that, if you're seeing me, it's because I'm here… in a weird way, but I'm really here."
I clench my teeth and my eyes, taking a big breath, trying to regain control… of the situation, and of my life, too. But, as soon as I open my eyes, I sob, because he Is still here, looking at me, grinning evilly; Tim Speedle, my best friend, dead more than 4 years ago on duty. A couple of years ago, I started seeing him, and, since my doctors told me it was natural, with my "condition" (you see, I took a bullet in my head, but taking it away could mean kill me, so I still have it)and that it was just meant to be temporal, I didn't panic at first. But now, although I've told H (my boss) that Speed and I are no longer in touch, I still see him. This is the reason I felt like a long, long vacation far away from home was necessary, and I thought that Santa Barbara could suit my needs and give me the time to think thinks over. But, well, my vacancy is almost over, and it seems that he doesn't want to listen to any reason.
"C'mon, bud, just because my body is dead doesn't mean that my spirit is as well. – I turn to look at him, still very, very depressed – ok, well, you wonna know a thing? You're the one who's not listening to any reason…. I'll walk around. I'll see you when I'll see you."
I sob again as I look at where he was before, and I see that he is no longer with me. Sometimes I hope that he is real, that Tim is really with me, sometimes I simply assume that my work, all the evil I've seen, all that I've been through, drove me insane at some point in my life, so, when I don't see him, I feel finally free, then, after something like 10 seconds, a total jerk for having refuse my once best friend turned ghost. The fact is, if he is really Tim, and he is really a ghost, why didn't he show up before? Why wait for so many years?
"'Cause you didn't need me back then. You needed me for that case, you were losing faith in your abilities."
As I'm walking away, leaving the beach, I see him again, and I smile, especially once he sits in my car without opening the door. Truth is, he is right. I was losing faith in me, I thought that, since I had that damn bullet in my head, I was nothing more than a dead man walking…. But then, Tm showed up, and we started working together, like we used to when he was still alive…
"Erik, again… I already told you that, although just in spirit, I'm still alive…" he stops to talk as his voice becomes a scream… have you ever heard about the Banshee, saw them in some kind of TV shows about the supernatural? Well, this is the kind of scream Speed is emitting, as he turns into what I can only define as a ghost-like figure. It happens so quickly that it makes me lose control over the car, and, before I can realize it, we are again on the seaside….
"Speed, when you see God, say him that I thank him for the airbags… - I ménage to say, as I massage the upper part of my body – what the hell just happened?" I turn to look at Speed, but he is no longer with me. I hope he didn't pass away, because it didn't like it was a nice passing away…
"Son, are you all right? Don't move… you have to wait for the paramedics to check on you before to leave the car!" turning to look at the voice, coming from my left, I see 3 men standing close to the car: one in his late 50s, two in their first 30s, one with a clear resemblance to the older one, and a black young man, dressed a way too formally for someone who's on the beach….he - or at least his clothes -suddenly remember me of how Speed used to dress when he had to go to the courthouse…
"I don't need them, really… I'm cool…"
"Cool? Dad, call the ambulance! No one uses the word cool in a conversation like that!" it seems that I was right, this guy is the son of the older man.
"Actually, Shawn, they do" the formally dressed says, arguing with Shawn.
"No, they don't, Gus"
"yes, they do"
"No they don't!"
"yes, they do!"
"If I say they don't, it means they don't!" Shawn hits Gus on a shoulder, as he does the same, and, then, they start hitting harder each other, fighting like 2 kids in kindergarten
"Shawn, Gus, enough of this, and come here to help me! If he doesn't want any doctor, we have at least to help him to leave the car! - as he says so, he helps me to leave the car – I'm Henry Spence, son, and you? My head hurts, and I can tell that he sees it, 'cause he gives me n arm, guiding me towards a nice house on the beach.
"I'm… Erik Delko – I say as he makes me seat on a sofa; as I give a quick look around, I see a lot of pictures of him with a uniform –a policeman?"I casually ask him.
"No, at least, no more. I retired 3 years ago. And you, what do you do for a living, Erik?"
"Miami Dade Police Department, Crime Scene Unit. I'm on holiday, and then… - I pause, I can't tell him that I lost control of my car because my ghost friend frightened me! – I saw a cat on the street, and I wanted to avoid it so badly, and so I ended on the beach..." he gives me some ice, and, as I put it on my head, I start to see Speed again, paler than the usual; he is close to me, and it seems that he wants to tell me something, but Shawn's cell rings, interrupting us; the young man leaves the room, and goes into the kitchen.
"It's the police – speed explains me – they want his help. A girl gas been brutally murdered, and a certain detective Lassiter already arrested her boyfriend…"
"But it's not him! – a girl more or less 25, dark hair and eyes, cuts all over her body, is now at my side; it seems that I'm surrounded by ghosts now… - I don't remember clearly what happened , but I know it wasn't Brian!" Great, now it's not just Speed, I feel like the character of that show my ex girlfriend liked so much…what was the title? Ghost Whisperer? Or maybe I'm more the Johnny Boy of the Dead zone, where a man went into com and then gains the power to see the future… maybe I gained the power to see the ghosts, who knows…
"Detective O'Hara believes Brian, and asked for Shawn's assistance"
"Ok, I get it, but why him? He looks more like a too grown-up kid, not a detective…"
"Finally someone who understands my son! You know, Shawn always had a great sixth sense, and I helped him to develop it since he was a kid, I so wanted him to follow into my footsteps! But you know what he does for a living? He tells people that he is a psych!" Henry is speaking with me, is assumed he was the one I was talking to, and not Speed..
"And that chick, O'Hara, asked for him because she seriously thinks he is a psych!"
As we speak, Shawn comes back in room, and, still standing on his feet, looks at me, evilly. "Sorry to interrupt your idyllic love, daddy, but Gus and I must go… we have to help the sweet Jules to solve a case!"
"I'm not going anywhere with you, Shawn! In 10 minutes, I must be… somewhere else! And you know it!"
"Oh, yes, I remember… the boring meeting where you where supposed to read that boring study… well, guess what? You don't have to worry about it, I already called your boss – he tries to make his voice sound girlish –Mr. Elthman, good morning, I'm nurse Francine, from Mercy. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Guster is here, with us…. I know I'm not supposed to tell you, but he is suffering of a bad case of Ingina Bullosis…"
"At least you didn't tell him that I've some kind of weird sexual disease…"
"I'm not sure, but I think I could have mentioned something like Gonorrhea, too – he pauses, and brings his hands to his head, closed eyes – I'm feeling anger…. You are full of anger! And I sense that… that the girl's spirit is asking for my help!"
"No, Erik, you are the one who can help me…. The only one!"
"Erik, man, listen, you need to do something in order to make sure he finds the real guilty… remember that you're the real psych here, he just fakes it…. We'll help you, but you've to do something with that Shawn guy!"
"I know" I whisper, frustrated. How the hell is even possible that, as soon as I leave home, I end investigating a murder with the assistance of 2 ghosts, a fake speech and who knows what Gus is?
"You sure, Erik? I'm glad you're ok with it, because I feel like, together, we'll be able to talk some sense into my son. I'm so glad that you want to help him in solving the case, showing him how important are science and observation, and that he doesn't need to pit on such an act to solve a crime!" Again, while I was talking with Speed, Henry has thought he was the one I was talking to; better if I start to remember that Speed can do that damn thing I hate so much (being mind-reading) and stop talking to him.
"Seems that you don't have much of a choice, dear friend…"
"I know"
"I knew you could simply agree with me! That's what I call a detective! Now, let's go find my son!"
Great, really, really, great….
