Chapter 6
Watson
Holmes and I went to Danny against the protests of Samantha and I examined him. "Do you know your name?" I asked him. "Danny," he responded. "Your full name?" I asked. "Daniel James Fenton," he replied as I checked to see that his pulse was weak, yet healthy and his eyes showed consciousness and awareness. I quickly got my stethoscope from my medical bag and gently got Daniel to sit up so I could listen to his heart. His breaths were strained from his broken ribs, but his heart was otherwise strong. Holmes collected the green substance that had ejaculated from Daniel's mouth with his handkerchief. "So, how am I doing Doc?" Daniel asked. I put my stethoscope back into my bag and told him, "Aside from your injuries, you are a very healthy young man. You remind me of myself back in my college days."
Daniel sniggered at this then said, "You handle ghosts pretty good, you ever fight one before?" he asked. "No, but fighting in Afghanistan does tend to steel one's nerves," I informed him. "You don't seem too surprised at my powers," he also said. "I swore an Oath to put my patients' well being first and foremost. The Oath never said that they had to be…normal," I stated. I then turned to Holmes and said, "I do believe that my patients deserve some rest for now. I'll send Mary up with some soup within an hour," I informed Daniel and Samantha and Holmes and I went back to my living room, where I am ashamed to say my nerve at last failed me and I collapsed on the couch, shaking mightily. "M-Mary!" I called out and my wife took one look at me to know the problem. She went to our alcohol cabinet and pulled out a glass and a bottle of 12 year old whisky and filled the glass almost to the brim, and poured a glass for Holmes as well.
While he was not shaking like I was, I could tell that the experience with the creatures had shaken him as well. Mary gave us our glasses and I drank half of mine in one gulp, while Holmes drank all of his. "What happened?" Mary asked; a tremor in her own voice. "That man, he isn't human!" I said, the whisky affecting me more than I wished, yet I finished my glass after my proclamation. "How is that possible?" Mary asked. Holmes then spoke up, "That girl, Samantha, she claimed that she, Daniel, and a third, a friend named Tucker, had fought ghosts for five years. She claimed that they came from the future, one-hundred and eighteen years from now, originally. She claimed that they had chased a ghost called 'Orion' to even further in the future, and then to our present day."
Mary and I could only stare at him, dumbstruck at the events of only a few minutes ago. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Mary asked. Holmes could only sigh and say, "We are far out of our depth. But we now have three options, one of which is illegal. Our first option: we place our trust in those two young people and let them tell us how these things came to be. Our second option: we reveal them to the wider world and see what comes of it. And our final option: kill them, bury them, and forget that these events ever happened." "That's abominable," Mary said. "I was only stating what our options were; I wasn't saying that we should act on them. We could also simply abandon them to the streets and then forget about them, but I know that you would never abandon a patient that was still in need of your services," Holmes then said to me.
"We're not going to harm them. Whatever else those two are, the man saved us from those…ghosts. After seeing what he is capable of, I'm willing to believe that they might be from the future. We'll talk with them later," I said. "I shall check my facts before making an opinion. I'm going to take their weapons and clothes so that I may more thoroughly examine them. Where did you first find Samantha and Daniel?" Holmes asked. I took a minute to remember and told him, "The alleyway near the corner that leads to our home from the Theater." Holmes nodded and gathered the various torn clothes and objects in Samantha's bag and went to leave. Before he closed the door he said, "Watson, keep those two here. I shall return once I have finished examining the evidence. Good Day." And with that, he left.