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know why you stopped at the convenience store. You
really don t remember?"
"I..."
At that point a doctor came into the room. "I need to
assess Mr. Winchester s state of mind. You ll have to
leave now."
"Of course." I squeezed Jack s hand again. "I ll be
right outside. Cassie and Tara are here, too."
Jack nodded slowly. "Okay."
I got up and left the room with my dad. The doctor
closed the door after us.
"He s awake," Cassie said.
"Yeah." I sat down in one of the lobby chairs. "Hear
that, Tara-bear? Your daddy is awake."
Tara managed a smile. "Can I see him?"
"Soon as the doctor says."
"Yay! Mommy, we need to get Daddy a balloon!" she
squealed happily.
Cassie s face softened when confronted with the full
force of her daughter s joy. "Of course, baby, let s go to
the gift shop." She took Tara s hand and they headed off
to the elevator.
"Well, I m going back to the precinct to let the boys
know," the captain said. "Adder, I ll see you tomorrow,
nine a.m."
"Yes sir." I nodded sharply.
My father sat down next to me. "You want
company?"
I shook my head. "Ma s going to be worried; you
should go home. I ll stay here tonight. Keep an eye on
him."
"All right." He squeezed my shoulder. "I ll call you
tomorrow."
"Okay."
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 63
After my dad was gone and everything had gone
quiet, I sat in the cold gray waiting room and listened to
the clock ticking over my head.
I said I love you. I told him, albeit an unconscious
him, that I loved him.
I rested my head in my hands. What was I thinking?
The doctor came out a few minutes later. "He s going
to be okay. We ll do another CT scan, but I think he ll
be fine. Probably walk with a limp for awhile."
"He& didn t remember the shooting. Is that normal?"
"Trauma can cause amnesia. He could ve blocked it
out. But I suspect the head injury had something to do
with it."
"Right. Will he ever remember?"
"Hard to say. He might remember today, tomorrow,
three years from now. The brain is funny thing." The
doctor shrugged. "What s your relationship?"
"He s my partner." I stood up. "Can I go back in?"
"Yes, but he needs to rest, so keep it short."
"Of course."
The doctor meandered off, and I headed back into
Jack s room.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself." He was sitting up now& well,
leaning up. The bed was raised. "You found Rob s ring."
"You heard that?"
"You Adders, so damn loud." He grinned. "Your dad
was here."
"Yeah, he went on home. Ma s worried." I crept
closer to the bed. "How you feel?"
"Foggy. I don t like not remembering, Fynn. I don t
like you keeping things from me either."
"What?"
"You left stuff out& about the jumper. I don t know
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 64
what, but you did." His eyes narrowed. "Something s
going on."
"You have head trauma, that s what s going on." I
rubbed his arm. "Try not to over think it."
"Daddy!" Tara came charging in, balloon in hand. "I
got you a balloon."
"It s& a bear," he said. "Fantastic."
She grinned, and Cassie entered, a bit breathless from
having chased her child from the elevator. "Jack."
"Cassie."
"I am going to the cafeteria," I said. "I ll see you
later, partner."
"Yeah." He nodded. "We need to talk."
I nodded and backpedaled out of the room. I didn t
want Jack involved any further with the business of
ghosts and possessions, but I had a suspicion about that
robber. Jack would need protection. If it was the evil
whatever that drove that guy to shoot my partner, I had
to do something.
I just wasn t quite sure what that something was.
***
"Monsignor." I stood in the doorway to young
Samuel s room. "How is he?"
"Detective." Monsignor nodded to me. "Please come
in."
I entered the room and paused at Samuel s bedside.
"They have him sedated." The Monsignor looked
very old in that moment. Very tired. "I don t
understand& why would he do such a thing?"
"Do you -- believe in possession, Monsignor?"
"Why do you ask?" his eyes narrowed.
"Samuel was& not himself, on the roof. His
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 65
eyes& were red." I shrugged. "Maybe a trick of the light,
but he said some things that he couldn t know." Some
things I needed to investigate still.
A brother no one told me about? I found that hard to
believe.
"I am& uncertain." The monsignor admitted. "It was
so out of character. No warning signs. I believe in the
devil, Detective. I believe there could be the possibility
of possession but -- to see it in my own parish? That is
hard for me to believe." He shook his head. "I will have
to pray on it."
"Of course, Monsignor. But, if I wanted to& repel
something. Something evil. What would I do?"
"In what context?"
"My partner is lying in a hospital bed. He was shot by
a man who has no memory of shooting him. I m afraid
something is coming after the people I care about. I want
to protect him, and guns don t protect you from evil
spirits." I felt immensely silly for saying all of this
aloud, but what was I supposed to do? The evidence was
becoming tangible. I couldn t ignore the facts.
The ghost knew something I hadn t known. That
ghost& it had been Robert. Truly. I couldn t ignore that.
"Anoint the doors and windows with symbols of
protection," the Monsignor said after a moment. "Prayer
would be beneficial of course& and put this on his
person." He removed the rosary from his pocket. "It
belonged to a great-great-uncle of mine. They say it was
blessed by a Pope."
"I couldn t& "
"Take it; protect your partner. I will protect Samuel."
I accepted the rosary. "Thank you, Monsignor."
"Go, get back to him. God be with you."
"And you."
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 66
For Jack, I would pray.
The Hanged Man's Ghost - 67
Chapter Seven: Death and Resurrection Show
I spent the night with Jack. While he slept I prayed,
and when Cassie and Tara had gone, I anointed the
doors and windows with holy water I swiped from the
hospital chapel. The rosary I tucked under his pillow.
I couldn t be certain any of it would work, but there
was nothing else I knew to do. So I prayed. It was the
first time I had prayed, really prayed, since some time
after Rob had died.
Even knowing that he was going to leave me, I was
having a hard time letting go of him. He was the man I'd
thought I would spend my whole life with. The ring, a
simple silver band which, on the inside, bore the date I
had given it to him, was still on my finger. Like a
talisman.
I felt I couldn t get rid of it. Not yet. Cold prickled
across my skin. I glanced sidelong at the source of the
cold. At least he had the decency to look somewhat
upset.
"You're making it colder in here, Rob."
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