Familiar tragedy

4.Ghost

"If you don't know him, and the Harding's doesn't know him either. I'm guessing he did not have an ID on him either ?" He raised his brow.

"He had nothing on him besides the clothes he was wearing, no ID, no phone, no bag, nothing. My guess is he is from around here. Why else would he end up here with nothing on him ?" I said, looking at the barn.

"Or he likes to travel lightly when he is on the run. I mean, he did say not to take him to the hospital because they would find him. I'll need to get his fingerprints and a picture of him once he is cleaned up. I'll send you the info on him as soon as I find something. We should grab a bite sometime, yeah?"

"Give me a call when you're back in town, then we'll catch up. I'm going to check on Mary-Kate."

"It was nice seeing you, Lainey."

Marcell Vascez was an old high school boyfriend . Things went south after what happened with my father . He cheated, but I can't blame him. I pushed him away, and I treated him poorly. He tried to help, but we were kids. There wasn't much he could do. He ended up marrying Lou. Anna told me they were expecting their firstborn a few months ago. The baby should be here any day now.

After checking in on Mary-Kate, we decided to head to the barn to hear what the doctor had to say.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"Ms Devin, I'm afraid the patient has sustained a serious head injury , we'll have to take him to the hospital. I'll keep it under the radar, but we can't treat him here. He is slipping in and out of consciousness. I'll have to do some scans to see if he has any other injuries. In the meantime, you may visit him if you feel up to it."

"Can you have him placed at the Private Haven Hospital on the north side. It's close to home, it'll make it easier for me to check on him until we can get in touch with his family."

"Of course, will you be going with us ?"

"No, I'm not afraid. I have a few things I need to do. I'll check in tomorrow morning first thing. Please let me know if anything happens."

"Will do, Ms Devin , be safe. I'll see you soon."

We stood at the entrance of the barn and watched as the ambulance drove off. There was something about this man that seemed so familiar , i just couldn't place it. I was about to leave when Mr Harding called me.

"Lainey, we were going to call you before all the events of today took place. We would like to partner with you if the offer still stands?"

"Of course, I'll have my assistant Shae hand-deliver the documents to you, or we can schedule an appointment at the office, whichever you feel comfortable with."

"We'll come to your office, we want to check in on the young man. Lord knows what would've happened if we didn't find when we did."

"Sounds great. Give me a call when you come in. I asked that he be placed at the private hospital near my home so that I can visit him until we find his family."

We said our goodbyes, and I made my way home. When i arrived, Anna was waiting for me at the front door as usual.

I couldn't help but wonder about the stranger from the barn. Who is he ? Who is after him ? How did he end up in the barn? Does he have family ? Is he a man on the run ?

All i could do was wait for answers. When i went to see him the next morning, his doctor informed me that he went into a coma in the early hours of the morning, and they had been monitoring him closely. He had swelling on his brain from the blow he took. He had three fractured ribs and a broken wrist. The blood i saw was from a cut on his head that went from his ear down to his hairline on his forehead. He had a few other cuts and scrapes that only needed to be cleaned.

Over the past two weeks, i made it part of my daily routine to check in on him every morning before heading to work . He was stable but still in a coma.

#CELLPHONE RINGING#

"Lainey Devin, hello?" I answered.

"Lainey , it's Marcell. Are you busy ?"

"I have a few minutes before my next meeting. What's up?"

"I looked into that guy like you asked me too. Lainey , this man is a ghost. His fingerprints don't match with any of our databases. I sent it to a friend that has the resources to find anyone, anywhere in the world. There is no sign that this man exists. We couldn't even find anything with facial recognition. When I went to get his prints, i took one of the blood-soaked clothes with me for DNA testing and nothing. Not a single match," he explained.

"Lainey, i need you to be careful around this guy . If he wakes up, call me immediately. He could be far more dangerous than we thought."

"Thanks for the help, I'll be fine."

"Another thing, Lainey , i'll be in town on Thursday. Would you join me for lunch then ?"

"Hang on, I'm getting another call. I'll call you back in a second."

I wasn't lying about getting another call. Although I'm relieved about the call from the doctor, the last thing I wanted was another uncomfortable meal with the one and only Marcell Vascez and another confrontation with Lou Vascez.

We didn't do anything wrong. We grabbed a coffee when he was assigned on a case in Haven city. We talked for about an hour and then said goodbye. He gave me a hug like he usually does. Unfortunately, one of Lou's friends saw us and took a picture as we released one another from the hug. She captured the image at the wrong time and most definitely from the wrong angle. The picture made it look like we kissed. Lou got the picture from her friend, and well, as any normal person would, she freaked out, and she was convinced that Marcell and I had been having an affair. After she confronted me, i made sure to get the footage from the coffee shop, which showed that nothing had happened. She apologized after, but she's been distant and short ever since.

The doctor called to inform me that the stranger from the barn had woken up, but he was confused, and he kept saying that the nurses were trying to kill him. When the doctor asked him why he might think they were trying to kill him, he said he didn't know.

Not only is this man non-existent to the world, he might not even know who he is.