Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Dante's Requiem ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

It was nearly noon when a doctor came out. Gabriel rose as she came over to him.

“Hi, I'm Dr. Kadish,” the doctor said, shaking his hand.

“I'm Gabriel. I work with Dante. We also share an apartment,” Gabriel responded. “How is he?”

“He's stable.” Dr. Kadish's face was grim. “However, it's a serious case of bronchitis. He's on antibiotics now. His bronchioles were severely inflamed by the time he arrived here and his air passages were starting to close. He's very lucky to be alive right now. We had to put him on a ventilator because he stopped breathing on his own.” Gabriel flinched. “It'll take him a while to get well, but he should be all right in a week or two.”

“May I see him?” Gabriel questioned.

Dr. Kadish nodded. “Of course. Come with me.”

She led him to a private room and opened the door. Gabriel stepped forward and then stopped. Dante had been taken out of his Police Force uniform and put into a hospital gown. A plastic bracelet had been placed around his thin, pale wrist with all his personal information on it. An IV was in his arm. He was so deathly pale and his fiery red hair was a tangled mess. A tube ran down his throat and a heart monitor beeped softly.

“How long will he have to stay here?” Gabriel asked, swallowing the rising bile in his throat.

“A couple weeks, depending on how effective the medication is. He will also have to stay on bed rest after he's released from the hospital.”

“All right.” Gabriel nodded.

He walked over to the bed and gently touched Dante's pale arm. His skin was clammy. Gabriel could not bear to look at his partner. He sighed softly and sat in the chair next to the bed.

“You're a damned idiot, Dante,” he said softly. “You scared the hell out of me. I thought for sure I was going to lose you.”

He remained by Dante's side until it was time for him to get ready for work. He stopped by the apartment and changed into his uniform. It was a lonely walk to the Police Force headquarters—he had become accustomed to Dante's chatter as they walked. He checked in with the secretary on duty, Ann.

“Hi Gabriel.” Ann smiled when he approached. “Where's Dante? He's usually with you, isn't he?”

“He's not coming in today,” Gabriel said.

“Why?” Ann asked. “Is he sick?”

“Yes.” Gabriel nodded.

“Why aren't you with him, then?” Ann asked.

“I can't do anything to help right now,” Gabriel replied. “He's been admitted to the hospital.”

Ann looked surprised. “What's wrong with him?”

“He has a severe case of bronchitis. He's going to be out for a while.”

“That's too bad. I hope he feels better soon. I'll let the superiors know that he's not coming in,” Ann said. “By the way, Shepherd wants to see you in his office right away. He says it's urgent.”

“All right. Thanks Ann.”

Ann nodded. “Here are the new cases that have come in.” She handed him a thick pile of folders.

“All right.” Gabriel couldn't help groaning softly.

He headed to the elevators and, carefully balancing the stack of folders in his arms, pushed the Up button. Several seconds later, the elevator arrived. Gabriel entered and pushed the button for the second floor.

He stumbled into his office and put the stacks of folders on his desk right before they fell over and spread out everywhere. Gabriel swore under his breath and made a mental note to clean the mess up later. He made sure he was presentable before heading down the hall to Shepherd's office. He gently knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Shepherd's voice called from within.

“It's me, sir,” Gabriel responded. “I've come as you requested.”

“Ah yes. Come in, Gabriel.” Shepherd said, his voice turning amiable.

Gabriel opened the door and entered Shepherd's office.

“Have a seat, Gabriel. This will only take a minute,” Shepherd said.

Gabriel nodded and grabbed one of the hard backed chairs from the corner and dragged it to Shepherd's desk.

“What do you want, sir?” Gabriel asked, sitting in the uncomfortable chair.

“I have a special assignment for you. Hold on a second; let me get you the file.” Shepherd shifted though the piles of papers on his desk and extracted a manila folder. He slid the file across the desk to Gabriel. “Ingleson has chosen you for a very special assignment. It contains highly sensitive material so you are not permitted to tell anyone the details of the assignment, am I clear?”

“Yes sir.” Gabriel nodded.

He opened the file and read the first page:

File 11084629 Winters, Dante

Full given name: Dante Rusty Winters

Date of birth: February 28, 1974AA

Place of birth: Mercy Hospital West

Blood type: O negative

Hair color: red

Eye color: blue

Height: 5ft, 6 in

Weight: 198 lbs

Father's name: Keagen Wellers

Mother's name: Raelynne Winters

 

Gabriel looked up. “Sir…?”

“Yes, Gabriel?” Shepherd asked impatiently.

“This is a file on Dante Winters.”

“Yes, I am aware of that,” Shepherd snapped. “I was the one who prepared that file, after all.”

“But why?” Gabriel asked.

Shepherd suddenly rose from his desk and crossed the room. He stuck his head out the open door into the hallway and then closed the door.

“Sir…?” Gabriel asked as his superior resumed his seat.

“I wanted to make sure that we were not being overheard. What I am about to discuss with you is classified above even the highest classified information here at the Police Force,” Shepherd explained. Gabriel stared at him wordlessly. “There is a man at The Institute named Arlen Walker, a Bearer. He is an old friend of Dante's—one of the few who survived. They grew up together. We have been granted permission to interview Arlen, which has taken a long time to obtain. John, the current director of The Institute is very protective of his Bearers.”

“So I am to be the one to interview him?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes.” Shepherd nodded. “We have been gathering information about Dante's past so we have a record. We have been interviewing those closest to him to get a sense of his origins and background. This, of course, presents many problems, because most of Dante's friends are deceased and Dante is unwilling to talk about them.

“There are two of Dante's friends who are still alive—Alex Christenson and Arlen Walker. Alex has already been interview and has given us great insight into Dante's past. However, there are still a number of years that cannot be accounted for. Alex hinted that Arlen might know about those years so we are sending you to interview Arlen.”

“Why me, sir?” Gabriel asked curiously.

“You are very close to Dante,” Shepherd answered. “You share a close bond with him, something we believe he shared with Arlen as well. You will be the one most likely to persuade Arlen to talk about Dante.”

“I see…” Gabriel murmured.

“Gabriel, please.” Shepherd's tone was surprisingly gentle. “It's very important to get this information from Arlen.”

“I understand.” Gabriel nodded. He closed the file and rose to leave.

“Remember, share this information with no one, least of all Dante, am I clear?” Shepherd said as he reached the door.

Gabriel didn't even turn around. “Yes sir.”

 

Author's Notes

Ugh, another short chapter. Oh well. I knew this chapter was going to be short. I did manage to split the second one in half so it's not nearly as long, which is nice. They're still going to be long, but not nearly as long as I thought they'd be. I guess that's all I have to say about this chapter. The next one is going to be interesting. A lot of important things are going to be revealed and it's a LOT different than the first time around. I actually went into detail about what Gabriel talked to Arlen about at The Institute. And major twists weren't revealed until near the end, but this time, they're revealed a whole lot earlier. I won't say anything else—don't want to spoil the surprise. :P Reviews are loved.