Dr. Sutherland furrowed his brow and leaned in closer to her.

Dr. Sutherland: "Shoot."
Mary: "Well, while I was here - in the hospital - I was out of it for awhile. And I was having this dream. There was a woman in it - long, dark hair, dark eyes, very… haunty-looking. And she was in a coma. Once I was home, I described her to my friend, and he said that she sounded exactly like another patient in the hospital with me."

Dr. Sutherland: "And…?"
Mary: "That's it, really. I just wondered if there's some sort of explanation for it. I can't get it out of my head, so I was hoping to be able to visit the patient, and see if she really was from my dream. I can't explain it - I just need to know."

Mary did her best to give Dr. Sutherland a look of intense passion with just a bit of desperation. Too much and he'd think she was just crazy, not enough and he may not be compelled to help her.

Dr. Sutherland pushed around the mashed potatoes on his plate and was silent for a long time. Finally, he looked up and met Mary's eye.

Dr. Sutherland: "You don't want to do that."

Mary was startled - his reaction hadn't even made it to her mental list of possibilities.

Mary: "What? Why not?"

Dr. Sutherland shook his head, and then smiled.

Dr Sutherland: "I'm sorry. It's been a long night. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for your-"

Mary cut him off by putting her hand over his. She was about to lose him - he was quickly back treading from his moment of openness.

Mary: "Dr. Suth- Anthony. Listen, I'm not some new age nutcase. But I have a feeling about this, and I think you do to. I don't know if they're the same feelings, but please - tell me what's going on."

Dr. Sutherland silently held Mary's gaze for a moment, then covered her hand with his, so that he was now holding her hand instead of the other way around. Mary squirmed but didn't break eye contact.

Anthony: "I'm a doctor - a scientist. I'm not a new-age nutcase, either. But I'm also not the creepy guy in the horror movie leaving cryptic clues that ultimately get the heroine killed."

Mary smiled in spite of herself. She thanked whatever god was out there for being given this chance meeting with Dr. Sutherland, who seemed to be on the same page as her, though she bet he had a lot less light to read by. He took a deep breath and continued.

Anthony: "I don't know what to make of it. It's probably just one of those freak coincidences, and it certainly makes for great stories around Halloween. We do have a patient, she is in a coma, and she was in the room next to yours. I can't get into details, of course. She's been here for four years, and in that time, every friend or family member who has come to visit her has also gone into a coma and died within the day, including one nurse."
Mary: "Every single one?"

Anthony: "Yes. It started after she'd been here about two or two and a half years. Her coma was due to trauma, not anything infectious. Four deaths in two years, with absolutely no medical explanation. We tried quarantine for a while, just in case, but by then she had no one left to visit her anyway. She's a ward of the state now, and since she's breathing on her own there's no life support to remove. With no living will, she will most likely stay in this hospital until she dies naturally."

Mary's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall behind Dr. Sutherland.

Mary: "I see. Well, look, I gotta go. It's been great talking to you - call me or something."

Dr. Sutherland was startled as Mary stood up abruptly and left the cafeteria. He looked at her untouched plate and poked at the chicken.

Anthony: "Mental note: Hospital food and campfire stories do not a good date make."