I faked a concerned neighbor, calling in to tell the police she saw the lovely young man on the corner drive into his garage; that he forgot to switch off his car before closing the garage door. That he had seemed upset about something and she was worried about him.
The risk that Denny could potentially get hurt while the EMT’s took their time to get there, or if the cops took too long to show up was real. Real enough that I was concerned, I timed them and though this was a fairly well-revitalized neighborhood, it still took much longer for them to show up than I liked.
The police arrived first and opened up the garage door to a cloud of fumes, they rushed in and broke the car window to switch off the car. The bigger of the two police officers dragged Denny out onto the driveway and started CPR. The other one ran outside and called it in and within a couple of minutes the EMT’s arrived.
They gave Denny a good once over but to my relief found no signs of a heartbeat and, in turn, called it into the coroner’s office. The police sighed and started the next step of the call out. He was setting up the tape and looking for evidence. Of course, no proof of wrongdoing was to be found, and none of Denny’s neighbors came out to see what was happening.
Close to the business sector, it was a busy neighborhood and a place where people appeared to mind their own business or were off to work during the day.
Eventually, the examiner showed up, took a look at Denny, felt for a pulse just in case the EMT’s sucked so much that they couldn’t find a heartbeat. But within seconds, he had decided that they could, after all, do their job and indicated to his assistant that he could load Denny into the back.
And just like that Dennis Edward Taylor ceased to be a problem for the Man. I entered my daily task app and clicked the Complete button. The screen returned to idle, and I started up the car I had borrowed from one of Denny’s neighbors and followed the ME’s van at a discreet distance.
Finally, they arrived, and I parked across the road, it was late afternoon, and I hated not knowing what was happening to Denny right then. Nothing I could do about it though until much later.
I settled in for the long haul; I didn’t feel comfortable leaving. I doubted that they would move his body elsewhere, there was no reason to. But if that happened I wanted to be there and able to follow.
As the afternoon wore into the evening nothing changed. People came and went as they were wont to do, but Denny stayed where he was. My fervent hope was that the ME’s office had a backlog, and they would stick him in a drawer and forget about him.
It was a good theory as the ME’s vans came and went quite frequently while I sat there waiting. Eventually, though it did become quieter, more people left than entered and eventually it was just skeleton staff remaining.
I decided nine pm was a good a time as any to sneak in and see about the rescue. I entered the building via the garage; it was quiet, and the last person forgot to close the door. A pedestrian gate set into the large one that hung open a bit. It was entirely possible that they never closed it.
I knew there would be cameras, but I had pulled on a hooded shirt, and it was pulled low enough that no one could tell who I was. I adjusted the way I walked and made myself even smaller than I already was.
Only partially lit I kept to the supporting beams, picking the ones with the fewest lights. It took much longer to get into the building that way, but it didn’t matter.
Getting caught would be a waste of time, I needed to get to Denny and didn't want to deal with distractions on the way.
It was quiet in the central part of the building, and I made my way quickly to the clipboards that hung outside of an examination room. The board held the names and drawer numbers of the occupants.
I found Denny’s name on the third board I checked; stored in drawer 116 in room 3. It was luckily relatively close to where I came in and would make it easier for us to leave as well. I grabbed the board and went into room 3.
Finding his drawer was easily accomplished and when it slid out, I found I was holding my breath. I was apprehensive about what I would discover when I pulled the sheet from his torso.
To my relief, his chest was bare of the telltale incisions and stitches of a completed autopsy. The examiners had been so busy today that they hadn’t bothered to get around to what appeared to be an apparent suicide. I was glad that Denny chose this as his method of death.
I removed the remaining capsule from the little bag of drugs I purchased a lifetime ago. I knew that the capsule had to be emptied into the mouth of the 'deceased' person to take effect. I opened Denny's mouth and made sure his tongue was out of the way.
If it could run freely down his throat, it would be better. I twisted the capsule apart, and the smell of ammonia made me gag. It was a clear liquid that dropped into his mouth and what little I could see of it appeared to go into his throat quickly.
I might not have known what was in it, but the effects were quick. Within seconds, Denny sharply inhaled and started coughing. I quickly silenced him, not sure where the remaining staff were. He clamped a strong hand tightly over mine, making the tiny bones crackle. His eyes popped open, and slowly the pressure lessened as he recognised me.
He pulled my hand away and struggled to sit up. I stood back and gave him some space. Legs swung over the side of the drawer gurney, and he wobbly slid down onto the floor.
He winced, “The floor is freezing, this room is fucking frozen Eliza.”
I laughed relief flooding through me. He appeared to be himself and ok to boot. I had believed he would be, Ethan’s drugs always worked, but it was good to see it in action for myself.
“Sorry Denny, I don’t think they bother keeping it warm for the occupants. But we’ll get you something warm to wear and get out of here.”
“My clothes would be nice, but I guess that’s not going to happen right?”
“Sure, why not? I have to remove you from their list so you may as well try and find them if you want.”
He nodded and wobbled off to look for his stuff. I went to the table where I put the clipboard. Luckily the ME’s office was organized but old. Paper held sway still, and a form was filled in and kept. There had been no autopsy, and a file wasn’t open yet for Denny. All I had to do was remove his name from the roster of occupants of the day.
I grabbed another form and did my best to imitate the scrawl of the various people on the original. Not bad, and not great but not terrible enough that anyone would pay attention to it.
Denny was gone, and the ME or assistant might wonder about his body in the morning. But looking at the number of occupants listed on just this room’s form I doubted they would even notice. Or remember a suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Forgery done, I looked up and found Denny across the room struggling into his shirt. He appeared a bit shaky still, and I wanted to get him out of here and to my home as quickly as I could. Finally done we walked to the door where I snuck out first and put the paper back on the clipboard. He followed me, and we snuck out the way I came in.
We got into our borrowed car, and I drove us away from a successful resurrection. It was quiet, dark out, and we drove past quiet office buildings. I didn’t want to disturb Denny’s thoughts; it was a hell of a thing to contemplate and understand.
His world was very different to what it had started as this morning. I had managed to fulfil my task and would need to leave for my daily dose soon. We entered the warehouse district and for even quieter roads, only a few of these were still occupied and of use. I pulled into a nondescript warehouse, one that looked like all the rest.
“Welcome to you new home Denny,” I said as I pulled to a stop at my front door.