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"Do you still have that headache?"

"No, it’s gone"

"My name is Dr Jenkins"

The man shook Ethan’s hand and then took a seat in a chair at Ethan’s bedside

"You’re what kind of doctor?" Ethan asked

"A psychiatrist Ethan, I need you to answer a few questions for s to Dr Miter and his nurse when they first brought you in Do you knohat I’ about a dead body in one of the houses here in town And that you hadn’t been able to get in touch with your family"

"I don’t recall speaking with the nurse or doctor"

"You were delirious at the time Do you have a history of mental illness, Ethan?"

Ethan had been fully reclined in bed

Now he struggled to sit up

Threads of brightness slipped through the drawn blinds

Day out there

On solad for the fact

"What kind of question is that?" Ethan asked

"The kind I get paid to ask You showed up here last night with no wallet, no ID--"

"I was pulled out of a car accident several days ago, and either the sheriff or the EMTs didn’t do their fking job, and now I’m stranded here without a phone, money, or ID I didn’t loseyou’ve done anything wrong Again, I need you to answer my questions Do you have a history of mental illness?"

"No"

"Is there a history of mental illness in your family?"

"No"

"Do you have a history of post-traumatic stress disorder?"

"No"

"But you did serve in the second Gulf War"

"How’d you know that?"

Jenkins lanced down at his chest, saw his dog tag hanging froe He always kept it in his bedside table drawer Couldn’t reht it along on this trip, and certainly didn’t re the decision to wear it

He scanned over his naious preference ("NO RELIGIOUS PREF") engraved in the stainless steel

Chief Warrant Officer Ethan Burke

"Ethan?"

"What?"

"You served in the second Gulf War?"

"Yeah, I flew the UH-60"

"What’s that?"

"The Black Hawk helicopter"

"You saw combat, I assume?"

"I did"

"Extensive?"

"You could say that"

"Were you injured?"

"I don’t understand what this has to do with any--"

"Just answer my questions, please"

"I was shot down in the second battle of Fallujah in the winter of 2004 It was a medevac mission, and we’d just loaded up some wounded marines"