Strange Place to Live:
Coming Home
by Cynamin

"Say stranger how did we meet
Who will hear us when we start to speak
Our shadows are still out on the street
Our skin still as white as a sheet
Our time is short and fleet"
~Tip Toe
Kila

Sunnydale Hospital
Saturday morning

Dr. Baker emerged from the patient's room. He wiped his eyes in fatigue, looking forward to getting a couple of hours sleep. Glad as he was that the young man was okay, he hated not knowing anything about those he treated. Not only did it make things more difficult medically, it also felt very impersonal. He liked telling people that everything was okay. Unknown patients lying silently in empty hospital rooms were a very lonely sight.

"Excuse me!" A voice down the hall caught Dr. Baker's attention. It was a young man, hurrying towards him. He wore a dress shirt and pants and a relatively large cross. He looked like he too had had a long night.

"Can I help you?"

"I hope so," the man replied. "I'm looking for Dr. Baker?"

The doctor nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm Joshua Riley," the man introduced himself. "I was looking for information about a patient who came in by ambulance last evening. I was told you could tell me what happened to him."

"The patient's name?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know his name," Mr. Riley explained. "Young man, rather tall, dark hair, was brought in about nine o'clock last night."

Dr. Baker was at a quandary. On the one hand, this was his mystery patient, and it made him feel better to know someone was asking about him. On the other, he had no idea really who was asking, or why. "Well then, Mr. Riley, I'm sorry, but I can not give out that information."

The man fidgeted in frustration. "Doctor," he said, "I'm the man who found him, who called the ambulance. I just want to know if he's okay."

This caused the doctor to smile slightly, at least inside. "He's unconscious, but alive," Dr. Baker said. "He has you to thank or that, at least in part. Without your quick action he would not have made it."

"Thank you," the man said, smiling now slightly. "I was worried." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "Can you tell me anything else?"

"I'm sorry. You must understand that I can not give out anymore information to someone who's not family."

Joshua Riley sighed. "Doctor," he said, "I am a priest. I only wish to help where I can. Any information you give will not go beyond me." When the doctor continued to hesitate, Riley continued. "If there is nothing I can do, I will go on my way. But I'd like to speak to any family if I could. If you've managed to contact them." Looking into the doctor's eye, he made a statement that was only half question. "You haven't found any family."

Doctor Baker sighed, giving in to the priest's persistence. "No, we haven't," he said. After all, in saying that, what did he have to loose? The priest nodded very slightly as if he knew all along that would be the answer. "Is there anything I could do to help?"

Though he sounded quite sincere, Dr. Baker was still hesitant to say anything more. It had been a long night, however, and perhaps with Father Riley's help he could finish soon. Then maybe he could get some sleep before his next shift. "Come with me," he said finally. "Let me show you something, and then you tell me if you can help."

Part Three

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