On a Beam of Light Read Free Page B

come in a UFO. “
    “Ah. ” I waited, which seemed to make her nervous again.
    “Dr. Brewer?”
    I was pretty sure I knew what was coming. “Yes, Giselle?”
    “I’d like to come back to the hospital for a while. I want to find out what he really knows. “
    “About UFO’s?”
    “About everything. I want to write a book about it. “
    “Giselle, you know a psychiatric hospital isn’t grist for the public mill. The only reason I let you work here the last time is that you performed a valuable service for us. “
    “But I would be performing another valuable service this time, one that might benefit everyone. ” She curled up in the black vinyl chair across from my desk. “You’re probably going to write another book about him as a patient, right? Mine will be different. I want to find out everything he knows, catalog it, check it all out, and see what the world can learn from his knowledge. Which you’ll have to admit is pretty remarkable, whether you believe he comes from K-PAX or not. ” She bowed her head for a moment, then looked up at me with those pleading doe eyes. “I won’t be in the way, I promise. “
    I wasn’t convinced of that. But I wasn’t so sure her proposal was such a bad idea, either. I knew she could be of considerable help in my dealings with prot (and later, perhaps, with Robert). “I’ll tell you what. You can do it under two conditions. “
    She abruptly uncoiled and sat facing me like a puppy waiting for a treat.
    “First, you can only interview him for an hour a day. Despite your feelings about prot, he’s not here to help you write a book. “
    She nodded.
    “And second, you’ll have to have his consent. If he isn’t interested in cooperating with you, that’s the end of it. “
    “I agree. But if he doesn’t like the idea, I can still visit him, can’t I?”
    “During regular visiting hours and under the usual conditions. “
    She knew, of course, that our rules were liberal, and she could talk with him most evenings and on weekends (inasmuch as reporters and curiosity seekers were screened out, it was unlikely that he would have many other visitors). “Done!” She jumped up and extended a tiny hand, which I took. “Now can I see him?”
    “One more thing, ” I added as we headed (Giselle skipped) for Ward Two. “See if you can find out when he’s leaving. “
    Her face fell. “He’s leaving?”
    “Don’t worry—it won’t be for a while. And when he does, he’s going to take a few people back with him. “
    “He is? Who?”
    “That’s what I’d like you to find out. “
    When we got to Two, we found prot in the lounge surrounded by several of the other patients, all of whom seemed to be talking at once. The ward’s half-dozen cats were competing for space to rub against his legs. Rudolph, the self-proclaimed “greatest dancer in the universe, ” was pirouetting around the room. Russell was running back and forth crying, “Praise the Lord! The Teacher is at hand!”
    Milton, our peripatetic jokester, shouted, “Chairs for the standing army!” Others were mumbling incomprehensibly, and I made a mental note to ask prot later whether he could understand any of their parlance. There were presents, too: peanut butter and fruit (known from his previous visit to be favorites of his), and the gossamer thread, an invisible talisman left on the lawn one drizzly day five years earlier by “the bluebird of happiness. “
    When he saw Giselle he broke away from the group and approached her with arms outstretched. He hugged her warmly and then stepped back and gazed silently into her eyes. Prot obviously remembered her, and fondly.
    Having other duties to perform, I left them alone and hurried to meet with my first patient of the day.
    When I got to my examining room I found that Messrs. Rodrigo and Kowalski were waiting outside with Michael, a twenty-two-year-old male Caucasian who had tried to kill himself on at least three occasions before coming to MPI.