"How can he possibly cure the patient?" Dr. Adams asked, gesturing at Alex.
"Well, you don't seem able to do it," Alex said. He turned to Clark and said, "Mr. Fairfax, I can cure your daughter, and she will wake up."
"Alex, that's great!" Debbie exclaimed, grinning at him. She had always believed in Alex.
Everyone else turned to stare at him.
"What? Do you mean that?" Clark asked, so excited that he grabbed Alex's hand. "Can you really wake her up?"
The others in the room looked expectantly at Alex, hoping for a miracle.
"Of course he can't!" Dr. Adams insisted. "I've already told you that nothing can be done for your daughter. There is simply no way to help her regain consciousness." He glared at Alex. "You're just a quack, and there's no way you're more powerful than I am. Do you really think you know more than the entire medical community?"
He turned back to Clark. "If someone with no medical training claimed to be able to cure cancer, would you believe him?" he asked. "No, of course not. It would be ridiculous."
Everyone's excitement faded away.
"I stand by everything I said," Alex said firmly. "And I take full responsibility for treating Sarah."
"Responsibility?" Dr. Adams echoed. "For what? If Sarah recovers, it will be no thanks to you. What exactly do you think you can do here? Some kind of alternative medicine nonsense? You're not even a real doctor, so I assume you're just planning to fake it."
Alex simply ignored him. He turned to Clark and said, "Mr. Fairfax, have you and Sarah recently been anywhere with dark energy?"
Clark frowned. "Such as?" he asked, not understanding what Alex meant.
"Somewhere like a mausoleum or graveyard?" Alex suggested.
From studying martial arts, Alex had developed a profound understanding of many things, including some of the more mystical skills. These came naturally to him, and he hadn't needed to expend much effort in learning them. Every time he learned something new, it led him to other knowledge, and he absorbed it all easily.
Alex had become a master at healing people, simply through his martial arts training, and he recognized the signs of someone who was suffering from exposure to dark energy. He was positive that was what was wrong with Sarah, but he didn't know where she could have encountered it.
"Let's see… Where have we been lately?" Clark muttered, walking up and down the room.
"Where did you go in the days before Sarah started to complain about feeling ill?" Alex prompted him.
"Oh!" Clark said. "Sarah and I were walking in the countryside, and we passed a cemetery. We took a shortcut through it. Is that what you meant?"
"Exactly," Alex said. "Did the cemetery seem different in some way? Was there anything unusual about it? Which cemetery was it?" He began to come up with theories about what might have happened.
Dr. Adams rolled his eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?" he demanded. "This is absurd!" He tried to appeal to everyone else in the room. "What do cemeteries have to do with medicine? You're all intelligent people, so why are you wasting time on this nonsense?"
No one answered him, and he began to shout at them. "He's a charlatan! Can't you see that? Why are you listening to him?" He turned to Clark. "Mr. Fairfax, you should have him removed from the room. He's not qualified to be here."
He pointed at Alex. "Get out!" he yelled. "You're a disgrace. I don't even know how you got in here!" He lifted his hand, intending to grab Alex and shove him from the room.
Alex shrugged him off. "You're very excitable," he said, looking closely at him. "It's almost as if you don't want Sarah to recover."
Clark's eyes narrowed as he looked at Dr. Adams.
"What?" Dr. Adams spluttered. Then he forced himself to calm down. He pointed at Alex and said, "That's ludicrous. I'm a doctor, so of course I want to cure Sarah. I just don't want a conman like you interfering with her treatment, that's all. There's no way you can help her."
"Sarah is critically ill," Alex pointed out. "So, shouldn't we try other methods to save her? This isn't about your ego."
"Don't be ridiculous," Dr. Adams said. "I'm a responsible doctor. I know what's best for my patient, and it's not letting some untrained idiot loose on her!" He stalked past Alex and stood next to Clark. "Let me be clear. If you let this fraud treat your daughter, I will not be held responsible for what happens. I refuse to have my reputation tarnished by this conman."
Alex narrowed his eyes as he looked Dr. Adams up and down. He thought the doctor was behaving oddly, and the longer he spent time around the man, the more clues started leaping out at him, painting a grim picture.
"Are you one of the Ghosts?" Alex asked. He was referring to the secretive organization who engaged in espionage and assassination. They were well trained in a variety of subjects, including medicine, and there were many doctors among them. Something about the doctor had been annoying him, and he was growing increasingly suspicious.
Clark and Debbie looked at Dr. Adams.
"Have you lost your mind?" Dr. Adams asked, throwing up his hands. "You're not making any sense."
"That wasn't a denial," Alex pointed out, still watching him. "And you seem nervous. Why?" He shook his head. "Never mind. You don't have to answer. I can smell it on you."
"Smell what?" Dr. Adams asked. "What are you on about now? This is absurd!"
Alex was certain he was right. When Dr. Adams had walked past him a moment ago, Alex had caught the faint scent of cherry blossom, and it had reminded him of Tabitha, who had carried the same scent.
Dr. Adams was rattled. Although he was careful to control his speech, his eyes were wild, and he was clearly on the verge of panic.
The scent of cherry blossoms became stronger as he grew more agitated.
Alex recalled seeing a cherry blossom tattoo on Tabitha's arm when they had fought, and he believed the Ghosts used this symbol to recognize each other.
The scent of cherry blossoms was another such symbol, engineered to be detectable only by those who had been trained as Ghosts. Alex could smell it because his martial arts training was so advanced, and his sense of smell had grown more acute lately.
"Are you really going to deny it?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow. He was certain he was right about the doctor.