Just what is para-normal?

“I’ve got to get you to the doctor.”  Amy was shaking her head as she read the thermometer.  “A hundred and three, damnit, come on John, can you get up?”

I was drained, sweating and shaking from the chills and weak from two days without food.  My wife managed to stuff me into the front seat of our car.  An hour later I was passing in and out of consciousness in our doctor’s examination room.  Our doctor, a very charming and attractive young lady whom I’ll call Jane was holding my hand as her nurse inserted the IV into my right arm yet in my delirium I saw her alone, sitting in her office, reading a newspaper.  She was crying and wiping a tear off her cheek with her fingers.

“You’ll be OK Jane, it’ll all be OK.”  I squeezed her hand as I tried to comfort her.  Amy later told me that they were slightly confused and Jane was a little uncomfortable yet they agreed it was the fever that was making me babble.

Two months later I was back in Jane’s office for a physical.  I had my shirt off and she was carefully listening to my heart and lungs.  Her eyes darted back and forth as she took my pulse then rubbed her hands together quickly to warm them up before placing them under my chin.

“Jane, um, I need to ask you something.”

“Sure John, what is it?”

I reminded her of my previous visit then recounted my hallucination.  She gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes fully dialated.

“I’m getting a divorce.”  She quickly announced. ”My husband, he, uh, well that day I was looking for an apartment.”  The tears welled in her eyes and I offered her a hug.  She released me then clumsily apologized as she wiped her tears off my shoulder, wiped her eyes then blew her nose.  As she washed her hands she mentioned that her grandmother could read her like a book.  “She believed that sometimes people broadcast their emotions, just like a radio station and sometimes other people receive those broadcasts, just like a radio. I guess I sent out a pretty strong signal that day.”

“I guess so Jane.”

We chatted a bit more as I got dressed.  She’s a strong woman and would recover in due time but did I ever knock her for a loop.  That wasn’t the first time I had experienced something like that but it was certainly one of the strongest visions I’ve intercepted.  She dried her hands then folded her arms and offered a coy smile.  “How often do you get these visions, John?  Perhaps you see a man in my future?”  I jumped off the table and realized that her diploma was hanging on the wall, just over her left shoulder and of course it was made out to Jane Williams, her maiden name.  I grinned then rubbed my temples.

“Wait a minute, I’m getting a vision now, your maiden name, it’s coming to me…”

Her eyes widened, her heart rate picked up. She waited.

“It’s…”

She gripped her stethoscope as it hung across her neck and tugged on both ends, stretching out its rubbery tubes towards their breaking point

“It’s… Williams!”

She let out a scream that her nurses heard down the hall.  She was practically hyperventilating.  I broke into laughter then pointed out that it was on her diploma, right there on the wall.  She turned and glanced at the diploma then glared as she swung her stethoscope at me.   As I dodged the blunt end of the scope I pleaded, “Hey what about that Hippocratic oath, Jane?”  We both laughed as her nurse opened the door.

“Is everyone OK in here?”  Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

“Yes we’re fine, you can leave the door open, this guy was just leaving.”

As the nurse nodded and slowly backed out of the room I smiled at Jane and winked,  “I knew that was going to happen.”