So, like many of my ideas, this one came to me in a dream. The tagline for the book is The Curse of Convenience. It is so much worse than you think, but if you knew the truth, you'll be joining their side.
I think the idea here is that there's a curse working through society, forcing people to fall on this one side. It's a bit like the Dirk Gently books, but with the curse being more pervasive, and anyone that finds out the truth comes under its effects, forcing them to follow along with whatever is happening. Over the course of the book, more of the case that started the original scene would be revealed, but the exact events would remain hazy. The curse itself is a bit nebulous, and would never be fully explained, with the in character excuse being that it would save the reader from having to join the cause.
The plot is a bit difficult to explain, but I think the scene from the dream paints an interesting picture. This would probably be where the book starts, without any other explanations as to what is happening before this:
"Where is it?" I demanded.
In my fury, my desperation, I slammed the woman into the car door behind her. I was a bit more forceful than I should have been, hitting her head against the cold, hard metal. When the woman slumped in my grip, I backed away from her in shock. Her body slid from my hands, falling to the hard asphalt beneath her.
"Oh, crap," I said, as I stared down at the woman in shock.
After a moment where my heart raced ahead of me, all the possible results from my actions flooding through my head, I ducked down beside her, putting my fingers to her throat to feel her pulse as I leaned over to check her breathing. But were there, but feint. Whatever I had done, I feared that I had killed the woman.
The woman who was the only person that knew what we needed to know.
Panicked, I searched around the otherwise dark street But there was no one there. No one that could help. No one that saw what I had done. Except, I wasn't looking to get away with it. I was looking for help, finding none.
As the desperation kicked in, I pulled open the back door of the car. It took some work to get the woman into the back seat on my own, as it was awkward trying to get her up from where she had fallen. Once she was in, I slid the door closed, trying to make sure not to hurt her in the process. As I made my way around to the drivers side, I once again looked around the street, desperate to find help. Someone that could look at the woman's wounds as I drove her to the hospital. That was when I spotted my partner, Becky, in the distance. She was just coming out of the woman's apartment building, looking around for me. For us. I waved my hands at her desperately, trying to draw her attention. She was exactly the person that I needed with me.
Besides, while she wasn't a doctor, she at least went to medical school.
"I still don't understand why you're helping them," Dr. Devroe said. "They're criminals. We should be calling the police, not letting them into the back of the hospital like this."
"Believe me, you don't want to know," Dr. Samuels said, as he paced the hallway. His eyes kept going to the doors of the hospital, looking out through them as he waited for us to arrive. He didn't have to wait long, as we were already wheeling in the woman.
Laughter filled the hallway as we came inside. The woman was sitting up in her wheelchair, though she no longer needed it. She smiled up at the two doctors, waving as Becky pushed the chair forward. Dr. Samuels quickly rushed forward, taking the wheelchair from Becky before wheeling her towards the door to the examination room.
"I trust everything worked out alright?" Dr. Samuels said, relief already flooding his voice.
"Oh, yeah," I said, nodding. "We got everything from her that we needed. I would just feel more comfortable if you made sure she was alright. I'd hate to think that I caused her any permanent damage."
"Oh, yes, that would be great," the woman said. "Not that it wouldn't have been worth it for your needs. Away we go, Doc."
Dr. Devroe stood there in shock as he watched the woman heading into the other room, slowly shaking his head in incredulity. Dr. Devroe was a constant critic of our work, often there whenever we were forced to bring a patient in to see Dr. Samuels. Samuels was an old mentor of Becky's, from back when she was in med school. Both had found out the truth at the same time. But while Becky had joined the cause, Samuels was more useful where he was at the hospital.
As Dr. Samuels disappeared into the other room, Becky couldn't stop laughing. "I'm just glad it all worked out," she said.
"From what I had heard, it almost didn't. I should report you both for this. All three of you should be up on charges. If I had any idea what was going on--"
"Oh, Mark," Becky said, shaking her head. "It's so much worse than you think. But if you know the truth, you'll be joining our side."
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