FEAR OF SHADOWS…

“You from Grady?” 
I contemplated a smart-ass reference to my hospital scrubs but restrained myself. Something in the APD Lieutenant’s demeanor told me he would not appreciate my wit.
He squinted in the flashing red lights and looked me up and down. “I guess you’ll do. Apartment 3A. On the third floor.”

In the hall outside Apartment 3A, two EMTs sat slumped against the wall on either side of the doorway. Heads poked in and out of apartment doorways like Whack-A-Moles up and down the hallway.

“Sorry to call you out on this one, doc.” The EMT to the left jerked a thumb at the open doorway. “Guy says his shadow is pissed at him and wants to slit his throat.” He used the same hand to circle a finger in the universal symbol for wacko.

“We saw the knife,” said EMT #2. “A fisherman’s filet knife. Looked bloody.” He shrugged. “Maybe you can talk sense into him before Atlanta PD gets impatient and ends the standoff.”....