In Walked Chapackdeewas

"The universe endures."--Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution

"In the early morning--from two o'clock to five--when the vital energies even of the healthiest of us are at their lowest... [it] is then that Death gathers in his human harvest most abundantly."--Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone

As the World Turns/Central District/Wed May 21/4:48 am: When Officer A. Chapackdeewas arrived at the apartment to assist Seattle Fire Department's Engine #13 and Medic #10, he observed the fire department personnel administering CPR to a female who was lying motionless on the floor of the bedroom. Presently, it was the darkest part of the night--the final minutes before the first part of dawn would show through all of the open windows of the one-bedroom apartment.

Officer Chapackdeewas contacted the man who called 911; he was in the living room, sitting on a couch. The man informed the officer that the woman on the floor was his fiancée and that they had been together for about four years. He also stated that the woman was released from a recovery center the day before, after admitting herself six days ago for addiction to prescribed pain medication. He had picked her up from the recovery center that morning and driven her home. She appeared to be healthy and happy, and, after some consideration, determined that she was fit enough to go to work.

She drove to work on her own. After work, she called her fiancé and informed him that she had decided to attend a meeting at the recovery center. After the meeting, she gave one of her classmates (a homeless girl) a ride to her parents' house somewhere in North Seattle.

At around 11 pm, she finally returned home. The man noted that his fiancée was rather "talkative," yet appeared to be tired. They went to bed shortly before the official end of the day, midnight. At around 4 am, the man awoke from (either a dream-full or dreamless--the report failed to mention) sleep and found his fiancée's body on top of him. When he attempted to remove her, he got no response. He then pushed her off his body and, after a quick trip to the kitchen, attempted to wake her up by splashing cold water on her face--still she did not respond. He then realized that she was not breathing and her body was cold. He immediately called 911.

SFD Engine #13 responded. Officer Chapackdeewas arrived shortly after the SFD and found them working on the motionless body in the bedroom. At 4:58, while the fiancé and the officer were talking in the living room, the medics ceased all attempts and pronounced the woman dead at the scene. Outside, the darkest part of the night was, with the weakest stars, dissolving into the brightening blue of what would become the first day of the fiancée's tiny contribution to all of eternity.

Officer Chapackdeewas ends the report with this: "An investigator responded to the scene and transported her body to his office. He and I observed no sign of foul play. At this time the death is undetermined pending an autopsy. Sgt. Bakiano screened the incident at the scene."