Doctor Sleep

Dan remembers his mother as he drives the train at Teenytown. Suddenly, he feels a massive impact in his head. When he wakes, he thinks of Dick as Billy asks him who Tony is. The shock Dan felt is similar to what Dick felt when Dan summoned him to the Overlook.

Dan is surprised to sense that Tony is now Abra’s friend. In his room, there is an email address on his blackboard: cadabra@nhmlx.com. He emails Abra and asks what’s wrong. One week later, he meets her outside the library, where they discuss Tony without speaking. She says her full name is Abra Rafaella Stone, and she hopes the “lady in the hat” (233) never learns it.

Dan tells her about the shining, and they call themselves special relatives. Abra asks him about the ghost people on the train, and then tells him about the Baseball Boy, the flashlight beams, and the torture. She also knows where they buried his baseball glove because she saw it, as well as the address of the ethanol plant.

Abra’s description of the woman in the hat reminds Dan of Deenie. Abra asks who Deenie is, then apologizes for hearing his thoughts. Dan believes the group ate Bradley’s shining. He asks her to set an alarm in her head, that will trigger if someone breaks in. Abra makes Dan promise that Rose won’t get her. He agrees, knowing that his only chance is to eliminate the threat. Abra wants to find the baseball glove to help her locate the people who hurt Bradley.

Dan has a memory from 12 years prior. At a rest area, he’d seen a top hat in a gutter before it vanished. That night, he’d dreamed of Deenie, and she’d warned him about the woman in the hat, saying that she would “eat you alive” (244).

Abra’s message on the chalkboard thanks Dan for believing her. He Googles Dick Hallorann and finds that in 1999, he died of a heart attack at age 81. He hears chalk scratching on the board, drawing a picture of a baseball glove, just as someone pages him on the buzzer.

Eleanor Ouellette, a 102-year-old resident, is petting Azzie when Dan enters her room. When she dies, there is no mist. Dan realizes that he has never seen flies on a resident’s face at the hospice. The lamp flickers and his watch stops ticking. The hallway door opens and the bathroom door shuts as Dan feels the presence of ghosts.

Nine members of the True Knot gather at the Overlook Lodge, near the Sidewinder RV camp. They traveled to Juarez recently and had some success, but they still don’t understand what Rose wants with the girl. Jimmy Numbers has narrowed down the possible mountains that Rose saw through Abra’s eyes. Rose is going to visit Abra while she’s asleep to learn more.

Dick uses Eleanor to speak to Dan. When Dan asks for proof of Dick’s identity, Dick reminds him of a woman he saw in the Overlook parking lot while the Torrance family was checking in. Dick calls the True Knot the “empty devils” (256). He says they are ancient, and they will empty Abra. He says they are in Dan’s childhood, where every devil comes from. However, he also says Dan can kill them by making them eat “their own poison” (257). The red mist appears as Eleanor finally passes. Dan thinks the empty devils are worse than the Overlook’s monsters.

Abra gets an email from Dan, asking for her permission to discuss her with John. She permits him to tell John about her, but not her parents. Dan then calls Rebecca Clausen, his boss, and asks for time off.