In this Bingham’s Notebook entry, we take a closer look at Dr. Ibrahim Aziz, a key new character introduced at the beginning of Call of the Minotaur: Midas Files Book Two.
Dr. Aziz is the man who has watched over Hank Raglan during his ten-year coma. To be clear, he is not “the Watcher” — that title belongs to B’yob Oberon, the alien interloper and unlikely friend introduced in The Midas Protocol. Aziz is something else entirely: a physician, a survivor, a quiet resistor, and a man whose personal history gives him more reason than most to hate the regime surrounding him.
The Doctor Watching Over Hank
Dr. Ibrahim Aziz is a charming, well-groomed man in his mid-40s with a youthful appearance and an easy, affable manner. He dresses impeccably, speaks excellent English, and carries himself with the polish of a man who has spent meaningful time in the United States.
On the surface, Aziz is pleasant, professional, and deeply competent. As chief physician, he oversees the assessment, diagnosis, and long-term treatment plans for patients under his care. His work requires not only medical knowledge, but patience, discretion, and the ability to keep fragile people alive in a difficult and dangerous environment.
That makes him uniquely important to Hank Raglan.
For ten years, Hank has existed in a suspended state between life and death, hidden from the world and watched by men with very different motives. Aziz’s role is practical, but it is also deeply personal. He is responsible for keeping Hank stable, preserving his health, and ensuring that the man who disappeared at the end of The Midas Protocol remains alive long enough to matter.
A Man With a Hidden History
Behind Aziz’s calm professionalism is a painful family history.
Unknown to most, Dr. Aziz is secretly descended from the Al-Tai tribe, a people whose resistance to Saddam Hussein’s authoritarian rule brought persecution and suffering. During the regime’s brutal crackdowns, Aziz’s family endured terrible losses. Relatives were executed. Others disappeared without a trace.
That legacy of violence shaped him.
Aziz may appear composed, but beneath that controlled exterior is a man carrying grief, anger, and a desire for justice. His hatred for Saddam’s regime is not abstract or political in the distant sense. It is personal. It is rooted in family memory, inherited trauma, and the knowledge of what powerful men can do when they are allowed to act without consequence.
Why He Protects Hank
Aziz’s care for Hank is not only medical.
He believes Hank may represent something the regime cannot fully control. Hank is connected to the Gold Box, a mysterious force with power far beyond ordinary human understanding. Aziz does not know everything about Hank’s past, but he knows enough to sense that this unconscious American may be more than a patient.
He may be a weapon.
He may be an ally.
He may be a chance.
For Aziz, preserving Hank’s life becomes tied to a larger hope. If Hank awakens and understands the truth of his situation, Aziz imagines the possibility that they might one day strike back against the men who have caused so much suffering. Protecting Hank becomes a quiet act of defiance against the regime Aziz despises.
It also becomes his way of resisting Mortimer Vanterpool, whose shadow still hangs over the deeper mysteries of the Gold Box.
Medicine as Resistance
What makes Dr. Aziz interesting is that he does not fight with brute force, political speeches, or open rebellion. His resistance is quieter than that.
He keeps Hank alive.
In a world ruled by fear, secrecy, and violence, Aziz uses his medical skill as a form of protection. His training allows him to heal, stabilize, observe, and wait. He understands that survival itself can become an act of rebellion when the wrong people want someone erased.
That makes his role in Call of the Minotaur more than functional. He is not simply the doctor in the room. He is a man whose private war is being fought through patience, care, and the dangerous hope that Hank Raglan’s return may help change everything.
A Quiet but Crucial Figure
Dr. Ibrahim Aziz is not the loudest character in The Midas Files, nor is he the most powerful. He does not command blue energy like Mortimer Vanterpool. He does not carry the ancient burden of B’yob Oberon. He does not begin the story as a hero in the traditional sense.
But he matters.
He is one of the people standing between Hank Raglan and oblivion. He is a man shaped by loss, sustained by purpose, and willing to take enormous risks in silence. His story reminds us that in a world of alien powers, hidden technologies, and ancient secrets, courage can still look like a doctor refusing to let a patient die.
And for Hank Raglan, that refusal may make all the difference.
