I woke up and it smelled clean. I looked around, it was all white. The edge of my vision was slightly blurred. Am I dead? I wondered. I moved to get up but as I leaned forward, but there was a pain, slight, around the edges of my vision, pulsating, a raging monster outside the castle. I felt the sheets, nice, soft. There was a light, bright, at the end of my bed. And then there was a man, dressed all in white, with light around him.
“Hello,” he said, ”I am Dr. Theodore Springer, and who are you?”
“Am I dead?” I asked him. But I could see his face shift slightly, and I knew it was a no. “Ah well…I…I am…uh…Bre…Brend...”
“Brendan?”
“Yeah…Brendan. Who, oh right. Where am I?”
“Hello Brendan, you are in New Avery General Hospital. You were found at 42nd and Exton, bleeding from the stomach. Do you remember what happened?”
“New Avery…no; I was in…Dremlan. Junkies…hit me…I was bleeding.”
“Thank you, Brendan that’s enough for now.” He walked over to m IV and injected it with some kind of needle. The world ran down my face and I fell back.
I woke up sometime later with a clearer head and feeling more refreshed. This time, accompanying Dr. Springer were two police officers. They introduced themselves as Officer Crowley, the female, and Officer Forester, the male. Officer Crowley was tall, with long chestnut brown hair that fell down past a wholly normal face. Average nose, none too skinny lips, eyes average distance apart. But yet, there was something in her face, the way her large brown looked straight at me, as if seeing through my illusion and penetrating the very depths of my soul. Officer Forester on the other hand had a nose that seemed to make up almost his entire face. It curved downwards to meet his almost as large mouth, and upwards to meet eyebrows that looked more like two caterpillars that rested there instead of eyebrows. They, in turn, threatened to fall into small eyes that could sum up one person in a glance. It was these two characters that flanked Dr. Springer, and that I was left alone with when he left. Officer Crowley stood at the foot of my bed, while Officer Forester leaned against the door frame. I looked up at Officer Crowley as she spoke.
"Hello, how about we start off with something basic. My name is Jennifer Crowley, but you can call me Jenna. Now, what is your name?"
"Brendan Newhart," I replied in an even tone. I wasn't too sure about where I was, or what was going on, but I knew that I was going to need more than a name before I trusted this woman.
"Great. Now, when we found you, you were on 42nd and Exton, being mugged. Can you remember what happened?"
"Sure, I woke up and two junkies were hanging over me. They asked me for money but I don't have any. They threatened to kill me, and one of them hit me. I started bleeding, and then you showed up."
"Right, now have you had any surgery around your stomach recently?"
"What the hell is this about officer?"
Jenna looked at her partner than back at me. The way she stared at me I knew that my answer had not satisfied. I noticed that my legs tried to move closer to my chest, but my stomach told them not to.
"Look," She said, "I am going to be honest with you. Your stomach was split wide open by that 'punch'. The doc says that the only way that could have happened was by a knife. However, the wound is not a usual knife wound. It doesn't have the ripping done by most junkie knives, doc says this is a surgical cut. So I ask you again, have you had any major surgery lately?"
I looked around the room, the only way out of there in my condition was through the truth, so that was what I told her. "Okay, okay. Look, sometime this morning or late last night I woke up in a tub full of ice in a warehouse in a district of the city I couldn't recognize. I ran away from there hoping to find somewhere where I could call someone I know, or you cops or someone. When I couldn't find it I wen to sleep on a bench. So maybe, maybe I have had some surgery done to me by the people who put me wherever the hell I was. I don't know what happened, I don't know why, all I know is that I want to go home and I want to see Sophie."
"Sophie?" She asked.
"My girlfriend."
"Okay, now what can you tell us from before you woke up?"
"Um, I was walking down the street. I had just had an argument with Sophie. I left in a rage, the funny thing is I can't even remember what we fought about. Anyway, I was walking down the street to the bus stop when this man in an alleyway asks me for a light. I reach into my back pocket, and it all goes blank."
"Can you remember what the man's face was like?"
"Let's see, he had a green hat on, with a long gray and black beard. most of his face was obscured, but what I could see was dirty. I'm sorry, that's not anything is it?" I asked, I could feel my nervousness on my face.
"No, that's fine.Okay, well. Thank you for telling us this information," Officer Forester said, "But now we have to go."
“Hello,” he said, ”I am Dr. Theodore Springer, and who are you?”
“Am I dead?” I asked him. But I could see his face shift slightly, and I knew it was a no. “Ah well…I…I am…uh…Bre…Brend...”
“Brendan?”
“Yeah…Brendan. Who, oh right. Where am I?”
“Hello Brendan, you are in New Avery General Hospital. You were found at 42nd and Exton, bleeding from the stomach. Do you remember what happened?”
“New Avery…no; I was in…Dremlan. Junkies…hit me…I was bleeding.”
“Thank you, Brendan that’s enough for now.” He walked over to m IV and injected it with some kind of needle. The world ran down my face and I fell back.
I woke up sometime later with a clearer head and feeling more refreshed. This time, accompanying Dr. Springer were two police officers. They introduced themselves as Officer Crowley, the female, and Officer Forester, the male. Officer Crowley was tall, with long chestnut brown hair that fell down past a wholly normal face. Average nose, none too skinny lips, eyes average distance apart. But yet, there was something in her face, the way her large brown looked straight at me, as if seeing through my illusion and penetrating the very depths of my soul. Officer Forester on the other hand had a nose that seemed to make up almost his entire face. It curved downwards to meet his almost as large mouth, and upwards to meet eyebrows that looked more like two caterpillars that rested there instead of eyebrows. They, in turn, threatened to fall into small eyes that could sum up one person in a glance. It was these two characters that flanked Dr. Springer, and that I was left alone with when he left. Officer Crowley stood at the foot of my bed, while Officer Forester leaned against the door frame. I looked up at Officer Crowley as she spoke.
"Hello, how about we start off with something basic. My name is Jennifer Crowley, but you can call me Jenna. Now, what is your name?"
"Brendan Newhart," I replied in an even tone. I wasn't too sure about where I was, or what was going on, but I knew that I was going to need more than a name before I trusted this woman.
"Great. Now, when we found you, you were on 42nd and Exton, being mugged. Can you remember what happened?"
"Sure, I woke up and two junkies were hanging over me. They asked me for money but I don't have any. They threatened to kill me, and one of them hit me. I started bleeding, and then you showed up."
"Right, now have you had any surgery around your stomach recently?"
"What the hell is this about officer?"
Jenna looked at her partner than back at me. The way she stared at me I knew that my answer had not satisfied. I noticed that my legs tried to move closer to my chest, but my stomach told them not to.
"Look," She said, "I am going to be honest with you. Your stomach was split wide open by that 'punch'. The doc says that the only way that could have happened was by a knife. However, the wound is not a usual knife wound. It doesn't have the ripping done by most junkie knives, doc says this is a surgical cut. So I ask you again, have you had any major surgery lately?"
I looked around the room, the only way out of there in my condition was through the truth, so that was what I told her. "Okay, okay. Look, sometime this morning or late last night I woke up in a tub full of ice in a warehouse in a district of the city I couldn't recognize. I ran away from there hoping to find somewhere where I could call someone I know, or you cops or someone. When I couldn't find it I wen to sleep on a bench. So maybe, maybe I have had some surgery done to me by the people who put me wherever the hell I was. I don't know what happened, I don't know why, all I know is that I want to go home and I want to see Sophie."
"Sophie?" She asked.
"My girlfriend."
"Okay, now what can you tell us from before you woke up?"
"Um, I was walking down the street. I had just had an argument with Sophie. I left in a rage, the funny thing is I can't even remember what we fought about. Anyway, I was walking down the street to the bus stop when this man in an alleyway asks me for a light. I reach into my back pocket, and it all goes blank."
"Can you remember what the man's face was like?"
"Let's see, he had a green hat on, with a long gray and black beard. most of his face was obscured, but what I could see was dirty. I'm sorry, that's not anything is it?" I asked, I could feel my nervousness on my face.
"No, that's fine.Okay, well. Thank you for telling us this information," Officer Forester said, "But now we have to go."
