Flight of the Dodo - 5. Chapter 5

An obnoxious bell startled me out of a dream where I was caught in an awful snowstorm while walking down to North Eighty-fifth Street to catch the bus down to Oak Park Boulevard where I could catch the Number 6 bus north to Louis Bergman Alternative High School. It was snowing so hard I couldn’t see where I was and then I heard someone saying, “Good morning, residents, time to rise and meet a glorious new day. Come on, get out of bed, use the toilet, take your showers, shave if you need to, dress appropriately for the day, and come to the dining room for breakfast. Good morning, residents time to rise and meet a glorious new day.”

I threw of the bedcovers and put my bare feet on the cold green linoleum floor. In fact, the air was cold as if someone forgot to turn on the heat. Then I noticed there was a young man with brown hair in a crew cut in whites sitting on a gray metal chair just inside the door to my room. I looked at him and he glared back at me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Suicide watch, go take care of yourself in the bathroom and get dressed or you’ll miss out on breakfast,” he said. “Go on, get busy with your shower or you’ll miss out on breakfast.”

“Hey, I wasn’t strapped to the bed.”

“I untied you while you were still asleep. Put your pajamas on the bed. Housekeeping will launder them. Hurry up, you’re taking too long.”

I took off the pajamas and went to the wardrobe where I got a new pair of underwear and my toiletry bag. I went into the bathroom, used the toilet, and took off my underwear. I turned and saw the man sitting on his chair at the door so he could watch me. I went into the shower and turned the faucets to adjust the water, but there was barely any pressure on the hot, so I had to take a barely warm shower. I finished with the shower and turned off the water. I quickly dried myself and put on a clean pair of underwear. I went to the sink where I brushed my teeth and combed my hair. I put my toiletry bag back together and went out to the wardrobe to dress.

“I see you don’t shave the peach fuzz on your face,” the man said. “You should start doing that, it’ll make you look better.”

I looked at him and wondered where that comment came from. Was he commenting on my attractiveness to him? Was he one of those weird sickos that got their jollies messing with kids? I dressed as quick as I could and closed the wardrobe.

“Is breakfast in the dining room?” I asked.

“Yes, but you were so quick you’ll be a little early,” he said as he stood up. He walked over to me and brushed his hand down across my face like that policeman did at Volunteer Park. He stared at me with a strange smile and said, “You’re a nice boy, aren’t you?”

“I better go,” I said as I tried to walk around him to the door, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back close to him.

“Don’t go, we’ve just met,” he said with a voice that sent chills down my back.

I started shaking and my heart was beating wrong. I was having a panic attack, but there was nothing I could do about it. I must have fainted because the next I knew I was lying on the floor. There was a nurse kneeling beside me.

“You okay, hon?” she asked as she took a cold towel away from my forehead.

“That man … who was … in my … room,” I stammered.

“You don’t worry about him. He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

“Is he still here?”

“No, hon, Dennis wore out his welcome and is probably searching for greener pastures. Come on, get up, they’re serving breakfast. How’s your head feel.”

“What do you mean? Did he hit me?”

“No, he said tried to hold you, but you fell on the floor and bumped your head.”

“Did I get a concussion?”

“No, you should be okay.”

I sat up and immediately saw stars in my eyes and felt very woozy. I put my right hand down on the floor as my head started to hurt. My eyes were blurry and that woozy feeling was making me sick to the point I wanted to puke.

“I don’t feel good,” I moaned and lay back down on the floor.

“Don’t move,” the nurse said as she stood up.

I heard a loud beeping sound, but I kept my eyes shut. Hoping to stop that woozy feeling I tried not moving. That beeping sound was becoming very annoying, but then it suddenly stopped.

“What’s up?” someone asked. “What’s he doing on the floor?”

“He tried to sit up, but he said he didn’t feel good and laid back down,” the nurse said.

“Okay, I’m calling an ambulance. He needs to go back to County. Did Dennis hit him?”

“No, he said he tried to stop him from falling when he fainted, but he fell and hit his head on the floor.”

“Well, let’s hope it’s just a concussion.”

I heard someone leave the room and tried not moving my head, which was beginning to hurt really bad. I felt something cold on my forehead, but didn’t try to talk or do anything. I still felt like I was going to puke. That cold thing on my forehead was beginning to hurt, so I said, “Take it off, please, take it off me.”

“Take what off, hon?” the nurse asked.

“That cold thing, it is making my head hurt. I feel like I’m going to puke.”

“Here let me help you lay on your side.”

She moved my left leg and then pulled on my left arm as I shifted my hip. I slowly rolled over onto my right side and then I retched, but nothing came out except this yucky tasting fluid, which made me feel worse than I had been feeling. I retched again, but this time nothing came up. My head was hurting more and more. It was beginning to feel like my left eye was going to burst out of my head. I heard a siren and it kept getting louder. Then there was another kind of siren sound that seemed to be coming from a different direction. The first siren got very loud and then stopped. All I could hear was the other siren and then there seemed to be another of those sirens in the distance, but getting closer, too. Then the first of those sirens that was very loud stopped and all I could hear was the other siren. The other siren got loud and then it too stopped. One thing about listening to those sirens is that it kept my mind busy so I didn’t think about how bad my head was feeling.

“He’s in here,” someone said.

“What have we got here?” a man’s voice said.

“One of our male employees tried to get personal with the boy,” the nurse said. “The boy might have had a panic attack, fainted, and collapsed. The employee said he tried to help the boy, but he must have hit his head quite severely on the floor. The point of impact is above his left eye.”

I felt someone push me over onto my back and then someone touched my head. It hurt so bad I tried to swat the hand away.

“Painful?”

“Uh, huh,” I said.

“Can you open your eyes? Yes, um, that isn’t good. We’re going to have to transport him to County. Do you have next of kin contacts?”

“Yes, they’re in the office. I’ll get them for you and I’ll call the family to advise them of the situation.”

“What have we got here?”

“There may have been an attempt to sexually assault the boy. He had a panic attack and fainted. The man tried to prevent him from falling, but the boy hit his head on the floor.”

“Who’s the perp?”

“We have his contact information in the office.”

“We’re going to need a statement from the boy.”

“Not now, we’re transporting him to County.”

“Good, we’ll check with him there.”

I suddenly felt something go around my neck. Then I felt myself being rolled onto my side and then rolled onto my back. Then I had the sensation of being lifted and then being lowered back down. Then I went back up. I might have opened my eyes to see what was happening, but the last time I did that I got sick to my stomach. I felt kind of sleepy and everything went blank.

————

“Edvard, come on wake up,” a voice said.

I opened my eyes and there was a very bright light shining down on me.

“Does this hurt?”

“Nuh, don’t!” I moaned as a pain shot through my head and made my left eye hurt.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

I was rolled onto my side.

“Does this hurt?”

“Yes!”

“Here?”

“No.”

“Here?”

“No.”

I was rolled onto to my back.

“Okay, let’s get some x-rays of the head.”

I heard people moving around, but I didn’t open my eyes. I didn’t want to puke again.

“Edvard, don’t move your head. Hold your breath. Okay, you can breathe. Turn your head to the right as far as you can. That’s good. Hold your breath. Okay, you can breathe. Turn your head to the left as far as you can.”

“Uh, um, it hurts!”

“We’ll have to do with what we’ve got. Okay, let’s get him up to surgery. Is Dr. Luck on duty?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Good.”

I felt myself moving and that bright light went away. It kind of felt nice with the air moving past my head. Then we stopped. Then we moved and went over some kind of bump. There was a sensation of moving up. Then there was that bump again and more air moving past my head. Then it stopped.

“Yes, let me see this. Son, does this hurt?”

“Ow, don’t do that.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Did you tap his spine?”

“Uh, no, Doctor Luck.”

“That’s alright, we’ll do it inside. Let’s see that left eye. Ooh, that’s not good, not good at all. Call Dr. O’Brien, he needs to be here.”

I was moving again. Then I stopped. I felt hands under me and I was on a cold table.

“Okay, put him under.”

I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t see anything out of my left eye. I tried to move my hand, but it wouldn’t move. I wanted to say something, but there was something in my mouth. I saw a woman looking down at me.

“He’s awake, now.”

“Let’s get a look at that left eye.”

Whatever was blocking my vision out of my left eye went away, but I could only see light. It was bright and then it wasn’t and then it was bright again and then it wasn’t.

“Um, well, we’ll have to watch it.”

I heard something beeping. Then it stopped and it felt as if I was being moved. Then there was that bump again. There was the sensation of going up then it stopped. I was being moved and there was that bump again. Then I was moving. Then I stopped.

“Edvard, how are you doing?”

I tried to talk, but there was that thing in my mouth.

“Okay, let’s get that out.”

I felt tape being removed from around my mouth. Then something was being pulled out of my mouth.

“Cough.”

I tried, but my head hurt.

“Try to cough once more.”

I did, but my head hurt.

“Open your eye.”

Why didn’t he say eyes? I tried to open both, but I could only see out of my right.

“Here, drink this,” a nurse said holding a paper cup with a straw in it.

I sucked on the straw and then I coughed.

“Um, that hurts,” I said.

“Okay, you lie here as quiet as you can. Your father is here. He would like to talk to you. Do you feel up to it? You can say no.”

“I’ll talk to E3,” I said.

“Good.”

“My left eye?”

“Dr. O’Brien will talk to you about it. Also, Dr. Luck will be up to speak to you and your father.”

She went away and then E3 came in.

“Hey, Eddie, how are you doing?” E3 asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “What happened to me?”

“Dr. Luck said you have a slight skull fracture, but he said you’ll be okay in a few weeks.”

“My left eye?”

“Ah, your eye, well, Dr. O’Brien thinks you may have a slight injury to your optical nerve. He thinks it will heal on its own, but you’re getting some medicine for it in your IV. Are you in pain?”

“A little.”

“I’ll talk to the nurse and see if you can have another hypo, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Good, I’ll be right back.”

A little later the nurse came in and told me to roll over onto my right side. I felt the needle go in my hip and then everything went fuzzy. I think I heard the nurse say, “He’ll be out of it for a while. You can leave if you want.”

“No, I’ll stay.”

I might have smiled but I think I went to sleep instead.

Sometime later I woke to the sound of voices around me. I recognized E3, but the other one wasn’t all that familiar, but I thought I remembered it from somewhere.

“Even though the medic said someone tried to stop your son from falling too hard, he took quite a knock to that spot above his left eye. The fracture is barely two centimeters and it will heal on its own very quickly. It helps that he is still young. The bruise to his left optical nerve is troubling, plus the damage to the eye itself is quite serious. Hopefully, it too will heal, but there is a fifty-fifty chance vision in the left eye will be significantly less than a hundred percent.”

“When can we take him home?” E3 asked.

“Oh, maybe sometime next week. He needs to be quiet for a few days. Plus, there is the issue with the eye. We don’t want him accidently bumping into something and doing more damage that can’t be repaired. I understand Dr. Roberta Kaiser is his psychiatrist of record.”

“Yes, but unfortunately Ed has only had one session with her.”

“Well, we’ll call her and let her know he’s here, if she hasn’t already been informed.”

“Thank you, Dr. Luck.”

“No problem, it was nice meeting you, Mr. Pedersen.”

I opened my right eye and saw the doctor leave. E3 looked over in my direction and came over to the right side of my bed.

“How’re you doing, Eddie?” E3 asked.

“Okay, that hypo is still working,” I said. “You don’t have to stay here all night. I know you have business to take care of since you are on a case at trial.”

“They offered a sizable settlement this afternoon. The judge approved it and I’m free for the next few weeks, though I will be looking into bringing a suit against that shrink shop where you were attacked.”

“Hah, hah, shrink shop, that is funny, ooh, that hurts if I do that.”

“You take it easy, son. Dr. Luck says you need to keep quiet.”

“I know, I heard you two talking after I woke up. Is it true I might lose the use of my left eye?”

“Afraid so, but hopefully you’ll stay quiet for a few days and your sight will come back a hundred percent.”

“Yes, I’ll do that. Promise.”

“Good, then I guess I can go home. I’ll talk to your mother about coming down tomorrow.”

“She doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to. I know she isn’t comfortable with me being crazy in the head. Please don’t force her or she won’t be nice when she gets here.”

“Okay, Eddie, I’ll talk to her, but if she says no, well, I won’t push it. If she doesn’t want to come, I’ll come up during my lunch hour if I can get away. Okay, I’d better go. You take care and mind your doctors.

“Yes, Father, I will,” I said.

E3 smiled, gave a little wave, and then walked out the door. A nurse came in and said, “Hungry? Would you like a snack? You missed lunch and dinner won’t come for a few more hours.”

“Yes, that would be nice,” I said.