Twenty-Nine

I dropped the “thermometer” on the ground and ran out of my room as fast as I could. I flew down the hall and past the nurse’s desk in record time. I had one goal, and that was to get out of here. This mess had gotten too strange for me. I simply couldn’t handle it any more. My mind felt like it was about to explode. I ran down the hall, toward the front of the unit. I turned the corner toward the front of the hospital and hit someone really hard. The collision caused me to stumble and fall in to the wall. As I picked myself up, I saw who I’d run in to. It was Dad, and Mom was standing next to him. He was not happy and she looked like she was going to cry in any second.

“Kevin, get up!” he said, quite commandingly. Somehow he had not been affected by the collision and was now glaring down on me like I was a little boy.

“But, Ddddad…” I stammered, looking up at him.

“Kevin, get up right now and come with me,” he said as he extended his hand to me.

“I can’t. I can’t go back in there!”

“No, that’s where you’re wrong Kevin. You can and will go back in there. C’mon.” His words had a soothing effect on me. For some reason, I wasn’t scared any more. I grabbed his hand and we walked back to the unit together. As we passed by the front desk, there were two security guards talking to the nurses. They looked at me as we got closer, then started to move toward me. However, my dad put up his hand and told them it was alright and that he would handle it. I guess that was enough for them because they slowly walked away.

“Dad…you don’t know what I saw…,” I said, still winded from my sprint.

“No, I don’t, Kevin. You’re going to tell me in a minute though.” With Mom following, he guided me down the hall and past the TV room toward the doors leading to the “break” area. We passed Thomas on the way.

“Mr. Devereaux , how are you do…”

“Save it. I’ll deal with you later.” Thomas could only muster a half-hearted smile. I still had no clue what was going on. Dad guided me outside. We walked toward a small section of the yard, away from the rest of the smokers and visiting parents. Mom stayed behind and started some small talk with a nurse. I looked back at her as Dad corralled me in a corner.

“Okay, Kevin, hit it.”

“Dad…you won’t believe me….” I looked at the grass.

“Try me.”

“They’re trying to kill me.”

Kevin…

Get out of my head!

“What in the WORLD gives you that idea?” He looked up at me, his eyes seemingly penetrating in to my brain.

“I saw something.”

“What, Kevin? What?”

“A detonator.”

“A detonator…”

“I told you that you wouldn’t believe me…” I practically started to cry.

“Relax, Kevin.”

“But Dad….” I was sulking now.

“Its okay, son, its okay.” He hugged me. As he hugged me, I felt a feeling like I’d never felt before. Its hard to describe. I felt like I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

“Feel better now?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said, looking at Dad.

What the HELL is going on?

Oooooh...give the man a cigar.