[Part 1] http://ift.tt/1X1RfVk
I slept like shit last night. Every time I closed my eyes, it was like I never went to therapy or started my meds for my PTSD and anxiety. There was a thunder storm and the power went out around 9pm. Flashes of the last 48 hours and the dreams I had over the weekend were as insistent as the lightning outside my windows. I kept hearing things in the lull between rumblings, insignificant little sounds like bushes rustling in the wind, things you normally don't hear when the power is on and the air conditioning drowns all the auditory minutia out.
I finally fell asleep, even with the intermittent beep of the smoke alarm telling me that without the power on, the battery was definitely low, but I could swear I kept hearing a sound like a faint whir on the odd occasion. Some people say that the silence will mess with you. I was jolted awake by the A/C unit powering on at around 6 am, oh goody, my place will be nice and cool while I'm at work. I tried to sit up but every muscle in my body was sore and resolutely decided for me that I would not be "hopping" out of bed this morning. So, I lay there, testing my joints and range of movement. I've been here before, I have degenerative arthritis in both shoulders from a training accident in the Military and every so often when I exert myself physically, I tend to pay for it in a most unpleasant fashion. I felt fine when I went to bed, mild queasiness aside, but this felt like I'd fallen off my roof on to soft dirt or something, you know, not bad enough to break anything but enough to really hurt. I eventually rolled my ass out of bed. Yes, literally rolled. I knew immediately that something was wrong when my feet hit the floor and I almost went ass over tea kettle onto the hardwood. My floor was, for lack of better wording, moist, and then the scent registered, floor cleaner. What the hell? Did I get up in the middle of the night and Swiffer the shit out of my house? I know I'm a bit of a neat freak but shit. as I went through the house I noticed every surface had been cleaned. Floors, counters, everything. If it weren't for the fact that I didn't remember doing any of this, I thought, sleep cleaning isn't a terrible problem to have.
I grabbed a banana for breakfast and stuffed my work clothes in my seat bag, along with another package of barely tolerated Ramen, lunch of champions, college students and underpaid cubicle jockeys, hopped in the shower to rinse off the night sweats, thankfully the power had been back on long enough to afford some hot water to loosen my stiff muscles as well. As I dipped my head under the water, a searing pain shot through my scalp, I cried out involuntarily as something fell out of my hair, making a flat tink sound on the hard plastic of the tub before being whisked down the drain by the water without having chance to see what it was. I saw red in the water as I must have opened up a scab or something on my scalp, but I didn't remember hitting my head on anything recently. If you've ever cut yourself on your head, you'll know that it bleeds like a stuck pig. It bled longer than I would have liked, but what can you do about head wounds, especially in the shower? I must have knocked myself pretty hard while I was sleep-cleaning last night.
I got to work just barely on time and advised my boss that I needed to leave work about 2 hours early to go to the VA for my appointment. She's pretty used to me with my VA appointments but she usually busts my balls about the company attendance policy. Today, she was exceedingly accommodating and even stated that she'd file the PTO request herself. Weird. The workday flew by in a haze of one irritable idiot after another until at 2:30, my burgeoning complacency was interrupted by a DING.
I got an email from DALNI: "Mr. Kroll, A VA transportation van will be arriving at your place of business at precisely 3pm to convey both you and your bicycle to the VA Regional Medical Center. Please be as prompt as possible. - DALNI Staff".
As I walked out of the office 25 minutes later I threw some of my coworkers a "see ya tomorrow" and waved goodbye to my boss, who smiled nervously and barely glanced at me, which wouldn't have bothered me any except for the forced smile, she never smiles at me. As promised, there was a van waiting outside the building with the side and back doors open. I unlocked my bike and placed it and my bag in the back, hopping in the seat just behind the passenger, who, like the driver weren't what you'd expect of the average VA transport driver, which in this day and age is usually an older Vietnam Vet who does this to keep boredom at bay in their retirement. These two, however, were more my age, 30-40 years old, fresh high and tight haircuts, both in khakis and golf shirts, Ray-Ban sunglasses, definitely NOT VA employees. I decided to keep my disquiet to myself, these guys didn't look like the talkative types anyway. We rode the 15 minutes to the VA in silence. As we pulled up to the front, the guy in the passenger, without turning around says "Mr. Kroll, you can leave your bike and bag in the van if you wish, we'll be more than happy to give you a ride home after your appointment." Now, I'm usually not one to worry about a ride because I just take my bike everywhere, but with the way I'd been feeling recently and the fact that they'd be drawing blood, I wasn't going to turn down a free ride. "Call me Jake guys, and I'll take you up on that offer, much appreciated." I went in and checked in at the Lab Services counter and turned to sit and wait my turn when a Lab Tech I'd never seen before stepped into the room and called out, "Kroll, Jacob?". I almost tripped over my own feet, there were at least 20 other vets in the waiting area and I'd just checked in. I went back into the lab area with the tech whose phlebotomy skills were not to be trifled with. She had the needle in my arm and the fist vacuum tube inserted in the time it usually takes most techs just to get the rubber band rope around your arm and fastened. After the fourth tube was removed and she reached for another I had to ask,
"Jesus, how many are you taking?" She responded, without much inflection or interest in the matter, "They ordered a full spectrum, so... yeah." I assumed that "They" were either the VA or DALNI so I just soldiered on and waited. 8 more tubes later, the tech removed the needle, taped on the requisite gauze and bid me farewell, packed up her kit and left the lab with 12 vials of my blood. I was leaving the lab area when the desk clerk called me over, "Mr. Kroll, do you have a moment to speak with your primary care team doctor?" I looked at my watch and saw it wasn't even 4 o'clock yet, In and Out in record time and I didn't have a hot date or anything to speed my departure, "Sure, why not?" I took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and walked down to the Red Team check in and said the Dr. Sagawa was waiting to see me. Dr. Issei Sagawa, my PCP for the last 3 years came out to usher me back to his office and sat me down, asked how I was doing since my last physical 4 months earlier and proceeded to tell me why I was here. "Jake, we got a request from a contractor to monitor your health after you stated you had an incident of what might have been food poisoning. Now, they sent over a copy of the paperwork you filled out, giving them permission to access your medical record and everything seems above board, so I'll ask some additional questions for the file here. Is that OK with you?"
"Sure Doc, ask away" "OK, so... when did you start feeling ill?" "A couple hours after I ate Dinner, I wasn't sure if it was the food, the alcohol, a combo of the two, or if I'm just coming down with something."
"Right, so, when you vomited, did you get a good look at the contents? Color, consistency?"
"No sir, I wasn't that interested in seeing it, I just buried it and left it there."
"Did you, or have you had any strange dreams in the last few weeks?"
"Well,.... wait, what does that have to do with this?"
"It's just a question Jake, is that a yes?"
I felt a prickle on the back of my neck telling me to get the fuck outta there, but then I remembered that Heckle and Jeckel in the van had my only mode of transportation and my keys in my bag.
"No, nothing strange or abnormal, just my usual night terrors on the odd occasion."
Doc seemed to relax visibly and continued to ask a few mostly mundane questions about my meds and such, but I still felt the pull to the door. Then I remembered the shower from this morning and I asked the Doc the take a look at my scalp. He grabbed a light source and started poking around where I indicated I'd somehow hurt myself. I felt the Doc stiffen a bit as he looked, but he said
"Looks like a mild abrasion, I'd just keep it clean and maybe apply a dab of Neosporin, other than that, nothing to write home to mom about."
I thanked the Doc and he said to set up a follow-up appointment in a few weeks with the receptionist. I did and made my way down to the entrance where Heckle and Jeckel were waiting with the van.
I hopped in and they just started driving. I was about to give them instructions to get to my house when the Passenger seat guy quoted my address and asked if that was right. I said it was and sat in silence for the rest of the ride. They dropped me in from of my place and I thanked them for their hospitality, grabbing my bike and bag and beating feet to my front door. Once inside, I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. I took a peek through the blinds and the van was gone, thankfully. I sat down and flipped on the TV, hoping to distract myself, of course the news was on with more details about the animal attack at Hocking Hills, "a family of 5 was attacked in their sleep, all signs point to a large predator, which is confusing officials as the largest reported predator in Ohio is the Coyote. We are now report that there was a survivor, Jemma, the 4 year old daughter, who has been uncommunicative. The family, from Canton was in the area for their annual camping trip, said the grandmother. it was supposed to the last trip for Jennifer and Jessica, the 18 year old twin daughters of Jim and Patricia Holt before they left for The Ohio State University and Northwestern respectively in the fall. Police say they that the Department of Fish and Wildlife are unable to speculate as to the species of the animal at this time."
I feel my stomach growl and I get up to head to the kitchen when the Name of my town catches my ear. "And now more news about the grisly discovery of a woman discovered missing from her home early this morning. Her roommate, Stacy James had reported that Heather Mason, 24, (They flash a photo of a beautiful blonde woman on the screen, smiling and full of life) of the Northeast Columbus area was not home when she arrived there shortly after 3am this morning, she stated that Heather had left work at the restaurant where the pair worked together around 11pm, stating she was going home to get sleep before she had class this morning. Upon arriving home, Stacy went to check on her roommate, only to discover a scene that still horrifies her. Stacy: "I got home and I went to check on Heather, her bedroom light was on so I popped my head in her room to say goodnight. There.... there was glass everywhere, it looks like someone smashed through her bedroom window and dragged her out, there were bloody drag marks on the window sill, you could tell Heather fought whoever took her..... I..I can't...." The young lady, crying, runs away from the camera, leaving the reporter in the studio to scramble for his next lines. "Leading up to earlier this afternoon and the grisly discovery of a woman's body in the Sharon Woods Metro park area. That body has indeed been identified as 24 year old Heather Mason, we'll update you when we know more."
I stare at the screen, unable to move. Why are these terrible things happening in my area? First an animal attack, then this kidnap and murder. This place is going to hell in a hand basket. I double check my locks before I walk to the kitchen, my stomach twists like a knife, bringing me to my knees. I'm SO HUNGRY, I get to my feet and shuffle to the refrigerator, I'm sure there's leftovers. I open the fridge and there before my eyes is the most beautiful ham sandwich I've ever laid eyes on, sitting on a plate covered in saran wrap. I wish I'd checked the fridge before work, I could have avoided another Ramen day for lunch.
I grab the sandwich, mayo and mustard and set it on the counter, remove the saran wrap, and the smell hits me, I start salivating and move a little faster, I take off the top piece of bread and apply the condiments, replace the bread and grab a beer from the fridge, I earned it, why not. I sit back down in front of the TV and take a bite. It's like mana from heaven. I take another bite, and something stringy remains attached to the sandwich, a hair, ugh.... I hate hair in my food. Normally it would put me off, but I'm so hungry it just pull the hair out, it's a lot longer than I'd anticipated because my hair isn't very long, and it isn't blonde...
DING!.... I'm going to check my email, I'll be back.
Submitted June 03, 2016 at 08:48AM by feyedharkonnen http://ift.tt/1ZhXaUc nosleep
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