Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 23:08:14 -0400 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Chapter 6 Your word of warning: This Chapter of W.A.R. doesn't contain any bad words or adult situations. In fact, you could probably read this to your high school english teacher. So read, enjoy, and ponder. W.A.R. Part One: Black Summer Chapter Six -- The Hospital The hospital visit was actually kind of neat. I'd never been a patient before. I got to get my head x-rayed and an eye doctor checked my vision. My vision was really weird. Everything seemed clear at a distance. But the closer things got, the more they blurred, then doubled. That, and it really hurt a lot to look down. My eye was really swollen, so the doctor gave me medicine for it and the pain. When no one was looking at it, I had to keep a cold compress on my eye. Eventually the doctor came in with the x-rays. "Well William, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" "The bad news." "Okay, the bad news is you have a fractured orbital." He turned on the light and showed me the x-ray. My mom took a good look at it. "As you can see, the bone is cracked right here, and here." There were two cracks in the bone under my eye. When I tried to look closer, it got blurry. "Will he need any surgery?" "Well that's the good news. There is no damage to any of the muscles or ligaments, this is as clean a break as you can get in that area. The swelling will go away in about three or four days, and he'll have a black eye for a week or two. The muscles are bruised but they didn't detach. You're a nurse right Mrs. Roberts?" "Paula. Yes, right now I'm on leave to take care of my invalid mother." "Well Paula, I guess you'll have another patient for a while. William, no strenuous physical activity for two weeks. Sleep on your back until I tell you that it's okay to do other wise. And protect that eye." "You mean I can't play baseball anymore?" "No. You can't risk taking a hit to that eye. Even with a face mask on. You can't afford to damage the bone any more than you have. You see, William, there is nothing we can do to protect an orbital injury. It's not like we can put a cast on your whole head! You are at an important age right now because your bones are growing and taking their final form. If you damage that bone worse than it is now, you would need surgery or you could have permanent disfigurement. That is why you have to be extra careful. Okay?" "Yeah." Reality was beginning to set in. My summer was officially over on June 17. I was going to be miserable for the rest of the season. "Now, Paula, I need to ask you to leave for a few minutes for me to talk with William for a few minutes. Okay?" My mom agreed and said, "It's okay, Billy. He needs to ask you some questions. Just tell the truth and I'll be right back." I was confused. Why would my mom have to leave for the doctor to ask me questions. I wanted her to stay with me. I needed her to stay with me. "William, Billy is it?" "Yeah." Why did my mom have to leave? "Tell me something, Billy. How did you fall down again?" "I already told the other doctor that." What did this guy want to know, and where did my mom go? "I know, but I need to hear it from you. It's just a procedural thing. Paper work." "Like I said before, I was arguing with my dad. He went to see my ball game but I skipped it. He yelled at me when I got home. I yelled back. He told me to apologize. I told him to make me. He got up out of his chair. I was afraid he would hit me or something, which he's never ever done before. I got scared and went to run away, but I tripped and fell. That's how I hit my head on the coffee table." "Why were you afraid that he would hit you?" "I don't know. Like I said, he's never hit me. Ever. I was just scared. We were really mad." What was this guy trying to do? My dad wouldn't hurt me on purpose. "That's all I need. Thank you, William." "Is my dad in trouble? You're not going to have him arrested or anything are you?" "No, he's not in trouble. If he had hit you or pushed you, then yes, he would be in trouble. But if arguing with a teenage boy was a crime, then we'd have to lock up every parent in America." I laughed. What a relief! I was mad at my dad, but I didn't want him to go to jail or anything. "I didn't mean to cause all of this trouble. I'm usually not a smart ass." "I can tell. You seem like a really nice boy. You just have a bit of a swelled head, that's all." I laughed again. He got my mother and they talked a little more about how I had to care for my broken head. I was glad to see her. She better never leave me alone like that again! I got my stuff and we headed home. It was raining outside. Mom got the car and picked me up at the entrance. It was very late. We were both exhausted. We listened to the radio as she drove. I looked at the road. Finally I spoke. "So, are you going to punish me?" "I think you've already punished yourself. You'll have to live with the consequences of your actions for a while. You won't be able to do a lot of things because of your fracture. No baseball. No sports. It's not going to be a fun summer. So there's no reason to ground you. You grounded yourself." "Great." I said sarcastically. "Are you still mad at your father?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Well, I don't want you shutting him out. Ignoring him. I know how you are Billy. You get mad and then you get stubborn. In fact, you are just like your father." "Look, I love you mom. And I guess I love him too. But he doesn't love me. He loves his job. Give him the choice of spending a day with me, doing what I want to do, or going to work. He'd rather go to work. He doesn't care about me. He's probably happy that I busted myself in the head. Now he won't have to bother pretending that he wants to do anything with me." "You know that none of what you just said is true. He works because he has to, not because he wants to. And I'm sure there's nothing he'd rather do than spend a day with you. I'll bet if you asked him..." "He should ask me mom! I'm just a kid! I can't just walk up to him and say, "Yo, dad, let's hang out!" He'd laugh at me. Look, I really don't want to talk about it. Let's just drop it, okay? My face hurts. I don't want to talk anymore." I closed my eyes and listened to the radio playing quietly for the rest of the trip. It was still raining. The clock said 1:30. Mom called dad on the cell phone and filled him in on my situation. She handed the phone to me. "He wants to talk to you." "Tell him the drugs made me pass out." "William Aaron, take the phone!" I took the phone from her. I had to hold it on my left side, which felt really weird. "What?" "How are you feeling?" "Sleepy." "How's the eye?" "Broken." "Are you angry at me?" "Yes." "I'm sorry, boy. That's all I can say. The day started out so well for us. We had that good talk last night. I wanted to see you play ball. I guess I should have told you that I would be there. I guess that's over now, huh?" "Yeah. Look dad, it really hurts to talk right now. I'm going to go. Bye." I hung up the phone and handed it back to my mom. She sighed. I fell asleep before we got home. That'll close Chapter 6. We're a little over halfway to the end of Part One of W.A.R. I wonder how many people don't read this story because they think it's about an actual war? I thought it was more... I don't know, It gave the story a better ring. It was either W.A.R. for William A. Roberts, or it was Billy and Bret or something like that. But that's been done before. In fact, we haven't even seen Bret for two chapters! You deserve better, darnit! Got comments? Want to tell me how terrible this whole thing is? What to ask me where's the sucking and where's the fucking? Heh heh heh. I'll never tell! You can write to me at: vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com