2:17pm
Matt entered the room as quietly as he could. Peter's blackened eyelids opened slowly, making him look like he had been severely beaten. He was in his jeans and shoes with a large square bandage secured across his chest, over the wound on his shoulder. He turned his head to Matt, fixing him with his eyes, which had a creepy quality to them. "Hi," he tried to say, but it came out thin, strangled and cracked.
"Still can't talk?" Matt asked the obvious.
Peter shook his head slowly, still sore.
"There's an ambulance coming to pick you up in a while."
Peter mouthed the word 'thanks,' not wanting to risk burning his throat with words again.
"I'll save you the pain of talking now." Matt left the med room but quickly returned with Peter?aptop. He opened Microsoft Word and let Peter type.
'Much better.' Peter?ingers tapped across the keyboard. They were somewhat slowed by his aches, but not too much so.
"What happened while you were... in the wall?" Matt intended to ask a few questions, just enough to figure out what was going on.
'I don't really remember that much. After the thing came out of the wall and pulled me in, I kind of passed out. I woke up once, but all I saw was... blackness. Darkness. Nothing.'
"Why were you on the roof the night before?"
'I needed some fresh air, and I really like it on the roof. I went stargazing for a while, but I guess I fell asleep. I guess you guys have noticed; I sleep like a rock. :-)'
"Yeah, we've noticed," Matt replied, smiling. Peter grinned sheepishly.
Lindsay leaned in the door. "The ambulance is here," she interrupted their 'conversation.'
"You think you can walk, or should I get the stretcher?" Matt wasn't joking anymore.
'I think I can walk, but I'll need some help,' Peter typed, looking suggestively at Matt.
"Alright, alright." Matt moved over to Peter's side, helping him stand. Peter put his arm around Matt's neck for support and hopped slowly out of the med room, keeping his weight off his broken leg. 
"Wait, I'm coming, too," Lindsay called after the paramedics who were loading Peter and the gurney into the back of the ambulance. She climbed into the back with him, making room for the medic who was supposed to bandage up Peter's leg and nose. The other medic jumped into the cab, turned the key and started them on their trip to the hospital.
"Give me a pen and paper," Lindsay told the medic. He handed her a pad and the black pen from his front breast pocket. Lindsay handed the pen and pad to Peter, who had requested them. He scrawled a message on the page, then handed it back to Lindsay. It read 'Please put the back of the gurney up. My back's sore.'
Lindsay smiled and did as he had asked.
The medic was busy putting a temporary splint on Peter's leg, and had fixed his nose. There was a small white bandage at the bridge of his nose, to set his bones properly. He was still covered in dust from the wall, and the medic sneezed. "Sorry," he apologized, sniffing.
Peter, taking the pad and pen from Lindsay, wrote another message- 'Please tell me when we get to the hospital, I can have a nice long shower...'
Lindsay laughed quietly and agreed that he could, just after he got re-inspected by the doctor. The in-truck intercom crackled to life.
"We'll be arriving at the hospital in just under five minutes," the driver informed everyone in the back of the ambulance. Peter prepared to be relocated.
Matt drove up to Lindsay, who was standing in the parking lot, waiting. As soon as he stopped the truck, Lindsay opened the door and clambered into the passenger's seat beside him.
"How's he doing?" he asked about Peter.
"He's actually doing great. He said he didn't feel much pain, and let the doctor put the cast on his leg without complaining. Plus, the ambulance medic got praised for doing Peter's nose job so well," she reported. "He's staying the night so that they can monitor his condition and make sure the slash on his shoulder doesn't get infected."
"What time will we be going to pick him up?"
"I gave him my cell phone so that he could call when the doctor said he could go home."
"Alright..." Matt started the drive back to the house and the terror it held for Peter. |
