Page 6 of Ghost
Again, Mason opened first one eye and then waited before opening the other.The pounding was still there but not quite as bad as before.“Hurts.”
“Yes, I’m sure it does.”
Suddenly there was a finger holding his right eye open and a bright light was flashed across his eye.
“Son-of-a-bitch!”Mason tried to swat the offending light away.
“Please, Mr.Montgomery, hold still for me.”
Then the light went away, and the finger moved to his other eye to repeat the process.
“You know that fucking hurts, right?”Mason tried to move his head away but realized too late that had been a bad idea.The room started spinning again.“I’m going to be sick.”
His upper body convulsed, and he could taste the bile burning his throat, but nothing else came up.“Water.”
A straw was suddenly between his lips offering cool water.“Just a sip or two at a time,” came a soft voice.The voice of a woman.
“I’d like to keep him overnight so we can observe him—”
“No, I’m not staying in some hospital.I don’t have insurance and I can’t afford it.”Mason opened his eyes fully, the pounding in his head coming back full force, but he forced his eyes to remain open.A few seconds later the jackhammer lessened, and the room stopped spinning.
“Mr.Montgomery, you sustained quite a significant head injury and I feel it is very unwise—”
“I’m not staying and that’s my final word.”Mason tentatively sat up.He saw Mitch standing to one side smirking.“Shut up wise-ass and take me home.”
Once they were both in the truck, Mitch burst out laughing.“I knew the minute they said they wanted to keep you that you’d get up and walk out.”
Mason turned his head slowly.He’d figured out that quick movements made the world tilt and his stomach heave.“Yeah, and you’d have done the exact same thing.”
“Yup,” Mitch said.“I’m gonna swing by that grocery store I saw on the way into town and pick up a few things.”He glanced over to Mason.“I’m thinking tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.That okay?”
Mason smiled.“Perfect.”Then he frowned.“I doubt I’d be able to hold down anything else.Not even sure about the sandwich at the moment.
“The doc said you’d experience dizziness and nausea for a few days.”Mitch stopped at a red light and looked over at Mason again.“You do still look a little green around the gills, but nothing like you were.”
Mason took a deep breath and let it out.“Just some fresh air helps.I don’t know what they do in hospitals that make them stink so badly.Just smells like sick, disinfectant and...well, shit, to be quite honest.”
Mitch laughed.“That it does, buddy, that it does.”
When they arrived at the apartment, Mitch helped Mason to the small sofa and then went back to get the few items that he’d picked up at the store.He got Mason a cold Coke and started to heat up the can of soup on the tiny, apartment-sized stove.
“I think that the Braves are playing tonight,” Mason said as he picked up the remote control for the small TV.
“Who they playin’?”Mitch looked over his shoulder.“Want me to hold up on the grilled cheese?”
“I think the Pirates, and yeah, no grilled cheese for me.”Mason scrolled through the channels looking for the baseball game.“Go ahead and have a sandwich, I don’t mind.”
Mitch chuckled.“I was going to anyway.Oh, I also got some of those little mustard pretzels you like.Thought they’d go good with the soup and just something to munch on.”
“Perfect.”Mason moaned and closed his eyes.
“You okay there?”
“Yeah.The room decided to go on a little dosey-doe on me for a second there.”
Mitch handed him a bowl half full of soup.“There’s more but why don’t we see how you deal with this first.
Mason nodded and took a small sip of his canned Coke.The carbonated drink felt good going down and seemed to settle his stomach a bit.
