Where’s Home? Chapter 11: Post 1

“UMmmm…Daisy, come on, give me some grace here. I’ve been to hell and back, no pun intended, what with the Lower Peninsula being called that by Big Nob."
 

“Sure, I get it,” she said, standing next to me with hands on her hips. “I know your body and mind have experienced trauma. I’ve had plenty of years to witness people coping with it and know too well the odd symptoms exhibited. Still, I’m curious as to the association or connection that brain of yours is making between her and me.”

“Dammit all, don’t make me think about it Daisy. The only thing distracting me from all my discomfort is the thought of getting home. And, when I say all my discomfort I mean in every part of my being. I’m telling you, when I feel better I’m gonna off load a whole lot of craziness I experienced in less than a week.”

The ventilation duct spewed nasty air. Sunshine baked a big splat of bird crap on the window. Mocking me, the poop resembled the image of my first brain scan. Typically not squeamish, I gagged twice and pointed at the window.

“Get me some pajama bottoms to wear home,” I said. “I’m getting out of this cursed room while I wait to be freed.”

“Fine,” said Daisy, and walked away in a huff.

Struggling to keep my balance, I stood and used the wheeled tray to make my way to a small cabinet against the wall by the bathroom. Except for the blood-soaked pants and a sock that were cut from me, the rest of my clothes were in a clear plastic bag. Hospital ankle socks would suffice. 

Daisy returned and yelled at me.

“Sit your ass down mister! Do you want to fall and get stuck here longer? What the hell were you thinking? Never mind, don’t answer. You weren’t thinking. What was I thinking by asking you that?”

There it was again. Daisy wasn’t one to cuss and her doing so added weight to my troubled soul. I plopped into the chair so she could get the pajama bottoms on me and slip my shirt on.

“This shirt stinks of fish,” said Daisy, “but, I’m done fighting you.”

I sighed, apologized, and sniffed my shirt. The aroma coaxed a tiny smile from my lips until shame slapped it away.

“Clay caught a nice trout,” I said. “I got my limit in Brookies. Yah, but now they’re gone, just like Clay maybe, and I failed him Sweety.”

The feeling of death come calling but I was too weary to resist or challenge. Putting my hands to my head, I clutched at my hair and clenched my teeth.

“You no good bastard,” I said aloud as Nurse Macy came in.

“Me oh my, you love me that much,” she said.

“Not you Macy,” I said, eyes blood shot and forming shiny tears. “Death was who I was addressing. I feel it doing a sneak-up and wanting to take someone captive.”

“Not you Mr. Thunder. You’re doing great,” said Macy.

Daisy stared out the window and I swear she smiled.

“Am I?” I asked, “Am I doing great?”

“You’re alive.”

“I’m not so sure, Macy. Something isn’t right but I’ll be damned if I hang around while thinking about it.”

“You’re free to go, and wow, ready to go. Expect good things,” said Macy. She hugged us and left.

After all the release protocol was followed we were finally in my wife’s SUV. A bell chimed 3 times in a tower at the nearby university. Brief as it was, the morning storm had refreshed and rejuvenated everything and everyone but me. Grime from camping, a car wreck, and spiritual muck raking, clung to me inside and out. 

As we passed a sign saying thank you for visiting Marquette, I leaned my head against the vehicle’s passenger window.

“Daisy?” I asked. 

“Yes, dear.”

“I was so anxious to get home but I gotta tell ya, I’ve never felt at home anywhere. I guess, for me anyhow, no place or any place might be home.”  

 

Copyright © 2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.

Home Bound Part 2

My wife went for my snack while Macy sought a wheelchair. Evidently, as eager to be rid of me as I was to go, the nurse almost jogged back into the room.

 

“Here we are, much easier to maneuver,” she said. “Get your butt in it and I’ll take you for your ‘dose’ as you call it.”
 

“Well,” says I, “Ole ‘Jumpy’ thought I was exposed to radiation and cripes, I was, by the fringin’ machine. Now he wants me to go get exposed to more.”

Grunting and groaning, I eased myself into the wheelchair and Macy took me for a spin.

“Here’s your sandwich,” said Daisy, meeting us near the nurses’ station. “You’re headed to 3^rd floor so you’ll have time to eat. I’ll be here waiting.”

Thanking Nurse Macy for the grub, I ate quickly, got scanned, and was soon lying in the hospital bed. Tired and troubled with a vague feeling of dread, I looked at my wife in the recliner as she read an E-Book. 

“Look dear, it’s only noon and I’m as whipped as pie topping. Hope Doc Pei gets my film read quickly. Until then, I’m gonna try to nap, okay?”

“Alright Hon, go for it. Drink that water before you do. You need to hydrate.”

Being married to a nurse was bitter sweet. Then, again, marriage is. I chugged down my water, lowered the top half of the bed, and almost slept. Awareness, hopping into an elevator named consciousness, made it to 1^st floor and was headed for 2^nd when it clanked to a stop.

Piped in music, Native Flute, played softly as I pondered what to do. Stuck between being wakeful and asleep, I daydreamed of being at home with Daisy, sitting at my desk writing and completely free of stress until someone knocked on the den door of my mind. 

Opening the door and looking at dreamland, I was met by a horrifying creature, one I recognized from the vision-dream I had at the river. A big Black Bear with a Raven’s head wore a doctor’s white waist coat and stood there holding a folder.

“Sacrifice him,” said the beast.

 I shouted in response, “Who, why?!”

“Wake up,” someone said, so I did, gladly.

My wife, her hand on my shoulder, looked at me more amused than concerned. Dr. Jum Pei looked around her to me. 

“Who and why, what?” Daisy asked. “The doctor is here with your results.”

“Never mind my words Gal,” I said, still groggy. “Well doctor, can I leave today?”

Stepping up next to me, the neurologist patted my chart as if to assure it and me.

“Normal, completely normal Mr. Thunder. Maybe the film from your first scan was defective. Your Dandelion of light has taken to the wind it seems,” he concluded with a toothy grin.

“But can I get the hell outta here today?” I asked. It was my turn to wave humor away.

“Yes, yes, of course,” said the doctor. “I’ll give my approval to Dr. Radantmann.”

Turning to Daisy who had sat down, the small-bodied shaman from elsewhere on the globe gave her parting words.

“Very mystifying, your husband’s recovery rate. Are you a praying woman per chance?”

“In a way, yes, I am doctor,” said Daisy.

“Keep it up,” said Dr. Jumpy as he left the room.

“Yes!” I said. “I’m out of here, Sweety.”

“Which is it, Sweety or Gal?” asked Daisy.

“Oh no. What the hell?” I thought. 

Copyright © 2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.

Home Bound Part One

Nurse Macy entered the room and I flinched.

“Your wife is on the way with your urinal. Would you like me or her to help you with it?” she asked.

“Not you!” I fired back.

“Good choice Mr. Thunder. I’m checking your numbers and will most likely remove your I.V. And, Dr. Jum Pei has you down for another round of brain x-rays. After you’ve emptied your bladder we’ll take you for that. If all goes well, you might even be released before tonight. You are doing very well.”

“I hope so. No offense, I want out of here, the sooner the better. I hate hospitals,” I said.

Macy finished her check up as Daisy came back. 

Stubborn and getting ornery, I insisted on standing so I could piss in the jug, alone. My leg, ten pounds heavier because of the cast that came up to my knee, wasted no time in making its agony known.

Putting most of my weight on my left foot, I leaned against the bed and peed in the jug.

Flash, BAM, BOOM, boom, boom. Lightening struck nearby and the scare of it made me jerk so hard that my aim went off. I piddled on the floor like an anxious dog. On the other side of the privacy curtain, Daisy and Macy giggled.

“Ah, Mr. Thunder, your namesake got the best of you and when you’re done marking your territory, we’ll get your scan done,” said Nurse Macy.

“Dammit all. Leave me alone to my task or you’ll see how thunderous I can be.”

I shivered while struggling with my balance and mobility, and not from voiding my bladder. Something ominous, the spiritual equivalent of a wood tick, had attached itself to me since going downstate. It alternated feeding on my essence and projectile vomited venom back into me.

No, based on how full and heavy it was feeling, I think it found me much earlier, childhood maybe. Venom, the word reminded me of the conversation with Thorny at the river. He started out talking about bee venom used for healing but went on to say I had pain that had turned poisonous. Yes, I recalled, and the exchange ended with Clay catching that big trout.

 “Here,” I said. “Hon, take my jug will you?” 

Straddling my piss pool, Daisy pulled the curtain open and took my pee. The storm outside moved on quickly while the one forming within me built up pressure.

“My gosh,” she said, “I’ve taken your crap all these years and now this.”

Macy clucked her tongue and shook her head with a knowing-nurse smile.

Surly, I voiced my wishes adamantly. “Nurse, get me down to the photo lab so I get my brain dosed with radiation and get the hell out of here.”

Intervening, Daisy jumped in with, “It isn’t personal Macy. Painkillers mess with his mood, that and the fact he needs some protein.”

“Don’t make excuses for me dear,” I said, “I can feel any damned way I want without explanation.”

Nurse Macy finished cleaning up the floor and tried to assure me.

“Mr. Thunder, I owe you for the pain I caused earlier with that catheter. I’ll push for getting you a speedy release for home. Mrs. Thunder, go the break room refrigerator. I have a sack lunch with my name on it. Bring that tuna sandwich for your husband to hold him over.”

Copyright © 2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.

Setting the Stage

“Okay then,” said the officer, “doesn’t appear the kid did anything wrong, although…hmm, I found it odd he was carrying fishing gear when there’s no streams or places to fish in that area. Oh well, very glad you are doing so good Mr. Thunder. I’m running late.”

 

Officer Medetcher handed my wife a card, gave her instructions for retrieving my other belongings from the mangled car, and left.

Jay…Jay, his appearance and the fact he knew Aura and Jovee, wrung out my mind like a rag as it tried making sense of the connection. Apparitions don’t make verifiable phone calls and talk with personas, ones that left their host, Clay. I felt a clammy sweat oozing from every cell of my being.

“Eat those bran muffins I brought you,” said Daisy, “and get some coffee in your system before you have withdrawals. Those headaches are miserable.”

Years of marital conditioning took over and I did as told. My brain’s processor kept working on Jay’s full name as I chewed on a grainy muffin. Daisy stood and opened the curtains. What initially looked to be a clear day had given way to menacing storm clouds much like those gathering in my spirit.

The hospital’s ventilation system kicked in and the telltale odor of disinfectant, topical treatments, and illness made its way to my nose.

“I hate hospitals,” I said with a mouthful of crumbs that sprayed forth like a shotgun blast. “They smell of suffering, death and sorrow. No offense Sweety.”

“I know, I know. You’ve said that for years and what do I always say?”

“Ah, let’s see, I know this. Yes, you always say that a good nurse would tell me many accounts of people rejoicing and getting healed as well. Oh, and that you are a good nurse so you should know.”

I drank some coffee, grateful for its friendship and familiarity, and choked on it when I remembered Jay’s name.

“Still…cough, cough, Water, cough, cough, cough. Jay Still Water is the boy’s name Daisy,” I croaked.

“Well good for you that you remembered,” she said. “Now you won’t be obsessing on it till Juvember.” 

“Yes, but doesn’t that sound familiar?” I asked. “And he looked like someone; I mean reminded me of someone I thought I knew. Who though?” 

“Oh for Hokey Pete’s sake dear, now you’ll obsess on that until you get it or stop trying. Give it all a rest and let yourself get well.”

“Speaking of getting well, tell me more about Clay. You said he’s failing fast.”

“No,” said Daisy, “I said he’s fading fast and there’s a difference.”

“Hunh, how so? What’s up with you Daisy? You’re acting peculiar, edgy like.”

Flustered, my wife peeked in the empty cafeteria bag.

“Was that muffin enough to hold you until lunch? Let’s see, you still have a few hours,” she said, obviously sidestepping my question.

The sound of growling thunder pushed its way through the window’s glass. The changing weather changed the pain in my leg from nagging to surges of sharp jabbing.

Complaining, I said, “Yeowch, my turn to be a human barometer. That’s what I get for teasing others about forecasting storms with their healed broken bones.”

“You want a shot?” asked Daisy.

“No, I’ll be okay. What I want is for you answer me about Clay and stop being an odd ball.”

The bags of fluid draining into me and the coffee I drank made its way to my bladder and I made Daisy aware. Meaning well, a healer in her own right and loving to nurture, she wanted the best for me, yes, wanted me to give the same attention to myself as to my brother. Leaving to search for a pee jug, she was happy to be off the hook and hoped I’d let the subject of Clay go.

“You better hurry Gal,” I said as she walked away. “That catheter messed up my control I think.”

“I just called my wife Gal and she didn’t blink. What the hell?” I asked myself.

Copyright © 2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.