Chapter 1

Tuesday - June 7th, 2005

I awoke to the sound of my own moans of pain. "Damn! This hurts!" My head felt like it was about to explode and it seemed that every cell in my body was in agony! Slowly I gathered myself together and made a concerted effort to get back on my feet. It took me a minute or two to figure where the hell I was and where I wanted to get to. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what had made me pass out or why I fell like a hundred and sixty pounds of crap.

"What the hell bug have I caught now?" I wondered as I struggled to make my legs carry me the last hundred feet or so back to my campsite. Wearily I pulled myself into the tent and collapsed on top of the sleeping bag too exhausted to do anything else.

It was the very beginning of the summer and finally I was getting a chance to take a vacation from the grueling class load I'd been under, I had packed up my camping gear and driven from Arizona to Montana to enjoy some time camping in Glacier National Park. I am a single thirty-six year old professor of economics and every summer, since I've been teaching at ASU, I'd spend four weeks in some fantastic outdoor setting just enjoying the beauty and solitude of nature. I didn't suppose that my job was the most stressful by any stretch, but even so after a school year's worth of lectures and grading papers I felt a break was in order. Sometimes I wished I had someone to share my vacations with - but unless they really liked to rough it a bit they probably wouldn't enjoy it anyway.

Wednesday - June 8th, 2005

"Damn! It's morning already? How long was I sleeping?" I muttered to myself as I crawled out of the tent and stretched my arms high above my head.

I felt surprisingly stiff and sore and wondered why. Figuring things out would have to wait until I took care of the rather urgent need to go to the bathroom. Once that most pressing need had been addressed I experienced an incredible thirst for water. I drank almost a half a gallon before my thirst was satisfied and then only temporarily.

"Must be some kind of flu bug I managed to get," I thought to myself. "That's the only kind of thing I can think of to account for these symptoms: tired, stiff, sore, and somewhat dehydrated. What if it's something else though? Where the hell did all that pain come from? Flu's never done that to me before. Damn it! I'd better see a doctor."

As much as I hated to do it, I decided to cut my vacation short. I just had no energy to speak of. Instead of packing up everything neat and tidy, I just tossed my camping gear into the back of my pickup truck and lowered the hard cover back down over the mess I'd made.

I ate a few granola bars and drank even more water as I drove along the park roads until I reached the west exit, then down highway 2 until I reached 93. I made the occasional pit stop for gas, restroom, and food. About three and a half hours later I reached Missoula and discovered that I was just wiped out again. I pulled into the Motel 6, checked in and got my key, found my room and crashed on the bed.

It was after dark before I woke up again. After I had used the bathroom, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. "Man I look like shit! Why am I so tired?" I said to the face looking back at me from the mirror.