Chapter 28

Feeling like the whole world was his oyster, Oscar walked across the road towards the school. He felt great. After spending a nice quiet night with Georgia, he had a very pleasurable morning romp with her. It was a rare occasion when he had a chance to spend the night with Georgia alone. He spent many more nights alone with Debbie than with Georgia. He didn’t begrudge a single night alone with Debbie, but it was great to spend the night with Georgia.

It was a glorious day and that just added to his pleasure. The sky was brilliant blue and the grass was green giving a feast to his eyes. The wind blowing through the trees was music to his ears. His instructor had run away and he didn’t have any classes. He didn’t think it could get any better.

Taking his time, he sauntered beside the road. Occasionally, he would stop to pick up a pebble and toss it down the road trying to skip it on the hard surface. He found one small flat stone that bounced a dozen times before skittering along the asphalt. Raising a first to the sky, he laughed and shouted, “He scores a dozen hops!”

Cupping his hands over his mouth, he made a slight roaring sound as if a crowd was applauding his effort. Removing his hands, he said, “The crowd goes wild.”

Laughing at his behavior, he resumed walking along the road. He might have felt embarrassed if anyone had been around to observe his behavior, but he doubted it. Sometimes it was just right to act like a kid again. After all, he was only twenty-four. Too many of the past years had been spent acting much older than his age.

Upon reaching the road to the college, his vision blurred. He blinked his eyes wondering what the matter with them was. Suddenly, he was seeing double. He froze as a wave of dizziness washed over him and bent over so that his hands were resting on his knees. He took a deep breath in the hope that his vision would clear up, but it only got worse. It seemed to him as if he were seeing two images of the world.

Stomach feeling queasy, he took another deep breath to calm his stomach. His balance started to leave him and he knelt on the ground to keep from falling on his face. After thirty seconds on his knees he had to lean forward to support himself with his hands. It didn’t help.

His stomach reacted to the twinned vision. Queasiness transitioned to a full boil. He lost his breakfast barely able to keep from drowning in his own vomit. Every movement seemed to aggravate his condition. Confused, he closed his eyes hoping that it would block out the twinned vision. The sounds of birds chirping echoed in his ears.

He opened his eyes to find that he was still seeing double. Curling into a fetal position, he closed his eyes. A whimper escaped from his lips. Time passed, but he was unable to judge the passage of time.

A large black bear nudged Oscar and then roared. Sid, hearing the roar, came rushing out of the woods and raced over to where his bear, Fluffy the third, was standing over the body roaring. Kneeling beside Oscar, Sid said, “I’m going to have to get him to the school. Go to the front door and get some attention.”

Picking up Oscar, Sid cradled him in his arms rather than adopt a fireman carry. At least the young man was small; much larger and Sid knew that he would have a difficult time carrying him to the front door of the school. He followed behind the figure of the bear running to the door of the school.

Reaching the front door, Fluffy turned sidewise and threw himself into the door. The glass shattered and fell to the ground. The bear walked through the door and roared. The sound of glass breaking and the roar attracted plenty of attention. Unable to help himself, Sid smiled and, between deep breaths, said, “There’s nothing subtle about that bear.”

A crowd of people rushed to find out what happened. The handful of students who had been in the administration building froze on seeing the bear standing among the shattered glass while roaring. The Druids, familiar with Fluffy, rushed past him fearing that something was the matter with Sid. The sight of Sid staggering up to the building carrying Oscar was a relief tinged with fear. Most of them immediately assumed that Oscar had been hit by a car while crossing the road.

Bill Turner, a very large man, was among the first to reach Sid. He took control of Oscar; lifting him with great ease out of the smaller man’s arms. Carrying him like a baby, he rushed towards the college.

Word had reached Laura in the infirmary that a student had been injured and she was rushing around to prepare for a patient. Bill Turner arrived at the infirmary and, breathing normally, asked, “Where should I put him?”

“On the examination table,” Laura answered patting the table beside her. It was only after Bill had put Oscar on the table that she could see who it was. Concerned, she asked, “What happened?”

Breathless, Sid arrived in time to hear the question and answered, “I don’t know. I found him by the road curled into a fetal position. It was obvious he had thrown up.”

It was easy to see that he was breathing normally. The red robe made it difficult, but she could see that he wasn’t bleeding. His skin was pale and he was sweating. She lifted his lids and checked his eyes. They were dilated, but turned to pinpoints almost before she shined a light at them. She removed the light and his eyes were dilated again. The reaction time seemed very fast, but both eyes seemed to be tracking together and reacting properly to the light. She eliminated a head injury after feeling around the back of his head.

Whipping out a pair of scissors, Laura cut off his robe so that she could examine his body for broken bones and bruising. Running her hands over his body, he groaned and opened his eyes. Twin visions of Laura moving started to make him to his stomach. Feeling as if he were about to throw up again, he said, “I feel sick.”

“Were you hit by a car?”

“No. I feel sick,” Oscar answered with another groan. He closed his eyes to block out the double vision. Her voice grated with an unnatural echo. It was very difficult to understand a single word that she said. All that he could really make out clearly were the words, ‘were’ and ‘car.’ He put his hands over his stomach and curled into a tight ball.

Watching the unusual reaction, Laura said, “Tell me what happened.”

“Just started seeing double,” Oscar answered. His voice was slurred and he had started to answer even before she finished talking.

Confused by the symptoms, she went to check his eyes again wondering if she had missed anything. After a shudder went through his body, he suddenly shook his head and then cautiously opened his eyes. His vision was normal once again. He swallowed heavily and then took a deep breath. Uncurling, he sighed in relief. His skin returned to its normal healthy hue. Looking over at Laura, he said, “It just cleared up.”

“What happened?”

Oscar described what had happened to him while walking by the road. Laura listened carefully, but couldn’t identify what could have caused his symptoms. It sounded like a stroke, but that wouldn’t have cleared up almost instantaneously. Just in case, she would send him to the hospital for a cat scan. If there was something unusual they would be able to spot it there.

She frowned when another possibility came to mind. Shaking her head, she went over to the cabinet. Once there, she pulled out a vial to take a blood sample. Returning to him, she said, “I want to take some blood.”

“Why?”

“It’s possible that you were drugged.”

“Drugged?” Oscar asked while she prepared his arm to take a blood sample.

“Yes,” she answered. It was possible that he was attacked and was unaware of it. This wouldn’t be the first time that someone employed a contact drug to get a Druid into a position where they would be an easy target.

“No. I don’t use drugs,” Oscar said. “Of course, you know that.”

She inserted the needle and glanced up at his face. He had his eyes squeezed shut and was facing away. Looking back down at the vial, she asked, “What’s the matter? You don’t like having blood drawn?”

“I hate getting shots,” he answered.

“The tough guy is really a baby. I’ve even heard that you are the most dangerous man in the world,” Laura said in a teasing voice.

“Really? I didn’t know that,” Oscar said wondering who was saying that he was the most dangerous man in the world.

“I’m going to send you to the hospital for a CAT scan,” she said while removing the needle from his arm. There was a remote possibility that he had a tumor although an ear infection would have been a more likely option. Of course, the fact that he was a Druid made both possibilities equally remote.

“I thought you said that I was drugged,” Oscar said.

“I’m not sure what it was. I don’t want to take any chances,” Laura replied.

All further discussion was cut off with the arrival of Georgia and Debbie. Georgia had heard a rumor that he had been struck by a car while crossing the road. She felt guilty for having him spend the night and, by extension, putting him in the position where he would have to cross the road. It didn’t matter that she had to do that every morning. Rushing over to him, Georgia asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, now.”

The red head was particularly upset and nearly pulled Oscar off the table in an attempt to hug him. Laura had to hold the red head back before she hurt Oscar by dragging him off the table. Laura said, “Calm down. He appears to be okay.”

Debbie slipped out of Laura’s hands and hugged Oscar. Tears running down her cheeks, she said, “Don’t you dare scare us like that again.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Oscar said with a puzzled grin while hugging her back. He was wondering if they thought he had done that on purpose.

Georgia asked, “What kind of car hit you?”

“I wasn’t hit by a car,” Oscar said.

“What happened?” Debbie asked finally releasing her hug. Oscar didn’t have much of a chance to catch his breath since Georgia stepped in to hug him.