Chapter 1: Hospital

"Do not move your head!" said Nurse Jenkins. "Try to sleep," she added leaving the room.

Alex Driscoll was getting frustrated. His head did not hurt under the bandages, although it was itching. He was no longer as groggy as he had been right after the operation. He guessed the operation was a success. Only two days before, "trying to sleep" would have been easy. In fact, the opportunity to nap without anybody nagging him to do something would have been very pleasant. Now, however, he felt itchy all over. It wasn't a physical itch like his shaved hair and the stitches on his head; it was more like a combination of utter boredom and buzzing energy. Alex wondered if this is how normal people felt after drinking coffee.

A couple of years earlier his mother, exasperated by Alex's lassitude or laziness ― she wasn't sure which ― let him drink some sweetened coffee. It was not a success. Alex did not like the taste, but the caffeine did not prevent him from falling asleep on the couch five minutes later.

It was not long after that his parents finally gave up their slightly desperate assumption of excessive sloth on Alex's side, and started the long, tedious, occasionally expensive (to the parents) and painful (to Alex) quest to find the cause of his apparent narcolepsy. Alex did pretty well on various cognitive tests, but was struggling in school. His lack of energy and frequent naps meant he read little, and often fell asleep mid-page. As a result, his reading speed was abysmal, and his vocabulary wasn't very impressive either. Alex even had a hard time watching an entire show on television. At least his parent didn't complain about him watching too many cartoons. Or getting into trouble, for that matter.

From Alex's point of view, his life was pleasant enough, although school was becoming a bit of a strain. He didn't have a lot of friends, but the kids' quick assumption that he was "slow" was not amusing. His teachers were getting exasperated. He once overheard one of them talking to his mother about "a special class". That did not sound good.

Well, it felt like something changed. Alex was wide awake for several hours now, and had no desire for a nap. On the contrary, he felt like he needed to get out of bed and start running. He was getting bored out of his recently cut and resewn skull, and it was a very unfamiliar feeling. He read the label on the saline bag, and surreptitiously moved around to read the labels on the buttons, cords and monitors. Some words were unknown, but it was better to speculate about them than to count the ceiling tiles.

Finally, somebody showed up. His parents entered with a tall man in a green gown. His mother looked tired but hopeful. Alex liked it much better than the tight look he had seen on his parents before, which he eventually figured was fear.

"Hello, Alex. I am Doctor Singh" said the green-gowned man, while picking up the clipboard from the base of the bed. Alex's earlier attempts to read it had proved mostly useless. It may as well have been written in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"I have some good news for you. The operation went very well. We were able to remove the tumor, and it proved to be benign. That means there will probably not be any other pieces of the tumor growing in your head." Alex winced.

The doctor went on, now speaking to the parents: "Our tests yesterday showed excellent recovery from anesthesia and no signs of brain damage. We will do more tests today, and if there are no complications, we will release Alex in two or three days."

After a few more words of reassurance, the doctor left the room, walking quickly.

"That's great, Alex! You will be able to be home for your eighth birthday!" said his mother. "How are you feeling?"

"Very bored. Can I have a book to read?".

Both his parents were smiling. Alex guessed the operation really worked.