Chapter 1: The Accident

Waking with a splitting headache is not good at anytime but not knowing where you are with disjointed images is...

Then much later; laying there knowing that to open my eyes was going to cause major pain, I perceived I was in a hospital room which was strange enough but to be able to make out details of the room with my eyes closed? Impossible, or so I thought!

Never having had a headache this bad before, nor being able to recall the reason for having this one, I lay there quietly praying it would let up. This was really weird; maybe I am just dreaming I thought as I watched the door open and a nurse came in and approached my bed. Trying to open my eyes the brightness of the room caused me excruciating pain and I moved my hand toward my face to cover my eyes only to find that the left arm was restrained.

Mentally cursing, "Damm! The light is bright!" I managed to cover my eyes with my right arm. The nurse moved quickly to close the window shades without being asked then asked me. "Is that better?"

I nodded and tried to speak but only a croak came out. The nurse smiled and said "You have been asleep for several days and a doctor will be in directly to see how you're doing." I nodded my head and winced at the pain; I remember thinking to myself; "This must be the mother of all headaches!" The nurse remarked "I am sure the doctor will give you something for your headache when he gets here!" This is strange; it's like she is reading my mind and providing answers for my unasked questions. Maybe she has handled many cases like this and is just anticipating my questions.

It all started to come rushing back; I had arrived at the Lab Tuesday morning and Dr. Tom Mason announced that he thought we had a breakthrough in developing a new medicine in the fight against Slzheimer's disease. That set us to working 24 hours a day to prepare for further testing. Two days later, on Thursday morning, I had just walked into the isolation lab when a small bright explosion took place in the rear of the lab. It took me a second to react and I tried to leave the lab but the door had locked in accordance with our emergency protocols.

I remember seeing Dr. Tom Mason and another lab technician grabbing at their heads and falling down as a pinkish gray cloud drifting my way so, moving to the left of the door; I punched the emergency button for exhaust fans just before the cloud reached me. I remember screaming due to the pain in my head. Then everything went dark until a few minutes ago when the nurse came into my room and opened the blinds.

The doctor came in and introduced himself as Dr. Grotten; he had a foreign accent to go with his name. He said that he was scared to give me anything but a very mild painkiller due to the fact they did not know what I had inhaled and what effect if any it would have on me. I was informed that I had been in a coma for 22 days and an EEG test had shown extreme mental activity during this time, which was very unusual. I started to ask him what he meant when all of a sudden the answers to my questions appeared in my mind.

The bottom line was it appeared like I had been awake and concentrating on a difficult problem but showed no signs of physical activity, no involuntary twitching or anything else just brain activity.

After I asked for something to eat and drink Dr. Grotten stated "You can have all the water you want but it has to be monitored. I will arrange for a liquid diet for at least the rest of today and maybe tomorrow." I mentally said "No, not tomorrow, I want poached eggs for breakfast!" and he made the desired notations say that if I had no trouble between now and then it was fine for me to have poached eggs in the morning. The nurse just nodded her head in agreement.

After they left the room, I contemplated what had happened. I had read many stories about Mind Control and about problems that the individual had in dealing with it. I was convinced they were just stories and figments of somebody's overactive imagination. Realizing like the characters in the stories, to tell somebody about my capabilities would end with me in the psyche ward or worse in some government project. With these unsettling thoughts I drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

A short time later I saw / dreamt the nurse entering and leave me a glass and pitcher of what I assumed was water but I didn't wake up and she did not bother me. At 5:36 PM (Somehow I can tell time to the minute now) I woke up and greeted another nurse bringing me my dinner. She informed me that they would be back in about an hour to remove my catheter.

Dinner consisted of broth, Jell-O and apple juice. Talk about bland; they even left the salt out of the broth. Drinking every bit of my dinner and a glass of water also, I was just trying to turn the TV on when a doctor and two nurses came in. First they checked that I had eaten everything then they removed the IV and the catheter.

If you thought they would be satisfied with that little bit of torture! Wrong! They then took two vials of blood; my blood pressure and I had to blow into a machine of some sort to measure my lung capacity. Next they wanted me to stand and try to walk to the wall and back.

Reaching the wall I was shaking a bit; I asked them to change the sheets. The nurse said it would be done tomorrow morning. I mentally said, "Please do it now! They are dirty!" The intern turned to one nurse and asked her to do it and then stepped forward and asked if I would like to sit down for a minute. Personally at that point it sounded like a really good idea and I just barely made it to the chair before collapsing.

Once seated the other nurse plugged the TV in and handed me the remote giving me simple instructions on how to use it. They only had five channels, if I wanted to order the additional channels it could be done during business hours tomorrow. Once the bed was made they allowed me to stay in the chair at my request saying they would be back to check on me around eight with medication anyway.

I flipped through the five available TV channels, one turned out to be Spanish and one the local PBS channel and the three major channels ABC, NBC and CBS. I selected the documentary on the PSB channel before drifting off to sleep.

At 8:02 the Intern and nurse arrived and I was able to move from the chair to my bed without any help. The intern was broadcasting how good that was and stated, "It looks like you are going to make a fast recovery!"

The bright spot of the day was at 7:12 AM when my breakfast arrived. I forgot about ensuring something beside liquids for lunch but corrected that problem and had a small overly cooked piece of chicken for dinner. Losing count of the number of tests given to me during the day, I was informed that there were two more tests tomorrow, to look forward to. Being tested all day or at least waiting to be tested; I had missed being able to order the other channels on the TV.

The surprise of the day was when Virginia Faircott from work showed up for a visit in the evening. When questioned on how she knew I was awake she said that she called once a day to check on me before going home. Also I saw from her thoughts that she had been coming in every third day to personally check on me. I thanked her for her concern and told her that I appreciated more than she would ever know.

I noticed sadness about her and asked her how it was going at work and she confirmed for me that the Lab Tech and Dr. Tom Mason had both been declared dead at the Lab after the accident. The reason for the accident was still under investigation. They now knew the vapors were from the new formula, which were given off when the formula was boiled. They are very toxic causing almost instantaneous death. No one can figure out how the formula had been heated further; there was no equipment set out capable of doing it. I asked her to check and see what would happen if the medicine was hit with an electrical charge. Virginia said she would pass on my request to the authorities in the lab.

Virginia actually worked in personnel and I asked her what my job status was. She hemmed and hawed about for a second so I mentally asked her for all the information regarding my employment. The Lab had put me on a medical leave of absence without pay the day after the accident. The lab had been picking up the cost of the hospital and medical bills.

While Virginia imparted this news to me verbally there was time for it to make me a little angry! I told Virginia "Look I have two months of sick leave on the books as well as 45 days of vacation and that I expected to paid for it all by this time tomorrow or I would be seeking the advice of an attorney."

Virginia was not happy with my announcement and asked "George please think it over, at least this way you can get your old job back and I can arrange for you to receive sick pay starting now!"

"Virginia, I only wanted to see you in the future as my friend not as an employee of the Lab! Then I continued," The stopping of my paycheck could affect several accounts which are paid automatically each month. The Lab had no business stopping my pay while I had time on the books; they could have at least waited a while before putting me out to pasture to save a couple of dollars. As for my medical bills that falls under Workman Comp and I'm sure the Lab has insurance. Have the Lab send or deliver my final check to me tomorrow by the close of business!"