Chapter 43

When I woke up, it was with a terrible thirst. There was a terribly annoying beeping sound, that wouldn't go away. I knew I was in a hospital room because of all the tubes and handing bags. What I didn't know was what day it was. There was nothing to give me a clue. I could have been in there one day, or a month. My head was covered in bandages, so I could even tell from the amount of hair on my head.

Finally someone came about the beeping sound. "So you are awake, how do you feel?" the nurse asked. She was young and very black.

"I feel fine, can I have some water please?" I asked.

"How about I wet a cloth and you can suck it," she said.

"Why not? they tell me I suck pretty well," I said. She just smiled.

"How long have I been here," I really wanted to know what was wrong with me, but I figured she would tell me that. So I went with a question she might answer.

"You came in yesterday morning. You been asleep ever since," she said.

"What time of day is it," I asked.

She looked at her watch and said, "It's two in the afternoon. Your mama is outside. She would like to see you."

"I think, I need to see a doctor first," I suggested.

"Yes, I guess so," the little nurse said.

I fell back asleep just as soon as she left. When I awoke again, it was dark. I figured there was nothing I could do in the middle of the night, so I fell back asleep.

They actually woke me with a tray at breakfast time. I didn't mind, since I was hungry. It was a good breakfast for a hospital kitchen to have put out.

A short time later the doctor came in. "So how you," he asked.

"I think, I should be asking you that," I said.

"Okay, I'll rephrase it, How are you feeling," he asked.

"I don't feel much of anything. I have a little pain when I move my head, but nothing I can't handle." I said.

"Well you have a little help handling it. We will try reducing the dosage. If you need it increased just ask," he said.

"Fine, now how about an assessment of the damages," I said.

"Well they tell me that the broken ribs are from the impact of some 9mm slugs that you took to your vest. Three of them as a matter of fact," he said.

"That guy must have been a better shot them me," I said.

"You some how got some scraped to your scalp, but they are superficial. The major damage came from a slug that went into the fleshy part of your neck. It didn't hit anything too vital. Taken together with the broken ribs, you are going to be in some pain, I am afraid. If it hadn't been for a shop owner calling for an ambulance, you might have bled out," the doc said.

"If I had run at my usual time, there would have been no shops open," I said.

"Then you caught a break from that little change. Tell me, do you always wear a vest and carry a gun when you run?" he asked.

"Sure, I consider it my handicap," I said. It was a lie, I never carried more than a box opener in case someone grabbed me.

"Well, I think I want to run with you," he said. "So you ready for visitors."

"Do I have to? I really want to go home. So tell me which hoops I need to jump through?" I asked.

"You need a little more time for us to be sure that neck isn't going to be a problem. Trust me I want you out of here as much as you want to be. We can do without that SBI agent on the door," he said.

"Hell bring me my pistol and you can let him go," I said it with a smile.

I think we will keep him. You never know what a drugged up woman with a gun will do," the doctor said as started to leave. "You can have visitors."

"Gee thanks," I said to the door as it closed behind him.

It started with my mother, who came and felt like she had to be all upbeat. She acted as though it was just a minor misunderstanding. One that got a little out of hand. She didn't even mention that I might have been killed. I'm not even sure it occurred to her.

"So mom, just go on back home I'm fine. I know you have been here a while and I'm fine. If anything comes up they will call you," I said to her. The anything I meant was if I took a turn for the worse and died, It was the only way that I would let them call her again.

She finally left with the promise, "I'll be back if you need anything at all," She meant it to, she was real good with things, Just not so good with people, I knew that and I thanked her for it.

"We need to talk," Simpson said as he walked in.

"Don't tell me you are breaking up with me, while I'm in the hospital." I replied.

"Very funny, lets go over what happened. You tell me what you remember and I'll tell you what I know," he suggested.

"Okay, first of all I run everyday and I run the same place everyday. I think everyone in town knows that," I explained.

"I didn't know that," Simpson said. "Go on."

"The car came speeding into the parking lot and two men got out. I saw their guns so I went to one knee, to make me a smaller target. We started shooting. It sounded like a squad of Taliban for a couple of seconds. Then it was over. They jumped back in the car and left. I think they hit a car on the way out of the parking lot. To be honest that is where I went to sleep."

"Where you expecting trouble, when you left the motel?" he asked.