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I SAT UP on the bed abruptly, laughing It had only been a dreaht, how real a drea was blurred as I looked around I couldn’t see beyond ten feet

The roo Fifteen feet by twelve The drapes were beige with brown and orange stripes I saw a color television set hung near the ceiling To e-red upholstery like leather, are-red

Now I knehy things looked blurred The rooh; I found that odd Not sed ed I was not dis I was still alive transcended such concern

First things first, I thought I had to find Ann and tell her I was all right, end her suffering I dropped ht side of the mattress and stood The bedside table was e, a top as in our kitchen Spell F-o-r-m-i-c-a I saw an alcove with a sink The faucets looked like golf-club heads, you know? There was aabove the sink My vision was so blurred I couldn’t seecloser to the sink, then had to stop A nurse was co in She walked directly toward asped and hurried toward the bed I turned A ray He was heavily bandaged, an array of plastic tubes attached to him

I turned back in surprise as the nurse ran fro

I moved in closer on the man and saw that he was probably dead How coh? What kind of hospital would put two patients in the sae I leaned in close to look at him His face was just like mine I shook my head That was i band exactly like the one I wore How could that be?

I began to feel an aching coldness in my stomach I tried to draw the sheet back from his body but I couldn’t So until I saw h the sheet, then pulled my hand back, sickened No, it isn’t me, I told myself How could it be when I was still alive? My body even hurt Proof positive of life

I whirled as a pair of doctors rushed into the rooan to blow his breath into the hp-- spell H-y-p-o-dermic; yes I watched him shove the needle end into thesome machine on wheels One of the doctors pressed the ends of two thick, ainst the man’s bare chest and he twitched Now I knew that there was no relationship between the

Their efforts were in vain The rieved Which made me think of Ann and the children I had to find and reassure them Especially Ann; I kne terrified she was My poor, sweet Ann

I turned and walked toward the doorway On ht switch and a button with a red bulb next to it, the word Eency printed beneath the bulb

I walked into the hall and recognized it Yes, of course The card in my wallet said to take me there in case of accident The Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills

I stopped and tried to work things out There’d been an accident, they’d brought me here Why wasn’t I in bed then? But I had been in bed The same one the dead man was in The man who looked like me There had to be an explanation for all this I couldn’t find it though I couldn’t think with clarity

The answer finally ca else I had to accept it; for theoninsideelse ht Despite the distress of as taking place, I had to s conscious of it, couldn’t I control it? Right, I thought I’d do exactly what I chose And what I chose to do was finddown the hall toward me Deliberately, I tried to stop hih his shoulder NeverAny foolish thing could happen in a drea down the hall I passed a roo: NO SMOKING-- OXYGEN IN USE Unusual dreaht, I’d never been able to read in dreaether when

I tried This was co which continued

It’s not exactly a drea under anesthesia isn’t like being asleep I nodded in agree Ann would be in the waiting roo her I felt her suffering as though it were my own

I passed the nurses’ station and heard the I made no atteo along with that; accept the rules All right, it’s not a dream persay--per s-e--but it was easier to think of it as one A drea Dreaown I glanced down atwhen the accident occurred Where’s the blood? I wondered I recalled an instant vision of

I felt a sense of eggs--no! Sorry for the impatience E-x-u-1-t-a-t-i-o-n Why? Because I’d reasoned so out despite the dullness of my mind I couldn’t possibly be that ed, fed by tubes I was dressed, unbandaged, mobile Total difference

Ame I expected him to pass me Instead, to my surprise, he put his hand on my shoulder and stopped er on my flesh

"Do you knohat’s happened yet?" he asked

"Happened?"

"Yes" He nodded "You’ve died" I looked at hiust "That’s absurd," I said

"It’s true"

"If I were dead, I wouldn’t have a brain," I told him, "I couldn’t talk to you"