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Accident Thati came to him Had he fallen? Had he been struck in the head by a bullet or a stone? Here, he was on his back Before here was blank

"Do you re off the road?"

Nope He wanted to shake his head so she’d know he heard her, but he couldn’t ot it He knew there’d been an accident, but he couldn’t iine his relationship to it He was alive He supposed he’d been hurt and he wondered how badly His brain must still function even if his body was temporarilyor perhaps permanentlyout of co to take her word for it, but the idea was odd

"Do you knohat day this is?"

Clueless He couldn’t even remember the last day he reot back froone I unloaded the suitcases and I was letting the kids watch a few minutes of TV when a police car pulled into the drive There was a wreck on the pass Your car was totaled It’s a wonder you’re not dead"

He closed his eyes He had no recollection whatsoever He had no idea why he’d been on the 154 and no memory of a collision Fro black hole, a blank wall that separated this currentthe bank on Thursday, but the door had sla after that

A doctor appeared, a neurologist nanized fronitive functions and ran hih a series of tests Walker knew his own naan was president of the United States, even if he hadn’t voted for the hts, a task he wasn’t sure he could ed and solemn, and while Walker could see hisreassurances about his condition, he was too tired to care

The next time he opened his eyes he was in a private roo in the hall He consulted his body; his right elbow ached and his chest felt compressed where they’d apparently taped his ribs He touched the right side of his head and felt a painful knot He probably had minor injuries he wasn’t aware of yet He could sreen beans with a e, reminiscent of the canned variety of his youth The clatter outside the door suggested a meal cart with food trays

A nurse’s aide ca for a response, she lowered the rail on one side, cranked up his bed, and placed a tray on his rolling bed table, which she pushed within range There was a carton of orange juice and a small container of cherry Jell-O sealed with an elasticized plastic cover like a little shower cap "What’s today? Sunday?"

"Monday," she said "You were ado, so youin?"

"Isthe children and she had to put the Are you in pain?"

He shook his head in the negative, stirring the headache he hadn’t been aware of "I don’t understand what happened"

"Dr Barrigan can explain everything when he gets here He has a patient on the surgical floor and he said he’d look in on you again before he left for the day Can I get you anything else?"

"I’m fine"

Once his supper tray had been removed, he opened the bed table drawer and found a pocket mirror He checked his reflection He had two black eyes, a purple knot on his forehead, and a sht side of his face Hewheel on i he was lucky he didn’t have cuts or broken facial bones

At 9:00 a nurse appeared with a tray ofhis hospital bracelet and then handed him a small pleated paper cup with two pills in it When he was a kid his iven him cups the same size filled with M&M’s

"To help you sleep," she said when she saw the look on his face "Do you need a urinal?"

The minute she said it, he realized his bladder was full and the pressure close to painful

"Please"

She set down her tray and removed a lidded plastic urinal from the cabinet beside his bed The device had a handle and a slanted spout and looked like so his kids could invent a hundred uses for at the beach "I’ll leave this with you You can ring when you’re done"