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While h to the county sheriff’s depart up like a jackknife on the lu roo My neck was stiff froe bruised I felt cold and little, as I had just after the accident in whichvoice, inexplicably,back to row to 70 feet and can produce 300 pounds of dates A row 15 to 18 bunches of dates Each cluster, when the fruit has reached the size of a pea, must be protected with brown paper covers to ward off birds and rain…" What I couldn’t remember any me persistently He’d apparently placed a call to the hospital eaway, had soaked a washcloth in ice water so she could dab the dirt and crusted blood off my face My feet had been elevated and I’d been wrapped in a down co, I roused ain, still wrapped in the puffy quilt like a bipedal worency room, I had come out of my stupor sufficiently to identify ers aical pop quizzes I took while lying flat on e, the cabinets royal blue Portable X-ray equipment heeled in They X-rayed my neck first, two views, to make sure it wasn’t broken, and then did a skull series, which apparently showed no fractures

I was allowed to sit up then while a young doctor peered atwith a curious intimacy as he checked ht have been thirty, brown curly hair receding from a forehead creased with fine horizontal lines Under his white jacket, he wore a buff-colored dress shirt and a tie with brown dots His aftershave lotion sh his electric mower had missed a couple of hairs just under his chin I wondered if he realized I was noting his vital signs while he was noting mine My blood pressure was 110 over 60, my temperature, pulse, and respirations nor down In a box at the bottoe, he scrawled the words "postconcussional syndrome" I was happy to realize the accident hadn’t impaired my ability to read upside down Various forms of first aid were ad a tetanus shot that nearly ht," he said "It doesn’t look like you sustained any e, but your head took quite a bump I’d be happier if we could keep an eye on you for the next twelve hours, at any rate Anybody you want notified?"

"Not really," I murmured I was too battered to protest and too scared to face the outside world anyway He h an interiorshuttered for privacy by partially closed rust-red Venetian blinds In the corridor, a sheriff’s deputy had appeared I could see horizontal slats of hi female clerk who pointed over her shoulder to the rooency room were empty, the area quiet The deputy conferred with the doctor, who evidently decided I was fit enough to answer questions about how ation ditch

The deputy’s name was Richie Windsor, one of those baby-faced cops with an uptilted nose and plump cheeks reddened by sunburn He had to be a rookie, barely twenty-one, the e for a sheriff’s deputy His eyes were hazel, his hair light brown and cut in a flattop He hadn’t been at it long enough to adopt the noncommittal, paranoid expression that most cops assu no details, while he took notes, interjecting occasional enthusiastic comments in a borrowed Mexican accent "Whoa!" he would say, or "Get real, kemosabe!" He seemed nearly envious that someone had tried to kill me

When I finished my recital, he said he’d have the dispatcher broadcast a "be on the lookout" in case the Dodge was still so the uy was smart, he’d abandon the vehicle at the first opportunity As the deputy turned to leave, I foundi," I said "The doctor wants ht Is there any e can keep my admission under wraps? This is the only hospital in the area All the guy has to do is call Patient Information and he’ll know exactly where I am"