Chapter Two
A dazed Edison Carter woke up in the hospital bed.
Where AM I? he wondered. His head was swimming in pain and confusion.
Explosion. Edison squeezed his temples, trying to make sense of all this. What the hell happened?
He looked up at the clock on the wall. Oh-eight-hundred hours.
All at once, Max Headroom suddenly appeared on the 32-inch flat screen TV hanging on the wall in front of his bed.
"Hi, guy!" Max announced cheerfully.
Edison let out a yelp and slid backwards in his bed, away from Max.
"Who ARE you?" Edison exclaimed, his eyes bulging with fright.
"It's me … M-Max," Max replied from the screen, a confused expression on his face.
"I don't know any 'Max'," Edison spat out, his chest rising and falling.
"I thought we were f-f-friends ..."
"I'm not your friend!" Edison shot back angrily. His senses now on high alert, he noticed the IV in his wrist. He tore away the tape and ripped the IV out of his wrist.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you ..." Max cautioned.
"FUCK YOU!" Edison screamed, a trickle of blood flowing from his wrist.
Shit, he thought as he looked down at the blood running down his hand. He got out of bed, went to the bathroom, tore off a strip of toilet paper, and held it to his bleeding wrist.
Gotta get away from that …THING.
A nurse appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Carter, what are you doing?" she asked.
"LEAVING!" Edison snapped. "Where are my clothes?"
"In the cabinet over there," the nurse replied, pointing to a nearby cabinet. "You're in no condition to be discharged …"
Edison opened the cabinet and grabbed a plastic bag that contained his clothes and personal items. He opened the bag, pulled out his pants and underwear, and started getting dressed.
"No way I'm staying here with … THAT!" exclaimed Edison as he pointed towards Max.
"Edison has just left the hospital," said Max to Theora as he appeared on her computer screen at Network 23.
Theora looked up at Max. "Why would he leave?" she asked. "He's not due to be discharged."
"I d-d-dunno," Max replied. "I visited him in th-th-the hospital."
"You WHAT?" Theora exclaimed.
"I visited him in the hospital," Max continued. "Funny thing … he d-d-d-didn't seem t-to r-r-r-recogniz-z-ze m-me.
"I said 'Good morning'. N-next thing I kn-knew, he grabbed his clothes and l-l-left."
Theora's blood suddenly ran cold. Oh, no. She frantically made a few keystrokes and called up a vidphone on her monitor.
A nurse appeared on Theora's monitor. "Metro Hospital", she answered.
"Is Edison Carter there?"
"He left about a half-hour ago, against doctor's orders," the nurse replied.
"Thanks. That's all I needed to know," said Theora as she hung up the vidphone.
Theora stared at her monitor, all the air now having escaped her body.
Just what Network 23 doesn't need, Theora thought. An expensive, amnesiac star reporter roaming the streets concussed.
