"Hello, Mr Rainey."

White. Everything was white. And clean. Disinfectant. The stench of it filled his nostrils. He coughed, feeling as though he'd swallowed a good deal.

Pain. Lots of pain. Surely you couldn't be in so much pain without being dead?

His cough was caught short by a strangled cry of agony. He fell back on to some pillows that no doubt looked full, while actually were comprised of 90 percent air.

"You had quite a bust up. Good thing Dr. Clarence was in the bus. Good thing the bus weren't too late either."

Mort opened his eyes. Yes. They were his eyes too. And it was him looking through them. There was a very fat woman in a white nurses outfit leering down at him.

"Ah, that's it. I'll give you a bit to see where you are."

She leant away, and the world contorted with her motion as if he was looking through a goldfish bowl. He couldn't see anything clearly, though. Glasses... ah.

He held a hand in front of his eyes. There was a tentacle sticking out of his wrist. A short way along it split into two and joined a fuzzy box covered in flashing lights in the corner. Not tentacles, pipes.

Hospital.

An official establishment.

The Government.

Police.

Mort threw himself forwards. They'd be here soon, questions running riot and waving their arrest warrants. His movement caused a million nails to drive down his spinal cord. A weight pounded him in the chest and for a moment he thought he had been stabbed with a spade. His head felt as though it would at any minute roll off his neck. His brain whirled in his skull. His vision slipped away from him and he collapsed backward.

John Shooter was standing on the opposite side of the bridge. There was a deep dark hole under the bridge. It looked unpleasant. John Shooter smiled.

"You don't know nothing, Mr Rainey. Ever since she lost the baby you've been dead to the world."

Mort quivered. He gripped his bridge post protectively.

"You needed someone to look after you. And this is the thanks I get for being there? For being there when she wasn't?"

"You were jealous!"

"What?"

Mort let go of his post.

"I thought I could get back with Amy! I never said anything, but I didn't have to, did I? You were watching my thoughts all the time!"

"No, I..."

"Yes! You didn't like the idea of me not being free to boss around. Frightened someone might find out you were there! So you made me kill her! And Ted too, heck why not?"

"You forget I AM your thoughts, Mr Rainey. You did it because you wanted to."

"I'm a horror writer, Shooter, not a murderer. I had a quiet life till you came and..."

"Showed you what to do!"

"I was happy!"

"No you weren't!"

"You made me kill my wife! And my dog! MY DOG FOR GOD'S SAKE!!"

"You still need me."

"No, you know what? I don't. Get the Hell out my life."

"I exist in your memory, Mr Rainey. I'll always be there."