As he followed Bill's ambulance, Ralph began to recall the events that happened. He was upstairs getting two other students when he heard the crash. Running down the first half of the stairs, Ralph wished he had put the jammies back on, thinking Tony and Bill were fighting and would need a referee with a little more power.
When he reached the bridge to the second half of the stairs, Ralph was shocked to see the kids surrounding Bill, who was lying on the floor near a chandelier. At first, Ralph thought that Bill had been knocked out, but when he saw the kids not doing anything, he realized something was terribly wrong.
He rushed down the stairs and kneeled next to his friend, and not finding a pulse, began CPR. Ralph refused to give up, insisting Bill wasn't dead.
When Cyler put his hand on Ralph's shoulder to tell him to stop, it felt as though his heart had dropped into ice. He lost not only a partner, thanks to the greenguys, but a friend. Then, moments later, Bill started breathing again, a bit faint at first, but he was alive. Ralph was relieved at first, but when Bill opened his eyes...
'His eyes, they were blue ... I know they were, but how,' Ralph said, shaking his head. 'Moonlight? ... No, we were in the middle of the room. I mean, he wasn't dead, nor have I ever heard of someone's eyes changing color after being knocked unconscious but still...'
He stopped playing scenarios in his head when he realized he was at the hospital. The ambulance had just arrived and the paramedics were already wheeling Bill into the emergency room.
Ralph entered the hospital and went up to the receptionist's desk. "Hi, my name's Ralph Hinkley and a friend was just brought into the hospital with a head injury," he started.
The nurse handed him a set of papers. "Please fill these papers out about his medical history, and bring them back here. An ER nurse will see you shortly."
Ralph sat down in one of the waiting room chairs and began filling out the paperwork as accurately as he could. When he finished, he handed it back to the nurse. He saw her hand it to another ER nurse. The man saw Ralph and walked over to him. "Mr. Hinkley, please come with me to Mr. Maxwell's room. I'm doing a preliminary exam and we can discuss what happened so the doctor can treat him."
Ralph nodded and they went into the room, and saw Bill lying in a bed, still out cold. The nurse checked Bill's vitals and looked into his eyes.
Straightening his stethoscope, the man turned to Ralph. "Well, he's doing better but is still unconscious, so perhaps you can tell me what happened."
Ralph took in a breath and let it out, knowing this might not be easy. "We were in an old mansion along with my class removing the fixtures in it to raise money for a class gift. Anyway, one of my students was tearing down something when a brass chandelier near him fell from the ceiling..."
The nurse noted Ralph's stall and wanted to be sure he wasn't still in shock from seeing the accident. "Go on, take your time," said the nurse gently. Ralph cleared his throat and continued.
"Well, Bill noticed the chandelier falling and dove to save the teen, but in the process received a glancing blow to his head. Hearing the noise, I ran to him and finding he didn't have a pulse, began CPR. It took a couple of minutes, but I got a pulse and he started breathing again."
"Did he regain consciousness?"
"Briefly, but then he passed out again. We called the paramedics, and the rest you know," said Ralph. "So, what do you think nurse?"
"I don't know, but the doctor will come shortly," he said as he exited.
Ralph paced the room a couple of times, glancing at the older man and hoping he'd come to soon. He heard the door open and saw the doctor - the same doctor who treated Ralph after he was wounded by the beast in the fourth dimension. 'Oh great, not him,' Ralph groaned inwardly. 'He wasn't all too gentle putting that painkiller on my back. Sorry you drew him too, Bill.'
The young doctor glanced up from the paperwork in his hand and was mildly shocked to see Ralph there. "Well, what did you do this time," he said with a slight smirk on his face. "Get any more welts from 'wild dogs'?"
Ralph brushed off the slight inference in his comments and shook his head. "No, my friend is in the hospital now. He was hit in the head and knocked out..."
"Ah yes, it's Mr. Maxwell this time," he said as he riffled through the papers. He checked Bill's vitals and looked into Bill's eyes, flashing a penlight in them. Ralph noticed the doctor give a slight smile meaning Bill was all right. Still, when the doctor turned to face Ralph, he noticed the glint in the man's eyes, meaning the questions weren't going to be that easy to answer.
"Well, it seems as if you fellows are having a busy weekend," the doctor said. "What is it this time? It looks as though someone played the 'Anvil Chorus' on your friend's skull. Good thing it's as thick as it is."
"You sure he doesn't have a concussion?" said Ralph, ignoring the doctor's comment. 'Why does he think Bill and I are lovers,' he thought. 'He'd better stop that, or I'll say something and it won't be nice.'
"No, but he will have one hellacious headache for a while," the other man said. "I think we ought to keep our eyes on him for a few days."
As the doctor talked, Bill stirred and groaned, causing Ralph to smile. "Ah, no forget that idea."
When Bill opened his eyes, Ralph noticed they were brown. "Bill, your eyes… they're brown." Ralph bent over and opened one of Bill's eyes further to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "They're brown, he's got brown eyes... You've got brown eyes Bill."
Bill looked at Ralph in confusion, shrugging the younger man's hand away from his eyelid. "I have brown eyes that's right. 'Course, my mommy said hazel. What's a matter with you Ralph?"
Ralph straightened back up, confusion etched across his face. The doctor looked at the two men oddly and continued with his questioning. Ralph and Bill answered the questions, but inside, Ralph's mind was thinking about what he saw. He knew he'd have to tell Bill about what he saw, but inside, he hoped that it just a figment of his imagination...