Chapter 3 – Clawing at your Skull

-----

The first thing Tyler was aware of was the pain coming from his head, radiating from the back. He immediately scrunched his eyes from the pain, but hesitantly opened them.

"Fainting isn't that uncommon with head injuries. The only problem is, now his head's taken a bit of a beating, and it's a very important part of the body."

That voice…Dr. Waters. The sleep and pain made his mind fuzzy.

"I always said he had a hard-ass head, and now it's finally done him some good!" said an older female voice. His grandmother, Grace.

"Nnnh…Hello?" Tyler asked in a half-loud voice.

"You're awake!" Grace said, coming into the room. The woman was slightly haunched over and had a thin face. She wore a sweater with cacti on it and jeans. She placed her brown purse in a chair, and stroked her grandson's face. "How you doin', baby?"

"I'm a little off…" Tyler said. "My head hurts."

"You fainted." said a female voice. Nurse Defoe was in there with them. "Hit your head. Again."

"Like I said, his hard head's finally doing him some good!" Grace cackled.

"Where's Granddaddy?" Tyler asked.

"Ray's at Bojangles." Grace said. "He came in to see how you were doing and then left."

To some this might have seemed brusque, but Tyler nodded in understanding. His Granddaddy Ray had a thing about hospitals. Usually you couldn't drag him into one no matter how hard you tried. Just that he came into the room showed that he had put as much as he could behind him to make sure his loved grandson was okay.

"Tell him I love him and that I'm glad he made it that far." Tyler smiled.

"And what about me?" Grace asked in a mock-indignant voice.

"I love you too, Granny. How could anyone not love you?" He asked, meaning every word of it. His grandparents were saints as far as he was concerned.

"Well, this has turned out to be some vacation, huh?" Granny asked, and Tyler laughed. It felt good to be with his family again. Especially after the mindfuck hell he'd been through.

"As much as I hate to break this up," Dr. Waters said, "I need to check him out. Another head injury could be pretty bad." He walked over to the side opposite Grace, and held out a flashlight like one would find in a utility drawer.

"What happened to the penlight?" Tyler asked.

"A combative patient broke it." Water frowned. "This'll have to do." He shone the light in both of Tyler's eyes at once, since the flashlight was so big and he couldn't do much else. "Okay. Your pupils are okay. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three."

"Good. Any nausea? Dizziness?"

"No. Just exhaustion." Tyler said. "What time is it?"

The doctor checked his watch. "Five in the afternoon." Tyler knew it was the day after the crash because after he woke up he'd noticed a calendar right by the door.

"Okay…" Tyler thought of something. "Hey, what happened to my car, anyway?"

"You just now thought of that?" Grace shook her head. "A wrecker service took it away. We tried to get them to let it go and get it repaired, but since you're the licensed owner, you'll have to make the call, not us."

"Great." Tyler said. "God knows what'll happen to my insurance."

"Well, you can take care of that." Grace said. "You make enough for a few more bucks, and the accident wasn't severe."

"If you don't mind my asking, what does he do for a living?" Waters asked.

"I'm a floriculturist at a plant nursery." Tyler said. "Which is a fancy way of saying that I work with flowering plants in a greenhouse. But I like it and it pays well, so…" He trailed off.

"Sounds like you chose well." Waters smiled.

"Three years of college and a double major just so I can get paid to my hands dirty." Tyler laughed. "But my boss says I have a good eye for detail, so I weed and prune. Basically, I'm the guy who makes everything look pretty."

Everyone laughed. "Well, that's why people buy plants, so it's a handy skill, I'm sure." Waters laughed. "Well, all kidding aside, I do need to schedule an x-ray. Two whacks on the head, we need to check out. I think we can get it ready in about twenty minutes. The sooner the better."

"Um, wait a sec…" Tyler started. "That huge window in the waiting room…"

"What about it?" Waters asked.

"Is it okay?"

Waters looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?"

That was all the answer Tyler needed. "I guess I must have dreamed it," He lied.

"Huh." Waters said. "Well, you guys keep talking, and I'll come and get you for an x-ray." He left.

"Granny," Tyler turned to Grace. "How long have I been out?"

"About half an hour." She said. "I've been right here the whole time."

"Have you eaten?" Tyler asked.

"No." Grace said. "I haven't been hungry, baby. Besides, I know what kind of food they have here."

"I'd think the cafeteria is better than the food they give patients." Tyler said. "Go eat."

"…alright, but I'll be right back." Grace said, getting up to leave.

Nurse Defoe got closer to Tyler. "Listen, one of your prescriptions says 'before bed,' so at about 9, I'll come back to give it to you. How's your ankle doing?"

"Throbbing." He said. "Mild pain, but not bad."

"That's good. It's only been about two hours since I gave you that Tylenol, so I wanted to make sure that it was working." Defoe said. She looked out the door before getting an uncomfortable look on her face.

"What is it?" Tyler asked, not missing it.

"I know it's none of my business, and if you don't want to tell me, just say, 'It's none of your business, bitch!'" She started, "But why are your grandparents your next of kin?"

Tyler looked at her for a moment before saying, "It's none of your business, bitch."

Defoe let out a snort of amusement. "Can't help it; human curiosity."

"I just don't like thinking about it, okay?"

Nurse Defoe nodded. "Believe me, I understand. Well, I don't think I'm needed here, so you stick around until Dr. Waters comes back for your x-ray."

"Where am I going to go?" Tyler asked with a bland "duh" look on his face.

The nurse smirked. "Good point." She left.

Tyler looked around and found his glasses on the side table, picking them up and placing them back on his face. He felt along his head where he remembered feeling the floor connect with his skull and felt bandages there wrapped around his head. He also realized that he was in the hospital smock again. They must have taken his clothes off to check for other signs of trauma.

Tyler sat up in the bed, his body aching all over as he did so. He looked for his headphones, and saw them on the table next to him. He kept them close. So far, every time he was alone, the hospital went dark and those…things had shown up, and static came through his headphones. But even more strange, that Phantom had appeared before hand. Now he knew that the Phantom appeared before the monsters. Was it trying to warn him or something? Tyler made sure he knew where his cane was, as it had served him well so far, and noticed that Dr. Waters had forgotten his flashlight. As much as he liked the doctor – he was a nice guy so far – he thought he might need that flashlight if the hospital went dark again, and so hid it in the space between the bed and the table next to it.

For a good bit, Tyler sat in the bed, apprehensive. He was expecting the entire time for the darkness to come back, and for the static to start back up. But he saw Grace walk back into the room, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He talked with his grandmother for a good bit before Waters came by again.

"Okay, we got a free X-ray room." He said. "I need you to fill out some papers first."

"Of course." Tyler groaned. He looked over the paper. Mostly, it was questions about weather or not he had any adverse reactions to getting x-rays taken. He filled it out quickly.

Tyler got up, grunting painfully as he did so. "You okay, baby?" Grace asked.

"Sore. But I'm okay." He answered. "You've been here for an hour, and Granddaddy's still out. You guys go home, okay?"

"Are you sure, Tyler?" Grace asked. "You're sure you don't need us?"

Tyler smiled. "Just get home. I know it took you guys a while just to get here, so go already. And it's a long drive, so you don't have to come up here a lot."

Grace looked unsure, but finally smiled. "Okay, baby. You get better and I'll come by in a few days."

"Thanks, Granny." Tyler hugged her again, holding onto her tightly. With all that was going on, he suddenly got this feeling of uncertainty concerning his beloved grandmother. He wasn't sure if he would see her again. "I love you. Tell Granddaddy I love him too, okay?"

"Alright, baby." She said, letting go. Tyler let her leave.

"Well, let's get you x-rayed." Waters said.

The doctor led the way to the x-ray room, and some male nurse told him what to do. "Alright, stand right here, and this thing will take an x-ray of your skull. Perfectly safe."

"So safe that you're going to stand behind a lead screen." Tyler pointed out.

"If I stood anywhere near it, it might mess the x-rays up."

"Why? Do you emit radio waves or something?" Tyler asked. The nurse just rolled his eyes.

"Just stand right there. And put this vest on." He said, giving him something to block the X-rays. Tyler stood still and turned eventually to get a side-view of his head. "Okay, we'll wait for these to develop. In the meantime, just sit on that chair." The nurse said.

Dr. Waters and the male nurse left while Tyler laid down on this weird combination chair and couch thing with an upright back. He sat around, lost for a moment in random thoughts flying through his head, keeping his cane close to him. But the hospital stayed just as normal as ever.

Dr. Waters came back into the room and put the x-ray pictures up on a light-up board. "Well." He said, sounding impressed. "No fractures that I can see. And you seem to be coherent." He looked at Tyler with a thoughtful look on his face. "Can you turn around?"

Tyler sat up on the couch/chair and turned so his back was facing Waters. He expected cold doctor hands to touch his back or something, but he felt Water's firm, warm hands undo one tie on his hospital gown, exposing only his back. The doctor hummed thoughtfully before tying the gown back.

"You've got a bad bruise on your back. Are you sore at all?" Waters asked.

"Yeah." Tyler said. "My ribs hurt a lot."

"Your back and spine must have absorbed most of the shock from the fall." Waters said. "I'll tell a nurse to get you some more Tylenol. In the meantime, I don't want you to move around more than necessary. Your torso's probably still recovering from falling onto this hardass floor." He said, tapping his shoe on the floor. Tyler snickered.

"How long will it be until this pain goes away?" Tyler asked.

"About a day. Two tops." Waters answered. "Well, let's get you back to your bed."

"Okay." Tyler said as they left the room. "Now I get to laze about, and I can say its doctor's orders." They both laughed. "Though, given where I am, I can't do much else." Waters shrugged, agreeing.

On the way back, Tyler asked, "So what passes for food around here?"

Waters frowned. "I'm really not sure. I don't have any say in the menu around here. Unfortunately."

Tyler laughed, but couldn't help looking around. There were patients who were having trouble walking like he was, but most of them were elderly people in walkers hooked up to IV stands and other medical machines that he couldn't identify. They were all worse off than him, but they all had nurses. This doctor was going out of his way to help him. Why was he being so nice?

"Alright. Into bed." Waters said, getting the door for Tyler. "Dinner is in thirty minutes, and I can ask some of the nurses to get you some more Tylenol later."

"Thanks."

"If you need anything we can provide, wake up a nurse." He joked. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The doctor left and Tyler sat around thinking about what the fuck had happened. He had to act normal in front of people, and he lost his emotions when he was in any crisis situation. He became robotic as a survival instinct. Now, alone, Tyler thought back on what the hell had happened.

What were those things and why had he been the one that this had happened to? Why hadn't the one with the helmet killed him? He could have broken his neck so easily or done something much worse. Obviously, the other creatures wanted to hurt him. Why? Why did the hospital suddenly go dark when that happened? And what's more, where was everyone when this happened? Everything and everyone was gone. It's like he was being singled out by whatever this was. But there was nothing special about him!

Except…

No! No, that can't be it! He was innocent! He hadn't done anything! It was all HER fault! If it wasn't for HER, then HE would still be here! GOD, he hated her! He hated her more than anything! It was this hate for her that made him hate women in general.

Enveloped in his inner rage and memories, he hardly noticed when someone came inside the room. It was a nurse with red hair. "Here's dinner." She said in a pleasant voice.

"Thanks." He said brusquely. 'Dinner' was what looked like chicken, grapes, and blue jell-o. The nurse smiled at him and left to attend to others.

The chicken was dry, the grapes were…grapes, and the jello tasted like dish detergent; sugar-free. You'd think if they were trying to keep people healthy in a hospital, they'd try not to starve them!

Tyler figured that it would be about three hours before any nurse came with the sleep-aid he took, and looked at the television in the room. "What the hell." Tyler said. He turned it on. He learned quickly that he could only use a channel up button, and couldn't go backwards. Well, that was pointless! He finally found some channel with some halfway-okay sitcoms and watched them numbly, not really thinking about what was on the screen.

'HOW COULD YOU!?'

'Don't say a word.'

'I love you, son.'

'Why are you even in my life?'

'I'll keep you safe.'

'All you do is cost me money I could be spending on so much better!'

Tyler cringed in his bed, hitting his forehead against his palms. God damnit! Why did these memories have to do this!? He didn't have any control over the situation! He knew that!

…So why did it hurt so badly?

It always had hurt. It would always hurt. First physically, now it hurt his mind. Guilt. Sorrow. Anguish. Suffering. Betrayal. It all tore at him from the inside out. He could hardly stand it. He had thought of hurting himself so very many times. But no. That wasn't the answer. That would lower him. That made him weak, and he needed to be strong.

He tried to turn his brain away from this train of thought, and could only think about Dr. Waters. He was being so odd. He had led him everywhere and shown him more attention than any other doctor he'd had in his short 22 years. Why was he being so nice? He wasn't unpleasant to be around, so it wasn't like Tyler minded. He kind of liked being with the doctor. He felt much more…at ease. Calm. It was nice…

DAMN IT! Didn't his thoughts ever listen to him!? He didn't want to think of someone like that! He couldn't get used to being near anyone. That's the one thing that brought him more pain than anything.

Tyler turned his attention back to the television, determined to block out his thoughts. What better way than to turn your brain to mush with an hour's worth of sitcoms with broken humor?

Tyler lost track of time and felt his thoughts fade away. This TV stuff really worked. It felt like it was just half an hour before he heard a nurse come into the room.

"Hello." She said. "I'm supposed to give you some of these pills at bedtime, so this is when we usually do so." Tyler looked at the TV. Nine o'clock.

"Thanks. I could use some sleep." He said, taking the pills. He made sure they were what he was used to taking. He downed the medicine with some water and noticed a second cup in the nurse's hand.

"These are for when you wake up." She said, setting down some Tylenol and a cup of water. "Your leg will probably be throbbing."

"Thank you." Tyler said, sitting back to enjoy the effects of the medicine. What this stuff did was it was supposed to be an antidepressant, but it also made you feel disoriented and dizzy. Tyler best described it as being drunk as hell without any alcohol. It was perfect for getting to sleep. Before too long, Tyler felt very dizzy despite lying down, and curled up under the thin blanket.

The fogginess of his drugged sleep crept into his mind, and he fell into a dreamless rest.

-----

Mostly character analysis this chapter, and some foreshadowing about Tyler's past. Hopefully I didn't give too much away. I'm doing everything in my power not to make Tyler a Gary Stu. Anyway, I would like some feedback. If this story is horrible, tell me so. So please, go ahead and tell me what needs improvement.