Chapter 4
The brightness of the morning sun stung my eyes and the clean air intoxicated my lungs. After being in the hospital for two days, any air that didn't smell of latex and mashed potatoes was good air. I pulled my Georgia Bulldogs hat down to shield some of my face from the light when I heard someone call my name.
"Sam!" A familiar voice called from the parking lot. "Oh my God!" My roommate ran towards me with her arms outstretched. She pulled me in for a hug when she had gotten close enough to me. "Are you okay? I heard that they found you in the woods? What the hell were you doin' in the woods?" Her voice went up higher at the end of her question as her Georgia twang got thicker with her anxious stare.
"I was takin' pictures for my photography class." I shrugged. "I got a project due next week and I didn't have anythin' to work with." That was a lie. I had turned in that project nearly two weeks ago. But with my latest tract record of telling people about the thing that attacked David, I had learned it was better to lie about it. For my own sake. I couldn't afford to go to the looney bin without probable cause. I knew what I saw, and my story sounded crazy even to me.
"Are you okay?" More stupid questions. Her eyes widened and she placed a careful hand on my shoulder. "I heard about David."
"What'd you 'ear?" I asked incredulously.
"That he's missin'." She looked away for a moment. "Everyone on our floor thinks you did it, you know. I never understood why they always blame the significant other first."
"Did what?" I scrunched my eyebrows together. Her eyes darted nervously from me to the ground and back again.
"Well, they think he's dead." Her eyes darted again. "And that you had somethin' to do with it." I looked past her to the line of cars that were waiting to leave the lot. "Sam?" She gave me a worried look as I started walking away from her. I ignored her as I kept walking, there was a gun store not far from there.
