"We are always one generation away from barbarism." –[quoting Roland H. Bainton in Jeffrey Scarlett's Journal, September 2012.]
Jeff awoke in a mirror. The bright blue colors on the walls, the beeping of a heart-rate monitor.
The West Georgia St. John's Hospital was where John worked. He had never seen residence from the perspective of a resident. And he had all but rarely visited the ER (100 N),first floor, North Wing.
He had come to in a hospital once before. In college, he was surprised to find himself in a gown—alcohol poisoning.
In just the same manner, he came out of a haze to find himself in the hospital. And the same feeling of embarrassment, this time not from drinking too much, but rather from passing out in a scene of danger and blood.
"Welcome back, Crisis Manager!" Sam said factitiously. Sam chuckled, but Jeff could tell he had more on his mind.
Jeff thought he remembered riding in an ambulance for a brief moment.
"I'm worried you almost shot your boss last night, Jeff." Sam explained that in a scene of distress last night, he shot his father, Albert. Succumbing to dementia, Albert had run out of the house with a .39 in his hand, planning to go into Atlanta to daughter who had died thirty years prior. In desperation to stop him from leaving and in drunken stupor, Sam shot his father.
"Hope you didn't mind getting the knock-out," Sam sounded only a little remorseful. "Couldn't take any chances, y'know?" Jeff joined Sam to visit the father in the adjacent room. He was awake and stable, but everywhere below his torso was bandaged. He was in incredible in pain, as his left testicle had taken a direct hit from the shot.
Shocked about the trauma of the prior night, a million possibilities entered his head. He had an image of firing the shotgun point blank into Sam's head. Of mercy killing his Sam's father. He was terrified of all the possibilities.
Local news was on the hospital TV. Georgia had seen its first cases of undead. All in Atlanta. Also, a man had shot his own father. Jeff went to his hospital bed, but a restlessness in his head only allowed him to enter a shallow sleep state.
