None of us seemed to be badly hurt, fortunately. A few scrapes, a couple of what would likely turn out to be bad bruises, maybe a cut or two from the small odds and ends which always clutter a city’s streets. Several of those who were still standing helped me up from where I landed after I cracked my head and neck as I bounced off the side of the car’s roof, and the girl’s mother was just getting down from that roof.

Once again my thanks go out to Eric for providing the role of editor/ proofreader. (Sorry I still make the same mistakes - I’m trying to improve). Just as I did in the last chapter, I just had to go and make some changes after the fact so once again if there are more errors in here they are highly likely all mine (again unfortunately) and not due to Eric having missed them. Perhaps I should leave this disclaimer here for every chapter since I can’t seem to leave well enough alone even after the chapter has been checked.

Anesidora

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

None of us seemed to be badly hurt, fortunately. A few scrapes, a couple of what would likely turn out to be bad bruises, maybe a cut or two from the small odds and ends which always clutter a city’s streets. Several of those who were still standing helped me up from where I landed after I cracked my head and neck as I bounced off the side of the car’s roof, and the girl’s mother was just getting down from that roof.

She came over and hugged me, which hurt like the blazes. My neck was throbbing and I was developing a serious headache so I began to revise my estimate of our injuries, or at least of mine. As I looked around I noticed people were beginning to look at me in a funny manner; you’d think they never saw an actress wearing wings before.
“Thank you,” the woman said as she released her stranglehold on me, just before she began looking around for her daughter. Moments later she disappeared into the crowd in search of the young voice she heard who was calling to her and trying to get to her from behind the throng of people.

The helicopter with Adam in it approached causing people to scatter in the belief the helicopter was about to land on top of them. Looking up, I saw they were lowering a line to me which I grabbed onto with all my remaining strength while placing my foot in the bend of the loop at the bottom. They raised me back up out just as the crowd began to return when they saw the helicopter wasn’t going to land. Less than a minute later a couple of the crew helped me into the helicopter before I could fall off the hook, we then flew off to return to our staging location. There the crew congratulated me for my rescue efforts while the director and the legal rep were having another conversation. Eventually the Director came over to me bubbling with happiness this time instead of the doom and gloom I expected him to heap on me.

“We’ve got it all in memory and downloaded to the drives in vehicle A. The rushes look great. All we need now is to figure out how to integrate it into the story and have legal get any releases we might need.”

I didn’t care. I was cut, scraped, bruised, and tired. My neck and leg hurt and I just wanted to go home and go to bed. Fortunately he also said,

“That’s a wrap for the day folks. Let’s all get a little rest.”

He no sooner finished saying that than his aide began giving us the lineup for tomorrow, while legal was having kittens about me possibly damaging someone’s car when I crashed on it.

“To tell you the truth, right this moment I don’t really care all that much. We rescued two people and we are all pretty much okay except for some major scratches and a bad bruise or three or four. At least I hope they are only bruises. The director is happy and intends to add the footage of the rescue into the pilot somehow and I really don’t care about any of it. Talk to my agent and my insurance carriers. I couldn’t control the loss of power or the midair shutdown of the wings. I tried to find a place to land before that happened but the crowd kept moving and wouldn’t permit it. Maybe you should try talking to all of them. Why don’t you tell Mr. Penn to fire me? I could use the vacation. And while you’re at it, tell them to come get all those stupid clothes they bought for me to wear. I’ve pretty much had it with all this pretending to be a girl shit. When this pilot’s finished I don’t intend to renew the contract and if they want to know why I’ll tell them it’s because of morons like you.”

I gingerly limped off in a huff leaving the legal rep standing there gaping. I know it was a stupid move on my part but I was hurting, I was tired and I was pissed so I didn’t really care what they might try to do. My limp began to become worse which concerned me and when I ran my hand through my hair it came back with some red on it. For some reason I didn’t think it was hair coloring.

Five minutes later I found my cell phone and called Jacob’s office leaving a message with Alice to notify Jacob that I would not under any circumstances sign another contract with Magic once the pilot was completed so I didn’t want him to enter into any negotiations with them on my behalf for any future productions with them. She asked me why and I told her my opinion of their legal department and that I would not be answering my phone until after I was checked out at a hospital.

“….A hospital? What hospital? What’s going on?”

“Whatever hospital is closest to me. I need to know if I’ve broken anything when I crashed. Right now I’m running on adrenalin and I don’t know how much longer that will last. I’m hanging up now and calling a cab so I can get to an emergency room.”

“Why didn’t the studio take you to the hospital? Call us, Denise. Let us know which.... Denise? Denise?”

I didn’t really feel all that bad but my leg was beginning to hurt more and more as time went on and it was beginning to swell up. I didn’t think that was a good thing and wanted to be assured it wasn’t something extremely serious. My head and neck didn’t feel too good either where I hit them on the car as I fell into the crowd. The way I felt right now I just wanted to curl up in my trailer and go to sleep. I was beginning to wonder how I could explain my injuries to the ER doctor then after reconsidering I decided I just didn’t care. The pain involved in simply removing the wings had been quite enough, thanks. The taxi called and due in ten minutes or less, I limped out to a clear area where I could see it coming. Just about the time it arrived legal had found me again and was beginning to drown me in his spiel.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the hospital or do you intend to risk my life and limb in order to continue to berate me for the accident?”

“Why are you going to the hospital?”

“So I can have X-rays taken to find out why the accident has my leg swelling up, my neck hurting and my head feeling like I broke it open. I’d also like to know why there is blood in my hair. Have you any other stupid questions?”

He looked at me like I was crazy as I told the driver to take me to the nearest hospital Emergency Room. Just as we began to drive off I saw him turn and make a mad dash toward our director.

I woke up in the ER. I didn’t remember arriving, apparently I fainted in the taxi and the driver ran in to get them to come out and help me out of the car. I guess I came to long enough to pay him and then dropped out again after telling the doctor I was in an accident. I didn’t say what kind before I fainted again so they had to make assumptions. I was discovered to have a mild concussion. The next time I woke up I found my neck was in a cervical collar at least for the time being. The doctor had been worried that I might have a serious problem with my cervical vertebrae (read that to mean – a broken neck but without the severing of the nervous system). After the second X-rays were taken he downgraded that to a serious muscle pull or even sprain since a second set of X-rays had just come back as okay. The leg was another matter but after several sets of X-rays they decided it wasn’t anything terribly serious either despite his original prognoses.

Shortly after I woke up another member of legal was admitted to see me. He informed me the studios were taking care of everything including any medical bills. That was fine with me because if I didn’t need to use my insurance then my rates wouldn’t go up. It seemed only fair to me since the director intended to use the footage of my rescue in the pilot if they could find the woman and her child to get releases. Nothing was said about any possible damage to the car.

The doctor wanted me to take a week off but I knew that wouldn’t fly because the production didn’t have that kind of time before it needed to be completed. Best case I might get three or four days if my leg cooperated. We had some simple scenes which could be done since they wouldn’t stress me unduly but there were still four pretty significant ones which needed to be completed. We could put them off about a week and maybe a half but by then they wouldn’t be able to be postponed any further. I really didn’t feel all that bad physically but just wanted to be certain. Health was an important issue for me, especially due to my line of work.

Another couple of hours and the doctor decided I could be released.

“You seem to be recovering at an amazing rate. I suppose it’s due to all the activity you usually do during your day-to-day work. Your body is healthier than most and heals more rapidly as a result. You’re very lucky.”

“Right after the accident I wouldn’t have thought so. I don’t feel half so bad now.”

He nodded, “Your leg is fine but I’d say that it’s going to have several pretty nasty bruises for a few days. When you came in I was certain you had broken it. The first X-rays came out blurry at the areas I was concerned about, but the ones we took the second time around showed everything to be okay. The same could be said for your neck. I was quite certain you had broken it what with the strange angle your head was at when you arrived. Now, if I hadn’t seen you when you arrived I wouldn’t have believed someone if they had told me you were at death’s door when you came in. The X-rays originally were inconclusive but the second set didn’t seem to confirm that there was anything wrong.... Well, as I said.... You were very lucky and also seem to heal quickly.”

By the time the doctor had decided to release me, Alice had found me having shown up at the ER asking for me. Since I was doing better they let her talk with the doctor for a few minutes and then she took me home after the studio’s rep paid the bill. Legal let the studios know that I was incapacitated for a few days. I could just imagine how well that went over. I hoped they didn’t have a clause in my contract which said I wasn’t allowed to do anything potentially hazardous - except for them, of course. Then again the director had the rescue recorded and hoped to use it in the pilot so maybe I could use that as an argument if they brought it up.

Seems to me there was something else I wanted to check in that contract but at the moment I couldn’t think of what it could be.

“Alice, could I get a copy of my contract with Magic? In all the hubbub after the signing I never received one.”

“You should have one. I’ll look it up and see that you get a copy. Don’t worry about that right now, kid. How are you feeling? You don’t look like you’re doing too well.”

“I’m kind of dizzy and I feel like I’m going to throw up, but otherwise it’s just a lot of aches and pains. Maybe a nice shower and some sleep.”

“When will your girlfriend be home? Neither I nor the doctor feel you should be left alone right now.”

She was carefully checking my head as I sat there. I pulled away when she touched a really sore spot.

“You’ve got quite a goose-egg there, kid. I’m surprised you don’t have a concussion.”

“The doctor said he thought I did but since the X-rays showed no signs of major trauma the next step was to send me for a CT. I went through it about forty minutes later and an hour after that he had the results. Other than spending a lot of time ‘hmmm’ing and pointing at the scans he decided there wasn’t anything serious. He cautioned me to stay awake for a few hours.”

“A few hours, huh? I’d say more like all night. Reach up and carefully touch yourself up there. That knot would do a tree proud.”

I put my hand to my head and immediately regretted it.

“Oww. Damn, that hurts.”

“Told ya.”

“Do you think it’s more serious than the doctor thought?”

“If he was the one I saw then he’s probably right out of med school and from what I saw that ER was inundated in potential patients so he probably considered you less of a risk and sent you home so they would have room for someone with a hangnail.”

“Oww. Please don’t touch my head.”

“I didn’t. I just moved your hair. Honey, I think you need to see another doctor.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m walking and talking. I’ve been a lot worse than this and still been able to do my job.”

“Oh yeah? But now you’re a woman and women should be pampered.”

I didn’t know what to say to that other than, “Alice, I’m not a woman. I have no intention of continuing this beyond this production, or possibly any sequels. Candy and I are planning our wedding. She’s the woman in our family.”

“Uh huh; could have fooled me, kid. When’s the wedding scheduled?”

“Not for a bit. We both need time off to get married and have a short honeymoon. That won’t happen for a few months unfortunately.”

“I see. Well, keep me posted on that regard. Don’t suddenly run off to Vegas to get married. Meanwhile, get changed out of those clothes and into the shower. Be sure to wash your hair, there’s dried blood in it. After your shower, get dressed and come out for a small bite to eat.”

“I’ll fix something when Candy’s due home.”

“Uh huh. I’m staying until she gets here and I can explain some of the cautions the doctor mentioned.”

“Cautions?”

“Yes. Little things like not letting you nap for another four to eight hours. Nor are you to be left alone during that same period or possibly longer. You know, all the normal stuff to watch out for with someone who has had a concussion.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Well, kid, you could hardly watch yourself, could you? You would be just as likely to fall asleep while watching yourself.”

I just raised and lowered an eyebrow then turned and walked into the bedroom to get out of my filthy clothes so I could take a shower.

After the shower and a careful washing of my hair I felt 100% better. The goose egg on my head had greatly diminished in size and most of my aches and pains had gone down the drain with the soapy water. The scrapes I had picked up were hardly noticeable and I was beginning to think the doctor at that ER hadn’t been so far off after all. What had seemed to be pretty serious when I was still on location was turning out to be nothing more than some simple sprains and strains. I couldn’t fault him for wanting someone to keep an eye on me for a while though. I quickly dried off and got dressed then went out to see if Alice was still around.

“Hey, Alice. Want some coffee or tea? Maybe some Evian? You’re welcome to stay for supper. Candy should be home soon and it’s my night to cook so I’m going to get started now. I may not be quite as good as Candy, but I’m not bad.”

“Evian’s good. As soon as she gets here I’ve got to head home. If I don’t show up on time my cats will disown me. I just let Jacob know you’re doing okay. They were.... concerned.”

“Really? Well, apparently it wasn’t as bad as it seemed while I was still on location. Even the doctor said the first X-rays didn’t come out and the second set didn’t show any problems. With my luck if I hadn’t gone in to have it checked out, something would likely have been broken and I would have wound up doing more damage to myself.”

Just then the phone rang. I let the answering machine pick it up.

“This is the Tri-City Regional Medical Center ER calling. If you are there would you please pick up? We need to know if you have the X-rays we took during your stay in the ER earlier.”

“Hello?”

“Yes. Is this Denise Parker?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Oh, good. Did you happen to take any of your X-Rays with you when you left earlier?”

“No, I didn’t but hold on a moment and I’ll check with Alice to see if she has them.”

“Alice, this is the hospital. They want to know if you have the X-rays they took of my neck and leg.”

“No. Not me. Maybe that gentleman from the studios got them.”

“That’s right I forgot about him. Hello? Neither of us has the X-rays. Did you check with the Rep who was from the studios? He’s the one who paid the bill. Maybe he took them with him.”

“We checked there first. It’s very strange, we have the X-rays that show everything is all right but the first sets are missing. No one seems to have them.”

“Well, the doctor said they were blurred. Maybe they were thrown out?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that. When we take X-rays, the imaging is sent directly to a computer and then the images are printed. We don’t use X-ray film any more. If it was just the prints that were missing we wouldn’t be concerned since we could just print another set if our legal department needed them. The reason we are looking for the prints is because the images are gone from our computers. It’s a little strange. Well, thank you. We’ll keep looking.”

“Not a problem. If I think of anything I’ll call and let you know.”

“Thank you. That’s appreciated. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I turned to Alice, “That’s weird. Not only are the prints missing but the image files are gone from their computer.”

“That’s strange. Lack of professionalism.... Did they check with the studios?”

“Yes. They don’t have them either. What I don’t understand is how the image files were removed from their computers.”

“Aha, an inside job.” Alice lowered her head shifting her eyes from side to side as she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Alice, you read too many mystery stories.”

“Maybe, but at least I get paid to read those scripts.”

It was about a quarter after seven when Candy finally showed. Alice was chomping at the bit to head home and I was surprised about Candy’s delayed arrival. Alice took off almost as soon as Candy walked through the door.

“Blame my ride. We got a flat and had to wait for the club to come out and change it.”

“Why didn’t you call and let me know? I could have slowed supper a bit.”

“What could you have done to help? Besides, my phone was dead. We used a pay phone a half mile away and didn’t have any more change. Don’t let me forget to put my phone on the charger this evening. In fact, I think I’ll go do that right now while I change.”

I went to the kitchen and stirred everything one more time to be certain nothing was burning. I hadn’t cooked the meat yet so I got that started right away. At least that would only take fifteen to twenty minutes.

Candy was back in fifteen. Supper was ready shortly thereafter and we sat down to mostly leftovers but each with a nice lamb chop.

“Wow, Dennis. This is the best you’ve done yet. Keep it up and I’ll hire you to cook in that restaurant you keep telling me to start.”

“Glad you like it.” I didn’t say much more because for some reason the lamb just didn’t go over well with me at the moment. Maybe it had something to do with my accident earlier today. Now the vegetables.... I think I had three helpings of them.
We finished supper and I tried to hide the fact I hadn’t eaten much of my lamb but Candy spotted it.

“Oh, no you don’t. If you don’t want it then I’ll finish it.”

I just shrugged my shoulders and let her take the half which was still on my plate.

After supper we went in and practiced Candy’s lines. This time she actually had quite a few so we were at it until nearly eleven-thirty. For some reason I couldn’t keep my mind on my own work but figured by morning I would be back on top of it all.
I got up the next morning and prepared to go to the studios, called for my ride and was halfway there when I remembered I had been injured. Strangely I felt just fine but wondered if the director and all the other talent and crew would be there considering that most of the remaining scenes involved me in one way or another and they probably halted production for a few days based on what that doctor had said.

I had my ride take me to the offices first where I managed to make it past Mr. Tollenger’s gate keepers and let him know I was up to continuing tomorrow. Today I would spend in practice if Adam was around. My ride to the hangar was short and I released the limo when I arrived. I figured worst case I could do simulations if Adam wasn’t there since he had so kindly installed them on my laptop. He wasn’t, so I began practicing, that was important too.

I had been practicing my get-yourself-out-of-this-one Sims when my laptop began to beep. The battery was nearly dead which meant I had been practicing for at least six hours. I hurried to find the external supply, rummaging around in the carry case before I found it and pulled it out. The beeping stopped the moment I connected everything and the little battery indicator showed I had about five percent charge remaining. I checked the clock in the corner and it showed three in the afternoon. I tried to remember if I went to lunch but was unsuccessful. I wasn’t hungry so I supposed I had. I kept at my simulations.

About another hour in I landed safely only to realize I heard something which obviously had to be behind me in the simulator.

Laptop speaker sound leaves a great deal to be desired. At least I heard it on my laptop. When I was training on Adam’s laptop I didn’t even hear the small plane that collided with me in the simulation.

I indicated a rapid spin to face behind me and sure enough, saw a small plane taxiing almost on top of me just like that time before. Without thinking I raised my Sim’s hand and sent a fireball into the plane. It turned to ash almost before my eyes and blew off in the light breeze while I sat there staring at the computer screen pondering what just happened in the simulator. There was no sign of the aircraft, not even a scorch mark on the concrete but.... this wasn’t my game, it was the flight simulator. What just happened? What kind of simulator did Adam load on my laptop? I know, this was some kind of a joke, right? I mean, a flight simulator that lets you blast aircraft out of existence? Just to prove myself wrong, I pointed at yet another small plane parked nearby and willed another fireball into existence. That one vanished too. Okay, we’re getting into the realm of seriously strange here. Shutting down the simulator, I tried to think out what had just happened.

Obviously Adam’s simulator was written over some sort of previous game software and I had somehow managed to trigger.... Uh.... Wait a minute.... I don’t remember doing anything to cause the fireball. I gave that some of my precious thinking time and concluded that I hadn’t selected a fireball, nor could I since there wasn’t any menu to select from. As for triggering it, I don’t believe I did anything which could have triggered anything, much less a fireball. Hell, even if this was my game, trying to get a fireball activated wasn’t all that simple. You had to select the action you wanted to initiate, then the target of that action and then be certain you had enough points or mana for it to happen when you left or right clicked for it to happen. I didn’t do any of that. At least I didn’t remember doing any of that. Uh, maybe I should go back to the hospital and see that doctor again.

I pointed my hand at a far corner of the hangar then managed to stop myself just moments before I might have cast a fireball. It wouldn’t do to set the hangar on fire.... On the other hand how likely was it that I would really be able to cast a fireball? Not very.... But.... Just to be safe I got up from the computer and walked into the hall leading past the offices to the outside door.
After walking outside, I turned then walked along the length of the hangar going around to the back before pointing up into the sky and willing a.... HOLY SHIT!

IT WAS A FIREBALL.... I mean, I sent a fireball up.... Oh hell. This is all fucked up. How did I.... What was.... OH SHIT! What the hell was that it hit up there in the air? It hit something or rather nothing or.... anyway. There was nothing up there for it to hit until it hit it and then all I saw were outlines of something big, ugly, and screaming as the blue fire engulfed it.
I ran back to the entrance door and went inside, hurriedly closing the outer door behind me before peeking out through the glass in the door to see if anyone had noticed. Not seeing anyone around, I ran into the hangar and closed that door which connected the office hallway and the hangar then leaned against the hangar wall next to it. After a few seconds of gathering my thoughts, I rushed back to pack my notebook and grab my cell phone calling for a ride home. What the hell did I just do? More importantly, how did I do it and what were other people going to say? Geez, what if I did it accidentally while on the set? I hoped no one saw me. I am so in trouble.

After packing my computer and grabbing my purse I returned to the offices to wait, occasionally peeking out the window or going to that outside door to peek out. I wish my ride would hurry up and get here. I worried about studio security coming to arrest me for trying to start a fire even as I waited for my ride to come and spirit me out of here. Sometime during my wait I suddenly thought I was home and that thought scared me so much that I took a closer look and was reassured that I was actually still in the office at the hangar waiting for my ride.

Maybe that doctor was right and I did have a concussion but more than just a mild one. I had to be imagining this stuff, there was no other feasible explanation. I had to get back to that hospital in a hurry, except.... I didn’t know which one it was. They called. What hospital did they say they were? I was so panicked I couldn’t think straight. City General or something like that. I know, Alice came and picked me up, she would know.

I called her and anxiously waited for her to answer the call.

“The Libermann agency, this is the answering service.”

“What.... oh, crap. It’s after hours. This is urgent could you please get a message to Alice or Jacob? I need to know which hospital I was at yesterday.”

“I beg your pardon? Who is this?”

“This is Denise Parker. Jacob’s my agent and yesterday I was hospitalized with a concussion. Alice picked me up and took me home but today I’m beginning to have some problems again and need to go back to that hospital.” I rattled all that off faster than a machine gun could spit bullets.

“You need to go to the nearest emergency room. We will contact Mr. Liebermann and let him know to call you with the details. Any emergency room can contact whichever hospital you were at for more information.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes. Call 911 or have someone take you to the nearest emergency. We will contact Mr. Liebermann as soon as we hang up from talking with you.”

“Okay. The limo should be here any minute so I’ll have them take me to the hospital. This is important. Please have him call as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry, we will. My supervisor is dialing him now.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Come on limo, hurry up.

“....Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you all right? Did you call for a limo?”

“I, huh? What?” I looked around in confusion for a moment before deciding I had gone to sleep while waiting.

“Are you Denise Parker? Did you call for a Limo?”

“Yes. Err, yes I did. Sorry, I guess I fell asleep.”

Just then my cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Denise. This is Alice. Are you okay?”

“Uh, no I don’t think so. I think I’m hallucinating. I’m imagining things which couldn’t be happening. My ride’s here and I’m going to the nearest ER. I need to know which hospital I was at yesterday. The ER will need to call that one to learn what they did.”

“Okay. Do you need me to come there?”

“I don’t know where ‘there’ is going to be yet. Hold on a second.”

I turned to the driver and asked, “Do you know the name of the nearest hospital with an ER?”

“Uh, no; but I can find out pretty quickly.”

“Uh, Alice, could I call you as soon as I get there and then you can tell me the name of the hospital I was at and if you want to come then I could tell you where I am.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll start getting ready while you’re driving and then when you call I’ll start out.”

I piled into the limo and as we began to drive I got Alice to give me her phone number so I could call her when we arrived at the ER. I suddenly remembered my notification to Mr. Tollenger of my interest in continuing to work. Now he would need to be told I was once again entering a hospital so he could cancel everything that had to be prepared. I felt like a traitor. All those people were counting on me so they could work and earn a living and here I was running in and out of hospital emergency rooms.

We wound up at Valley Presbyterian Hospital’s emergency room and I called Alice to let her know just before going in. She told me I had been at Tri-City Regional yesterday which was more or less close to the location at which we were shooting yesterday. Again, I spent about five to six hours at the ER but they were even more puzzled than Tri-City had been. They reviewed Tri-Cities X-rays and the CT, neither of which showed very much. Those were compared with some they had just taken which, if anything, showed no sign what-so-ever of anything wrong. At least the ones from yesterday held a hint.

“We see no reason for your hallucinations, Miss Parker. Even the EEG and MRI scans showed nothing out of the ordinary. We have nothing here to give us a clue. It seems significant that you suffered the concussion only yesterday and are experiencing hallucinations today but unless something changes dramatically in the next few days.... well, we just have nowhere to go next. I’m going to prescribe some light dosage pain suppressants as it’s possible the hallucinations are being caused by pain that you are subconsciously minimalizing. If that is the case then this prescription will help. If that isn’t the problem then the medication is light enough that it won’t prevent you from doing things or safely driving a car.”

“What about flying?”

“As a passenger, I don’t see any problems. As the pilot, well, it could slow your reaction time a bit.”

“How much is ‘a bit’?”

“That’s a little difficult to say. Each person is affected differently but in general, well, I’d say your reaction time might be as much as twenty percent slower, although I’d hazard a guess that it wouldn’t approach that. You seem a bit young to be a pilot.”

“I’m flying a small craft in a movie. There are some stunts involved so reaction time is something I need to take into consideration.”

The doctor frowned. “Is that how you were in your accident?”

“In a manner of speaking. I was landing and lost power which brought me down a little harder than expected.”

He frowned again.

“All right, two things. First, don’t take any of the pills for four hours preceding a flight or during. They wear off fairly quickly. If you have problems then you can begin taking them again as soon as you stop flying for the day. Take no more than two in each four hour period, more won’t help ease the condition. You need to let your general practitioner know about these meds and the conditions under which you can take them. Those conditions will be on the bottle. Second, if anything changes; and I mean anything, then I want you to let him or her know immediately. I also want you back here pronto for an MRI. I don’t care what anyone else has to say about it, you get back here and give the triage nurse the papers I’ll fill out and give to you when I give you your prescription. It will tell them to have a MRI run without delay and reference our previous tests. Okay?”

“Fine with me.”

“Good. Let me fill out your prescription and that piece of paper and we’ll see about getting you out of here.”

Once again, Alice took me home, but this time she didn’t need to stick around. My insurance was footing the bill, and Mr. Tollenger didn’t know the next day’s shooting had almost been cancelled.... again.

All characters or businesses in this work have no existence outside the imagination of the author. Any references to existing businesses or well-known individuals is for plot development only and there are no affiliations, relationships, or gender assignations of any kind intended between those uses and the characters or businesses created for the fiction of this story. Use of any images contained within this work is intended to aid plot development and is not intended to imply any relationship or endorsement by the individuals, businesses, or entities who’s images are in use. All incidents described or alluded to within this work are pure invention. No affiliations, involvements or gender assignations due to the use of any images contained within this work are to be implied, intended or inferred.