Thicker Than Blood | Page 7

sliding sideways. Joe looked out the driver's side window and saw another giant pothole. He heard a crunch and a bang simultaneously, the sound of glass breaking and metal folding as the car's body hit the pavement. He smashed into the drivers side window as the rear of the car lifted in the air. The car was rolling, he knew he was done for. Joe woke up coughing black smoke out of his lungs. A small flame flickered out of the hole cut in the car's hood. He knew he hadn't been out for more than a few seconds, because he would not have had woken up at all. Blood was running into his eyes. He didn't have much time. He moved his legs and arms, and they still seemed to function. He unbuckled his shoulder harness, and climbed across the seats under the buckled roof. He felt broken glass cutting his hands as he scraped them across the passengers seat. Staggering out of the missing passenger's side door, he flung his broken clarks off. "Where is the phone?" he mumbled to himself while scanning the ground.
He mindlessly reached into his back pocket, and then his coat pockets, looking for his cell phone. He couldn't think clearly anymore. He collapsed to the ground. He knew he was going to die.
Chapter 3
I smell glass cleaner. No wait, not glass cleaner, ammonia. Joe stretched his right arm to scratch the left. Why are my sheets itchy? Who's cleaning around me? Joe listened. It's really quiet. I hear a machine, maybe a computer? Joe reached across his chest to scratch again. Why am I bandaged? Then Joe remembered everything. The accident came back to him in more detail than when it happened. The song, the clicking part about to fail, the pair of giant potholes, the blood running in his eyes. How long have I been unconscious? Joe wiggled his toes and his fingers. I don't seem to be paralyzed, he thought. I can feel the sheets, so my limbs aren't phantoms. Wait, I walked away from the car. It was on fire. Oh crap I loved that car, it was demolished. He began to try to visualize the damage to the car. He began to take stock of the damaged parts and how he would begin to fix them. Oh wait, he thought, what if I'm blind? Joe opened his eyes. The light was intense, so he blinked them shut. He squinted and tried opening them again. His vision was snowy but his eyes worked. He was afraid the broken clarks might have damaged his eyes. Every direction he turned his eyes, his vision was speckled with little gray spots, like pepper. He heard voices in the hallway. One was his aunt. As a childish reflex, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. "You don't have that right. Life and death, is subject to a higher morality. It's not like any damage was done to the project." Joe recognized his aunt's whispering voice. "This hospital participates under a specific auspice," Joe heard a man say. He had a southern drawl. "Our research effort counts on the limited funds allotted to this project." "Don't cry poverty to me!" His aunt shot back, "You people have more money than you know what to do with. That boy is like a son to me. You would have done the same thing for your daughter. The need was real and immediate." They're talking about me, Joe thought. He immediately felt anger toward the man who spoke to his aunt like that. "Okay, okay. I believe..." the strange man paused, "I believe I can convince the committee that any risk of exposure is a risk of a public debacle. I think that they will see it's far too risky to end the project here. What you do need to do is disable them immediately, and you do need to be far more careful with other people's property." The man paused and then said, "I will expect full analysis and data." His voice faded and echoed. He was walking up the hall. Joe heard a shoe squeak. "You foolish child," Dr. Graceland whispered, startling Joe. She was closer than he thought. Joe's eyes blinked open. "You're awake," she proclaimed, suddenly ecstatic. "Yeah barely," Joe mumbled. "I have to call your father," Joe's aunt was brimming with joy. "I'm glad I'm alive too... I thought I would die for sure." "How do you feel?" "Lousy, and my eyes are grainy. You aren't going to give me a speech are you?" Dr. Graceland chuckled. "No, Joe, not this time." He grimaced. He was thinking about the accident. "How did they find me? I don't remember finding my cell phone." "The explosion." Joe felt the hairs on his body