A few hours later, the black SUV drop Del off at his motel. His grubby Honda Accord was parked in front. The motel looked the same with peeling paint colors the colors of a seventies bad porn movie. Grabbing his bag, he walked toward his room. He unlocked his door and walked inside. He turned his light on and was greeted by his dirty room. Too many things happen and he felt hungry and thirsty for a beer. The magical pill that he took a few hours was wearing off. He felt like crap. His head pounded, and he was exhausted. It was almost nine pm. He wanted more of the pill he took. He also wanted to play that VR game that he played today. It was unbelievable.

He shook his head and took out his clothes from the backpack. His jeans and shirt were cleaned and pressed. Del wondered if he should have stayed at the compound. He realized that there something inside his bag that was not his stuff. It was in his jeans pocket. He took it out. It was a wraparound sunglasses. Del’s first instinct was to call Mr. Toler, but he hesitated.

Maybe, he thought, this was just regular sunglasses, nothing more. He wanted to try it on but he was exhausted. Laying in his bed, he closed his eyes. A dream came to him. Del floated in space going to different planets flying like he was on a spaceship. Then an image appeared in front of him, he saw a giant wolf’s head. It stared at him. The creature growled at him. Then he heard the sound of music and a thumping noise. Del suddenly awoke. It was the next door’s neighbors music. He was having a party. And if he wasn’t so tired and hungry he would have banged on the wall. He knew people usually have parties here. He didn’t understand it. This motel was shitty and in a bad area but college and high schools kids would rent a room and have people party, drinking and smoking pot. He could smell the sweet incense of weed.

Del looked at his phone and checked his messages. He saw a text from John and his exwife. He also saw a missed call from an odd number and a voicemail. His phone was at twenty percent and he needed to charge it. But he was hungry and wanted some alcohol.

He changed and went out. Leaving his phone charging in his room, he drove away. He went through the drive through at the nearest burger joint and got a diet soda and cheeseburger. He came back and the music that came from his neighbor’s room was lower. Somebody must have called the cops. He saw a police cruiser leave the motel. Del was at first scared when he saw the police but he saw two people in the back of the cruiser. He knew the cops were not looking for him. Del shook his head. He was being paranoid.

Inside his room, he saw that his phone was still charging. It was at forty-five percent. He checked his phone for more messages and saw that it was Friday. He didn’t know what day it was. Sitting at the table, he ate his food.

He left the sunglasses inside his drawers. Del thought he should hide it for some reason. Del chewed his food and drank his soda. He forgot to check for his laptop. Kneeling toward the floor, he saw the nondescript box was still there. He felt relieved, and he started to eat again.

Del didn’t have plans tonight, and he laughed a little. It didn’t matter. He was thinking he should play the new section in Strike Blast but it paled in comparison to the new Pandora VR world. He turned his chair around and started channel surfing on his TV. Nothing could keep his focus. He wanted to go back into the Pandora VR world. Taking another bite of his cheeseburger, he thought how the new gaming world was so real or surreal. The world seemed better than the world around him.

He watched the news on his TV. The droning of the commentators made him sleepy. He was about to change the channel when his vision started to blur. He thought he was about to pass out. He looked at his hand and it looked transparent. His vision came back into focus and he saw his hand was not invisible. He was seeing things.

Del shook his head. What just happened? He heard the snoring sounds of his neighbor. He grabbed his phone and saw it was nearly two in the morning. He had passed out. He also saw a text from his dad wanting to know if he wanted to take his offer. Del didn’t want to think about his dad’s offer right now. He almost placed his phone back on his night stand when another text message appeared. It was from John.

“Call me! It’s urgent.”

Del instantly dialed John’s number. The phone kept ringing and ringing. He was about to hang up when another voice answered.

It was a woman’s voice. “Hello, is this Del?”

“Yes, where’s John?”

“He’s in the hospital right now. He wanted to speak to you before he passed out. I know it’s late. Can you come down to the hospital? We’re at the Memorial Long Beach Hospital.”

“Yes, I’ll be there.”

Del hung up and walked a little unsteady but he was sober. He hadn’t drunk anything for several hours and he really needed a drink. Splashing cold water on his face, he awoke fully. He scanned his tired face in the bathroom mirror. He needed to get a hold of himself. He brushed his teeth and then changed into some clothes.

***

Del drove to the hospital and made it there under thirty minutes. The traffic was light this time of the night. He was tempted to grab a quick beer at a bar but he stopped himself. He needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Parking his car, he rushed inside and moved to the front counter. A nurse and security guard stood behind a white desk.

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Del said, “I’m looking for John Mendel. He came in a few hours ago.”

The nurse typed on her computer. “He’s in the Emergency Room. Follow the hallway on the right and look for the signs.”

Del ran down the corridor. He sensed something was wrong. A few times he got lost but a few nurses pointed the way to the Emergency room. He entered the area and the first person he saw sitting in rows of chairs was a blonde girl he saw couple nights ago. A name came up, Sandra. Her face was flushed. She looked up at him as he ran inside.

Del was breathing hard, huffing and puffing. “How is he?”

Sandra said, “The doctors told me he’s stable. I saw him a few minutes ago but I couldn’t stay with him. I’m not family. I don’t know what to do.”

Del walked up to the counter. The nurse behind the computer was typing furiously. She looked up at him.

“Yes?”

He said, “My name is Del. I’m John Mendel’s best friend. I want to know how he’s doing.”

The nurse asked, “He’s stable. Are you family?”

“No. His family all in New York. He has nobody here except me.”

She looked at him. “Wait here.”

The nurse walked into the back area. After a few minutes, the nurse came back with a man in a lab coat.

The man said, “My name is Dr. Franklin. Let’s talk somewhere in private.”

Dr. Franklin guided him toward the back area of the hospital. They walked through a hallway and entered a room with a table and a couple of chairs. Del knew something was really wrong with John. A framed photo of Italy hung on a wall. It seemed out of place here.

Dr. Franklin said, “Please sit.”

Del sat across from the doctor.

Dr. Franklin stayed standing. He said, “Your friend is not doing well. He sustained some type of brain injury. It happened recently. If you know something, I need to know so I can diagnose him.”

Del said, “We we just went to a few bars and had fun. Nothing happened.”

“Well,” Dr. Franklin said, “your friend is in a coma right now. We did a CAT scan and we don’t understand what we found. If you can tell us anything, it would help.”

Del said, “Can I see him?”

Dr. Franklin looked at him for a few seconds. He seemed to know that Del was holding something back.

“Okay, I’ll take you to his room now. Please if you know something tell us. We need to know.”

Dr. Franklin made a move to the front door, stopped and turned to him. “Have you seen any hallucinations yourself?”

Del was caught off guard and was about to say something but he said, “No.”

Dr. Franklin nodded. They walked out of the room. At the end of the hallway was an elevator. They walked inside. Dr. Franklin pressed the button for the fourth floor.

“We moved your friend out of emergency and is resting in his room.”

They stepped out of the elevator and walked down a long hallway. They stopped in of the room labeled J56. A man dressed in a nurse’s scrubs walked out of John’s room. The man looked familiar. Del recognized the man. He was the man he saw in the bar a few days ago but he was dressed in a 3 piece suit. Del had a bad feeling.

Dr. Franklin said, “Your friend is in here. I have to get back to the ER. Please be quiet. People are sleeping.”

Dr. Franklin turned and walked away moving to the set of elevators they just came from. Del didn’t want to walk inside the room. He was scared and also anxious to see his friend hook up to machines. He took a deep breath and walked inside. The room was partially in darkness. There was only one bed in this room and he saw the person laying on the bed didn’t look like John. Del was almost relieved but then the closer he got to the bed. He saw John’s face. There was a clear tube snaking into his nose and he heard a machine whirring.

Del wanted to scream and leave this hospital room, but he moved closer to his friend. He didn’t know what to say. John eyes were closed, and he almost looked like a wax statue. His mind flashed to a time when he went to Knotts Scary Farm and he walked on a Haunted Maze. He saw a body laying on a bloody altar. Del thought it was only a prop, but the body jumped and scared him.

He heard a sound behind him. It was a nurse. She was motionless.

“Sorry visiting time is over.”

Del thought the Dr. Franklin told him to stay as long as he wanted but he didn’t want to argue the point.

The nurse said, “Are you Del?”

“Yes,” he said.

“John used your name as an Emergency contact on his papers. We will call you when he is awake.”

Del understood. The nurse wanted him to leave.

“Sure, give me a call.”

He looked at this friend. John looked shrunken as if he had aged into a small old man in only a few hours since he last saw him. And for a split second he thought he saw John laying inside the casket. He shook his head, and the image disappeared.

Del walked out into the corridor. He took the elevator down to the bottom floor. He saw Sandra sitting in the same place when he saw her in the ER room. She seemed to be crying.

Del said, “He’s in a coma. And there nothing we can do tonight. We should go home. They will call me if anything happens.”

Sandra sniffled a little. “Sure.”

“Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I drove tonight.”

Sandra gathered her things. They walked out of the hospital together. Del felt like he was living another person’s life. He really needed a drink.

They walked into the parking lot. Sandra’s car was a Mazda red car. She parked a few rows away from his. There were only several cars parked in this lot. The street lights seemed harsh, glowing above them. Del saw a black SUV parked in the back. He wondered if somebody was watching him.

Sandra said, “Let me give you my number. You can call me when John wakes up. I really like your friend.”

Del nodded.

Sandra said, “Oh, Cheryl wanted to apologize. And if you want to see her again. I can give her your number.”

Del was too stunned to say anything. He said, “Sure.”

They exchange numbers. He watched Sandra get into her car and drove away.