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slightly as the beats escalated. The spasm went to his left leg, and then to his right. Roger opened his eyes. A sudden burst of images filled his mind. His black SUV, rainwater, his large office, and, most predominately, Lois in a black dress all spun around and tingled his brain’s neurons. Then, like a light bulb popping, all of the images vanished from his mind. Roger focused on the situation at hand and sat up. He looked around the hospital room with a baffled expression.
    What the hell happened?
    With his mind’s little voice asking that simple question, he immediately felt throbbing pain overwhelm his head. Roger touched the thick gauze tightly wrapping his forehead. He let out a bellow. His attention shifted to his ear, filled with the rapid sound of an electronic heartbeat, his heartbeat. Roger found himself in the worst place he could possibly awaken. He had never actually stayed in a hospital overnight except for one time as a seven-year-old child after undergoing a frightening tonsillectomy. However, his mother fought the staff and stayed by his side throughout his stay, calming him. That could be why he had felt such animosity toward doctors and hospitals, but whatever the reason, he wanted to get as far away from his location as possible. He wished he had awoken in his cushy bed, or in a hotel room on a business trip, or even at his office, as sometimes he took a ten minute catnap during his lunch hour. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in any of these locations. His mahogany desk and beta fish in clear water were actually a metallic bed with bars and a catheter filled with yellow urine. In addition, the man normally dressed in a costly Hugo Boss suit with a tailored shirt was now covered in a two-dollar blue gown resistant to vomit and other bodily fluids.
    As Roger scanned the room trying to make sense of his dilemma, he suddenly felt abandoned. He wondered how he had ended up inside this prison cell. Most importantly, where was the love of his life? One thing was perfectly clear to him; he had to remove himself from his surroundings. Roger knew his mind would not be free until he returned to a familiar environment, where he could try to lift the low hanging cloud obscuring his mind.
    Roger looked for any sign of life. The only communication he found within immediate reach was a phone on the end table. Roger picked it up, balancing IV lines with phone cords, and began dialing home.
    “Four…Five…No, no, Two…” Roger mouthed as he pressed each digit.
    The businessman realized his phone number was lost from his mind, corrupted like a computer’s hard drive after a deadening shock.
    “Hello? Hello? Who’s there?” a baritone voice expelled through the phone as Roger’s mind screamed.
    Roger tried to hang up the phone, but it fell, smashing on the ground. He mouthed the word “Lois,” as his whisper seemed to travel beyond the thick walls. He hoped it would reach the woman he had so desperately craved. As the seconds passed, he realized the stark truth that the biggest bout of forgetfulness of his entire life faced him. His only crutch was years of higher education to aid his reasoning. The first step in tackling any colossal problem, he concluded, was to deal with the immediate situation at hand.
    The heartbeat monitor focused his attention, which led to the realization that a plethora of electronic sensors had been artificially attached to his body. Without thought, he pulled the various wires from his wrist and hand. He could feel the narrow tube of the intravenous slide out from the engorged vein in his hand, which made him wince. Through the sting, he grabbed the many sensors taped to his chest and abdomen and ripped them from his body, taking some hair with them. The heart monitor changed to a flat, stabbing beep that filled the room, and his head, with the sound of death. Quickly, he swung his feet around and dangled them off the bed, but something felt odd. He had a feeling in his groin that he had