The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by

by C. G. Roberts

  It was quite apparent that this new version of Billy Speer, that I was looking at in the hand mirror, compliments of

  10

  Nurse Mattie, is a complete transformation of what I was before I got hit by lightning, William Shake Speer 2.0 if you will.

  I handed the mirror back to Mattie, thinking I have a lot on my plate, and no appetite. Nusrse Mattie, had her rubber gloves on to protect her from my electro charged body. She checked my vital, as best she could, with somewhat primi-tive but effective methods. She couldn’t use a stethoscope, because of the metal I suppose. But she did check my pulse, and used on of the new thermometer strips to use on my forehead, and had me take deep breaths.

  “So Billy, I understand you’ve been waiting for your par-ents to come in to see you”…. “It’s okay Mattie, I saw the news before Dr. HeadBangor pissed me off and the TV ex-ploded”. A look of relief, came over her as she raised her head back up to meet my eyes again. I would’ve been relieved too, I’m not good at passing on bad news. “What do I do now Mattie”? Hoping to get an answer, but I was pretty sure that she would not indulge with such a broad request.

  She held out her hand to me, “Take this, it will help you sleep. It’s fairly potent, but not as fast as a shot, which no one is confident in administering yet”. I took the pill, and she handed me a cup of water. “What about water, will my mouth catch fire if I drink this”? “You’re catching on quickly, but no, one of the other nurses gave you ice chips when you started coming around, and you did fine, so drink up and try to get some rest”. “Dr. Bangor will be in to see you in the morning, so remember, Use the force Luke”! She smiled and left the room.

  I was worried, hurt, both physical and emotional. Not

  11

  knowing what would happen to me, what do they do with 17 year olds with no parents? I have no house to go to, the only relative I know of is my Mothers older brother, Samuel, from Columbia, Mo. He’s an English professor at the University of Missouri. I’m hoping he won’t take me in. I can’t see trading the Northwest for horrible Midwest weather. The longer I thought about it, the drowsier I became. Soon I wasn’t thinking of anything. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Sleep found me, but if I dreamed, I didn’t remember it.

  12

  4

  “so, were you able to get video from his room”? “That’s affirmative Mr. Landers, the camera was placed outside his window last night, it should be far enough away from him to stay operational, but you’ll still get clear video”. “Thanks Evans, I’ll be in touch”. Mr. Landers put his cell phone back in his pocket, and used the wireless feed from the camera to his laptop, where he now had a clear and unobstructed view of William S. Speer in room 217. “Hey Frank, want to get a bite, looks like the kids dosed off”? A quick nod of approval from Mr. Landers and they exited the vehicle.

  The Hospital cafeteria was open 24 hrs. One of the few spots to grab a bite to eat after 10:00pm in Astoria. Mainly empty except for a few orderlies and staff members, the 2 men seated towards the back of the cafeteria in suits and

  ties seemed as out of place as a chandelier in an outhouse. No one paid them any attention though, as they finished their meal.

  Frank Landers has been with the bureau for 21 years, his partner Don Marrick had 4 years under his belt, but his tech training was what got him partnered with the bureaus number 1 investigative genius. Agent Landers was an impos-ing specimen of a man, 6’5”, and a rock solid 235 pounds. Sporting jet black hair that has been touched up for years, though no one dared mention it. Even at 53 he was in such good shape, that most new agents had quit challenging him

  13

  in the yearly self-defense refresher course. His piercing blue eyes struck fear into enough people, to back off and give him the right of way. His expertise in investigating phenomena was a relatively new field that the bureau felt that Landers would be perfect for, considering his experience in interrogation and political connections around the country. Not to mention 21 years of helping solve some of the biggest corporate crimes in recent memory. A non-stop investigative hound, that won’t take no for an answer. Don Marrick on the other hand, was the new age Agent. A self-professed, self-taught, tech geek that caught the bureau’s attention with his hacking skills. He hacked the DMV when he was 15 and change the information of 16 different Auto titles, and made himself their new owner. The FBI made a deal with

  him. They would drop federal charges in exchange for his services, upon completion of high school. Not a bad deal. At 5’9” and 150 pounds, he struck fear into no one, until he was in front of his computer, and his skills would make even agent Landers shudder.

  “Did Gable, say how long he wants us to monitor this kid”? Frank slowly finished wiping his mouth and replied, “We tail him until we are told different”. “Hey Frank, what do you make of what he did in the ER”? “I’m lucky my buddy from the BAU was monitoring You Tube that night, even luckier that the Patient in the ER got him on video”.

  “I’ve been doing some research on the phenomena of possible things that could happen when you get hit by lightning, but nothing even close to compare it to. He is one Dynamic electrical force, and I’ll need to view the footage some more to see if I missed anything”.

  14

  “Let’s get back to the van before the kid wakes up”. “Sure thing Frank”, as Don grabbed a handful of saltines form the table and headed back out to the parking lot to keep tabs on their favorite patient.

  The Morning arrived without much fanfare, but the sun was a welcome sight, gleaming through my not so clean window, but enjoyable none the less. The extra light in my room provided a clearer image of my room. The drab green walls, the white tile floor, and 6 machines that I’m sure had various functions but remained unplugged. I did notice a couple of people, maybe nurses, I’m not sure, they never came far enough into the room for me to see who they were. I guess they wanted to peak at the train wreck in room 217.

  One of the staff came in with a tray of food, consisting of oatmeal, a slice of dry toast, a banana, and coffee (Yuk!). I don’t know how my parents drank the stuff. My eyes became misty again thinking of my parents. I miss them already. You never quite know how much you miss someone, until they’re gone. I’m going to miss them a lot.

  Loud voices caught my attention right outside my door. I recognized the voice, Dr. Doom himself. I shall heed my dad’s advice, and refrain from pointing out to Dr. Bangor, that he is an asshole, maybe. I sat up as straight as possible, still a little sore, but I managed.

  Dr. Bangor came in the room like a man on a mission, he looked like he was prepped for surgery, complete with mouth cover, scrubs and rubber gloves. He stopped a good 5 feet from my bed and kept his eyes focused on his clipboard. “Mr. Speer”, he spoke with authority as he looked up at me from his clipboard. “I take it, you haven’t destroyed anymore of

  15

  our equipment”? I’m feeling better, thanks for asking, wishing I would say that to him, but all that came out was, “No, not yet, but the day is young”. I may be 17, but I could major in sarcasm. He said nothing for a moment, staring intently. I could tell he could rise to anger quickly by how quick his face became red. His eyes glaring, not blinking as if he could shoot lasers from his eyes, and destroy me. “Funny, Mr. Speer, I have two things for you, one is from Family services, and they will be here tomorrow morning to discuss your situation. I had hoped they could be here today to take you off our hands, but unfortunately for us, they don’t work on Sundays. The other is your bill, a preliminary estimate of the damage you caused, and what you owe this facility. Not to mention I have taken it upon myself to start legal proceedings against you on behalf of Linda Wiggins, my head nurse in the ER, with the damaged hand you caused”.

  The more he kept talking the less I listened. I felt my own anger rise, I wanted to ring his neck. Did he actually think I got struck by lightning on purpose, and while I was unconscious, caused whatever damage he claims with malicious intent? What a pompo
us windbag, Or as my friend Denny would say, What a D-Bag. He started shaking his finger at me, perhaps he was blaming me for the latest unrest in the Middle East, and I wasn’t sure, I was too angry to hear him.

  The only thing I wanted was for him to leave the room. I personally didn’t do anything to him. He kept rambling on about how I was responsible for the damage and how I should perhaps be arrested for my actions, blah,blah,blah. Will he ever stop his bitching? Come to think of it, I don’t

  16

  recall him taking a breath since he came in. His lungs must be in reactionary mode and his heart full of hate. He needed to leave this room now, and I don’t care how. I was thinking how nice it would be for him to run and jump out the window, perhaps which would make him shut up. That sounded good, real good in fact.

  God, how I wish he was dead. How the hell did he ever become a doctor, for that matter how did he ever pass for human? I was fuming, and thinking to myself, so why don’t you take off running full speed and jump through that window, do us all a favor, run jump, run jump. Do the human race a favor and rid us of your arrogance. Come on you piece of shit, the window is right there, look at it, run, jump. Do it now, I want you out of here, run, jump out that window, and do it now. Do it, Do it, Do, it………………

  His eyes opened wide, almost too wide. He was trying to talk, but nothing was coming out. Come on asshole, I want you dead, you hear me, dead, run jump, come on I said run and jump out that window. What are you waiting for, run and jump, run and jump? I kept repeating those same words over and over, when Dr. Bangor’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. He started shaking violently, looked away from me and began running towards the window. He picked up speed and didn’t stop running then crashed through the window.

  Oh my God, did I actually do that, was it possible, that I willed him to do that, but how, oh my God how! The sound of the crash brought an immediate crowd into my room. Nurse Mattie, had just come on shift, and was the first one in the room. She looked over at me with an immediate show

  17

  of relief on her face, followed by confusion. If I didn’t go through the window, then who did. Slowly she made her way to the broken mass that used to be a window, then looked down toward the parking lot.

  Mattie hollered back to the hallway, “Call ER Dr. Bangor went through the window, and landed on the sidewalk, hurry, he’s not moving, and there’s a lot of blood”. Mattie slowly backed away from the window, with her hand covering her mouth, and walked slowly over to my bed. Just as she was starting to talk, 5 staff members came running into the room, and over to the window. Words were flying fast and furious, most of which I couldn’t really hear. I was gazing towards the window, then slowly turned my head towards Mattie. “I didn’t touch him Mattie, honest to god I got nowhere near him, he just……..as I pointed to the window, my hand visibly shaking”.

  “Billy Speer, I know you couldn’t have attacked him, you haven’t even tried to stand on your injured foot yet. So what can you tell me”? She gave me a sly look like I may be holding back on what happened, but the truth of the matter is…..I’m not sure what happened. I brought my shaky hand back to my side, tried to compose myself. “I’m not sure, he came in here like he was a judge handing down my sentence. Something about the large amount of money he says I owe this place, and some legal action he’s doing. The rest of it I didn’t really hear, because he was pissing me off, so I kind of shut out his voice. But I do remember saying to myself that I wish he was dead, and he should run and jump out that window”. “Do me one favor Billy Speer, when the police come in to ask questions, make sure you leave that part out”.

  18

  Already confused enough, I couldn’t grasp Mattie’s request. “You promise me now, and I’ll be back shortly to check on you, and we’ll talk some more”. She held up a finger to her mouth to give the Shhh Sign as a reminder. This has been one long day already, and it’s not even 9 o’clock yet. What could possibly happen now?

  19

  5

  “uh, FrAnk dId you see…..” “I saw everything, but, the good Doctor took out our camera on the way”. The sirens were getting louder, Don turned back towards Frank who was monitoring Billy Speer on the monitor of their command center at the back of the van. “Don, you better hurry up towards the scene, and locate our camera, or what’s left of it, before the locals arrive. The last thing I need is to explain to the police that we are spying on this kid without the proper FBI approval”. “On my way”, Don replied. “Crap” Frank sighed, “I better call Gable, and let him know our project may prove to be more dangerous than anticipated. I can’t even imagine the destruction that he’s capable of”. Frank finished his call and moved to the front of the van, where he had a clear view of the growing crowd surrounding the doctor.

  3 police cars and 1 cruiser arrived at the hospital, just about 60 feet to the left of the main entrance. Dr. Bangor lay in a motionless crumpled heap. His blood continued to pour out of his head, which was twisted almost 180 degrees from where it should have been. Nurse Mattie, made her way through the growing crowd of spectators, saw what was left of Dr. Bangor, and put her hand up to her mouth as if she might lose her lunch. Seeing that there was nothing that she could do, Nurse Mattie, turned to walk back to the hospital entrance. Some little boy was standing next to his Mother

  20

  and said,” what’s that mommy”? “Just leave it alone sweetie and let’s get back inside”. The object of the boy’s curiosity came into view of Nurse Mattie. She scanned the crowd for a

  few seconds, bent down, picked up the object, and slid it into her smock pocket. Turning for one more look, Nurse Mattie went back into the hospital.

  It seemed like there were 30-40 people running in and out of my room. Hysteria will play tricks on a person, and in all likelihood there may have been 5 or 6 people, revolving in and out of the room. A couple of Police were exchanging information right outside my door, while a couple of others had the white smocks on, taking pictures, measurements, and other activities that I was unsure of.

  Nurse Mattie came back like she said she would, and brought a wheelchair with her. “Come on Billy Speer, we need to take a trip down the hall for a while, so these folks can conclude their business”. Being rather anxious to leave this room, I tossed the sheets back with gusto pulled myself over to the side of the bed, got my first good look at my left foot, and felt sick to my stomach. I guess Mattie could tell by the look on my face, that I was less than well. “Don’t fret none now Billy Speer, your foot will be just fine, now put your good foot down turn and sit down and we’ll take us a short trip”. “On the way is there some way I could get a coke or something, my mouth is so dry”?

  “I think that could be arranged, then we’ll go down to the waiting room, where I told the police you would be, they have some questions. You remember my request right”? I nodded, but my mind was currently more focused on a re-freshing coke, Dr. Pepper preferably.

  21

  The can of Dr. Pepper she got me on the way to the wait-ing room, didn’t make the entire trip, yes I was that thirsty, and it was that good. The waiting room was down the hall-way and to the right, before you get to the elevators. Mattie went over to turn off the TV much to my displeasure, but I understood. 6 worn wooden chairs, one dark green sofa and a coffee table with various magazines tossed about. “Just wait here, there should be someone with you in a minute, I’ll be back later to take you to another room, since your last one is now a crime scene”.

  Crime scene, another first for me, considering I didn’t do anything. They already have one Doctor Ready to throw me to the wolves. I was sure there would be more. Trying to rehash what happened in my room, I remember telling the Dr. to kill himself, to run and jump out the window, but why did he do it? It couldn’t have been me, he must have had a breakdown, popped a gasket, and something made him jump out that window.

  The more I thought about it, the more unlikely it was, that the Doctor dec
ided to commit suicide. I remember the

  TV, after a few moments of wishing it was on, it came on. A few moments with Dr. Bangor, wishing he would kill him-self, he did. If I did this, how did I do it? None of it made any sense. People don’t have the power to make things hap-pen with their mind, to magically make appliances come on by wishing it so. Suddenly I felt like the male version of “I Dream of Jeanie”.

  A momentous headache was setting in the more I tried to figure out what happened to me. The headache looked like it wouldn’t be going away anytime soon, as a couple of

  22

  what I guessed to be policemen were making their way into the waiting room.

  The first policeman to come in was tall, a good 6’4”, and lean but in obvious good shape. The name on the badge read Narcles, what kind of name was that? It looked like I wouldn’t be talking to him anyway, as the second policeman came in. He was notably shorter than his partner, but thick everywhere. Built like a fireplug, as my Dad would say. His badge had too many letters for me to decipher, I would wait for proper introductions. The two policeman flanked me on both sides, as a the third member of their party came into the waiting room, this one was wearing a suit, one that looked like it might have fit him about 30 pounds ago. Short crew-cut hair, a little gray on the sides, and a plump face with the kind of jowls that could hit you if he shook his face hard enough.

  “I take it, your Speer”? He asked in a matter of fact tone. “I’m Detective Hargrove”. I gave a nod of my head, and all I was able to squeak out was, “Yeah”, what a conversationalist, I turned out to be. “Okay Kid, what’s your full name”? “William S. Speer”. “What’s the S stand for”? I really didn’t want to answer this, as I knew what was to follow. “My middle name is Shake”. Dectective Hargrove sighed and sat down on one of the worn but luckily sturdy wooden chairs next to the wheelchair I was occupying. “Look kid, we got a dead Doctor, nobody saw what happened, so I don’t have time for your Bullshit, got it”! “No, really, my middle name is Shake”. The detective groaned as he stood back up, I suppose to look down at me in an intimidating manner. “So, your name is William Shake Speer”, the two other policeman,