The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by

by C. G. Roberts

  Standing up was no problem, so far no pain. A couple more careful steps prove to be as painless as standing up. I took one more step this time putting all my weight on my injured foot, and surprisingly enough it didn’t hurt one bit. Making sure I still had my gloves on, although I’m somewhat sure that I couldn’t do much damage to the metal fixtures of the sink, I took the glass off the shelf turned the handle and filled up with water.

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  The water was good, but paled in comparison to DR. Pepper, as rightly it should. I decided to walk back to the bed normally, without favoring my left foot. I reached the side of the bed before I realized I was walking normally and without pain. I tried to figure out how I could lose two toes, and two days later walk on it without pain. Without realizing it I was already sitting back in bed all comfortable and covered up, all that was missing was the pizza.

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  I hAd mIssed the first hour of Hellraiser, but that was alright since I had already seen it a few dozen times. I still couldn’t get over how my left foot had no pain. Not being able to figure that one out, I pulled the covers back from the bed and brought my left foot up and crossed it to where it was laying on my right leg. I tapped it a couple of times, then tapped it a little harder, nothing. This was too bizarre for me to grasp so I thought the answer to that question would lie in the capable hands of one Nurse Mattie.

  Focusing my attention back to Hellraiser, I had watched a good ten minutes of it before the smell pizza was welcomed to my awaiting nostrils. Nurse Mattie came strolling into the room with not one but two pizzas and not just any pizza, Goonies’ House pizza, my favorite. I was going to wonder if she knew that or that it was just a coincidence since Goonies’ House was just up the road from the Hospital on Marine Drive. I might ask her later, but in the meantime, a fitting feast awaits.

  Nurse Mattie had the pizzas in one hand, walked over to grab the mobile tray with the other. She sat the pizzas down on the tray as she wheeled it up next to my bed. She brought up the chair and sat it next to my bed, and of course pulled out another can of Dr. Pepper from her infamous pocket. Drooling with anticipation I opened the first box. Peperoni with Italian sausage, oh yeah. I sat that box on the tray next

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  to the other one and opened up the second one, ham with onions, I was in heaven. Then it hit me, that’s’ the same order my Dad brought home two Friday nights ago. Rather timidly I asked, “This is spooky, how did you know what to order, because this is the same……” Nurse Mattie interrupted, “Billy Speer, I am with the FBI, we do have our resources. Now hush and eat this before it gets cold. That was one order I was happy to follow.

  I felt like I was going to explode and have little slices of pepperoni flying around the room, but what a way to go. “Thanks for the pizza, it was great, but I don’t think I can move for a while”. “You’re quite welcome and luckily for you the last thing on my agenda for today does not require any activity from you, so relax for a few and I’ll be right back”. She started to leave the room, “when you were out getting the pizza, I got up to get a glass of water from the bathroom and my foot feels fine, no pain at all, I thought it would hurt, but it doesn’t. Should it be hurting”? Nurse Mattie stopped before she got to the door and replied, “It does hurt Billy Speer only your body has seemed to shut down the ability to feel pain with all that electricity running through you. That’s one of the things you’ll have to keep an eye on. Other people who have been struck like yourself were also unable to feel pain, so trust me when I say that your foot hurts. Stay put and I’ll be right back”.

  In one way not feeling pain gives you a sense of invincibility, although scary to think if something did happen to you, you could be dying and not know it. Nurse Mattie’s been through this before so I think I better listen to her advice. I’d hate to be walking around thinking my foot is fine

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  then all of a sudden my foot falls off, Then my nickname would be Tippy.

  After only a few minutes, Nurse Mattie came into the room carrying some hand held device that was connected to a cord that was attached to something on the other side of the door. She stayed with her back up against the wall about ten feet away from me. “Just one final thing and then the rest of the night is yours”. “So what is that thing, it’s not going to blow up around me is it”? “Rest assured Billy Speer, what I have here is a digital voltmeter. It will register high amounts of electricity”. Sounds intriguing, “Is that like the EMF meter they use on those ghost hunter shows”? “Similar, except this one is around 100 times more powerful, so just sit back and I will turn this on and see what we come up with”.

  I could hear the humming of the machine out in the hall as she turned it on with the device in her hand. Nurse Mattie

  pointed it directly at me. Her eyes widened in what she saw on the device. Slowly taking a step towards me, she turned some dial and the humming became louder. One more step towards me and she yelled, “Oh my God”, and dropped the device on the floor. Nurse Mattie ran out into the hall to

  turn off the machine from out there. As I looked down at

  the device it has smoke coming up from it. Well, you’ve done it again.

  Nurse Mattie came back in the room holding some type of wrap on her right hand. She propped the door open and kicked the hand held device back out into the hall. The

  smoky smell from the hall was invading the room. “Are you okay, what happened to your hand”? She dabbed at her hand for a moment then replied, “I’m fine it just got a bit hot”. “So

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  what happened to the machine out in the hall”? “It overheated I’m afraid, but I got a good reading before it did”.

  The smoke was annoying but not overbearing. Nurse Mattie went over to the window and used the hand crank to

  open it a few inches. That’s as far as it would open. “What did you find out from that machine”? She came back over and sat down on the chair by my bed, “The machine registers volts and AMPs, and converts that information into kilovolt amps which is apparent power then converts that into a scale of power from the source measured”. I was confused, nothing new there. “You lost me at volts”. Her smile returned, “ how’s this, you possess enough power to send the Back to the Future car, back in time and return at least three times, probably more, the gauge was still going up when it started smoking”.

  That explanation I could relate to and the only response I could come up with was, “Great Scott, Marty”! Her smile at me continued. I’m not sure if it was the news of how much

  juice was flowing through me, or if it was the Back to The

  Future Reference.

  Now all I needed was Doc Brown to help me harness my energy. I had a feeling I was going to need all the help I could get. Nurse Mattie was examining her hand as she said, “you know the average bolt of lightning, if contained could power a 100 watt light bulb for about 2 months. You on the other hand could probably power this entire Hospital for at least a week”. That was impressive; maybe I could to that to pay them back for the damage I caused. The thought of me being hooked up to their power source did not provide a healthy visual in my mind.

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  Nurse Mattie looked at her watch and said, “I think that’s enough for today, so the rest of the evening is yours’. I’ll be by in the morning when Family Services gets here; they should be here by 10:00 am. I will need a few minutes of their time to discuss your needs”. She started to leave the room but stopped. “Almost forgot”, as she pulled another can of Dr. Pepper out of the convenience store which is her smock pocket. “See you in the morning Billy Speer”. “Okay Goodnight, and thanks again”.

  It was just me and the TV now and a good combination if I do say so myself. The clock on the far wall was still in working order and it was almost 9:00 pm. That means mara-thon movies on channel 32. The screen on the TV was pick-ing up glare from the sun which would be setting shortly, but in the mean time it was annoying. You know if the cur
tains were closed the problem would be solved, but Nurse Mattie didn’t want me roaming around with my foot the way it is. That leaves just one option, here goes.

  Setting down my Dr. Pepper on the tray, I focused my attention on the curtains. Just remember that I really wanted the curtains to close. After a few seconds I waved my arm in the directions of the curtains, and moved my arm to the right as if I was right there closing them.

  The curtains quickly closed, swinging about for just a second. Satisfied with my conquest, I turned my focus to the TV. Focus on channel 32. I waved my arm at the TV, and presto change-o, channel 32. This was kind of fun. I just now realized something, I am the world’s biggest remote, and the best part, no batteries needed.

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  FrAnk And don continued to labor away in the van strategically parked in the corner of the parking lot with a clear view of Billy Speer’s window. Frank was busy on the phone and Don was tapping away on his keyboard. Frank concludes his phone call. “Evans will be here in 15 minutes to set up a new camera, and I just got of f the phone with Gable who would like you to check into Agent Bolings re-cent phone calls”. Don lifted his head up from the keyboard, “Why does he want that information”? Frank turned slightly from his seat up in the front of the van to face Don. “Gable has been receiving communication from a few of his infor-mants in D.C., and is concerned about some of her activi-ties of late”. Frank handed Don a slip of paper, “These are the two cell numbers he has on file for her, and he’s confi-dent that if there are others that you would be able to obtain them”. Don shook his head and muttered to himself, “Hope springs eternal”.

  The silence in the van continued until Don stated, “This is interesting, her have a look”. Don turned his moni-tor so that Frank had a good view. “What am I watching”? “Camera 21, which is over the nurse’s station right outside Speers’ room”, Don replied. Frank watched as Don clicked on the play button.

  Frank viewed the screen but showed little interest until

  Agent Boling wheeled some machine just outside of Speers’

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  room. “And what might this machine be”? Don looked down at his notes and replied, “It’s a digital voltmeter, and it can gauge the amount of electricity that is being emitted from any given object”. Franks interest just perked up, and he started to say something, but Don interrupted, “Okay now watch what happens next”. Frank could see a couple of sparks flying from the digital voltmeter followed by numerous plumes of smoke.

  Frank continued to view the video, watching Agent Boling darting out of the room and over to the nurses station, then back into the room to kick the hand held device out into the hall. “It’s amazing to think that a test of this magnitude was conducted without our knowledge, and the fact that she has decided not to share her findings with us”. Don nodded in agreement as he stopped the video. “That’s not the only thing she has not shared with us, take a look”. Don hit the play button for the next video showing Agent Boling pacing about the Hospitals lobby on the phone.

  “I now that Gable wanted you to check her phone calls, so is there any way to find out who she is having a conversation with”? Don turned the monitor back in front of him.

  “There is indeed, all I have to do is to put a time when the call was placed, run my new program and it will show all numbers bouncing off these towers plus or minus five minutes. So if anyone placed a call within those parameters, not only will I get a number but I should be able to listen to the call”. “You’re a scary man Marrick and by the way good work”. Don thought to himself, wow that had to hurt didn’t it Landers? Franks attention was diverted to outside the van, “Evans is here, I’ll tell him where to set up, and do you think

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  with all your high tech gadgets, you could manage to order us a pizza”? “Already did, it should be here in ten minutes”, as Don consulted his wristwatch. “Well in the meantime, see if you can find out who Boling was talking to”.

  Sitting in my bed I was torn between the Saw marathon I found on the SYFY channel, and Friday the 13th marathon on channel 32. No matter what the choice, it was going to be a good evening. After tallying all the votes, the winner was, Saw. Let’s face it, both movies had gore, but Saw had innovative gore.

  The room was getting a bit warm, and I could see the curtains blowing back and forth with the window open, so I gave a quick swipe of my hand in the direction of the curtains. The curtains obliged my request by sliding back open, and did that breeze now free to share its cooling effect feel good.

  When Nurse Mattie left and placed the can of Dr. Pepper on my tray, she also left a couple of the high dosage ibuprofen next to the can, I’m assuming to not only help me sleep, but aid my foot as well. After the matter of my video viewing was settled, I took the Ibuprofen with a couple of swigs of Dr. Pepper. This might be my last enjoyable evening for a while for I doubted that I would get the same type of attention that I’m receiving now. I really wasn’t looking forward to staying at the old Coast Guard Base. It wasn’t much of a base size

  wise, but I would be fairly close to Danny, and Nurse Mattie would be looking in on me, so it could be worse I suppose.

  The fact that I was tired did not deter the fact that I was

  going to enjoy as much gore as I can endure, or stay awake for. I was hoping that gore would reign supreme, but I sensed that my body had other plans.

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  As Frank got back into the van, the smell of pizza over-whelmed the small confines of the van. “Evans has us set

  up, have you linked up to it yet”? Don gave him a disapproving sneer, “I’ve been watching him for five minutes already”. Frank grabbed a slice of pizza, took a quick bit and replied, “okay smart ass, what did you find out about Bolings phone call”?

  “There were three call made at 2:03 this afternoon, two of which came from the pharmacy, and the third was the call Agent Boling received. The person who placed the call was, Chandler Parsons, from the D.C. area”. Frank almost choked on his pizza, “What was the name again”? Don looked at his monitor again, “Chandler Parsons”, Don replied. “Are you fucking kidding me, she was talking to that self-serving piece of shit”? Don looked confused, “I take it you’re not one of his best friends”.

  “Chandler Parsons was the assistant Director of the CIA, and everyone was sure he would end up director”. “So what happened”, Don inquired? “He decided that he was above the law, and went rogue on numerous Black Ops. Innocent people were killed and Chandler tried to set certain people as fall guys to take the blame for his decisions. The CIA caught wind of what he was doing and severed all ties with him. Do you think you can hunt down his recent activities”?

  “Should be easy enough, I’ll let you know what I find out”. Frank went back to his pizza and asked, “So how’s our patient”? Don clicked back on the new camera on the light pole by their van, “He’s currently watching a movie”. “Okay just keep an eye out, but don’t bother me for a while unless he blows something up, I need to make some calls”.

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  mondAy mornIng ArrIved with the sound of

  rain pelting the window. It was just after 9:00 am, and I had completed my breakfast, consisting of two sausage egg, and cheese biscuits courtesy of Nurse Mattie, by way of McDonald’s. Who says’ that hospital food is bad. I should eat here more often. Nurse Mattie had come back into the room

  carrying a shopping bag and sat it next to me on the bed. “What’s this”? I asked. “Some tee-shirts a couple of pair of jeans, socks; you get the idea”. I did and it didn’t even occur to me that I was going to leave this place with no clothes. That would get me arrested in a hurry. “I don’t know what to say except, thank you”. “My pleasure Billy Speer, now I suggest that you jump in the shower and try these on”, as she pointed to the bag of clothes.

  “This may sound silly, but will I be safe in the shower, you know with a body full of electricity and all”? She smiled and replied, �
��We’ve established that liquids going into your body does just fine, I’m sure the opposite application of water shall do you no harm. And make sure to use a lot of soap, you’re starting to get a little gamy”.

  Gamy, that’s a term my mother used often, usually in reference to my room. I never thought it smelled so bad, but I guess when you’re used to filth you tend to forget the accompanying smell. The shower did feel good, although I almost forgot to take off my bandage wrap from my foot. I suppose

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  I was overdue, it had been at least three days since my last encounter with soap and hot water.

  The clothes actually fit pretty good, though one item was missing to complete the ensemble; shoes. As if on cue in walks Nurse Mattie with a box of tennis shoes under her

  arm, carrying a small tote bag in one hand, and a strange looking boot of some sort in the other hand. “I was thinking that you might need these”, as she handed the box containing the tennis shoes. “Of course you’ll only be needing the one for a few days; here let me show you how to get this walking boot on properly”.

  My outfit now complete, she had me test out the boot by having me take a lap around the room. I forgot that the TV was still on and when I passed by, it started to make sizzling noises, but stopped as I kept walking. “Not too bad Billy Speer, you see the boot is designed to keep your weight distributed to the heel of your left foot, so that you can maneuver around without much pressure on your foot”. As I came back around towards the bed, Nurse Mattie reached inside the tote bag and pulled out a jacket. “Here, it’s the best I could do on short notice, I know its July, but the mornings around here can get rather crisp”, as she handed me the jacket.