Chapter 4 - The Aftermath

Newest chapter of my e-novel, or short story (not exactly sure exactly what the final form will be). Read, enjoy, comment/critique.

Chapter 4 – The Aftermath

“Ohhhh, fuck.” I said matter-of-factly.

“Holy shit,” said Jen, her jaw still open. “What happened?”

“Well, what do you think happened? I INJECTED MYSELF WITH THE DRUG!” I yelled at her.

I was so angry, but not a Jen. I was angry at myself. ‘How could I let this happen?’ was all I could think about. And then, it suddenly dawned on me ….

“The kiss,” I whispered.

“What? What do you mean 'the kiss,'” said Jen as she slowly walked towards me. Her face showed genuine concern, almost love.

“When we kissed before the final trial mouse, do you remember that?”

“Yeah,” said Jen, blushing.

“While we were kissing, you sighed.” And I pointed my fingers in a gun-shape at her face.

“No, I didn’t,” said Jen throwing her hands up, as if to protect herself from the imaginary bullets fired from my fingers.

“You did.”

“No. I didn’t.”

And then, realization dawned on her face.

“When we kissed, and I drew you close," she said, almost in a whisper, "the auto-injector must have gone off!”

“Yes!” I shouted. “The ‘sighs’ we both heard, must have been the pressurized auto-injector going off.”

All of a sudden, an intense stinging pain burst forth from my head, causing me to grab my head with my hands, as if to prevent my head from exploding.

The pain was excruciating, as if someone was drilling a hole into my head with a hand operated drill, while simultaneously beating me with a large wooden beam.

The feeling spread downwards from my head to my neck, shoulders, torso, groin and legs. I collapsed onto the floor in a screaming and writhing ball of pain.

Then, my eyes felt like someone was trying to take them out with an ice-cream scooper. The edges of my periphery vision began to fade to black, spreading into my vision like black ooze. The pain began to lessen as my vision became more and more obscured.

And then, my vision was consumed, by the black.

Nothing but black. And then, a pinpoint of light.

It began to slowly increase in size, but increasing in speed.

The black was completely overtaken by the white, except at the periphery.

Stationary shapes in the white came into view.

Jen. She was the shape directly in front of me.

She was wearing her lab coat, just like before the pain began.

She was looking at me with genuine concern, but it looked like she was trying to remember something. Finally, like when she tried to solve a complicated problem, her face showed elation as she came up with the oft eluded answer.

“When we kissed, and I drew you close … the auto-injector must have gone off!”

The black then began to slowly creep back into my field of vision.

The place seemed familiar, as did what she just said. Looking around, I saw someone standing directly across from her. It was … me?

How was this possible?

I looked unkempt. My hair was a mess, and I was staring at Jen in an accusatory way.

“Yes!” I heard the other me shout at Jen, while the black slowly began to slowly creep back into my vision.

“The ‘sighs’ we both heard, must have been the pressurized auto-injector going off,” the other me said.

I saw myself throw my hands upon my head, and begin to scream. It was a blood curdling scream, one that someone would make when their insides were being slowly cut by a million shards of glass.

The black then totally engulfed my visual field, until there was no light. There was nothing. Just the black.

Then, a sudden flash of white.

I opened my eyes and I felt my sweat-stained face upon the cold-hard linoleum of the laboratory floor. The whole body pain was gone, but my body felt weak. And my head ached like someone tried to open it with a sledgehammer. And, I was very hungry. Famished, in fact.

As I slowly got myself up, I saw Jen at the opposite wall, on the phone, talking in hushed tones. Seeing me struggle to get up, she quickly hung up and ran to my side.

“Roger! Are you ok? What happened?” she said, fighting back tears. She ran into me and threw her arms around me, holding me close. “I thought that the worse had happened. Just when we discovered our feeling for one another, it seemed like you were dead. You were … you were.”

And then, she succumbed to her tears and placed her head in the crook of my neck, soaking it with her tears.

“I was so worried about you, but I’m glad you’re here,” she said in between sobs.

“Me too,” I said, weakly.

Looking up, and wiping her eyes on her lab coat, she said, “But are you ok? What happened to you?”

“I … remember the pain, and then my vision went dark when I went to the ground. And then, there was nothing, until I saw you. You were talking to me about the accident. It was when we figured out what had happened.”

“You mean, what happened just a minute or so ago?” said Jen, with a questioning look on her face.

“Yeah, it was weird,” I said, shaking my head. “It was nothing, don’t worry about it. Just my brain re-booting after a shock to my system. Of course it would remember what just happened.”

“I’m sure that was it,” said Jen, hugging me surprisingly hard.

But I knew that wasn’t the truth. It was too vivid to be just a memory of what happened. It was extremely vivid. It was if I was living it again, but not quite. As if I was a simple observer of what had just transpired in my life.

And that, my dear readers, was the point in someone’s life, specifically my life, where it changes forever.

And, it was just beginning.

Julie, Julia and Joe, and Feeling the Love at Work

*YAWN!*

It's been a rough day for your Musings Master. Hell, it's been a rough week and summer.

Let's start from the beginning, as I've kept the humorous events of my life hidden for the past week.

I saw two movies over the weekend, Julie & Julia and G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.

Joe was an interesting movie, and not in the good way. It was your standard popcorn high-action movie, with guys running fast, stupid dialogue (ex/ the standard, "hit it again, bitch!"), guys with their shirts off and women in skin-tight costumes. Well, that last one isn't that bad! lol

The acting was sub-par, but some of the action scenes weren't bad. It was a decent time waster, as I like to say.

The better movie was Julie & Julia. I saw it because I love Meryl Streep and I LOVE Amy Adams. Despite the estrogen to testosterone ratio being very out of whack and weighed heavily to the estrogen side, it was a very good movie. I really enjoyed it. It had some humour, some heart-warming moments, put a smile on your face, and made you quite HUNGRY (it is a movie all about cooking, after all).

I stick by this statement I told my Mom.

"Julie & Julia was a funnier movie than Apatow's Funny People." Doesn't that seem illogical?

And at the end of J&J, people clapped. I see a lot of movies, and this is a very rare occurrence. When is the last time YOU remember clapping at a movie?

I have only done so a few times, as I only do so when a movie far surpassed my expectations or was simply amazing.

Spider-Man
Jurassic Park
Iron Man

As for the rest of the week, work has been slowly lurching towards its inevitable conclusion on Friday, like a wounded gazelle trying in vain to escape a lion who just took a large bite out if its thigh. Who I am in that comparison, I do not know.

And now for the ULTIMATE work story.

My last day at work is tomorrow (Friday), and I booked off the afternoon of Thursday (today) as I needed to go to school and get some forms, hand in others and obtain all my camera equipment. I booked off from 12:30 pm - 4 pm a few weeks ago. Remember this, it becomes important later.

There is an assistant who is not the best at her job because she constantly makes little mistakes and ask people to do parts of her job for her. When I had to hand in some completed articles at around 11:15 am today, she asked me if I was free for lunch, and this is how to conversation went:

Me - I am actually having lunch at 12, as I need to leave here at 12:30 pm.
Secretary - So, you won't be here at 3 pm?
Me - No, I need to get all my camera stuff from school, and then get a refresher course with the camera
Secretary - So, no?
Me - *laughs* Yeah, no.
Secretary - Ohh, that's bad.
Me - Why's that bad?
Secretary - Well, we had a surprise farewell party for you at 3 pm. *pause*
Is there any way you can come after?
Me - Not really, 3 pm is when I am picking up the equipment, and then I need to check that it all works. And then bring ALL the stuff home.
Secretary - What about after that?
Me - I have no idea how long it will take to do all that. And then I'll need to walk and take the bus all the way back to work, which will take around 40 minutes, for a party that would be over? Sounds a little pointless.

She then said she was going to speak to the boss and see if we could move it up.

About 5 minutes later, she walked into my cubicle and told me that the boss is super-busy (which is true), and cannot move it. So, there is nothing she can do.

So, to sum up, my work planned a FAREWELL PARTY for me, but neglected to see if I was even free at that time. But, they had it anyway, when I wasn't even there. And there was going to be cake!

When asked if I could have a piece, the response I got back sums up my experience this entire summer.

"If we remember and don't eat it all, we'll try to save you a piece of your own farewell cake."

Can't you just feel the love?

Chapter 3 - The Experiment

Before you get started on the newest chapter of my novel, "The Black," turn your attention to the top right of my blog. For easy access, I will now catalogue all the entries for my novel there, so you can visit any chapter you want at the click of a mouse.

As always, comments and/or feedback is appreciated.

Here it is, the newest chaper entitled, "The Experiment."

Chapter Three - The Experiment

No matter how much I used the new painless auto-injector, I was constantly surprised of just how sci-fi it was. It was sleek and metal, with a mechanism at the top where you insert the medication. I didn’t know precisely how it worked, but you inserted the meds, placed the other end on the injection site, pressed the trigger, you heard the tell-tale HISS sound and you were done! I swear it worked like a hypo-spray out of Star Trek.

ANUBIS’ main source of income was being hired out as an experimental laboratory for new drugs or compounds. Companies would send us various things and we would test them out on various animal species. Having an outside laboratory confirm your findings goes a long way in the patent process.

“You make it, we try it,” should have been the company slogan.

Placing the F vial, containing the control saline into the injector, I began the test.
But first: “Hey Jen!” I yelled.

“I’m starting the test! You …,” I stopped when I saw her walk into the room.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, “but I was feeding the frogs, so sorry if I smell like cricket crap.”

“I’ll forgive you, this time,” I said with a smirk and a wink. “Shall we?”

Jen picked up the first member of the Partridge mice, and place it on the table. Exerting just a little bit of force, she placed her hands on the mouse and pushed down. Her hands were positioned directly above the mouse’s legs, so that it could not move.

“Ready,” she said.

“Ok, P-trial test beginning at 9:35 am. First mouse.”

I placed the injection head right where the mouse’s skull meets its spine and pressed the trigger … HISS.

“I love the auto-injector,” said Jen, as she placed the mouse into another cage with a big ‘I’ on it, standing for Injected. “It makes holding them down so much easier when they don’t struggle.”

The process went like an assembly line until all of the P-trial mice were vaccinated with nothing but saline.

“Nurse,” I said, looking at Jen.

“Yes Doctor?” said Jen in her sexiest voice

“Sponge.”

Without another word, she picked up a nearby sponge and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Our faces were mere centimeters apart, and she smelled like freshly picked apples. We just stared at each other, and it seemed that the temperature of the room increased at least by 10 degrees.

The attraction between us at that moment was palpable. I never wanted her more than at that moment. She was everything I would possibly want in a woman: Smart, confident, very pretty and loved to laugh.

“Roger …” whispered Jen.

“Yes?”

She giggled.

“What?”

And then, she just kissed me.

It was weird, but in the best way possible. All thoughts vanished from my brain, and I was just totally in the moment of Jen.

After what seemed like an hour, we broke apart.

Jen smiled, and said, “Will that be all Doctor?”

I cleared my throat and laughed. “That was …”

“I know,” said Jen.

What the hell, she did just kiss me, I thought. Might as well go for the f-ing plunge.

“Would you like to do something tonight?” I said nervously.

“Only if you promise to kiss me back like that again,” she said, while brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “And we need to finish our experiment first, and then we can discuss our plans for tonight and breakfast tomorrow.”

“Break … fast?” I said, my voice cracking just a little bit.

“Well,” said Jen, “if you play your cards right.” And with that, she walked to the fridge to get the trial drug.

Smiling despite myself, I moved the empty P cage and the control mice to the other side of the lab.

Grabbing the empty TI (Test Injected) cage and placing it on my bench, I threw the empty P-trial vial into the glass container for removal and recycling.

Jen returned with the memory test drug (B-vial) and went to grab to Brady mice, while I prepped the auto-injector.

When she returned and placed the mice on the lab bench, I was all prepared to begin. “B-trial test beginning at 10:07 am. First mouse,” I said.

Grabbing the first mouse, she put him on the table; I placed the injector above his spine and HISS. Done.

Just like the control, it proceeded perfectly, like an automated assembly line. After a short while, I said to Jen, “How many mice do we have left?”

“Just one more,” said Jen. And winking, she then said, “Then we can discuss about what we’re going to do next, and maybe cut out early to start our date earlier.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said with a big smile. “Bring me our last patient.”

As I grabbed the auto-injector, Jen picked up the mouse, and placed him on the lab bench.

“You know Roger; I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t know why I’ve waited for so long,” said Jen. “I suppose I was just nervous that you would not reciprocate.”

“Are you kidding?” I said, placing the injector above the mouse’s spinal cord. “I’ve had a bad crush on you for the longest time, but I wasn’t sure about how you felt about me.”

“I think you know now,” said Jen, and leaned in to kiss me. Wanting to feel her lips upon mine again, I moved my hands and leaned in to meet her. Our lips met and the feeling was even better than the first time.

After a short while, I heard her sigh in content, and we unlocked our lips.

“Ok, we really need to finish this, then we can resume,” I said.

Jen, smiling and blushing a little bit, grabbed the mouse and I placed the auto-injector above the spine and pressed the trigger.

But, nothing happened.

Pressing the trigger once more, there was no HISS. Pulling out the B-vial, I noticed that the drug was all gone.

“Jen,” I said calmly. “Was there an extra mouse?”

With a look of concern on her face, she said weakly, “No.”

And then, all of a sudden, all the colour that was present in her face drained away.

“What’s wrong?!?”

“Roger,” she said, her voice slowly rising in pitch and intensity. “Your ARM!”

Looking down, I noticed that the left forearm of my lab coat was spotted with a few drops of crimson. Lifting the coat, I saw something that sent a chill down my spine: A small puncture mark, made by an auto-injector.

That was it. That one mistake, that one slip of judgment, one lapse in concentration, changed my life forever. That moment lead to everything that happened to me: the headaches, the flashes, the asylum, the ‘friends, ’and of course, the death.

The Move

Friday was an interesting day at work, but not the good kind. Let me tell you why.

My cubicle, which I share with another student, is right near the boss’s office. While not the ideal place for a perpetual slacker (but highly productive when properly motivated), I made do. I was right near the action.

Granted, it is the government, so there never really was any action. But, if there was, I was RIGHT there to seize it by the reins and yell, "Woahhhh Nelly!"

Then, my boss walked into my cubicle.

Boss - Hi David, and _________ (her name kept secret cause I hate her. Haha, I'm joking of course)
Me - Hi?
Boss - So guess what? You're MOVING! YAY!!
Me - *dumb and blank look*
______ - Why?
Boss - We're getting a new staff member on Wednesday, and we want her to have this one. Paperwork's all done, so you'll move before lunch. Bye!

What you have to understand, is that my last day is August 14th, so I had nine days left (not including Friday), so I reallly didn't see the point in the move. As well, there are plenty of other empty cubicles nearby.

But, I packed up my stuff, and asked to be shown to my new cubicle, thinking it would be close by.

Boy was I wrong.

If you were to have a copy of the architectural plans for this floor, and drew a diagonal line from my old desk (upper left) to the lower right, you would hit my new cubicle.

I am LITERALLY at the lower right corner of the 13th floor. I am surrounded by 2 walls, and 2 cubicle walls, creating, in essence, a box.

A box in which someone would be insane to come visit me.

There are a few bright sides though:
1) I have my own cubicle now
2) The other student (referred to as ______) is right beside me in the next cubicle, and I can talk to her whenever I want
3) I am so far removed, that I could fall asleep or cut out early and no one would be the wiser. Muahahahaha!

Speaking of which, time to put on the iPod and nap.

But before I go, here's a link to the new Weird Al music video, making fun of the White Stripes. Watch it, you'll like it! It's made by the JibJab guys, and it's very funny!

New Weird Al Video - CNR