Plague

Chapter 1 Day 2, 4:00 AM

Chapter 1
Day 2
4:00 AM

Dr. Jacob Wright opened his eyes, slowed by the pain the movement caused him.
This pain was dwarfed by the pain coming from his throat, and his head.
He tried to move, but found that he couldn’t move at all.
He tried to angle his head down, so he could see what was holding him, but the pain was too much.
He was able to move his wrists. His fingers felt straps holding his arms tightly, alongside his body.
He tried to move his legs, but they were also immobilized.
His head was able to move. Once his eyes grew somewhat accustomed to the bright lights above him, he turned his head to the left and saw a bag of fluid on a tall stand, with a clear tube connecting it to somewhere on his body- probably his arm, as it was a bag of intravenous fluids.
He could see the tiled walls behind the bag, with protruding oxygen nozzles.
He turned his head to the right. The pain this induced in his head caused Jacob to gasp.
Across the room he could see cabinets, and under them a sink.
Again he tried to angle his head downward. The pain in his head renewed itself, not letting Jacob forget that it was there, as if he could.
He tried to overlook the pain and think.
He was in a patient examination room in the hospital Emergency Department. He could recognize the green tile on the wall. He’d seen patients there many times.
He was tied down to the exam table. That’s why he couldn’t move.
Jacob tried to remember why he was there.
He couldn’t.
He tried to concentrate, but the pain in his head grew so great that he almost blacked out.
He was hurt. That’s why he was in such pain.
What had happened to him?
Why was he tied to the exam table?
Trying to concentrate only increased his pain, so he tried to let his mind wander. This didn’t help him at first. Then, he began to remember.
It was just on the edge of his consciousness. He tried to recall it, to bring it to the forefront of his mind. He almost had it when he heard a voice next to him.
“I just wanted to check and see if you were awake.”
Jacob forced his eyes to look down towards the foot of the exam table.
He saw a man, his clothes disheveled, a growth of beard covering his doughy face. He had well chewed cigar in his mouth. A gun in his hand was pointed at Jacob’s head.
“You killed a cop, yes you did,” the man said.
Jacob recognized the man, but couldn’t remember his name.
“His friends are on their way here now for you. They don’t like people who kill cops.”
The pain exploding rhythmically in his head, the waves of agony reverberating through his skull gradually abating, but never stopping, continued. Once the pain began to grow less, another enormous, red-tinged explosion of pain would occur, making him gasp.
The man turned and walked out of the room.
“I killed a cop?” Jacob asked himself.
He didn’t remember that.
He had a flash, a picture of a small, enclosed space.
Another flash and he saw a man about his height wearing a three-piece suit motioning him forward.
He remembered something: something horrible. Something unnatural…..
He couldn’t remember anything else.
He didn’t know who the man was.
Was he a cop?
Jacob’s throat was raw- when he swallowed the little saliva in his mouth, the pain was only a bit less than that in his head.
Grunting, Jacob closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain and let his mind wander back to the beginning.
At least he thought it was the beginning.
He remembered a phone ringing.