Chapter 2

The car stopped. I was yanked all the way out and shoved into a place that reeked of disinfectant. It was freezing, and the floor was rock-hard.

"Let go! Don't pull at my clothes!" I cried.

Several people who seemed to be orderlies surrounded me, roughly yanking off my filthy, mud-stained cotton jacket. Inside it was a dollar bill that Natalie had sewn in for me.

"Behave yourself!" one of the orderlies snapped, giving me a hard shove.

I stumbled and crashed onto the icy tile floor, knee-first. Pain coursed through me. Before I could get up, they grabbed me by the arms again and pushed me toward some kind of platform.

"Get in there!" They shoved me into a narrow, freezing tube.

Right after that, a rumbling noise exploded around me. The machine kicked on, and the vibration ran through my whole body.

Darkness. Tight space. Violent shaking.

I knew this feeling all too well. The memory of that night three years ago crashed through my mind. The load-bearing wall came crashing down; there were black, jagged chunks of stone everywhere, pressing on me so hard that I couldn't breathe.

I let out a raw, piercing scream. "There's an earthquake! Help! It hurts! The rocks are crushing me! Don't leave me!"

I thrashed and rolled inside the cramped machine, clawing at the inside of the tube with both hands. My nails split open, and blood leaked down my fingers, smearing across the white inner wall.

"Help me… Don't leave me behind…"

I felt like I was being buried alive all over again. Heat flooded my crotch. I lost control and wet myself.

The machine cut off mid-roar. The hatch was pulled open, and I tumbled out, rolling onto the floor. I curled up in the corner like a kicked dog.

"What a menace." A man's disgusted voice cut through the air. "Look at him, Andrea. He got blood and piss all over this brand-new machine that cost tens of millions."

The man's voice was nasally, like he had a hand pinched over his nose. He continued sarcastically, "He's doing it on purpose. He knows this hospital is under your name and just wants to mess with you."

Someone's footsteps stopped right in front of me. The lady from before said icily, "Colin, even if you're faking insanity, there's only so far you can take this."

So her name was Andrea.

She ordered, "Bring it in."

Someone walked in and dropped something heavy onto the floor. It landed with a dull, solid thud.

Andrea said, "This is that limited-edition surgical kit you used to treasure so much."

I couldn't see her, but I could sense her eyes on me. "Get on your knees and apologize to Eugene as compensation for dirtying the machine. If you don't do it, I'll have them smash this set to pieces and sell it as scrap metal."

I shrank back into the corner, the stench of my own urine choking me. I shook all over uncontrollably. I didn't understand what she meant by a surgical kit, but I understood "smash it to pieces".

"No kneeling… No kneeling to bad people…" I yelled, clutching my head.

"You won't do it, huh?" The man called Eugene let out a cold laugh.

I heard his footsteps coming closer. There was a sharp crack as he stepped on the busted old cane that had fallen from my hand. It was my white cane—my eyes when I walked. I heard it snap cleanly in two under his heel.

"My eyes! You broke my eyes!"

I completely fell apart. I lay sprawled on the floor, in a puddle of antiseptic and urine, fumbling blindly for the broken cane. Splinters stabbed into my fingertips, but I didn't care. I just desperately tried to piece the two halves back together.

"I can't put it back together… I can't get home when it's dark…"

I sobbed so hard that I could barely breathe. Snot and tears streaked down my filthy face.

I sensed Andrea's disgust as she looked at me sprawled on the floor. "You won't stop until it's too late, huh? Drag him out and get him changed. He's going to tonight's celebration party, by hook or by crook."