CHAPTER 6
LIGHTS OUT


Part 54 Something has gone terribly wrong…


It is dark. What disturbs me most is the banging. This clamoring in my ears. It is incessant. Why don’t they turn it off… What is going on? I’m trying to get back to sleep…Am I dreaming? This doesn’t feel like home. I sense that I am somewhere else. Where? Am I alone?

There is much confusion in my mind. It continues for some time. I may be crying out, but maybe that is all in my head, as often happens in dreams.

It should be over by now. I don’t know how much time has elapsed. Maybe quite a while. I am awakening, very, very, slowly. I hear voices. My vision clears gradually, and the shroud of darkness lifts. The sun is diffused through the blinds in the window next to my bed. I have guests in my room, but I am uncertain who they are. I hear people talking about me (to me?). Becah must be one of them. Someone speaks to my left. I turn my head to see. It feels like everything is in slow motion. I try to raise myself up on my elbows, but something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong.

I have no sensation on the entire left side of my body. I cannot lift my left arm.
I try to move my legs. The right one moves. The left does not. I am frightened. This is no dream. This is real.