The Scottsville Vampire Invasion

chapter 21

Chapter 21

"MURDER IN THE MORGUE!!!" 

"More corpses in this murder investigation have disappeared from the county morgue. The bodies of Doctor Albert, Doctor Lee and Kim Park are all missing. At the time of the murders, both doctors were performing an autopsy on Kim Park. Exactly what happened in the morgue is unclear, but miraculously, Sheriff Clark Taylor, who was also in the building at the times of the murders, survived. 'I bet he's stealing those bodies so he doesn't have to ever solve these crimes. He can just say that they disappeared,' one citizen said. Another had a more sinister tone. 'This isn't natural what's happening here. Dead bodies don't just get up and leave.' 

"For the second time in his life, Clark Taylor is using the excuse of a concussion for failing the citizens of Scottsville. First, in the high school championship and now in the middle of the worst crime spree in the history of the town. As one citizen put it, 'I bet at the morgue he looked just as pathetic as he did in the football game. Let me guess: he had a towel over his head and was staring out into space like he did on the sideline twenty years ago.' 

"Whatever the case is, one thing is for sure. Clark Taylor is not the man to bring this to completion, especially when he is once again sitting on the sidelines with a towel draped over his head."  

I take the newspaper and throw it across the hospital room. As soon as I let it go, I feel a sharp pain shoot up from my ribs, bounce off the top of my head and rebound to my ribs. The paper just misses hitting the TV hanging on the wall. It bounces off the wall, bangs into the blinds on the windows--making them wave up and down--and falls to the ground.  

I wince in pain, holding my side. To take my mind off of my injury and Glen's article, I turn on the tube. There is a show on about a couple flipping a house, and they're arguing about what kind of tile to put in the kitchen. The fight centers not just on the flooring but also on the fear that they'll never finish the home in time for the open house and miss the deadline. It's the same concern the couple had on the restaurant make-over show, the car restoration show and the last three house flipping shows. Miraculously, they all were able to just barely meet the deadline. I got to get out of here and get back on the street. If I don't, daytime TV will melt my brain. 

I've been under observation for two days. I'm fine. I had a bit of vertigo at first and a headache, but that's been out of my system for over a day now. The best part of all of this is that I haven't taken a single pill for three days now and I feel great. The first day was tough, but since then it's been a breeze. I wonder why you always hear how hard it is to quit. Maybe people say that to scare people from ever starting. 

The door opens and Josh and Bear walk in. "You look better today Clark," Josh says. 

"I'm fine. Did you see the paper today? I need to get out of here and back on this investigation. Glen is killing me." 

"I don't get why you let him bother you so much. Everyone knows what he's all about," Bear says. 

"If he was writing all that about you, you would feel different." 

"I'm sure I would. The town has been secure for the last two days with no reports. Most people are hiding inside at night, so it's been slow," Josh says. 

Just as I say that, the door opens and the doctor comes in. Josh and Bear excuse themselves. The doctor takes out a small flashlight from his pocket and shines it in my right eye. He leans in. "Looking a lot better today. How's your head?" 

"I'm fine. I really need to get out of here." 

"As you know, a concussion can take a long time to heal, but you do look like you've improved," he says as he puts the light down and holds his finger up, having me follow it with my eyes. "You're looking very steady." 

"I'm good. I started feeling better last night, and I'm doing even better this morning. I know what's like to have a concussion, so I know when I'm healed. I'm really ready to get going." 

He reaches down and feels the side of my chest. "How about these? You got some bruised ribs and those can be really painful." 

I try not to show discomfort when he squeezes. "I played three games in college with broken ribs. I know how to make it through."  

He takes a step back reaches into the pocket of his white lab coat, puts on his reading glasses and pulls out a prescription pad and a pen. He starts to write. "I'm going to give you a script for pain killers. You ever take them before?" 

I freeze at the question and feel my face turn red. "A few times. I think I did when I got my wisdom teeth out." 

"If you feel you need to take them, go ahead. If you don't need them, just rip this up and throw it away. You need to be careful with these things. They can be highly addictive." 

"To be honest, Doc, I haven't felt that much pain. I seem to be fine without them." 

"Your IV has a morphine dip. We've been pumping you full of this stuff. Once it wears off you'll need this," he says as he hands me the paper. 

He reaches down and disconnects the IV. "I'll discharge you but if you have any more symptoms, you can come right back." He pats my shoulder, "Be careful. Sounds like you have your hands full." 

No wonder I've felt so good for the last two days. I've probably been taking more drugs than ever before. Now, I'm actually going to have to quit, but with this prescription and my ribs, I do have a legitimate reason to take these. I'll wait until my ribs feel hundred percent. Then I'll slow down.  

He walks out, and Josh moves past him making his way back into the room. "Clark, I need to talk to you about something."  

I pull myself out of bed and walk over to get my things. "Go ahead Josh." 

"The night you got hurt and we took you to the hospital, I spoke with Emily." 

"You talked to her?" 

"I've been communicating with her for the last two days." 

I stop picking my stuff up. "What did she say?" 

"She wants to talk to you." 

"That's great, Josh. Did she say where she is?" 

"Actually, that's what I want to tell you. She's back in town and waiting for you at your house." 

I speed up gathering my clothes. "Are the girls with her?" 

"They're all waiting for you." 

I drop my stuff and put my hand on Josh's shoulder. "Thanks for your help on this. I knew they would come back." 

"Go see your family. It's almost time for the night shift. Bear and I will run the patrols tonight. We'll have Pete help out as well. He'll look out for any drunk teenagers while we do the heavy lifting," Josh says as he leaves. I finish getting ready and head home. 

I turn onto my street and can see from here the minivan parked in the driveway. I pull up to the house, go to get out of my car and pause. What am I going to say to them? How are they going to act towards me? Are they going to act like this never happened or are they going to be afraid of me? I can feel my heart jackhammer and my palms lather up with sweat. I take a deep breath, get out of the car and go into the front door.