Chapter 5
Dominik wakes up in the hospital. His vision is blurry, he’s disoriented, and his ears are ringing. He turns his head slowly to look around and sees a nurse checking his vitals on the monitor. She notices him looking at her.
“Well hello sleepy. Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
Dominik forces words out of his mouth. “Yes. I… Eh…”
“Don’t try to talk. Relax and I’ll get the doctor.”
The nurse leaves and returns in a few seconds with the doctor.
“Hello mister…” The doctor looks for the patent chart at the foot of the bed. “Franzese. Do you remember anything?”
“I puked then passed out.”
“Yes. Well it seems you were bitten by a brown recluse spider. Before you passed out last time you said spider, brown, and quarter. The interesting thing is that they are not really indigenous to this area. Were you traveling recently?”
“No, no.” Dominik’s voice is strained.
“Okay. Did you see any friends recently who may have traveled to southern Illinois?”
“No, I can’t really remember.” Dominik thinks of Jack and wonders if the spider could have been in the box with the book but he doesn’t want to get Jack involved in this and doesn’t want anyone to know about the book.
“Well don’t worry. You’re fine now.”
“Flesh eating bacteria!” Dominik yells out in moment of panic.
“What’s that mister Franzese?”
“Jeff Hanneman died of a spider bite!
Dominik’s statements seem completely random and disconnected to the doctor. “I’m not sure who that is but you’re okay right now, you’ll be fine. It’s not dangerous but our best guess is that you were bitten today, is that correct?”
“Yes, just before going to the concert, maybe a couple hours before. I kept the spider.”
“Well had you known it was a brown recluse the best thing to do is not move around and instead you went out… to a concert, right? And I’m guessing that you were moving a lot, maybe jumping around. That would have pushed the poison through your system pretty fast causing a severe reaction. You’re pretty lucky. And by the way you lost a tooth when you were punched in the face.”
“No, really?”
“I’m afraid so. But you were lucky there too. You could have had a broken nose or worse, your jaw. Then we’d have to wire your mouth shut.”
“Wow. What now.”
“We can discharge you but you need to follow up with a physician tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“I’ll get your paper work together and someone will be in to discharge you, and get your insurance information.”
The doctor leaves and Dominik starts to fade back into sleep for a few moments. He wakes to see what look like a giant octopus near his face a freaks out.
“Shit! What is that!?” Dominick sits up quickly and his eyes focus on a large muscular man dressed in scrubs leaning over him, pulling out his I.V.
“Chill out dude. You all right?”
“Wow. Sorry, I didn’t know where I was. Hey what is that on your arm?”
“Yeah, you like it? It’s Cthulhu, you know.”
“Yeah it’s cool but weird. Why would you have Cthulhu on your arm?”
“Hey, Cthulhu for president. Ha! I think it’s cool, I’m a fan of Lovecraft you know. It was either this or the Alien by Geiger. I’m happy with it.”
“I was just surprised. I didn’t mean anything by it. My reaction.”
“Yeah, sure. Well you’re all set, no more tube and wires. You can check out at the front desk. Do you need a wheel chair?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Dominik gets up and for a moment feels like he’s going to pass out. Then he focuses, stands up and feels good. “No, I’m okay.”
“Alright. Don’t get into any trouble on the way home. Relax, sleep tonight. You’ll be fine.”
“Thanks.”
Dominik checks out of the ER and gets a cab home, he’s not in the mood for the bus. On the way home he starts to think about everything that happened and his mind is shocked into focus. The pattern of the micro film files, the spider web, the octopus or Cthulhu. These were all things that he thought he saw in his first impressions of the symbol. Just as he starts to think he’s on to something he gets embarrassed by the premise. This is superstition, pseudo-scientific thinking. He relaxes and sinks into the seat of the cab and watches the street lights pass by. After some time the cab arrives at the loft, Dominik pays the driver and goes upstairs. He gets inside and makes sure the door is locked behind him, checking it three times. It’s late, he’s only half awake and anything can happen. As curious as he is about the book he just scoots across the floor without even picking up his feet all the way to his bed then falls on it, immediately passing out.
For an insomniac like Dominik this would be the deepest sleep of his life.
Dominik slowly becomes conscience of the sensation that he is surrounded by water. He feels awake but not fully awake. He starts to wonder if his bed is wet, and if he wet it, or if there’s a leak in the loft ceiling windows again. He doesn’t have the energy to move and find out, just to lay there and think. As he contemplates the feeling of being wet he suddenly realizes that he feels like he’s floating, weightless. This comes as a shock and he bolts up, fully awake, to find himself completely underwater, in an infinite ocean with no sense of up, no sense of a surface in any direction. Dominik panics, frantically trying to swim but getting nowhere. Strangely enough he doesn’t feel like he can’t breathe, in fact he’s panting, hyperventilating as he tries to swim. He feels a series of forceful undulations in the water, pushing him back and forth. He turns over due to the rolling motion of the waves and sees before him and massive beast, a giant squid that goes on forever, engulfing the water. Cthulhu. The tentacles of the beast completely surround Dominik squeezing him tightly, compressing every cell of his body. He tries to scream but he can’t breathe, can’t inhale. He feels the tentacles slipping across his skin as if they are feeling his body. Then he feels a massive tentacle engulf his face, eyes and mouth. One tentacle enters his rectum and another his throat, rapidly filling his digestive tract. He feels his insides burn as the massive arms grind his organs to liquid. Then, just suddenly as he found himself underwater he feels an explosion and heat, a burning dry heat, and a bright blinding light. As his eyes focus he sees the sun in the sky above him and he feels his body lying on its back in sand. As he goes to get up, bracing himself with his elbows on the ground, his eyes focus and he sees his body torn in half in front him. His head, chest and arms are intact and several meters away are his legs and lower abdomen. Both parts connected by intestines completely covered by a swarm of spiders devouring his organs. The spiders swarm past his entrails and start moving up his arms towards his face. His heart races, he panics and screams then, he’s awake. In his bed, in his loft. Nothing happened, but it feels real. Dominik actually feels pain in his throat and rectum and a burning in is stomach. Without thinking about it he gets up, goes to dining room table and takes two oxy. He stands there, rationalizing what has happened. It has to be the spider poison or something. He starts to fade back to sleep when suddenly he feels water in his nose and panics, feeling like he’s drowning again. He reaches up and feels something wet coming from his nose and runs into the bathroom, turns on the light and sees that he has a bloody nose.
After a few minutes of applying pressure and holding his head back the bleeding stops. Dominik has no idea what time it is, or even what day it is. He looks over at the bed and sees some papers stapled together. The ER discharge forms and instructions for home care. Dominik feels like it would be a good idea to go to the doctor for a follow up.
The next morning Dominik goes to the university clinic. His student insurance is still active so he knows can get a walk in appointment. He’s in a daze still not sure what to make of what’s going on. He doesn’t really even remember going to the clinic and is suddenly overwhelmed with the thought that he forgot to lock the door to the loft. Now he’s fully awake and anxious to get home. A nurse comes out and calls Dominik to come back to an examination room. He takes Dominik’s vitals and tells him to wait for the doctor.
In a few minutes a man walks in holding a chart. “Hello, I’m Doctor Chen, and you are… Don’t tell me…” as he riffles through the folder, “Ah, Dominik. Well what brings you in today?”
Dominik hands Dr. Chen the ER papers. “A follow up, I was in the ER last night for a spider bite.”
“It says here two nights ago.”
“Wow, really? Then I’ve been asleep for more than a day.”
“It says here that it was a brown recluse bite. Right hand. You’re taking oxy. Are you still on oxy?”
“Ah, that’s just for pain management for a knee injury.”
Dr. Chen flips through the folder some more. “Right. Oh I see. You were on the track team here and this injury was a while back, at the end of the spring semester of the last school year. Wow, sorry to hear that. Have you been in PT?”
“Yeah I go four times a week but if what you say is true then I missed one. I was out for a while. I slept when I got home from the ER and had a weird nightmare.”
“Are you experiencing any other symptoms?”
Dominik doesn’t know what to say. He wants to tell the doctor that his throat and rectum hurt but what will he think. Dominik starts to think people were messing with him at the concert after he passed out. But then again it could be the poison affecting his digestive system. He decides to tell the doctor about the pain but not about everything that happened last night, or two nights ago.
“Okay, let’s do a complete examination and we’ll see what’s going on.”
Dominik sits there, detached, as Dr. Chen goes through the complete round of tests. Heart rate, blood pressure, checking the eyes, nose, etc. While pressing on Dominik’s abdomen he starts to talk, “You know everything seems fine. I think the pain you’re describing is an auto immune response or flare up from the trauma you experienced. You’ve been through a lot in just a couple days. Did you go to the ER immediately after being bitten?”
“No. Actually I didn’t realize anything was wrong and I was on my way to a concert. I got sick and passed out there.”
“Wow. I bet all that activity pushed the poison through your system amplifying the effect and that’s what you’re feeling now. I wouldn’t worry, there’s no sign that anything is wrong. I think you just need to veg out for another day or two and you’ll be back to normal. In the meantime I’ll give you a prescription for the wound on your hand. Did they give you anything at the ER?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember. What about the nightmares. I had one that seemed very real. It was pretty scary.”
“Well I don’t know. You are taking oxy and that could cause it.”
“But I’ve been taking them on and off for a while and never had any.”
“I think you should refrain from taking oxy for a while. Who’s your orthopedist?” Dr. Chen Looks at the chart. “Dr. Levinson? Yes, I would go see him, if you don’t already have a follow up for the knee, and discuss some alternatives to pain management. You seem to walk just fine and oxy is pretty addictive. I’m going to want to see you in a week for a follow up. Okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” Dominik is still out of it, feeling like he’s not in full control of himself.
Dominik gets dressed and meets Dr. Chen by the front desk. “Thanks doctor. I’ll see you next week.”
After making the follow up appointment Dominik heads on home. As he steps outside he becomes aware how hot it is.
“Fuck, is it summer?” Dominik says to himself as he looks around. People are walking around carrying their coats over their shoulders. It’s mid October and they were predicting an early brutal winter. Just a few days ago he was contemplating buying a winter coat and now it’s in the upper 70s and it feels balmy. The sun beats down making Dominik feel like he has a fever. He gets the bus and goes back to the loft.
Still in a bit of a daze he walks up to the door to open it and walks right into it, bumping his head on the door. Then he remembers that he thought he forgot to lock it and feels relieved. Unlocking and opening the door, he feels a sense of relief that he’s home and that everything looks normal. He suddenly remembers that he’s missing a tooth and slides his tongue across the space where his tooth used to be. He wonders why the doctor didn’t say anything. Maybe he did and Dominik forgot.
Dominik decides to make espresso and he also knows he needs food, to get his strength back and heal. He makes three double shots, one after another drinking the first two in the kitchen and taking the third back to the table. Now he feels better, more alert. He starts to remember Hannagan and the online course. A sense of purpose returns. Talking to himself he begins to work.
“Hannagan, online journalism course. I have to get into that now, or somehow get in touch with him.”
He opens his laptop and goes online.
“Here it is. Closed. Well it is a little late this semester. Maybe I can get in late.”
He searches for more info and finds a phone number for the Journalism department at Harvard. He calls.
“Hello, this is Cedrick, you’ve reached the Department of Journalism how can I assist you?”
“Yes. I have a question about your online courses. Actually I wanted to take the course offered by Hannagan this semester but it says it’s closed.”
“Well it is pretty late to start a course. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather take it next semester?”
“I really want to try and get in now. I can make up the work. I was accepted to Harvard graduate school next year and just wanted to accumulate some credit early.”
“Great initiative. Well we cannot let people in to courses this late without the instructor’s approval. I can get you Mr. Hannagan’s office number and email and you can contact him directly.”
“That would be great. Thank you, Cedrick. By the way my name is Dominik.” Jackpot!
Dominik gets the contact information for Hannagan and wastes no time calling him. Hannagan doesn’t answer the phone but Dominik leaves a message. Then he sends a follow up email. In both he simply states that he really wants to get into the on line course and urges Hannagan to contact him as soon as possible. Even if he can’t get in he wants to contact Hannagan immediately. Now there’s really nothing he can do but wait. His hunger reminds him that he has to eat. There’s a cheap Chinese restaurant down the street. He pops an oxy, without even thinking about it, and goes out.
As he walks down the street he obsesses over what he just did. “Did I really just take an oxy? I know I did but it’s like it wasn’t even me. It was automatic.”
He shakes it off and enters the restaurant, sits down and orders food. Dominik hates waiting.