Chapter 15

As my eyes opened, I immediately felt a dull throbbing in the back of my head. The light in the room hurt my eyes so I squinted them as much as I could. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was in a hospital room. I slowly moved my head to the right and saw the entry wall was plate glass that looked over the nurse’s station. One young nurse was standing behind the counter with a clip board in her hand. A few seconds later, she looked up and I raised my right hand to acknowledge her. She quickly dropped her clipboard and ran into my room and to the bedside.

“Mr. Williams, can you hear me?” she asked, looking into my eyes.

“Yes.” I weakly responded.

“You are at Methodist Memorial Hospital in ICU. You have been here for ten days now. Do you remember anything?” she asked.

“No, not really.” I replied, the light hurting my eyes.

“I’m going to call Doctor Mohammad and let him know you are awake. I will be right back and check your vitals.” she promised.

The next thirty minutes or so was extremely hectic. Nurses and aides were in and out taking blood, taking pressure and just about everything imaginable. Just as things started to ease up a young doctor walked in with a chart in his hand.

“Mr. Williams, I am Doctor Muhammad. I’m a neurologist here at the hospital. How are you feeling?” he asked, leaning over shining a light in my eyes.

“Not good, my head hurts.” I replied.

“That is understandable considering what happened. You were brought here with a fractured skull and a mild subdural hematoma. We have you sedated for over a week. We started backing off the medicine two days ago.” he explained.

“What happened?” I asked.

“That is what we hope you tell us. Obviously, you were struck in the back of the head with a very hard object. Do you remember anything?” he asked.

“No, I don’t think so.” I answered.

“Well, we are sending you to CAT scan to get an image of your head. We will bring you back here after that. I have been instructed by the police to make them aware you are conscious again. They want to talk to you about what happened.” he informed me walking out of the room.

I was wheeled to imaging where a CAT scan was done and then taken back to my room. Nurses were still bustling about when two men who I knew were detectives walked into the room.

“Mr. Williams, I am Detective Bailey, and this is Detective Harper with the 2nd District. Are you up to answering a few questions?” he asked.

“I’ll try...” I responded.

“Can you remember anything was the night you were attacked?” Bailey asked.

“Not really ... I remember walking to my car and then nothing.” I replied.

“The gym night manager, Shelly is the one that found you lying in the parking lot. She called 911 and reported it. No one else was around that she could see. There are no cameras on the side of the building so there is no video available. I don’t think it was a robbery because we found your wallet, cell phone and car keys on you. Your car was not taken either.” he started.

“A unit showed up several minutes later and secured the scene. You were loaded in an ambulance and brought here. We found out a few days ago about what happened with your mother from Detective Wilson. We also found out that you are dating Lexie Thomas?” he asked.

“I kind of was ... not sure anymore.” I mumbled.

“Well, if anything comes to mind you let us know. Detective Wilson is working with us on this ... he seems to think this is related to your mother.” he stated.

I nodded my head in agreement. That is the first thing that made any sense that I had heard since awaking. I really didn’t associate with anyone other than Lexie. It had to be one of the idiots trying to get back at me. My head hurt too much from trying to reason so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

I must have fell asleep right away because when I opened my eyes again, I could see it was night through the small window in my room. The nurse saw me moving in my bed and came in immediately. She handed me a small paper cup with several pills in it and poured me a glass of water.

“Here, take these and Doctor Muhammad is on his way up to see you.” she advised.

Several minutes later Doctor Muhammad and several nurses walked into my room. He was looking at my chart and then closed it moving over to the bed.

“Your CAT scan looked good. Actually, better than I hoped for. You still having bruising on your brain, but the blood has subsided for the most part. What you need is rest and to get your strength back. But I need you to answer a question for me.” he asked, strangely.

“Sure.” I replied.

“When the results came in from your initial blood work ... we found large amounts of testosterone, Dianabol, Anadral and Anavar in your system. Now that does not surprise me looking at your physique, but I hope you know the side effects of what you’re using.” he stated.

“Yes, I do.” I replied.

“Then if you know the side effects why use them?” he asked.

“Doctor, I’m a student / instructor in Muy Thai and an advanced level Krav Maga student. I trained six to seven days a week, I have to recover quickly and keep my muscle mass up.” I replied.

“Ok Mr. Williams, but please be careful. One more thing, no fighting until my office clears you. I will remove the staples in the back of your head in two to three weeks. Then we go from there.” he instructed.

“Yes sir.” I answered.

“Oh, I think you have a visitor waiting too.” he said, walking out of the room.

I immediately thought the worst and couldn’t deal with having to see Lexie right now. I was not in any shape to even try to make sense of what had happened much less discuss it. Several seconds later, I was somewhat relieved to see Lexie’s mom, Jennifer Thomas walk in alone. She walked over to the bedside, leaned over and softly kissed my cheek with watery eyes. She sat down on the chair next to the bed and sighed deeply.

“I’m so relieved to see you awake ... you had me scared.” she softly said.

“The doctor just left, I’m going to be fine in a few weeks.” I replied.

“That’s really good news.” she stated, smiling.

Then came the awkward pause between two people when you know the one subject you don’t want to talk about is coming up. But I was not going to be the one to bring it up.

“Lexie wanted to come but she is not sure how you feel about her. So, she didn’t want to upset you.” Jen said.

“Well, that makes two of us because after the party I have no clue how she feels about me.” I answered.

“I know Chris, she treated you horribly that night. We have been arguing about it ever since. Both her dad and I are furious with her. Neither of us are Cody fans to say the least. I just simply don’t know what she is thinking.” Jennifer stated, looking down.

“At this point it really doesn’t matter. As long as she is happy that’s all that matters. They were together a long time ... that may be hard for her to get over. Don’t beat her up over it.” I answered.

“She can’t trust him. He walked out on her once, he will do it again.” Jen replied.

“Lexie has trouble trusting anyone. She doesn’t trust me either. I think because of what she does for a living she sees too much deception. I think she will struggle with that all her life.” I answered.

Jennifer reached out and took my hand in hers. Jen’s hand was soft almost silky smooth. Suddenly my stomach churned slightly from the touch of her hand. After all, Jennifer Thomas was an attractive woman. She was in her late forties but did take care of herself. She began to softly stroke the palm of my hand with her thumb. My mother had told me once if a girl does that to you, she may want intimacy.

“Lexie wants to stop and see you but she’s not sure how you will feel.” Jen sighed.

“If she wants to visit that is fine with me.” I replied.

That seemed to be the answer Jennifer Thomas was looking for. She changed the subject from Lexie to what had happened the night I was attacked. Since I had very few details it was a short conversation. About fifteen minutes after that she left promising she would return. I fell asleep shortly thereafter and slept on and off depending on when the nurse would come in. My head was still hurting a bit but not as bad as when I first woke up. At around six o’clock a nurse I had never seen before came in and pulled the curtains back allowing the sun to stream into the room. She was very attractive, her silky blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed in the traditional light blue scrubs with blue nike tennis shoes.

“How are we feeling today, Mr. Williams.” she asked.

“Please, call me Chris and I’m doing well considering.” I answered.

“Good to hear. I’m Cierra Thompson, your day nurse. I have been taking care of you for two weeks now. It’s nice to finally meet you.” she stated, moving around the bed checking the equipment.

“Nice to meet you as well.” I replied.

“Breakfast will be here shortly and after you eat, I’m going to change the bandage on your head. Then I’m going to remove your catheter so we can let you get out of bed for a bit. Someone from rehab will be down today to see you as well.” she stated.

“Sounds like I’m going to have a busy day.” I replied.

“Chris, has your family had a chance to get in here and see you?” she asked, checking my IV tube.

“I don’t have any family. My parents are both dead and I have no brothers or sisters.” I replied.

“No wife or girlfriend?’, she asked, surprised.

“Never been married and I was seeing someone a few weeks ago but I think she dumped me.” I said with a weak laugh.

“Who in their right mind would dump a guy like you?’, she responded.

About thirty minutes later, I ate breakfast and then Cierra removed the bandage and cleaned the wound. She rewrapped my head and gave me some medication. Later she came in and removed the catheter which was a little embarrassing. Although she acted like it was the most ordinary thing in the world to do.

After I ate lunch, I fell asleep and slept for a couple of hours. Later that afternoon, I was wheeled to CAT scan where another image was taken. I then was transported back to my room where for the first time, I was able to get out of bed and use the bathroom.

I was back in the bed watching some movie on the tv mounted to the wall when Cierra walked in with a stack of white towels.

“Chris, do you think perhaps you might be able to shower?” she asked, setting the towels down on the bed.

“Yes definitely. It been over a week.” I responded.

“Ok, let me get some to cover your head.” she replied, leaving the room.

She came back several minutes later with a large plastic shower cap with Velcro straps. I was able to take a long hot shower and clean myself up. It felt so good to be clean again after quite a while. I was just settling into bed when Lexie appeared at the door.

“Hey Chris...” she said softly.

Cierra turned to see Lexie in her uniform standing at the door. She picked up the towels and told me if I needed anything to let her know. As she left the room, Lexie walked slowly over to the side of the bed.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Not too bad, I was just able to take a shower.” I replied, trying to act as casual as I could.

My stomach was in a knot, I had no idea what to say to Lexie. Even though I should still be angry with her, I wasn’t. She looked beautiful as ever and I wanted to take her in my arms even now. But, I had no idea where Lexie’s head was at this time so I had to be reserved.

“Any word on the investigation?’’, she asked.

“I talked to two detectives a few days ago but I don’t really think they have much to go on.” I answered.

“You have any idea...” she followed up.

“I’m pretty sure it was Josh’s brother Leo. If he is anything like his brother this seems like the thing he would do. They act like they want to fight but only when they have the advantage.” I replied.

“Well, I just stopped by for a minute, my shift starts in ninety minutes. Any idea when they may let you out?’, she asked.

“No, I haven’t heard anything at all.” I responded.

“Ok, well let me know and keep me updated.” she said, leaning over and kissing my cheek.

She walked out of the room quickly and disappeared down the hallway. No mention of us or anything that happened that night at the anniversary party. I did not know anything else to think other than her and Cody were back together. Several days later, I was discharged from the hospital with follow up visits to the neurology center.

Three weeks later, my doctor removed the staples from my head and cleared me to do most everything except to fight and left weights. He wanted me to wait a few more weeks before resuming any strenuous activity. I had spoken to Lexie and her mom several times on the phone for a few minutes. Lexie still had not brought up the night at the party, so I left it be as well. However, Jennifer had told me that Cody and Lexie were talking on the phone but as far as she knew they were not seeing each other.

After a month, I was back at the gym working out and teaching. I felt no ill effects and my hair had grown out enough to hide the scar on the back of my head. I was pushing myself hard trying to get back to the shape I was in before the attack. On the way home that evening, I decided to stop at Moe’s and get a pizza to take home. As I walked in and sat down on one of the bar stools at the counter, Molly came over with a smile.