Chapter 79

Just black.

Black, black, black.

And then a pinprick of light.

I blinked my eyes open. I was no longer in the dressing room. I was no longer wet. I was alone. I was alone because I was in a hospital room. “What the…” Oh the pain. Two words spoken and two massive throbs in my noggin. I slid my hands across my gown covered body. I was alive. I felt whole. Aside from the pain in my head, I didn’t think I’d been shot.

“Jeff,” I moaned.

A nurse came in. “You’re awake,” she said with a smile. “That’s good.”

I nodded. Or at least I tried to nod. Moving my neck hurt like a sonofabitch. In my head. “Jeff,” I repeated.

She shrugged. “Sorry, no Jeffs around here.” She walked over and checked my vitals, the smile ever-present. Her name was Meghan. It said so on her ID badge. “You have a concussion. You’ve been out for a little over a day.”

I frowned. My head pounded again. My heart pounded in sync. “Jeff.”