Download first five chapters - John Trevillian

THE A-MEN | 25Then he’s chatting.He talks quite fast. Yakkety-yak. And I have a tough time keepingup. Flits from topic to topic. Straining my limited level of tolerance.Overloading me with information. Then he seems to realise this andslows right down. Turns his babbling bedside manner intocondescending schmaltz. Both are a verbal barrage. I take in none ofit.Then he says, “Well, this is to be expected I suppose.”I look blankly back at him.Taking this as a good sign, he continues.“Do you know who I am?” he asks. As if we met once at a partyand shot shit all night. Slept with each other’s wives. Winked afterwardsin the street. Male bonded.I shake my head. It comes out as a manic series of movements.My personal bowling ball knocks around. Shifting sluggishly in mysoup-filled head. Smashing any thoughts it finds flat as pancakes.Seeing this, the doc disregards his last question. Switches toanother tack.“Can’t you speak, sir?”More jerks.“Mmm,” he mutters and taps at the plate. Now I look closely atit, I can see it’s an input tablet of some sort. It’s strapped to his palmso it can’t fall off. I’m under no preconceptions of being in somehigh-class private hospital. This place looks more like the inside of ahydro-electric facility.“I have just given you a little something to deaden your head fora while. Plus you’re getting a feed of steroids, a little librium. Youknow, chlordiazepoxide…”He spells it out. Intonating each deft, unintelligible syllable.Klor. Dye. Az. E. Pox. Ide.I have awoken a fool. A stupid irascible idiot. And still he continues.“There’s also a hypnotic sedative to help with any dissociativeidentity disorder that might develop. All in this IV. Mainly sodiumamylobartital…”