Chapter 3

Entranced

I sat in the passenger’s seat of Emma’s Honda Civic for several minutes as she rushed me to the hospital.  She obviously wasn’t in the talking mood at the moment, so I was not going to attempt to start up a conversation with her.  I just sat...silent.

Those last words before I was struck by the bolt of purple lightning rang out in my head.  “You’re my hero!  You’re my hero!  You’re my hero,” the phrase just repeated over and over.  Why?  What had I done to deserve such a punishment?

My temples began to throb.  I leaned my head weakly back against the headrest and the next thing I knew Emma was ripping the car through the parking lot in front of the main entrance to the Emergency Room.  She spotted a space directly outside the main door and turned the wheel, guiding the small sedan quickly into the opening.

Emma ripped the keys hastily from the ignition.  She pushed her door open and tore around the front end to my door.  As Emma opened my door, I reached to unbuckle my seatbelt.

“Let’s get you inside,” Emma coaxed as she put her arms under my armpits and hoisted me up from my seat.  

After lifting me out of the vehicle, Emma repositioned herself wrapping my left arm across her shoulders while simultaneously wrapping her right arm across my middle back as if helping a wounded hiker with a sprained ankle.  As she reached to close the door I gave a request to my small friend.

“Emma,” I started, “can you let go?”

My demand must’ve caught her off guard as her face began to morph into a mask of utter confusion.

“Why would you want me to do that,” she retorted.

“Because I may have been struck by purple lightning and fallen down a flight of stairs, but that doesn’t mean that I forgot how to walk,” I stated in a sarcastic, but straightforward tone.

“Okay,” Emma let go of me apprehensively.

I stood under my own power as if nothing had happened.  I felt fine again, almost the same as I did before the ordeal on the food court stairs, however, something seemed a little different, I could not quite put my finger on what was the problem.  It was almost as if my clothes were slightly looser than they were previously on my standing body, peculiar.

“Let’s go,” Emma shouted from the doorway, “Morgan, snap out of it!”

“What,” I asked confused.

“I let go of you and you just stood there like you were in a trance,” Emma responded.

“Guess I zoned out,” I stated, “maybe that is my superpower!  I can be ZoneMan!”

“Okay Zoneman,” Emma said rolling her eyes at me, “let’s get you checked out.”

“No need to fear,” I shouted heroically as I walked toward the entrance following Emma, “random citizen, ZoneMan is here!”

“If I see the Do-Nothing Goblin I’ll be sure to let you know,” she said playfully creating a new supervillain.

Emma and I walked through the doors to the ER Waiting Room that slid open as we approached.  I followed Emma to the front desk.

“What seems to be the problem,” said the young blonde nurse standing behind the counter.

The counter could’ve passed as not being manned.  The woman working reception stood no higher than 4’10”.  A very small woman, maybe in her mid-twenties.

“Well, you see, it is kind of a long story,” I responded, telling the woman truthfully what I thought, “you probably won’t believe it.”

“I can’t let you in if you don’t give me a reason for the visit,” the woman stated bluntly.

“Emma,” I addressed my friend, “take it away.”

The nurse looked behind her thin box-framed glasses at Emma.

“Well,” Emma began, “you see, me and Morgan here were going to get some coffee at the food court at CNU.”

“Spare her the details,” I snapped.

“Wow, rude,” Emma retorted, “anyway, he was holding the door for me, and as soon as I got in the doorway, I turned back to see him get struck on the top of the head by a bolt of purple lightning.”

“Purple lightning,” the nurse inquired.

“Like I said, you probably won’t believe it, but it is the truth,” I added.

The woman looked at me.  She pushed her glasses down on her nose and looked me over from top to bottom.

“Is there anything else,” the woman asked looking back to Emma.

“After he got struck he said he felt fine,” Emma continued, “so we started to go to the coffee shop on the second floor of the food court.”

“When we were going up the stairs,” I cut Emma off, “I began to feel weak and wobbly, so I sat down.  Then I decided to call Emma to me and go back down the stairs.  When I stood up my knees gave way and I took a nasty fall.”

“Okay,” the woman confirmed, “I’ll need to take your information before I admit you.”

She slid a clipboard and pen across the counter to me.  I grabbed the clipboard and filled out my information.  When I was finished, I handed the clipboard back to the woman who smiled.

“Good news,” she beamed up at me, “we can take you now.”

Just then a petite nurse with chestnut brown hair and freckles entered the waiting room through a door right behind me.  I could see medical equipment on the other side.

“Are you Morgan,” she asked for verification.

“Yes ma’am,” I responded.

“Right this way,” she beckoned me to follow her.