Chapter two: A night on the town

The alarm on my dresser forced me out of my blissful reprieve from reality. My eyes eased open, burning in the morning light. I forced myself from my bed and pulled myself still half asleep into the bathroom. I scowled as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Staring back at me I saw a 25 year old man who looked to be homeless. My beard and mustache that were suppose to be trimmed to trace my jaw line had long since spread to cover down my neck, and were scraggly and unkempt. My dark brown hair which I liked to have trimmed to the same length as my beard was now several inches longer my bangs hung down almost long enough to cover my eyes. My normally tan skin was slowly turning white, an annoying result of the winter climate, but what disappointed me the most was the sight of my arms. My once brawny forearms and biceps were starting to lose their tone as a result of now being out of my highschool football days and weight training for four years now. I had been so proud of myself back then....not anymore. College had ruined me. I finally removed myself from the mirror and slid into the shower. After about thirty minutes in there, I got dressed and ran out the door, already late for my first class. I hurried along through the cold morning air, slipping on the newly formed ice on the side walk. I stumbled, but regained my footing and muttering under my breath continued on my way. When I got to class I tried to sneak in to a seat in the back of the large lecture hall, but as usually my arrogant self absorbed chemistry teacher was just waiting for a chance to insult some poor student. Today, that student was me.
“So, looks like somebody woke up late today.” The professor said mockingly in his impossibly nasal voice, while adjusting his inch thick specticles to better see me. “I so glad you decided to interrupt your hangover to join us this morning.” I just scowled and took a seat. “ Well, at least your interruption was aptly timed, I was just asking the class if anyone new how many hydrogen atoms would be in the compound with this NMR spectrum?” he asked pointing to a slide on an ancient overhead projector.
I stammered hurridly trying to think back to the studies I had done the night before. “Umm… 16.” I replied weakly.
He didn’t even dignify me with a response. He simply laughed and proceeded to explain how to arrive at the correct answer. I burned in embarrassment and frustration, but none the less hurried to keep up with the scribbles he wrote on the blackboard. After the eternity that the chemistry class took, I proceeded to the rest of my classes. Though they weren’t as humiliating, they lacked none of the dullness.
After four grueling hours I was finally able to escape the prison of college. I practically sprinted from my last class of the day, pushing my way through my classmates to escape this institutionalized hell. I passed by the college welcome sign as I left the school behind me. It was carved out of stone and stood several feet high. It read “Welcome to the University of Chicago, an emblem of mans pursuit of knowledge.” I smirked as I looked back at the school, my dad had always said, “The best view of a college was from a rear view mirror.” I had never agreed with him more.
My plans for the evening first took me to my favorite restaurant The Windy City diner. It was a small family owned diner a few blocks from campus. They served the best roast beef sandwich in all of Chicago. I came here every Friday and old Aeolus, the diner owner and chef, new me by name.
As I entered the diner I looked around seeing no other guests in the small back ally place. The place was simply decorated. Personal pictures and newspaper clippings about the small restaurant coverd the otherwise plain white walls. A long bar stretched down the front of the shop facing into the kitchen, allowing customers to watch their food as it was prepared as well as converse with the host.
Aeolus stood behind the bar absently wipeing the surface in preparation for the afternoon rush. He was a large man in late sixties at least, plumped from excessivly diping into his own food supplies no doubt. He always seemed to wear the same outfit everytime I came to see him. Long suspenders holding up his casual slacks, and a plain white t-shirt underneath. Of course when he cooked he always wore an apron and dawned a nice tall chefs hat, that I often teased him about.
“Another rough week for my favorite pre-med student.” Old Aeolus said with his trade mark grin. I manage a half smile in return and replied, “ Yea. Same as always.”
He laughed his carefree laugh and walked to the counter where I had taken my seat. Leaning on his elbow he asked, “ So, let me guess you want the usual?” I just smiled and gave a nod. Old Aeolus jumped to work cooking up a storm. I couldn’t help but smile at the scene. In a flash the mouth-watering delicacy was slid before me. Aeolus and I talked as I tore into the sandwich. I laughed as he told me about his daughter, still in middle school, she had just come up with another boyfriend, the seventh in the past month. He told me about his son, who was fresh out of boot camp and headed over to the conflict in the middle east, the same one I had heard about the night before on the news. He talked about how proud he was of his boy, but even through his big smiles I could see worry in his eyes. I felt a pang of guilt, I was unhappy with my life, but compared to the things Aeolus was dealing with right now, what room did I have to complain?
The discussion lasted almost an hour, with only brief interruptions here and there as new customers came in and were greeted and served. At the end of the meal I stood up to pay, but old Aeolus smiled and said, “ Hey, how ‘bout this ones on the house?”
I gave him a quizzical look, “ No, Aeolus I can’t take this for free, heck I should be paying extra, you know that this food is under priced as it is.”
He laughed. “ Well then next week it will be double, but tonight go have fun. You work too hard.” He pushed me to the door. “ Go see a movie, on me.”
I smiled at the old man’s generosity. “ Thanks Aeolus, I’ll do that. See you next week.” Aeolus waved as I left. I walked out and down the street. The theatre was only a few blocks away. As I walked a soft rain started. I began to hurry, it was still cold out and this rain was freezing. With each passing step the rain seemed to increase. As if some mighty force didn’t see fit for me to get the movies that night. The streetlights were on by now, but the current downpour seemed to destroy what little visibility they would have brought.
To make matters worse a strong wind started to blow. It was so strong I had to brace myself to keep from being knocked over by the sudden force. I paused for a moment under an awning, considering if I ought to abandon all hope of seeing a movie that night, but I was determined. So I decided to continue.
I hurried to cross the street, but as I stepped off the curb another blast of wind hit me and made me slip on a small patch of ice. Suddenly, I heard the deafening blast of a horn. I looked up just in time to see the bright shine of chrome before everything went black…
Everything after that was a blur. To be honest I can never be sure if any of it is real or if it is just a dream. Because when your unconscious your not suppose to know what is happening. At least that was what I always believed. But none the less the things I remember were real when I woke up. The first thing I remember was the siren, it blasted so loud it would have heart my ears, but strangely enough I couldn’t really feel anything at all. The next thing was a voice I can only assume came from a doctor. He said something about a coma. The next voice came from a familiar source it was unmistakably my dad’s
He was a doctor too and obviously could tell the severity of the injuries. He asked what could be done, and the doctor said that all they could do was wait. Then I heard the tears of my friends and relatives but no voices. Only tears. The next voice was a different doctor. From what I could understand he was talking about a special procedure. It involved cryogenics and nanotechnology, but I really had no idea what was about to happen. After that it got really cold and I didn’t hear anything anymore….
The dreams were the worst. I guess you could call them nightmares, but they were never about me. They always referred to the world I had left. In the beginning they portrayed horrific scenes of war. There was death and destruction the likes of which I had never seen. I saw Aeolus's son fighting, dressed in full fatigues. I saw The brilliant blaze of gunfire coming from the barral of his weapon. Screams of pain shot out as bullets whizzed back at him, dotting his chest with small red pin prick like wounds. In my dream I wondered at the sight.... so much damage from such small wounds. Then my dream spun, there were massive explosions that shuttered through every corner of my mind. Then the dreams slowed down.