it always struck him funny how
springboards presented themselves and that
he couldnt help but take them
they were like
women who came onto him he had to
see where things would go and where they
would go beyond the obvious sex
sex was one thing
although he
didnt usually partake there
were exceptions if he didnt imagine there might
be something more a kindling between them
satisfying
relationships grew from friendships
so if he were to have his ugly
druthers you
ever see one up closeChrist an their
breaths Jeez if he had his druthers hed want
weeks of passionate intellectual foreplay
but that was him
and he wasnt terribly
selfish
a recent springboard jumped up
into his lap like a happy dog the dog wasnt
his from a book Thirteen
Prologue
“. . dull and insistent,
like a dog worrying an anesthetized limb.”
that made him lift his eyes up
out of the book and crane his neckpoint his chin at his left shoulder then relaxinghis head coming back up he
wondered how many readers knew that feeling
it was certainly a hook for him
he set the book into a chair beside
him the waiting room had plenty of open chairs he went into the cloth sack he carried in and
remove a clipboard paper and pen he
wrote at the head of the page an
anesthetised limb
he couldnt say how long hed
paused
he did recognise that the coffee
machinecoffee for customers had finished
brewing that the room had filled
more threefour more people who werent
there when he began musinggot lost in his thoughts
he underwent a surgery that
unfortunately didnt achieve it intended results
a second would follow once he healed
the anesthesiologist explained to
him that he was going to give him a nerve block
It’s a somewhat new procedure; it’s benefit, assisting your surgeon, is
that your shoulder will not move during the surgery, particularly during the
more critical work yours entails.
Youre the doc Thats why you make the big bucks
hed
met more anesthesiologists than he cared to admit his shoulder was a work-in-progress his fortune at least was he knew that at the
outset
his orthopaedic explained that
his skeletonhis bones were strung unusually tight what typically is minimal inflammation in others his pain was exacerbatedmore exquisite he did like the idea of pain being
exquisite Do you recall the Halloween skeletons whose bones were strung on string
that came out the tops of their skulls? he did
You could hold them up by the string and shake them and they'd be
looseygoosey, jangle, or you could pull up on the string and its bones would
gather, slip together, the skeleton becoming rigid.
Thats me
That’s you. You’re not bendy.
Not bendy Sensational medical terminology
Yes. Succinct.
So when the rest of my family
crossed their legs yogafashion and ran around the livingroom ungainly on their
knees and I couldnt cross my legs like
that likely thats due to my construction
In a manner of speaking,
construction; yes.
Ah I cant wait to inform them I think the whole purpose of those yoga
sessions were to have a ball at my expense
Listening to your tone, do I
derive some animosity?
Yah probably a wee bit Nobody likes being laughed atthe butt of a
joke and particularly when there isnt a
damn thing one can do about it
Evidently they got the loose agile joints
Evidently.
Which probably explains my broken
bones rather than stretched ligaments.
Very likely.
Well Ill be a monkeys uncle
“. . dull and insistent, like a
dog worrying an anesthetized limb.”
the nerve block did not remit for
more than a day and a half after he came out of anesthesia
his left shoulder
he was left handed
he grasped his slinged arm with
his right hand
his right hand could feel his
left hand and wristforearm
but his left arm could not feel
his right hand
terrifying
like it was dead
and as time wore on it was getting
the better of him
it couldnt be normal
the anesthesiologists officenot
the anesthesiologist conveyed that his prevailing
circumstancePrevailing Prevailing Circumstance Its my fucking arm
the anesthesiologists office
conveyedbefore hanging up on him for his language Give it another day. curtly
CLICK
hanging up he imagined himself
bludgeoning the anesthesiologist and his
office sickophants with his dead left arm
his right arm using his attached cudgel
mace go barbarian on them
early evening the following
day not that he slept that night for his
terror neural sparkinglike a toy
sparkler started up under his throatquivering his collarbone shards of phantom Saint Elmos fire lighted
and peered from odd placessputtering then dissipating hot disjointed
tongues licked and lapped growled then
hid
sensation slowly unevenly queerly
returned
when he healed and was readied to
undergo his next shoulder surgery with a different orthopaedic surgeon a
different anesthesiologist that anesthesiologist
explained he was there to prepare him for a nerve block Are you fa . .
.
. I am And it aint happening
Excuse me? The doctor prefers his
patients undergo . .
.
. Then you better run along and inform him of my preference It aint happening
Its occurred to me since its my body you might say asamatteroffact you can
say Im
employing Dr Siemers Im employing you
I think the employer has something
to say something significant to say
Ive had several surgery before
nerve blocks came along and I came out just dandy
I expect without it Ill be just dandy
the anesthesiologist huffed a bit but he was the little pig in
the brick house then he stood I’ll inform Dr. Siemers what
you have decided.
Thank you
I apologise for putting you off
I had a horrible experience and it aint happening again
Dr Siemers was dazzled by his
recovery in the hospital So, I understand
you also refused the morphine drip and had it removed as soon as you reached the
room.
0908,
Thursday, 1 8. 19
1126, Reggae Friday, 2 8.
19
