The Vampire of Sacremento

Asians Have Heeling Powers

When I regain consciousness, I don’t open my eyes. I hear the faint beeping of machines, feel the fabric of a papery nightgown on my skin, and smell the strong scent of disinfectant. I’m in a hospital.

I open my eyes and look around the room. The machines that are monitoring me are to my left, the door and a large window are to my right. Where’s my mom?

A small nurse with long black hair walks into my room.

“Hello Mr. Chase! You’ve finally come around I see,” her voice is beyond perky, I hate her already. She checks my pulse and monitors the IV that’s flowing into my veins.

“Dr. Wenshlokin will be with you in a few minutes.” She turns around and when she leaves, I’m not sad to see her plastic smile go.

I sit for a few minutes and stare around the room. I spot a TV in the between the wall and the ceiling. I glance around for a remote but I see none. I’m still grumbling about the inconvenience of having a TV in a room that you can’t even watch when Dr. Wenshlokin comes into.

“Mr. Chase, you’ve finally woken up.” The smile that’s on his face seems genuine and I don’t hesitate to shake his hand when he reaches it out to me.

“How long have I been out?”

“Three days. Do you remember anything?” his smile is replaced with a quizzical look. It sets the barely visible age lines on his face to be more prominent. Also makes me notice just how much salt is in his pepper colored hair.

“No not really. Just the strong smell of grease and deep fried meat.”

“You were at Jays Diner….and you dad came,”

And all in a second, everything rushes back to me. My dad. The gun. The bright flash and the immediate pain in my chest. My hand flew to the spot were the bullet connected with my skin.

“You remember. When the paramedics arrived, you had already loss too much blood. They brought you in, and it was a good thing you were already out. We had to operate immediately.”

I just sit there and watch him polish his spotless glasses.

“We removed the bullet and sewed up the skin. It just barely missed your heart. But enough about that. Now that you have regained consciousness, it’s visitation time for you. I’m sure everyone was worried.” He stands up and we shake hands again.

“The nurses will come by check on you every now and then.”

I just nod my head. Its a few minutes before I hear a light rap on the door.

“Come in,” I say. The door opens and Alan walks in. I smile as he comes over and sits in the chair next to my bed.

“Hey bro, how you doing?” I look at his face and it has a worn look. I notice the dark circles under his eyes and the glazed look they have. He must have really been smoking these past few days. I feel bad for all the stress I’ve caused him

“I’m doing well. What about you? I miss anything?” but he doesn’t say anything. He just stares at a spot a couple of inches above my head.

“Alan?” I wave my hand in front of his face to bring him back to the present.

“Oh sorry bro. There’s a lot I need to tell you…” his voice trails off and I know he has bad news.

“Well…” and that’s all I say. We sit in silence for a couple of minutes before Alan drops the bomb.

“Your mom is dead.” His voice is flat. It takes a moment to register what he just said.

“Wait…what?