Talking In His Sleep

So far, Miranda is raising the son of her ex-lover, Dougie. When Dougie disappeared last year without a trace, Miranda filed for temporary custody. Now, Dougie has returned and Miranda thinks he is here to take his son back.

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There is something ominous about walking the hallways of a hospital at night. Its like being in the realm of a world that is between the living and the dead. The lights are low, the halls are quiet. It's downright spooky, if you ask me. But now, when the day is just starting, it's almost cheery. Nurses walk around energized and wearing big dazzling smiles on their faces.

The nurse on charge gives me a pass to go to Dougie's room. Waylon is sitting in a chair pulled close to the hospital bed. Briefly, he looks up at me. "The lady said that the doctor was gong to be coming in here soon. I thought you might be him."

"Has he opened his eyes?"

Waylon shakes his head. "Not yet."

Dougie makes a moaning sound, but his eyes remain closed.

The doctor comes in and introduces himself. "I'm Dr. Reeves. I was here when Mr. Wilcox was brought in. Are you familiar with what has happened to him? Did anyone go over this with you?"

Waylon shakes his head and looks to me. I clear my throat and tell him what I heard from Mitch. Well, not everything. I leave out the part about Mr. Tomlin and the possible bludgeoning.

"Well, the good news is, the bleeding on his brain has stopped. Now, its a waiting game. The problem with brain injuries is we don't know the extent for a while. He could wake up with a headache and that would be the worst of it. He could have memory issues, or physical issues. Right now, all we can do is keep him comfortable and watch him. If he does come to, don't engage him in the details of what has happened to him. Just call the nurse and let her know."

Waylon nods quickly and leans in closer to his dad. "That's good news, Dad. The bleeding has stopped. Can you hear me?"

Another moan, soft and weak, escapes from Dougie.

"I think he's getting ready to come to," Waylon says anxiously.

Dr. Reeves steps over and pulls Dougie's eyelid up and shines a pin light in it. "It's just an involuntary sound. Good news, his pupils are responding to light. Let's give him some time to rest. That's the best thing for him, right now." The doctor gently pats Waylon's shoulder.

"Thank you, Dr. Reeves."

He says a quick goodbye and ducks out of the room.

Waylon turns on the television and occasionally tells his dad something that is happening on the show. I glance at the clock on the wall and borrow Waylon's phone. I step out into the hall and call Momma.

"Hey, Momma, it's me. I need to ask you for a favor. Will you come to the hospital to stay with Waylon so I can go to work?"

Her voice loudly penetrates my eardrum. "Why is Waylon in the hospital!?! What happened?"

"He's here because his daddy got hurt. Waylon is fine."

"Jesus, Miranda, you probably could have lead with that. You sure know how to give your mother a heart attack. What time are you leaving there? I'm not even dressed yet."

"I'd like to leave around noon. Will that give you enough time?"

"Yes. Tell Waylon I'm bringing him some lunch. Oh, what happened to Dougie? Did he fall after tripping over his ego?" She giggles at her own comment.

"He's in a bad way, Momma. Head trauma. The brain has stopped bleeding, but he's been unconscious since they found him."

"Well, good Lord, now I feel like a real heel. He's gonna make it, right?"

I look at the closed door. "I sure hope so."

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Instead of going straight to work, I drive to where the crime happened. I'm sure Mitch wouldn't approve, which is precisely why I don't tell him. Both Dougie's truck and Mr. Tomlin's car have been towed off and all I can find are the deep trenches in the dirt beside the road. I'm guessing that is where Tomlin's car was forced off. I look down at the tires marks that were more than likely made by Dougie's truck. It looks like he pulled off the road in a normal fashion. I walk from one spot to the other. Where Dougie's truck was, the weeds and grass are pressed down in a north bound direction. The other spot is pressed in the opposite way. How do you force someone off the road when you're both going in two different directions? And, if Dougie did try to force Tomlin off the road, why weren't the marks on the other side of the road? If anything, the way things appeared, Tomlin was after Dougie.

I get back in my car and drum my fingers on the steering wheel. "Wake up, Dougie. I have so many questions. How do you murder someone and end up getting knocked out? I can't believe you would do something like this. This isn't you. Missy, yes, but not you." I turn on the engine and start driving to work.

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After giving Rita the Readers Digest rendition of what happened, minus the murdered school teacher, and then answering most of her questions, she starts to go back to work.

"I tell you one thing, Miranda, Patterson is changing. And not for the better. I heard that some man was murdered out by Haynes Pond. They should just fill that nasty place with sand and make it a parking lot. Nothing good ever happens out that way."

I can't answer. Last year I would have agreed with her. Now, I realize bad things happen everywhere. And bad things happen to good people. There is no rhyme or reason. All you can do is expect the worse and hope for the best. Make that pray for the best.