Chapter Seven: Darkness and Light

The stars started to swirl overhead and the moon continued to grow brighter and brighter. Chris was confused as the moon grew closer and finally rested right in front of his face. He closed his eyes, which only served to draw attention to the throbbing pain in his arm.

"What's going on?" he sharply asked, unaware that he was no longer alone. He only became cognizant of the others when he felt a cold hand brush across his forehead and back through his damp hair. The touch startled him and he jerked away, or at least he tried to. Barely any movement could be discerned as he struggled.

Taking a deep breath, Chris slowly began to open his eyes. The bright light caused him to squint until he could clearly see its source. A doctor stood over him, which provided little comfort; however, as he began to grasp his surroundings the panic slowly began to dissipate. Noticing once again the pain in his arm, he started to turn his head only to find even this small task too great.

"Chris, can you hear me okay?" The doctor had asked Chris this question several times over the past few days, but from Chris's panicked expression it was clear that he did not remember what had happened. "You're in the hospital, but your fine. You've got some pretty serious juice flowing through you, so you're gonna' be groggy for a while. Can you tell me what you remember? What you were doing before you fell asleep?" These questions were just to help the doctor understand Chris's state-of-mind before talking to him about why he was in a hospital. In a way it was also to help the doctor postpone the daunting task of telling Chris that his arm had been amputated.

"I was at work...I think," he mumbled, questioning whether he really did remember. "I can't remember. What did I do to my arm?" he eventually responded. From the recurring shots of pain he knew that this must have been why he was there.

"You got a nasty spider bite. It normally wouldn't have been a big deal, but you were out all night before Jim found you. It made you pretty sick, but like I said, I think you'll be all right." Dancing around the inevitable made the doctor every bit as uneasy as the dread of having to tell Chris the truth. "I'm going to have the nurse come in a put some real food in you. Eating through an I.V. doesn't last too long before it starts to wear on you. I'll be back by once you've got some food in your stomach, alright?" Without waiting for a response, the doctor stood up straight and left the room.