A stinging pain inside my tummy awoke me. It felt as if I'd swalled a bowling ball of fire. I sat up slowly, looking around for a wastebasket. The sun appeared to be setting, had we slept all day? I turned to see if Joe was there beside me, but he wasn't. As I leaned over the side of the bed to see if there was anything I could use to vomit in, I saw Joe's hands laying flat on the floor, the arms seemed to give the impression that the hands were coming from under the bed.
Upon closer inspection, it was obvious they were coming from under the bed. Joe was under the bed. If the pain in my stomach hadn't been so fierce, I am not sure I would have said what I said or done what I'd did. But, I got to my feet and then laid upon the floor, the coolness of the floor relaxed my stomach instantly. I lifted the part of the sheet that covered the part of the bed that Joe's hands extended from. I couldn't see his face, but I figured with his hands and arms sticking out, it surely had to be there. Somewhere in the darkness.
"Joe, I almost threwup a few moments ago, are you ok?"
A large snore came from under the bed. Wondering if this was a snore to let me know he was ok, or if it was the snore of a man with too many dust-bunnies up his nose, I took his hands into mine in an attempt to pull him out from under the bed. "Joe, it's me, let's get you out," I said as I lightly tugged on his hands. Gently, I thought, but I'm not sure even super-duper gently would have mattered, because next thing I knew, Joe's hands dug into mine and nearly crushed them and then as quickly as they vice-gripped me, they retreated and then I heard Joe click something. And then it dawned on me what that clicking noise was.
A gun.
"Oh, fuck me," I remember saying and then the sound of splashing as I projectile vomitted. The cat came running out from under the bed at that noise and soon after the cat came a gun being pushed out and then Joe himself. He looked frightened and concerned. I was thinking how great it was that his face held both our concerns within it, as all I could do was contort mine as more sickness spilled from me.
Posted by nft at September 12, 2004 10:18 PM