I sat down at the table and was surprised that I was very hungry. I finished the grilled cheese sandwich in about a minute. The soup took longer to devour because it was hot.

“Do you want another grilled cheese sandwich, Brian?”

I smiled. “I guess this is part of your campaign to fatten me up. So my answer is yes. You make a great grilled cheese sandwich.”

“More soup? There’s just a little left in the pan.”

“You should have some of it, Mom.”

“I’ve had plenty.”

She got up and brought the pan of soup to the table and ladled it into my bowl.

“I’ll get that grilled cheese sandwich started.”

“Okay, thanks. I love grilled cheese sandwiches made with real sharp cheddar.”

“This is an imported sharp cheddar. It’s from Ireland.”

“Ireland. Wow. That’s a long way to ship cheese from Ireland all the way to Oklahoma.”

The second sandwich turned out just as good as the first, but this time I took my time eating it. I finished and got up and took our dishes to the sink, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher. Mom still hadn’t said anything more about this chat she wanted to have. That made me real curious. Thinking about it made me yawn, one of those big yawns that I felt all over my body. I was starting to get tired again.

“Well, Brian, I told you I wanted to have a little chat. What I want to talk about is your schoolwork. While you were meeting with your attorney and the man from the District Attorney’s office I got a call from Mr. Wilson, your guidance counselor. He’s coming over at around four this afternoon to talk about home schooling.”

“Oh. I forgot about that. Will you have to do the teaching, or does the school send someone over, or what?”

“It’s a combination of tutoring, self-study, and using the internet. The school will send a teaching assistant but I was told that it wouldn’t be daily. We’ll find out more from Mr. Wilson. A student from each of your classes will also come once or twice a week to go over what’s been covered in class, and bring you your homework assignments and review them with you.”

“How do I turn in my homework?”

“Mostly on the internet. If it’s something that you can’t turn in online then one of the students will bring it to school and turn it in for you.”

“Who are the students who’ll be coming over?”

“Again, we’ll have to ask Mr. Wilson about that.”

I took a deep breath, then yawned. It was one of those huge, long lasting yawns where my mouth was as open as it could go without locking open, and my eyes were clenched shut.

Mom laughed. “Maybe you should go take a nap before Mr. Wilson gets here.”

I yawned again, and afterward Mom laughed and so did I.

“You’re right. All this stuff with the attorney and the D.A. really wore me out. If it‘s okay I’ll go to my room and crash.”

“I think that’s a very good idea. I’ll wake you at three-thirty.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

She walked over to me and hugged me, gently, and I hugged her back with my arm that wasn’t in a cast.

When Mom came to wake me it took me a few seconds to wake up, and I couldn’t remember anything after I closed my eyes. No dreams, just sleep.

“Hi, Brian. It’s three-thirty and Mr. Wilson will be here in about a half hour. You should get up and clean up a bit.”

“Okay.” She walked out of my room and I sat up and swung my legs off the bed. I sat there for a while trying to get motivated. Finally I got up and went across into the bathroom. I wet my washcloth in cold water and wiped my face, and that helped wake me up. Since Mr. Wilson was coming to see me about school I decided to change into something clean. I put on a pair of jeans and thought about changing my T but it was such a hassle getting it off and on because of my cast. I put on the blue hoodie that I’d shown Inspector Kozara, and worked my cast through the left sleeve. I left the hood part down so it hung in back of my neck. I checked my image in my mirror. Not bad. Other than looking tired as death warmed over, and having a bruise on my face and a bandage on my head, I was fine. Yeah, sure.

I went downstairs and asked Mom for a Coke. Maybe the caffeine would help me stay awake. The Coke was ice cold and fizzy and wonderful. That was something else they never served in the hospital, Cokes. I remembered having ginger ale or 7up once when my stomach was doing flips and I thought I was going to throw up. But that was it, I didn’t get any more and I didn’t get any Coke or root beer. Hey, I’m a teen and we live on sodas.

I walked into the family room and sat down. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. You know, there’s nothing good on TV during weekdays. There’s soaps, and stupid game shows, and those shows where the host exposes all of the horrible things somebody did and the audience pretends to be shocked or mad or whatever. There was a news show on one of the cable channels. It was one of those news shows that are like the tabloid and scandal newspapers they sell at the supermarket checkout aisles. I figured it was the best thing to waste some time while we were waiting until Mr. Wilson got here for our meeting. I was only halfway listening to the program when something made me start paying attention. Close attention!

“Here’s our entry for today’s Spook Show. And you are going to love this one, folks! This is something that is really, truly spooky all the way from a hospital in a little town in north central Texas, not far from Dallas.

“A boy was admitted to the hospital with critical injuries. How he suffered those injuries we do not know, they may have been caused by an accident or perhaps from being attacked by a person or persons unknown. Whatever the cause, this boy was in a coma and on the critical list and he wasn’t expected to survive. An alarm sounded in his room in the ICU; that’s the intensive care unit. Staff members rushed to the room because a monitor was alerting them that he was having trouble breathing.

“But it wasn’t just the alarm that brought one staff member to the boy's room. What happened is that just before the alarm sounded this boy hollered for help. This boy, who was in a coma and couldn’t speak, shouted “Help me! Help me! I need help!” A staff member heard that call for help and responded. The staff member knew that it couldn’t be the boy because he was still comatose and nonresponsive. But there was no one else in that room in the ICU. So who called for help? Spook Show, folks, Spook Show!

“If that isn’t enough Spook Show for you today, what happened next is very much Spook City, folks. In fact it is downright amazing. After solving the boy’s breathing problem, those in that hospital room heard him singing! Yes, folks, this boy, laying in a bed in a hospital in a coma, a boy who couldn’t speak, started singing an old song by the famous rock group R.E.M. The line of the song that the staff members heard him sing was ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.’

“How’s that for today’s Spook Show, folks? And like all of our Spook Show segments, this one is absolutely true! Trust me!”

Oh, my god! It all came rushing back. Oh, my god! That’s me he was talking about! Somebody from the hospital contacted this TV show and told them about me, just like I thought might happen. I started remembering more that happened when I was out of my body. I sat there, my heartbeat roaring in my ears, feeling flushed, nearly ready to upchuck my lunch. That’s when Mom came into the family room and looked at me.

“Brian, what’s wrong? You’re pale, and you look agitated. Do you want some water? Do you need a pain pill? Do you want to lie down?”

I shook my head and closed my eyes. “No, I’m fine. I just saw something on TV that frightened me.”

“Something you saw on TV? What was it?”

Mom turned to look at the TV. It was in the middle of some stupid commercial.

“I need to tell you about something, something I’d forgotten about until I saw it on TV.”

Mom sat down next to me on the sofa and took my hand.

“Brian, your hand is cold and clammy. Should I call the doctor?”

“No! Really, I’m okay. But I need to tell you about this. It’s something that happened when I was in the hospital in Weatherford. I just saw it on TV.”

“Alright, tell me about it.”

The doorbell rang. I couldn’t believe it. Just like in some movie the doorbell rang.

“That must be Mr. Wilson. Can this wait until he leaves?”

“Yeah. Sure.” There was really no way out. We had to talk to Mr. Wilson because he came to tell me how I’d be going to school from home for the rest of the school year, and maybe even longer. So I paused the TV so the program would be temporarily saved on the DVR in the cable box. That way I could show her that part of the show, and she was more likely to believe me.

Mom got up and went to answer the door. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths, opened my eyes, and drank some of my Coke.

Mom entered the room with Mr. Wilson. I’d seen him around school but he hadn’t been my counselor. I wondered why Mr. Wilson was setting up my home schooling instead of Ms. Fetterson. She was my counselor ever since I entered the ninth grade at Deer Valley High and she knew me and the classes I was taking.

I stood up, and Mr. Wilson came over and shook hands with me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Brian. I just wish it had been under better circumstances. I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re meeting with me. I’m in charge of coordinating all home schooling that’s authorized for students at Deer Valley High School. I’ve met with Ms. Fetterson and we’ve reviewed your schedule and your standing in each of your classes.” He smiled. “You are an exemplary student, you have a straight A average both last year and last semester, and I’m certain that your parents are very proud of your accomplishments. So, let’s get into the details of how your home schooling is going to work. Alright?”

“Okay. Will it be better if we sit at a table? If so, we can go into the kitchen.”

“That’s a good idea. Is that alright with you, Mrs. Anderson?”

“Sure. It’s this way.” Mom led us into the kitchen, and we sat down.

“Here’s what Brian is taking this semester.” He showed me and Mom a list of my current classes:

“Brian, the only class that you can’t take when you’re home schooled is the Boys’ Weight Training/Fitness physical education class. Since we’re already into the second semester, there are a few one semester classes you could take in the place of the PE class. I’d recommend either Speed Reading or, since you’re taking Desktop Publishing maybe you’d like to take Web Design 2. There is a Web Design 1 class, but it’s not being taught this semester. I talked to Mr. Field, and he said you’d have to catch up on the software programs that are used in Web Design 2. He gave me a list, and they are the latest versions of Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash. He said that would probably be overwhelming if you’re not already familiar with that software.”

I grinned. “That’s cool. I have all three of those programs and use them already. I have the whole Adobe suite because we use InDesign and Photoshop for my Desktop Publishing class, and I wanted to be able to do the assignments at home instead of coming in early or staying late to use the computer lab. I designed my own website and a blog, so I’m familiar with Dreamweaver. I’ve played around with Flash and have the training video, so that shouldn’t be a problem for me.”

“That’s excellent. The only other class that might be a challenge is Physics. You’ll need to do the experiments, though Mr. Nayak said they are all designed to be able to be conducted in a classroom setting instead of requiring a lab like Chemistry or Biology. So as long as your mother doesn’t mind having her kitchen transformed so you can conduct your Physics experiments, so that should work out fine.”

He looked at Mom and smiled. I started to laugh. “Maybe she’d rather I do the experiments in the garage.”

“We’ll see,” Mom replied, “but the garage sounds like a nice, safe place for you to conduct experiments.” She turned to Mr. Wilson, “There won’t be any explosions or fire involved in any of these experiments, will there?”

“Only a few,” I answered. “As long as we have a fire extinguisher I should be fine.” Then I started to laugh, so Mom knew I was just kidding.

She gave me ‘that look’ and shook her head. “Brian!” She tried to look stern, but then she started laughing too, and so did Mr. Wilson.

“So,” I said once I was finished laughing, “exactly how will home schooling work? How do I hear and get my teachers’ lessons and instructions, how can I ask questions that I’d normally ask in class, how do I get my homework assignments and send in the answers, how do I take tests, how will I do my Physics experiments, and how do I get help if I need it?”

“First, we’re not set up for you to participate in the classroom by video or anything else. That’s something I’ve been pushing for, but it would be very expensive. We have a solution, even though it’s not ideal. Two TA’s, Teaching Assistants, will each visit you one day each week, one on Tuesdays and the other on Thursdays. They will each spend about two hours working with you and answering your questions. One of the TA’s will help you with Algebra 2 and Physics, including the experiments. The other TA will help you with English, Creative Writing, and AP European History. They will also administer tests and quizzes. Both of these TA’s are certified to teach in Oklahoma, and are bonded and insured.

“In addition to the TA’s, your teachers will post their lessons and homework assignments, and will answer your questions, all on the school Blackboard system. You will submit your homework answers on the Blackboard system. You should already have access to use that system, Brian.” I nodded, and Mom said “And we have internet access as well.”

Mr. Wilson continued, “Finally, your teachers are picking one or two students in each of your classes to stop by and help you with your homework assignments and with what was covered in class. They will take your completed homework to your teacher if it’s something that can’t be sent using the Blackboard system. We’re trying to find students who are in your classes and who live near you. If we find someone who is in several of your classes and willing to work with you, that would be even better.

“I think that covers everything, Brian. Do you have any questions? And do you have any, Mrs. Anderson?”

“I do,” I replied. “When will I find out who the students are and when they’ll be coming to help me with my homework?”

“That’s up to each of your teachers and the students who live near you. You’ll find out by this coming Monday. I suggest that you sign onto the school’s Blackboard system as soon as you can. There should be information from each of your teachers posted by now. You should check every day or two until you have the contact information for the students who will come over to help you.”

“I have another question. When will I find out who the TA’s are who will be working with me?”

“That will be posted on the Blackboard system sometime today. If it isn’t there by tomorrow morning, please phone me first thing tomorrow.”

Mr. Wilson handed me and Mom his business cards. “If you have any other questions you can call me during school hours. My extension is on the card. You can also email me.”

We got up and said our goodbyes and he left. I checked the time and was surprised that he’d only been here about a half hour. We returned to the family room and sat down.

“Well, that went well,” Mom said. “It sounds like they are well organized. Does it sound like it’s going to work for you?”

“I think so. I’m used to the Blackboard system, so getting lessons and assignments that way is going to be easy, and I’ve been doing it already.

“I’m wondering about doing Physics experiments, though. Even though we don’t have a regular lab like I had in Biology last year, there’s a lot of equipment that we were using in our Physics experiments. The TA will probably have to bring it to the house so I can do the experiments and record the results in my workbook.

“Oh, darn, I forgot one thing. I don’t have all of my textbooks and workbooks. Some are still in my locker. I’ll have to give someone the combination to my lock and my locker number so they can bring me everything that’s in it. The other textbooks were in my backpack and Quin and Tom stole that, so I don’t have those textbooks and I don’t remember which they were. Also, I have some gym clothes in my PE locker that I’ll want someone to bring me, but there’s no rush on that.”

“That all sounds easily doable. I like the idea that some students will be coming to go over your lessons and assignments with you. I think you will get a better feel for what’s going on in your classes from them instead of from the TA’s who probably won’t know the details of your class work. The school should be providing any textbooks that you don’t have.”

“Also, it’s likely I’ll already know the students and not the TA’s.”

“Now, what was all this that was going on with you just before Mr. Wilson arrived? You said there was something you wanted to tell me, and you looked like you’d just seen a ghost.”

“That’s pretty close. The best way to tell you is to show you.” I took the remote and rewound the program to where it started when I turned on the TV earlier. I let it play from there, even though it was probably a few minutes before that spook segment started.

“Brian, you know this is just gossip and not real news, don’t you?”

“Yes, but please watch. I don’t want you to miss any of the program. It’s all very important.”

It took about two minutes to get to where it started, “Here’s our entry for today’s Spook Show.” Mom started to say something and I just held up my hand to stop her. “This is something that is really, truly spooky all the way from a hospital in a little town in north central Texas, not far from Dallas. A boy was admitted to the hospital with critical injuries….”

I pressed the pause button. “Mom, this is about me. Please pay attention to the show.” She looked at me, then back at the TV. I pressed play. It didn’t take long to get to what I knew was the most important part.

“This boy who was in a coma and couldn’t speak shouted “Help me! Help me! I need help!” A staff member heard that call for help and responded, and called a doctor. The staff member knew that it couldn’t be the boy because he was still comatose and nonresponsive. But there was no one else in that room in the ICU. So who called for help? Spook Show, folks, Spook Show!

“If that isn’t enough Spook Show for you today, what happened next is very much Spook City, folks. In fact it is downright amazing. After the doctor solved the boy’s breathing problem, those in that hospital room heard him singing! Yes, folks, this boy, laying in a bed in a hospital in a coma, a boy who couldn’t speak, started singing an old song by the famous rock group R.E.M. The line of the song that the staff members heard him sing was ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.’”

It played through to the end of the Spook Show segment and the commercials started. I pressed pause.

“Mom, I don’t know if the Spook Show is usually real or made up, but I can tell you what you just saw really happened, and the boy they talked about was me. I was in my room in the ICU and I was looking down on me lying on the hospital bed, in a coma. I saw me, the one lying in the bed, start having trouble breathing. I hollered that I needed help and a nurse ran in. She said something like ‘who called for help’ and then the alarm start to beep and a bunch of other people came in. That includes Dr. McFadden. He shut off the alarm and gave me a shot and my breathing got better. I wondered if I’d feel anything from the shot they gave me. I didn’t, and I was feeling fine. That reminded me of that R.E.M. song, so I began humming the tune out loud. The people in my ICU room went crazy because they could hear me. It wasn’t coming from me in the bed, it was coming from me outside of my body and somewhere in the room. That’s what it was, Mom, I was outside of my body.”

She looked doubtful.

“It’s true, Mom, it’s really true. There’s a lot more, but I want to stop here and have you phone Dr. McFadden and we can talk to him. I know he’ll confirm what I’m telling you. We talked about it a lot, privately, in the hospital. Oh, yeah, and I gave him your names and our phone number so he could call you. Since the me in the bed was in a coma, there’s no way I could have done that otherwise. Remember, I didn’t have any ID when I was found. I was in a coma from the time I was found until I woke up after you’d been called.”

I looked at her. I could tell she was trying to figure out what was going on. “It’s all real, Mom. Everything I’ve told you, and except for a couple of details everything was on that TV show. I really want you to call Dr. McFadden about this, and I want to be on the phone at the same time. Maybe Dad should be on the call at the same time too.”

“I don’t know what to say. This is all too strange, Brian.”

“But do you believe me?”

“Yes, I believe you. Let’s phone Campbell Memorial Hospital and ask for Dr. McFadden. He probably won’t be able to take our call, but we can ask for him to call you and me back this evening, and that this is a personal matter.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think that way he’ll wonder if it’s about when I was out of my body. I wonder if he knows this has been on TV. It’s against hospital rules and some Federal regulations. He named some abbreviation but I don’t remember what it is.”

“It’s HIPPA Privacy Rules.”

“How do you know that?”

“Dr. McFadden made me and your dad sign some forms and I remember that was the title. We have the copies he gave us. We wondered why we had to sign privacy rules about you since you’re our son, but we would have signed just about anything when we got to the hospital in order to see you. Maybe it’s so we won’t talk to anyone once we found out about your… about what you experienced.”

I shook my head and chuckled. “He missed an important signature. Mine. I never signed anything about HIPPA Privacy Rules. I could go and blab to the press about what happened to me.”

“No, you couldn’t. You’re under our guidance as your parents, and when we signed it’s applied you as well.”

“Damn!”

“Don’t swear, Brian. Now, let’s go phone Dr. McFadden.”

As expected, he wasn’t available to take our call. Mom left our home phone number and her name and my name and said it was about me and was important and personal and to please call tonight.

“Brian, you have this show saved on the DVR, right?”

“No, I have it paused. That means once the cable box is turned off or the channel changed it is basically erased by whatever is playing now. I don’t know any way to save a paused program. I think it will only remain paused for like an hour or something like that. Maybe Dad knows how to save it, but it might be dangerous to mess around with it.”

“What if we make a video of this paused program?”

“You mean like with Dad’s video camera?”

“No, I meant by putting in a video tape in the VCR and playing the paused program and recording it on the video tape. But using the video camera is a good idea too.”

“Why don’t we do both?”

“That’s a very good idea. Do you know how to run your dad’s video camera?”

“Yeah. Piece of cake.”

“Okay, I’ll go get it. You get a video tape and put it in the VCR and set it to record, then move the show to the beginning.”

Mom came back in a couple of minutes. “Here’s the video camera. I don’t know where his tripod is. I think we’d have to use that so the picture will be steady.”

“I know where it is,” I said. I went and got it and, with Mom’s help, set it up and mounted the video camera on it.

I was looking at the camera and saw that it had an mini-HDMI input jack, and there was an HDMI to mini-HDMI cable in the camera case. I got up and looked at the back of the cable box. There was an unused HDMI output jack.

“I think we can record the show direct from the cable box to the video camera. Let me see if I can get it set up.”

The instruction book for the video camera was in the camera case, so I pulled it out and looked up how to record from an HDMI output jack to the video camera. I plugged the cable from the camera to the jack on the back of the cable box, pressed the record button on the camera, then backspaced the paused TV show and pressed play on the remote. I watched the beginning of the show on the camera’s display; now to find out if it was actually being recorded on the built-in hard drive in the camera. I rewound to the beginning of the show on the camera and pressed play.

“It worked! Look, there it is! This was just a test, so let me start it over and record the entire show.”

That’s what I did, stopping the DVR playback as soon as the Spook Show segment was over. Even if the show that I’d paused couldn’t be played again on the TV, it was now recorded on the tape in the video camera and could be played back as often as we wanted, and it could be copied to an SD card for backup.

Dad got home at six fifteen. After he changed and came downstairs we were standing there waiting for him in the family room. He looked at me and Mom.

“Alright, what’s going on? What’s the video camera doing in here?”

“Just watch this TV show I’ve had paused waiting for you.”

Well, we went through the whole Spook Show bit with him, including everything that I told Mom, and told him that we left a message for Dr. McFadden who would corroborate what was on TV and what Dad just watched. When I asked him if he believed me, he said ‘Yes’ without any hesitation.

I showed him where I’d recorded it on his video camera.

“Let’s make a couple of backups on SD cards,” he said. “I have a couple that I never use because they are too small for longer videos, but they should be fine for this TV show segment.”

He looked in the camera case and found three of them, and each was large enough for copying the recording of the show. He made the backup copies, and handed one SD card to me.

“Keep this somewhere secure. Okay?”

“Okay. I have a lockbox in my closet where I have some emergency cash and some other papers like my freshman student body card and stuff like that. I’ll put this SD card in that box.”

Mom said, “I think it’s time for dinner. It’s after seven, so Greg, what about picking up something at Chen’s?”

“Sounds good. How about you, Brian? You up to Chinese food?”

“Always!”

Mom called and ordered sweet and sour shrimp, my favorite, and mixed chow mein that has chicken, beef, lots of veggies, and more shrimp (again, shrimp are my favorite), Colonel Chen’s Chicken, spicy green beans, and fried rice. Oh, yeah, and fortune cookies.

“I’ll set the table. Do you want to use chopsticks?” Mom asked me.

“Sure. I can use them like an expert.” I grinned. I was far from an expert at using chopsticks. I still had problems picking up slippery stuff like water chestnuts and soft stuff like tofu. And yes, I like tofu. But they were fun to eat with. I also had a fork if I needed it.

Dad was back in fifteen minutes with our dinner. It was delicious.

“It seems like it’s been so long since I’ve had shrimp and anything spicy.”

“Well, don’t overdo on the spicy items. Your stomach needs time to get used to you eating non-hospital food.” A typical Mom thing to say. I nodded, but more or less ignored her and ate what I wanted.

After dinner we watched a rerun of Friday Night Lights. Silly, wasn’t it? Friday Night Lights on a Wednesday night. Whatever.

At eight thirty the phone rang, and Mom picked it up.

“It’s Dr. McFadden. Doctor, can we put you on our speaker phone? That way Brian and my husband Greg can be on the call. Okay, thanks.” She pushed the speakerphone button.

I got started. “I watched something called the Spook Show on TV this afternoon. Have you ever heard of it?”

“No, I’ve never heard of it, but I’ve got a feeling you’re going to tell me something that I don’t want to hear.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. I recorded the Spook Show onto my dad’s video camera. I can’t show it to you over the phone. There’s not that much to see anyway, but I can play it back and you can hear it.”

I pressed the play button on the camera and held the phone in front of the speaker. It was over in about two minutes.

“Dr. McFadden, after I saw this show — by accident — I told my mom about it, and then when he got home I told my dad, too, about my experience in the hospital. I told them that you could corroborate that it happened like it was described when you just heard it. And Mom wants you to know that she and Dad remember that they both signed the HIPPA Privacy Policy when they got to the hospital.”

“Thanks, Brian. And because they signed and they are your parents, you’re held de facto to the same Privacy Policy.”

“Yes, I understand that.” I wasn’t very sure about the ‘de facto’ part, but it sounded very legalistic.

“Alright. What Brian played back for me is accurate, except for some missing information and some minor details that are incorrect. It isn’t even close to say that I’m unhappy to hear that this was on a TV show. That means the leak came directly or indirectly from someone in this hospital. It’s a major violation of patient privacy, and violates HIPPA regulations in many ways. I need to find out who released this story. To do that a complaint has to be filed with the OCR. That’s the Office for Civil Rights which is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Would you be willing to file a complaint? The complaint will be kept private and will not be released to the press.”

Dad spoke up, “Yes, we’ll be glad to work with you to file a complaint. Will you be party to the complaint, or will you file your own complaint?”

“The Hospital and I will file separate complaints. Having several complaints filed on the same incident will help the decision process at the OCR and encourage them to take action.”

“Were you aware that the boys who beat up Brian and dumped his body in Texas are going to be tried sometime in the near future?” Dad asked.

“No, but I’m glad to hear that they’ve been captured. They have been captured, correct?”

“Yes, they have. One of the three really didn’t participate, and he’s going for a plea bargain and will testify against the other two who are in jail on no-bail warrants. You may be called to give a deposition.”

“That would be complicated for them. They’ll have to get a court order in Texas to ask for any private information about Brian. My guess is that they might call me to testify at the trial, then I would have to provide information that’s pertinent to Brian’s surgery. It wouldn’t include any fishing expeditions or Spook Show excerpts — of course, that means they would have found out about the show somehow — then they would try to ask for a deposition. Since this show was broadcast in Oklahoma they might not have heard about it.”

“By the way,” I added, “we can send you an SD card with the video of the TV show if that would help you file your complaint. We have the hospital’s address.”

“That would be a huge help. Please mail it to my private address.” He told us his address, which was a PO box number in Weatherford.

Brian, I’m sorry you and your family are being dragged through this. I apologize for Campbell Memorial Hospital and its management and staff for the release of the story of your incident to the press. And, by the way, how are you feeling?”

“I feel good. I get tired easily. My left arm is still sore, but my head isn’t. Dr. Linscomb seemed to like the way it looks, and they removed my stitches when I arrived at the OU hospital. I hope that I’ll be able to go back to school in the fall. For now I’m going to be home schooled through my high school. I’m looking forward to that. I miss school.”

“Imagine that, a teen wanting to go to school. That is atypical!” He laughed.

“Yup, that’s me, part of the nerd patrol. And I’m starting to fade. Time for my beauty sleep, and if you remember what I looked like the last time you saw me, you know how much beauty sleep I need.”

He laughed. “Unless you need anything else right now, I’ll say goodnight, and thanks for the information. I’ll look forward to getting that TV show on SD.”

We said good night to Dr. McFadden, then I said good night to my folks. I washed up and got in bed, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I had dreams about my home schooling. I normally don't remember my dreams, but these were different. The most interesting, and the one I remembered the most clearly, was about Nate Mead coming over to bring me my homework for my Desktop Publishing class. It was a very interesting dream, and it explained why Nate was so friendly all of a sudden. But it was just a dream, so there was no way to find out if any of it was true. Of course, I could actually ask Nate and find out, but that was not going to happen!