I woke up to my clock radio and the sounds from KOKQ. Good rock for waking up. I looked at the time. Seven in the morning, the time that I normally got up on school days. But I couldn’t remember setting my alarm. It didn’t go on yesterday morning, unless I slept through until it turned off automatically at eight o’clock. Good grief, that must be what happened. Talk about sleeping soundly! Now, what about this morning. I laid there listening to Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping. Jeez, talk about a song that’ll get you out of bed!

Okay, I got over eight hours sleep so why don’t I get up? Because it feels good to stay in bed? So? Even if I’m not going to school I’m going to have to do the same stuff at home. That should include getting up at seven as usual.

I swung my legs off the side of my bed and sat up, then carefully stood and made sure I wasn’t dizzy. I took a deep breath and went into the bathroom. After taking a leak I realized that I still didn’t have anything to cover my left arm. That meant no shower, and I really wanted to have a shower. I decided that I’d have to go downstairs and have Mom or Dad help me put a big plastic bag around my arm. To do that I’d have to put on something more than the boxers I had on. I grinned. The only thing I had on. That would be embarrassing. I went back to my bedroom and pulled a pair of sweats on and went downstairs.

Mom was in the kitchen sitting at the table having a cup of coffee. She looked up when I walked in.

“Good morning, Brian. Why are you up so early this morning?”

“Alarm went off at seven, and I decided to go ahead and get up.”

Mom looked me over, my bare chest to my bare feet, and tried to hide a grin but she couldn’t. “Would you like some breakfast or do you want to finish dressing first?”

“I need something to cover my cast so I can take a shower.”

“Just take a sponge bath.”

“That’s what I did yesterday and I want to take a real shower and wash my hair.” I saw her look surprised. “Remember, Doctor Pender said I could begin showering today. I’ll leave the bandage on my head, and I won’t rub where the bandage is, and when my hair is dry you can put on a replacement bandage.”

“I’m not sure about this, but I do remember Doctor Pender telling you that’s what you could do.”

“And Doctor Linscomb didn’t disagree with her.”

“As I remember, he didn’t approve either. Well, give it a try. When we change the bandage we’ll see if there’s any inflammation.”

“Okay. Do we have a big plastic bag that can go around my arm?”

“I think so. Let me look”

Mom found a large heavy weight bag and pulled it over my cast. “I’ll need to tape it tightly on your bicep so it will keep the water out. Wait a minute and I’ll get some duct tape. That will hold it better than regular tape.”

She found the tape and started to put on.

“Relax your bicep so I can put the tape on so it’s tight.”

I did, and she tightly wound the tape several times around my arm.

“There. That ought to keep the water out. Take these scissors with you so you can cut the tape and take off the bag. Enjoy your shower.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I went upstairs to the bathroom and got into the shower. I turned on the water, and immediately turned it off and got out of the shower. I forgot the water was cold. Very cold. I reached in and turned the water back on and put my hand into the spray and waited until it warmed up, then stepped back in took my first real shower since I’d been grabbed by Quin.

Oh my god, did that shower feel good! I hate greasy feeling hair, and it seemed like a month since it’d been washed. I shampooed my hair twice, being very careful about the bandage. Then I washed everywhere and stood under the water letting it run off my body. That also felt fantastic. I discovered that only having one working arm made drying myself a real chore. When I finally finished I cut the duct tape and took off the plastic bag. I checked my cast and it didn’t look like it had gotten wet. I brushed my teeth, and after I looked at myself in the mirror. My bruises had faded a lot, except for the one on the left side of my face. I went to my room and got dressed and went downstairs.

My folks were eating breakfast. “Morning Mom, morning Dad. What’s for breakfast?”

“Good morning, Brian. How was your shower? How’s your injury? Did it sting when you shampooed your hair? What would you like for breakfast? I can fix you bacon and eggs, or something else if you’d like.”

“Whatever you’re having will be fine. Taking a shower was wonderful. It felt so good to be able to wash myself, especially my hair. And it didn’t sting at all. The bandage is still stuck down even though it was in a lot of water. That is one strong bandage!”

I sat down and Dad stared at my face.

“I’m surprised that bruise on your face hasn’t cleared up yet. It’s been two weeks since you were attacked by those boys.”

“Really? It’s been two weeks?” I couldn’t believe that it had happened so long ago.

“That it has, Brian, exactly two weeks today. And it’s been exactly one week since you came out of your coma.”

That reminded me of my out of body experience. “Did you see anything in the newspaper about what was on that TV show about what happened to me at the hospital in Weatherford?”

“No, and while you were taking your shower I watched the morning news on channel 5 and they didn’t mention it. I’m not sure that kind of show has much credibility with the news media.”

“That’s good. I think it would be bad if that story spread and someone connected it to me.”

Mom interrupted. “Here’s your breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a toasted English muffin. If you want more of anything, just let me know.”

“Thanks. This looks great. So much better than hospital breakfasts. That was usually the worst meal of the day. But my breakfast on the last day at Campbell Memorial Hospital and the next morning at the OU Medical Center were both good. I guess it was a good way for them to say goodbye to me.”

I dug in and didn’t do much talking as I devoured my breakfast.

“Thanks, Mom. Everything was delicious.”

“Can I get you something else?”

“I’m really full, but could I have some orange juice?”

“Of course. I should have asked you if you wanted it before your breakfast.”

“No, that’s okay. I wasn’t thirsty then, but I am now. Just a glassful of orange juice is fine.”

She gave me a large glass of cold, sweet, and pulpy orange juice which is the way I like it.

Dad got up. “Gotta get to the office. See you tonight.” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, and I reached up and gave him a quick hug. “See ya, Dad.”

When I was finished with my orange juice I got up to put my dishes in the dishwasher.

“I’ll do that, Brian. You just sit and rest.” Typical Mom.

“Actually, I’ve been sitting too much. I need to start exercising again. It’s too bad that I can’t take my Weight Training and Fitness class but I guess there’s no way when I’m home schooled.”

“Actually, there might be. Doctor Linscomb suggested that you start physical therapy in a few weeks. A physical therapist is going to be contacting me to set up a meeting with you.”

“That’s cool. Does that mean I’d go to a gym?”

“You’d go to the physical therapy department at the hospital. Anyway, we’ll find out more when we talk to the therapist.”

While we talked I carried my dishes to the sink, and Mom had rinsed them and handed them to me to put in the dishwasher.

“I wonder when the TA will get here.”

“Mr. Wilson told me that he’d be here this morning, around nine.”

“That’s better than having to be ready for him at eight in the morning.”

“It might be a she. Would that be a problem?”

“Why would it? Maybe we can become friendly and I can ask her out on a date.”

“Brian!”

“What? What’s wrong with asking her out on a date?”

“You’re only fifteen. She would be in her twenties or thirties.”

“Maybe I like older women.” I wiggled my eyebrows, but couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Hmm. Maybe you’re well enough to go back to school. I’m not sure if I can put up with you being at home every day.”

“Aw, sure you can,” I said, then wiggled by eyebrows.

Mom shook her head. “I don’t know. You don’t seem sick to me.”

I stepped over to her, grabbed her in a one-arm hug, and kissed her. “I love you, Mom.”

“And I love you, Brian. Now, your hair looks dry so let’s remove that bandage and put on a new one.”

As Mom was getting the bandages and tape and started to put on my new bandage I thought of a couple of questions I wanted to ask.

“Can I get my backpack? Inspector Kozara said Quin had claimed that he found it and he turned it in. I’d like to have the books and my binder and homework assignments that are in it.”

“I don’t know, maybe they need it as evidence.”

“They can keep the backpack as evidence. I want the contents. I’m lucky I didn’t bring my laptop to school that day.”

“Yes, I agree with that. If you lost your laptop I don’t know how you’d get your files and other information back. You know, email address of your friends, school projects, your Blackboard files. If someone got your laptop they’d have your passwords too. They could log on as you. You read about companies losing their laptops with people’s names and social security numbers and credit card numbers. That’s always in the news.”

I thought about that for a few seconds.

“I don’t understand why they don’t encrypt the hard drives in company laptops. It’s easy, I read about it in PC World magazine.”

Mom looked at me. “Have you encrypted the hard drive in your laptop, Brian?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No. But tell you what, I’m going to go up and do it right now.”

“You can’t do it now, your TA is supposed to be here at nine. It’s almost nine o’clock now.”

Again, as if she had willed it to happen, the doorbell rang. We both started laughing. She handed me a pad and a pen.

“You write yourself a note on this pad to encrypt your hard drive. And find that article to read about how to do it.” With that she rushed to the front door.

I did write ‘encrypt hard drive’ on a piece of note paper, folded it in half, and pushed it into my shirt pocket. I didn’t need to find the article. I knew exactly how to do it. And I decided that I would do it. It took something like having my backpack stolen to wake me up and do what I’d been thinking about doing, but had been too lazy to actually do it.

Mom walked into the kitchen with a young guy who looked like he was probably a college student. He was pulling one of those rolling carts that is like a file drawer, and had a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Brian, this is Evan Jameson. He’s one of your TA’s, the one for English, Creative Writing, and AP European History. Evan, this is my son Brian.”

He smiled and stuck out his hand. I stood and shook hands with him.

“Hi, Brian. Nice to meet you.”

“Thanks, Evan. Nice to meet you too.”

“Shall we get to work?”

“Sure. I miss school and want to get back up to where my classes are now as soon as possible.”

He grinned. “Well, then, I’m going to push you pretty hard. Is that okay?”

I grinned back, “Absolutely.”

“Where should we sit?”

“We could sit here, or in the dining room. Maybe the dining room will be better. That way we’ll be out of Mom’s way and she’ll be out of our way.”

“Lead the way.”

I laughed, and thought to myself that Evan is going to be fun to work with.

We sat at the dining room table, and he unzipped the top of his backpack and opened the rolling cart. He handed me a business card that had his name, phone number, and email address.

“I have the textbooks for the three classes that I’ll tutor. Today we’re going to meet for three hours, if that’s okay with you and your mother. Normally I’ll tutor you for two hours on Thursdays. If you need more help, or there’s some other reason like tests, then I can be here up to three hours. We’ll take a short break every hour, so today we’ll have two breaks at ten and at eleven. If you’re not feeling well, or need to take another break, just let me know. If you aren’t going to be able to have one of our sessions, please phone me and leave a message. If I won’t be available for one of our sessions, I’ll phone your home number that Mr. Wilson gave me. Any questions?”

“No. That sounds okay. I have my European History book here at home, so I don’t need the copy you brought.”

“Alright. Here are the English and Creative Writing texts. Would you check that these are the books that you’ve been using in your classes?”

I gave them a cursory look. “They look the same, so they’re probably the same, like the same edition. I have my Creative Writing textbook in my locker at school, and I’ll have one of the students who’s going to be coming to see me get me everything from my locker. My English textbook was in my backpack that got stolen.”

“Have you ever been home schooled before, Brian?”

“No. And nothing personal, but I wish I didn’t have to be home schooled now.”

“I understand. Mr. Wilson told me a bit about what happened to you. Now, do you have a computer at home?”

“Yes, a laptop. I can get it if we need it today.”

“We will, but not until after our first break. I’d like to start with European History, if that’s okay. It’s the class that’s going to be the most intensive until you get caught up with your class at Deer Valley. I’ve talked with your teacher, Mr. Atkins, and all of your assignments are on the Blackboard system. I have a list of them here so let’s go through them, and you can give me an idea about which ones you’re going to need the most emphasis during our tutoring sessions.”

He handed me the copy of the European History book he brought with him, and we walked through the chapters in the book that I’d missed and would have to spend my time studying, and the quizzes and exams I’d have to take. Since it’s an Advanced Placement class it’s the same content as the European History course taught at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. It was important that I pass the final and get at least a B in this class so I’d get college credit. That was something big on my list of high school to-do’s.

A chime rang, and Evan pulled out his smartphone. “Time for our break. This is a good time for you to get your laptop, and take a stretch or use the restroom. Uh, where is a bathroom I can use?”

“I’ll show you. I took him to the ‘powder room’, as Mom calls it, off the entry hall. I went upstairs and took a leak and got my laptop and my copy of the European History workbook which luckily I’d left at home the day before I was attacked. I heard the ringtone from my cell and pulled it out. It was Nate Mead. I answered the call.

“Hi, Nate.”

“Hi, Brian. If it’s okay I’d like to come by after school today. I’d like to talk with you about the classes we’re both in and how I could help you with your assignments and prepping for tests. I can be there around four, it that works for you.”

“Sure, that’s fine. You know where I live?”

“I think so. 22810 Cedar Creek Road, right?”

“That’s it. Do you know how to get here?”

“It’s two blocks from my house. No problema.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

We ended the call. That was interesting!

I headed back downstairs, and Evan was sitting at the dining room table looking at the English textbook. I sat down and we got right into it, he summarized what chapter the class was studying, and the two quizzes that I’d have to make up. He had me logon to the Blackboard system and go to my English 2 class page.

“I think I can catch up by next Thursday. You can give me the first weekly quiz that I missed today if we have time, then the other two next Thursday. That means I’ll be caught up with quizzes.”

I spent the next ten minutes taking the first weekly quiz that I’d missed, and he graded it.

“You answered all ten questions correctly. That’s an A. Congratulations. But quizzes aren’t the only thing you have in English 2. What about the reading assignments? Can you catch up on those by next week?”

“I’ve already read them, and I’ve written my reviews and commentaries. They’re on Blackboard and all I have to do is submit them. I like to get ahead in classes that are easy for me like English and Algebra 2.”

“What else is easy for you?”

“Desktop Publishing and Creative Writing. I should be up to date on both of those, but to make sure I’ll have to check them on Blackboard.”

“Creative Writing? Isn’t there a lot of writing and reading in that class?”

“Sure, but I love to write. I can read ahead on Blackboard and find out what the assignments are and when they’re due, and read the chapters in the textbook that are assigned, and I’m good to go. The only thing I’m behind on is reading other student’s stories and commenting on them. I should be able to do that on Blackboard and get caught up over this weekend.”

“No wonder you’re a straight A student. When I read that in your file I wondered how you did it. Now I know. It’s going to be a pleasure to tutor you, Brian.”

“Uh, thanks, Evan.”

“What’s your toughest class this semester?”

“European History. I’m really glad that you’re going to be doing some tutoring with me in that class. I have this thing about memorizing dates and people and how they connect. Maybe you have some tips that will help me.”

“I think I do. History is my major, and I’m going for my Master’s in European History at Oklahoma State now. I have the same problem you have, keeping all of those important dates memorized and how they relate to countries and royalty and dictators and armies and wars and... well, you know what I’m talking about.” He looked at his watch. “We have about an hour and a quarter left today. Do you want concentrate on European History for all of that time?”

“Sure, especially if you can give me some memorization tips. That would be so totally excellent.”

And that’s what we did, for the next hour and a quarter. And we didn’t even take our second hour break. When his smartphone chimed at noon, I stretched and Evan packed up to get ready to leave.

“Brian, I think you’re going to do very well in the three classes I’m tutoring for you. If you have any questions or problems, phone me or text me. Actually, texting is probably best because I can answer you right away without having to call you back on the phone. I hope the memorization tips I gave you, and those website links, are going to be helpful.”

“I think they will. Thanks for tutoring me today, and I’ll see you next Thursday.”

I led Evan to the front door, and we said our goodbyes. Then I went back to the dining room and gathered up everything and took it upstairs to my bedroom. I’d rather work at my desk than on the dining room table. All my stuff is in my room, and studying there means I don’t have to put it away.

 When I had everything organized, I opened my Windows 7 book to the section on Bit Locker Drive Encryption. It said to back up my data to another hard drive before starting any encryption. It also recommended reading two Microsoft white papers that it said had essential information that would help me make sure that I didn’t lock myself out of my computer. That would suck big-time! I downloaded the white papers and printed them, then started a full backup of my hard drive to my external hard drive.

I Googled ‘bit locker drive encryption’ and found updated information for Windows 7. I read some of the documents, all of which were designed to be read online.

Wow! Bit Locker is one complicated puppy! But it’s very powerful, and I figured out that being careful it could be used to prevent access to any of my programs and data. I also found that it would be much simpler to encrypt individual files and folders using EFS, the Encrypting File System. It isn’t as secure as Bit Locker Drive Encryption, but it’s easier to implement. I decided to start by using EFS. Maybe later I could upgrade to Bit Locker.

Mom called me to have lunch. She heated two mini beef and cheese burritos for me and one for her. She brought out a jar of medium-hot salsa to go with, and a bag of corn chips. I love Mexican food, so this was perfect for me. As we ate I told her about my first tutoring session.

“We’re going to concentrate on my European History class. That’s the toughest class for me, partly because it’s an Advanced Placement class and because there’s so much memorization. Evan taught me some memorization tips so I’m going to try them.”

“Does he seem knowledgeable? He’s going to be tutoring you in two other classes, English and Creative Writing, is that right?”

I said “Uh huh” around a bite of burrito.

“He seems young.”

“He’s studying for his Masters in European History at Oklahoma State. And he’s a great tutor. He makes me give the answers and walks me through tough sections step by step. He’s all business, there’s no chatting about stuff that’s not the subject we’re working on. I like him a lot. I hope my other TA is going to be as good as Evan.”

“Well, I’m glad that it’s working out. I love the idea that he’s all business.”

“I got a call from Nate Mead. He’s going to drop by around four this afternoon to talk about how he can help me with the assignments and studying for tests in the classes we have together.”

“He seems like a nice boy. You said that you didn’t know him very well?”

“Yeah. He’s a jock, and is on the football team, but he’s also a nice guy. We know each other enough to say ‘hi’ and that’s been about it.”

“What classes to you have together?”

“Physics and Algebra 2.”

“Well, those are rather heavy duty classes. I’d think that doing your homework and studying for tests together could be a big help.”

“Yeah, I think so too. Speaking of studying, I have some reading to do for European History. I’m going to get my book and go outside in the sun for a while.”

“Alright. Just don’t get too much sun, especially on your head.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll be careful.”

I went upstairs and got my assignment sheet, a notebook and pencil, and my European History textbook and workbook, then went out to the back yard. We have this big old tree of some kind and it gives mottled shade, so I can get both sun and shade. I moved one of the lawn chairs over so it was under the shade from the tree and sat down and started to read the assignments and take notes.

I was starting to get warm so I looked up. I was mostly in the sun. The shade had migrated to the east. I moved the chair so it was back in the shade. I looked at the assignment sheet. I’d read all of the material for the two weeks that I was at Campbell Memorial hospital. I looked through my notes and tried to remember some of the dates, and as I remembered, or thought I’d remembered, I’d write the answer down. I didn’t do too bad. I correctly remembered about three-quarters of the dates and events correctly.

I yawned, and decided a quick nap before Nate got here would be a very good idea. I gathered my stuff and went in and upstairs to my room. I laid the book and papers on my desk chair. I took off my shoes and laid down on the top of the bed. I fell asleep immediately.

I woke up when I heard Mom calling ‘Brian, Nate is here’ loudly from the bottom of the stairs. I went to the bathroom and sprayed some water on my face then took a towel and dried myself. Then I walked downstairs.

“Hi, Nate. Thanks for coming over.”

“No problema. I’m glad to do it.”

“You want to go up to my room?”

“Sure. That sounds good.”

“You want a Coke or something to eat?”

“A Coke sounds great. Nothing to eat though. I had a big lunch today.”

“Is the can okay?”

He nodded and I got the Cokes out of the refrigerator and handed him one. I led him upstairs to my room. I was glad that it was mostly neat.

“Nice room.” He looked around at the pix I had printed, dry mounted, and framed. They were pix that I took around the area, with a lot at Deer Valley High.

“Nice pictures, Brian. Did you take them?”

“Yeah. My dad gave me his old single lens reflex, a Canon Digital Rebel, and that’s what I’ve been using since I was in the eighth grade. I like going out and taking pictures, then printing and framing them.”

“So, you took all of these pictures that are in your room. I’m impressed.” Nate walked around the room, taking everything in. Finally he stopped and turned to look at me.

“You really got beat up. That bruise on your face is something. How long ago did it happen?”

“Exactly two weeks ago today.”

“Jeez. That bruise on your face is still inflamed all around your eye and down past your cheekbone. Does it still hurt?”

“No, unless I push against it real hard.”

“Do you have problems seeing out of your left eye?”

“I did at first, but now my vision in that eye is pretty much normal.”

“What happened that you have that bandage on the side of your head?”

“That’s where I got hit with a hammer. That knocked me out and I was in a coma for a week.”

“Shit! Does that hurt?”

“Not now, and I’m not going to try pushing on it to see if that makes it hurt. My skull was broken and caved in there. I was lucky that I had a great surgeon who worked on me and got my skull put back together. I have pins and a plate in my head. It’s healed but I still have to be very careful. That’s why I’m being home schooled for the rest of this year and maybe into next year too.”

 “Any other bruises?”

“A few. The biggest was on my chest where they kicked me.”

“Uh, you mind showing it to me? I’m planning on being an orthopedic surgeon, so I’m interested in anything that might be related to that kind of surgery.”

“I don’t mind. It would be easier if I raised my arms and you pulled up my T.”

I raised both arms and Nate pulled up my T so he could see the bruise on my chest.

“It’s almost fully healed. There’s not much color left compared to what it was like when I woke up in the hospital.”

“Actually, there is still a lot of color and it looks inflamed here over your ribs near your side.” Nate had run his fingers over that part of my chest. The feeling was electric, and I shivered.

“Sorry, Brian.”

“No, it’s okay. It was sort of like an electric shock. It felt good.”

“I felt it too. Is it okay if I...”

“Yeah.”

He ran his fingers around the periphery of the bruise. It was a large bruise, and the electric feeling was there even stronger this time. I let out a little gasp, and Nate started using his hand to lightly touch me. He was looking right into my eyes, not at my chest.

We stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, with Nate now just holding the palm of his hand over my left nipple, not moving it around anymore. Oh my god, it felt so good, so amazing. It was what I had dreamt last night. And now it was actually happening.