Slip: The Prologue

My first book is entitled Slip. I'll get into the premise of what the book's all about in my next blog post. In the meantime, here is the prologue. Some of you will have read something similar before.

I jerked back into consciousness, acutely aware of the excruciating pain in my head. A thick fog filled my mind, making it impossible to think.

The intensity diminished for a moment, my mind clearing just long enough for me to formulate a simple question: Who am I? Before I could answer, pain shot from the side of my head into my eyes plunging my mind back into the haze. I felt the sharp intake of breath, sucked through my clenched teeth.

I’m alive.

Why does my head hurt so bad?

One thing at a time. I had to remember my name.

I wanted to cry out against the unbearable pain but my body wouldn’t respond. All I could do was breathe. Panic set in. I was trapped in my own near-lifeless body.

I mustered all my cognitive energy, fighting my way through the thick blackness that wanted to overtake my mind.

Ty.

Another painful dagger in my left eye.

Ty Reed.

Somehow, instinct perhaps, I knew that was right. At least I had that much under control.

I knew my name.

Why does my head hurt so bad?

Deep in the recesses of my mind, complete control was climbing with herculean effort to the surface. Awareness of myself returned slowly as I battled against the darkness.

My head felt like it was clamped in a vice and with each beat of my heart, it throbbed.

Focus, Ty! I had to command myself. A war between consciousness and merciful oblivion raged in my mind. A part of me wanted to let go, to succumb. The rest, becoming more powerful by the second, wrestled for answers.

Was it dark or were my eyes closed?

Why can’t I tell?

Thoughts were moving through my head like molasses in a freezer.

Slowly, painfully, I became more aware of my surroundings. The barely-noticeable ache in my back caused by the lumps in the mattress told me I was lying down. I also felt a dull throbbing pain in my right arm. I wiggled my fingers and felt a burning sensation that I hadn’t experienced before. As consciousness returned, I gingerly tested each limb. A vague recollection crept into my mind. My right arm was broken. I knew that.

How did I break it?

It took several moments before my mind was clear enough to realize that my eyes were closed against a bright light that penetrated my eyelids just enough that I knew it was there; contributing to the searing pain.

I lay still, comprehending nothing more than pain. Somewhere a short distance away I could hear the beep of machines.

Hospital machines.

A hospital? Why was I in a hospital?

The steady whirring sound of an electric analog clock somewhere to my right penetrated the sound of the blood pounding in my ears. Awareness was increasing and I focused intensely on each sound, determined to suppress the pain that engulfed me.

I raised my left hand toward my head and heard a voice that sounded so far away.

“He’s awake.”

The voice, distantly familiar, broke my concentration, halting my fight against unconsciousness. In the split second before I gave in, like a bolt of lightning, everything came back to me.