The Drunk Logs by Steven Kuhn Page B

day, I pretended to watch the movie, but my attention was soon diverted over to Father Tom who breathed extremely heavy. Eyes closed with a hand that supported his head, he sat quietly in his own slumber. Apparently Bobby was right , I thought. They shouldn’t show movies after a large meal; I wondered if one of the snoring people in the distance was him.
    My eyes become heavy as the monotone voice of the speaker forced my head to bob up and down. I copied Father Tom’s example and rested my head on my hand; a little nap wouldn’t hurt, I thought. As sleep began to close my eyes, something hit my shoulder. I didn’t pay particular attention, and tried to go back to sleep. I took a deep breath and shifted in my chair to get comfortable, when something struck me in the back of the head. Irritated, I spun around, and looked for the culprit through the shadowed darkness, where I noticed Victoria as she smiled and waved.
    What the hell is wrong with her? I thought, as I turned my back.
    “I think she might like you,” Father Tom whispered with his eyes still shut.
    “How do you know? Your eyes are closed.”
    “I’ve been here for twenty-four days, Matt, and I don’t need to open them in order to see what’s going on in here.”
    Father Tom switched hands and fell back asleep. I tried to do the same.
    It seemed to be a second’s sleep as the lights broke in the darkness, followed by the shuffle of patients as they exited.
    “Well, look at these two love birds, just like Siegfried and Roy,” Jack Jack said as he laughed.
    Father Tom began to lick his dry, cracked lips and opened his weary eyes. “Those without sin should cast the first stone, Jack Jack.”
    Everyone smirked as the smile quickly vanished from Jack Jack’s face.
    “Come on, everybody, move,” Sam said as he motioned everyone forward.
    Still next to Father Tom, I glanced over his schedule and noticed there were a few hours before dinner, so I decided to go to my room and get some sleep.
    Barry Eugene was asleep in his own bed as I closed the door half-way, quietly walked into the room, and hoped not to wake him, when the intercom screamed from the hallway, causing him to rustle and fart as he moved. I stopped dead in my tracks and waited for him to lie still, when the door creaked behind me. I turned and saw Victoria in the doorway.
    “You want to go for a walk?” she whispered.
    “No, I want to get some sleep.” I mouthed the words.
    “I’ll see you later then.”
    I proceeded to my bed, and heard the door close behind me. As I floated to my pillow, my breathing became long and shallow and the strength in my muscles evaporated through my skin as my body deflated. I welcomed the darkness and what it brought, as the back of my eyelids sparkled like the night sky.

Chapter 5
    With a long yawn, I awoke, thankful for the amount of rest I had been given. Even Barry Eugene, whose bed was empty, was kind enough to let me sleep. It was 5:15 p.m. and I was only late for dinner by fifteen minutes. I stood and tried to shake out my cramped muscles, wandered over to the mirror on the wall, and stared at my face. The swelling had gone down and the black and purple color seemed to be fading. I poked around my eye and felt it was still tender. That part might take a little longer to heal , I thought.
    I exited into the hall and listened to the clatter that came from the cafeteria, which sounded like it had a full house. But then it was always a full house here , I thought.
    There wasn’t a line in the cafeteria, only patients going up for seconds. As I came back around, I found my friends as they pointed to a seat they had opened for me. I grabbed a tray and felt confident that I’d be able to eat much more than at lunch, until they handed me a plate of a roast beef sandwich dripping with gravy and cream of corn. The smell rose up and into my nostrils, before I had time to turn away. I began to get queasy, but remembered what the doctor said and grabbed a