Durham Todd, Christian Dejesus, and James Negus (36)

A Chapter by Joe

Durham Todd, Christian Dejesus, and James Negus (36)

It was almost two in the afternoon when the doctors allowed Christian and Durham into the room to see James. He looked better than before, but not by much. A little bit of color had returned to his face and he wasn't sweating as much, but his eyes were incredibly red and his movements were sluggish.

"How you doing, James?" Christian asked as he and Durham sat on opposite sides of the pastor.

"Tired," James said, his voice a thin raspy whisper. "Tired and thirsty. You got any water?"

Durham poured the man some from a pitcher on the bedside table while Christian spoke.

"You gave everyone quite the worry there, man," he said. "What was that all about?"

James downed the small plastic cup of water and replied, "I dunno. Last thing I remember was vomiting that horrible stuff and then waking up here. You wanna get me some more water, Durham? What happened?"

"Well," Durham said as he poured another cup full of water and handed it to the pastor. "You passed out and a few of those out-of-towners and myself tried to help you. We gave you some water while we waited for an ambulance and..." Durham's voice faded.

"What?" James asked.

"Well, you said something that none of us could quite get."

"What was that?"

"You said-and I quote- 'I require sanguis'."

James downed the cup of water and looked between the two men.

"You're pulling my leg, right?" He asked.

Durham shook his head. "No, that's what you said alright. Said it in a half-asleep type of way."

"Jeesum Crow," James muttered. "Can you pour me another?" He asked, holding out the cup.

"You're still thirsty?" Christian asked. The cup was no small one. It was about half the size of the gallon pitcher.

"Have been since I woke up," James nodded. He took the full cup and gulped it down. "I don't think this is a normal flu thing, boys." He said, a look of worry on his face.

"I'm sure everything's fine," Durham smiled. "I mean, the docs wouldn't have let us in if you were inches from death, right?"

The others agreed and James asked, "So I said 'I require sanguis', eh? That's funny. I haven't spoken a word of Latin since university, and that was a piece ago. What else happened?"

Durham shook his head. "Nothing, except..." he trailed off, not sure whether to proceed or not. He hadn't shared this next bit with Christian and wasn't sure how either man would take it. Would they think he was crazy or-

"Except?" Christian asked, urging him on.

"Well, a few of us tried our cellphones to try to call an ambulance, but we all - there was about three or four of us, I think - got dead batteries. I just found that strange."

"You think the two things, my passing out and talking in Latin and the phones, was somehow related?" James asked, holding out his cup for more water.

"I dunno," Durham shrugged, pouring more from the pitcher and handing the cup back. "I'm just saying, it seemed funny, y'know?"

The pastor and Christian both nodded and Christian said, "Well, James, it looks like you could use some sleep."

James smiled and replied, "Yeah, I'm incredibly tired. I don't know what it is. I just feel like all my energy's drained."

"Well, then," Christian said, standing up. "We'll get outta your hair and let you get some shuteye."

"Don't be a stranger, boys," James smiled wearily. "I expect someone to sneak in some kind of casserole or lasagna sometime soon!"

The three of them left and the visitors left, Durham thinking about how the pastor had said he felt as those all his energy had been drained and the cellphones saying DEAD BATTERY.

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