The Death Clock: chapter 7

this is 3 months after chapter 6

 

7

The light shined in my eyes when I woke up.

The past month had been hectic. Cat had a team of construction workers remodeling the upstairs. I had to sleep downstairs on the floor for a week, much to the doctors and Cat’s disapproval. They insisted that I sleep on the couch to take pressure off my arm. Every night I would pick Cat up and put her on the couch. The month before my cast came off. Overall things had been looking up.

When I looked around my bigger new room, I saw Cat opening the sliding paper door. She persisted my door be sliding so I didn’t get hurt on it. Cat and I both had much larger rooms and each room had its own couch and mini-fridge. She stood in my doorway wearing a school uniform. This was my doing.

I told her that we both should get schooling. Cat had gone to school up until her tenth year. We were going to a private school. They made us both wear uniforms.

Cat had on a white, long-sleeved shirt and a blue and black plaid skirt. My uniform was a white shirt, black jeans and a blue jacket. Cat had a messenger bag over one shoulder. Her books and folders were inside the big pocket and a book she had been reading showed out of the outer pocket. I had a similar bag. Mine had many more books and folders inside it. I had twelve years of schooling to cover. Cat only had two. We had to start a month early to try to get as caught up as possible. Cat still had to be with me constantly. I could barely move my left arm after I had strained it lifting things and lying on the floor.

Cat was much healthier now. She regained quite a bit of the weight she had lost. The bags under her eyes had vanished. Her skin had that lively glow. It made me happy to see her well. I got up to help her in. We put her things on the bed as I went to get the uniform from the closet. Cat went over the rules of the school once again.

"‘No fighting, no running in the halls, no yelling, students must attend class before the bell rings or be sent to detention. There will be no talking in class unless you raise your hand and are called on by the classroom professor,’" she wasn’t saying it for my benefit. I knew the rules by heart. She just couldn’t believe how much it sounded like prison. "‘No sharp metal objects may be brought on the grounds. No tobacco, alcohol, drugs or any medication not approved by the nurse.’ It’s a jail. Were not allowed to do anything. Here’s the worst rule, ‘Boys and girls must be no closer than six inches apart.’ How are we supposed to do that? I have to be next to you all day, aside from attending my classes, which are at night."

"Cat, could you help?" I couldn’t move my left arm so I needed help putting the slim shirt and jacket on. I would stay in my night pants until she left, but I needed the help in the mornings. Together we slipped the limp arm into the sleeve of the shirt. We put it in a sling and my hand went through the zipper of the jacket. My jacket sleeve hung limply by my side.

Cat fitted around with my shirt and jacket, like a mother would on her child’s first day. She straitened the shirt and had even attempted to put on a tie. It was part of the uniform but I refused to wear it. They could put me in a monkey-suit but there would be no ties.

Cat picked my jeans off the floor and handed them to me. She smiled and walked out of the room. I managed to put them on one handed, but they didn’t quite feel right. I fished a belt through the loops. I found it odd that the belt had three gold stars, the symbol of the school, even though I had bought the belt nearly a year ago. The stars fit perfectly, one on either hip and one in the middle.

I looked in the big mirror. I looked very different from the boy who wanted to join that gang. I looked like a person who had a real life, a family, friends, and money. It was something that needed getting used to.
I wasn’t used to having a life yet. I didn’t know who I was.

Was I the homeless, nameless kid who did whatever it took to survive on the streets? I still had the same face and hair as that kid. I had the DNA of that kid. I hadn’t become a different human being. I had become a different man, right? Was I no-name, the homeless punk, or was I Isaac, the man? I pondered this as I looked at my reflection, asking the mirror aloud to clear my head.

"You’re Isaac, my best friend. But you’re also late, very late," Cat said walking up behind me. When I turned to her the phone on the night table rang. "I’ll get it." Cat said.

She picked it up and listened. She said a few things into the speaker and handed it to me.

"Hello," I said politely.

"Hello, Isaac. It’s Dr. Bram; I did the blood tests for your operations."

"Hello, doctor. Is there a problem?"

"Yes. An anomaly appeared in the blood. I was wondering if you could stop by. I would like to speak with you in person."

"I can’t today. I’m starting school at Paradise High. I could stop by tonight, after Cat gets out of class. It would be around nine."

"Yes, please do. The sooner you get here the better. I want to figure out what this is. Until then do not eat or drink anything. Please tell Ms. Turner to do the same. I found something similar in her blood as well after we did the blood transfusion."

"Will do, Dr. Bram. Is that all?"

"Yes. Goodbye, Isaac, until this night."

"You too, doctor." I hung the phone on its cradle.

I told Cat what the doctor had said to me. We walked down the stairs, wondering why something was up.

Cat and me walked to the living room and picked up what was left for class. We hurried out the door, certain that we would make it to Paradise High before eight o’clock. We chatted along the way and soon forgot about whatever could have been wrong.