Awake Page 6

  “I won’t, it was just a spur of the moment thing.”

  Ivy was quiet for the next half an hour, probably mad but she stayed in the passenger’s seat, even after Ben got back from the bathroom. Lee really hadn’t thought that the seat switch was a big deal when he’d done it, but in retrospect he realized how dangerous and dumb it had been. He wondered if a lack of sleep was dulling the voice in his head that usually kept him from doing dumb things.

  “Do you care if we stop to eat in this Sioux Falls town that’s coming up? We don’t have much left to cook in the fridge,” Ivy said, finally breaking the silence and giving Lee a smile that said they were forgiven for their stunt.

  “That sounds good, I don’t mind. I’m feeling hungry myself, now that you mention it,” Lee said. Ivy yelled back the plan to Ben and Stella and there were no objections.

  It wasn’t long before the interstate was going through Sioux Falls. Pulling off the freeway, he drove through the town looking for a place that looked good.

  “Damn, this is the biggest city in South Dakota, according to my phone, but it looks even smaller than Spokane,” Ben said, walking up behind Lee and Ivy and leaning down with his arms on top of the driver and passenger’s seats.

  “See if you can find a good place to eat on your phone,” Lee said. “The GPS is giving really shitty suggestions.”

  Ben found a place on his phone called Minerva’s that had good ratings. They punched the address into the GPS and drove over. The restaurant was downtown, so it took them a while to find a parking spot big enough to park the rig. Lee and Ben ended up dropping the girls off at the restaurant, parking four blocks away, and walking over.

  Minerva’s didn’t look like much from the outside, just a square, squat brick building. A few black awnings, matching umbrellas, and slanted parking spots out front, it looked very Midwestern.

  The inside was the complete opposite, with hardwood floors, beautiful wooden chairs and tables with crisp white cloths, saliva inducing smells and an all-around atmosphere of elegance. It was busy, but not completely full.

  Ivy and Stella were sitting in the waiting area next to the hostess’ table. They stood up when Lee and Ben entered, and the hostess ushered the group to a table near the back.

  “Man, who would have thought a place in South Dakota would have prices like this?” Ben asked after they were seated, looking at the menu. Stella gave another of her eye rolls, unnoticed by Ben. It’s a wonder they don’t roll out of her head, Lee thought.

  “I’m buying for all of us, so don’t worry about it,” Lee said, then not wanting to make Ben look bad added the lie that “I owe you for a bunch of dinners you bought in Seattle anyway.” Ben smiled and gave Lee a slight nod, knowing what he was doing.

  When the waitress came by, Lee ordered two bottles of wine for the table and as many plates of stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. Both of the wines were red, as the girls had mentioned that they didn’t care for white after their little party in the RV. That worked out, as Lee preferred reds as well (on the rare occasions he drank wine) and Ben had no preference.

  Already off from lack of sleep, after downing a glass of wine Lee felt almost stoned, though not in the good way he remembered from his pot smoking days. He didn’t even want to think. The others were giddy and chatting, buzzed off the wine. He chatted too, but he was on autopilot. It was as if an essential part of him just wasn’t there.

  “Are you feeling okay? You’re sweating even though it’s freezing in here with the AC,” Ivy whispered to him, while Stella laughed loudly at something Ben said and slapped him playfully on the knee, the alcohol once again taking the edge off her bitchy personality.

  “I’m fine, just feeling kind of dizzy,” Lee answered, and then was saved from further inquiry by the waitress showing up with the appetizers.

  “Oh my god, these mushrooms are amazing,” Ivy said after everyone had tried one of them. “They’re even better than the ones that Stella and I get back in Portland at this place called Iorio.”

  “They’re good, but come on, better than Iorio?” Stella said with mock incredulity.

  “You’re one to talk, you said they were better at that shitty place we went to that one time, Alfani’s or something like that.”

  “Hey, that place was good!”

  Chewing on his third mushroom, Lee looked around the bar while Ivy and Stella continued their faux argument.

  The demon was sitting at the bar, sipping a beer as if it had every right to be there. Lee stopped chewing and gulped, almost choking on his half-chewed appetizer. The demon looked the same as it always did, but now it was wearing a blue suit, the shirt and tie complimenting the suit almost perfectly. Almost as if it sensed him looking at it, the demon turned its head to the side and returned his stare.

  Lee looked away as the creature turned its gaze on him, biting his bottom lip and telling himself over and over it’s just a hallucination, it’s just a hallucination.

  Ivy jabbed him in the ribs. “What’s wrong? I know there’s something going on, you’re completely white and you look like you just ran a marathon,” she whispered, Ben and Stella still distracted by the loud conversation they were having.

  “I’m just… seeing things again. I’m going to head back to the RV and lay down, I think.”

  “But we haven’t even ordered our meals yet!” Ben protested

  “It’s fine, you guys just eat. I’ll leave my card up front.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Ivy said.

  “Don’t, you need to get something to eat. I’ll be fine,” Lee said, and stood up. “Sorry guys, I’m feeling a bit ill, I think I’m going to go rest in the RV, but you guys go ahead and eat,” he said to Ben and Stella.

  Ivy looked like she wanted to protest, but didn’t. Lee walked out of the restaurant, haphazardly pulling his Visa out of his wallet and throwing it on the hostess’ table on the way out, as the hostess stared at him with a look of confusion. He didn’t dare to look back in the demon’s direction.

  When he got outside the fresh air helped stop his head from spinning, but he was still sweating, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it thrumming in his eardrums. He walked briskly back towards the RV, people giving him strange looks that he was almost becoming used to now.

  As he walked, he flipped out his wallet and fumbled around inside, trying to find Dr. Siegel’s card. After going completely through it twice he realized it wasn’t there. He thought he might have put it in his briefcase and hoped it was still there.

  Back at the RV he searched the briefcase. He didn’t find the card on his first sweep and was just about to start panicking when he found it hiding stubbornly in the one of the corners. He pulled his phone out and dialed the doctor on the private cell phone number that was listed “FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY”.

  “Hello, Dr. Siegel here,” the doctor answered after the second ring.

  “Doctor. It’s Lee Fenton.”

  “Lee, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, how are you doing?”

  “Not so good doctor, I’ve started seeing things. Hallucinations.”

  “Well I’m sorry to hear that, though it’s not unexpected. How much sleep are you getting each night now?”

  “Four or five hours. Sometimes two or three on bad nights.”

  “I’m surprised that it’s declined that fast even for FFI, this is one of the reasons that I would have preferred that you’d stayed in town. Have your prescriptions been helping you any?”

  “A little, but after the first couple of days they lost most of their kick so I…” Lee hesitated, “I added some over the counter pills to the mix, but they haven’t done much either.”

  “Listen to me Lee: please either stop the prescriptions or the over the counter pills, you shouldn’t be taking both. They could cause an adverse reaction when they mix, that might be what’s causing your hallucinations.”

  “I will, I knew it was kind of stupid, but I was just desperate to try anything.”


  “A reaction to mixing the pills aside, it sounds to me like you’re probably hallucinating from lack of sleep. Hallucinations are very common with people suffering from long-term insomnia. I can’t give you a proper diagnosis over the phone though. Where are you?”

  “I’m in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with some friends.”

  “Are you still heading east?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have a colleague in St. Paul that is very good, Dr. Strauss. I went to medical school with him. Let me get back to my office and I’ll call him and tell him the details, then I’ll text you his number.”

  “That sounds great, that’ll be right on the way. Thank you so much, doctor.”

  “It’s no problem, Lee. Don’t hesitate to contact me whenever something serious like this happens.”

  Lee thanked the doctor again and hung up the phone. Hearing the doctor’s intelligent, reassuring voice had taken away his panic.

  6

  Dr. Siegel must have been close to his office, because within ten minutes the text arrived. Lee was able to call the doctor’s office and make an appointment for two days later, before the others even got back.

  “You feeling any better yet buddy?” Ben asked as the three walked in, Ben carrying a carryout box and a half-full bottle of wine.

  “A little bit. I called my doctor and he wants me to stop by and see one of his colleagues in St. Louis,” Lee said, and then seeing Ivy’s eyes widen added “for a checkup.”

  “Well that’s good, we’ll be in the area,” Ben said, and held up the carryout box and the bottle of wine. “We got you the chicken fettuccine in case you get hungry later.”

  “Thanks, just put it in the fridge if you could. Did you grab my card?”

  “Oh yeah, almost forgot,” Ben said, digging the card out of his pocket and handing it over.

  “Do you want to drive us out of here? I don’t think I can drive for a while,” Lee said to Ben.

  “Sure buddy,” Ben said, and turned to Stella, “Are you going to keep me company?”

  “I guess,” she said.

  While Ben piloted them back onto the highway, Lee settled into the couch and popped in The Shining on DVD, while Ivy went to the back to take a quick shower. Lee made a note to himself to refill the water tanks the next time they had the chance, as he had no idea how much they’d used.

  Ivy was back shortly, the movie had just gotten to the part where Halloran was showing Wendy and Danny all of the food in the haunted hotel’s pantry. “I just started watching The Shining, do you want me to start it over?” he asked her.

  “No, that’s fine. I love the book, but Kubrick couldn’t quite do it justice, in my opinion.”

  “Ha, the books are always better than the movies , but that doesn’t mean the movies can’t be enjoyable sometimes.”

  “I know, but he changed a bunch of stuff for no reason. None of his changes made the story any better. How was Jack freezing to death more exciting than the hotel exploding?”

  “That’s true. I’m not a big defender of the movie or anything, but if you don’t have the time to sit down and read the whole book it’s a fun little substitute. An inferior one, but still fun.”

  “I guess we can agree on that,” Ivy said, smiling. He put his arm around her and together they watched the movie.

  The film must not have been as entertaining as Lee remembered, because somehow he fell asleep, despite his condition. He woke suddenly when Ben pulled the RV off the interstate and started slowing down.

  “Oh wow, sorry, how long was I out?” he asked Ivy, rubbing a bit of drool off of his mouth.

  “A few hours,” Ivy said. “Don’t be sorry, you seemed like you needed it.”

  “What are we pulling off for?”

  “We decided to stop by a grocery store. We’re in some town called Albert Lea that’s on the intersection of I-90 and the interstate we need to take up to the twin cities. Stella and I wanted to make you guys a nice dinner here in the RV since you’ve been being so cool and paying for stuff.”

  “That sounds good. How far are we from Minneapolis?”

  “A couple hours’ drive according to the GPS, I checked it out when we decided to stop at the store.”

  “Was Ben going to drive on through after dinner or…?”

  “Everyone thought it would be good to stop for the night and get some rest before we go into the city, if you were fine with it.”

  “Sounds good to me, I was just curious.”

  Ben pulled the RV into the parking lot of a gigantic Omnimart and parked it in the back of the even more immense lot. The girls went into the store to get the food, while Ben came back to watch TV with Lee.

  “Oh man, I thought this was going to be a guys’ trip, but I gotta say this is even better right?” Ben asked as he settled into the couch.

  “Definitely, having a pretty girl around is a lot better than having to stare at your ugly mug across the whole country,” Lee replied, smiling.

  “Ha ha, Stella didn’t seem to think I was ugly when she was sucking my dick!”

  “Stella doesn’t strike me as the type that has very many things that would stop her from sucking a dick.”

  “Woah, party foul dude! She’s just into me.”

  As they went on with their guy talk, Lee wondered absently what the girls would think if they heard them talk like this. They might just high tail it away and find a new ride, he thought. Girls just didn’t understand guy talk and all the machismo, ball-busting, and almost unwavering focus on sex that it entailed.

  About an hour later Ivy and Stella were back with a shopping cart almost completely full of groceries, way more food than they’d need for one meal. Lee thought that maybe Ivy was trying to prove that she wasn’t trying to use him and that she could pay her own way for things, though he didn’t think Stella would have had a problem with him paying for everything.

  “I hope you guys are in the mood for steaks, we found a great deal on them,” Ivy said as Lee and Ben helped unload the cart and stow the groceries away.

  “Of course we are,” Lee answered for the both of them, “What do you think we are, vegetarians or something?”

  “Actually, Stella and I are usually vegetarians,” Ivy said. “We’re not being so strict now though, we took a break for the trip.”

  “Well, allow me a moment to pull my foot out of my mouth,” Lee said, and the others laughed.

  The girls had gotten enough groceries to last the group for at least a week. They had so much food that the cupboards and fridge were almost completely full when they had finished unpacking it all. The women had purchased more wine too, four bottles. There were also two cases of beer that Lee assumed the girls had picked up for him and Ben.

  “You’re goddamned awesome, Ivy,” he said.

  “Thanks, we just didn’t want to freeload off of you guys for the whole trip,” Ivy said.

  “Hey, speak for yourself. I’d have been fine with it,” Stella said jokingly, though from the glance they all shared they knew it was true.

  The women started preparing the meal while Lee and Ben retreated out of the way to the couch, cracking open beers. As they drank and watched South Park, delicious smells began filling the room. Lee’s stomach rumbled and he remembered that the only thing he’d eaten since breakfast were the stuffed mushrooms at the restaurant.

  When the food was done, Lee and Ivy ate at the kitchen table while Ben and Stella ate in the living room off of a pop-up coffee table that Lee hadn’t even realized was there. The girls had made twice-baked potatoes and green beans to go with the steaks, and it was all absolutely delightful.

  “Wow, this is really amazing!” Lee said through a mouthful of potato.

  “Yeah, it is,” Ben agreed.

  “Thanks, I made the potatoes and Stella grilled up the steaks and heated the green beans,” Ivy said.

  “I did the hard parts,” Stella said, chuckling.

  They each had multiple drinks with the meal. By the time they
finished eating everyone was buzzed.

  Lee volunteered himself and Ben to do the dishes in thanks for the meal. Ivy and Stella refreshed their wine glasses and took the couch. When the dishes were finished, Ben and Lee grabbed fresh beers and joined the girls in channel surfing. It turned out that they were all closet fans of Antiques Roadshow, and they eventually settled on a marathon of that.

  After the third straight hour of watching antique appraisals, Lee was pretty drunk, and by the look of the others, they were as well. Stella had fallen asleep with her head on Ben’s shoulder and was snoring softly, while Ben and Ivy looked about to pass out themselves. Lee felt tired as well; he’d taken one of his pills at the start of the TV marathon. Between it and the alcohol it felt like something was finally working.

  “I’m going to go to bed, I feel like I could get some more sleep,” he said through a yawn.

  “I’ll come with you,” Ivy said, standing up with him. Ben wished them a good night as they went back to the bedroom. Exhausted, they fell asleep almost immediately.

  After being asleep for an hour Lee suddenly jerked awake. There had been a BOOM, but as soon as he sat up he knew it had only been in his head. He tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t, and ended up watching TV with the headphones on again for the rest of the night.

  Ivy woke up early again, at around seven. “Did you get very much sleep?” she asked, rolling over to look at him.

  “Some,” he said.

  “Let’s take a shower together and then cook some breakfast,” she said, and gave him a wink. Lee didn’t need to be told twice.

  Another hour later, between what they started in the shower and finished on the bed afterwards, they were nearly as sweaty as they had been before. They put on clean clothes and made breakfast with the help of Stella, who’d got up even earlier than they had. Ben snored loudly as they put the meal together.

  Ben conveniently woke up just as the food was done and they all ate together. When they were done, Lee started up the vehicle and pulled it out of the Omnimart, Ivy at his side. Before leaving town, Lee stopped the rig at a gas station to fill the fuel and water tanks, Ben coming out to assist him.