bad it burned down then.”
“I’ll say.” Sierra narrowed an eye. “Wait, come again?”
Rum leaned back carelessly. “Saw the name of the shop before the ambulance took us out. Didn’t you see it?”
Sierra flexed tight as if to prevent her body from exploding in frustration. The force of the blast would most certainly knock her fist square against Rum’s jaw. She sprang to her feet. “Why didn’t you say that sooner!?”
“Calm down, I thought you noticed too. Naturally, I assumed we were dropping the whole thing.”
“They took that guy to this hospital! And we’ve been sitting here the whole time.”
“You’re not seriously thinking-“
“Get off your ass. We’re going to find this guy.”
“Jack Matters … kinda sounds like a fake name. You sure you read that note right?”
“Now you’re saying the name is fake? You’re so desperate to give up. Maybe if you didn’t quit so easy you’d be some place better.”
“Spoken from the mouth of a true celeb idol.”
“Don’t start this here. We’re already in a hospital so it’ll be no-holds-barred.”
“All I’m saying is maybe you read the note wrong. Come On, the page is damp and mushed, maybe you read it wrong. Let me see it.”
“Push off.” She stormed away at that.
Rum followed at once. “Hey come on, wait up.”
Refusing to stop or turn around, she spoke back to him. “Rum, we went looking for a shop called Jack Matters. Then we found a shop called Jack Matters. What do you call that?”
“A coincidence maybe.”
“It’s right here in this note.” She wheeled round, waving the note between her fingers. “Coincidence doesn’t come that big.”
“You say that yet I’ve been seeing them all day. Why can‘t you?”
“We’re going to find this guy. If you don’t want to help then just fall in a corner and die somewhere.”
“I’ll come with you, but I know it’s pointless,” Rum said. “This hospital’s pretty damn big. It’d be like looking for a needle in a haystack full of old, dead, and infected pieces of hay. And I sure as hell can’t remember what the guy looked like, do you?”
She paused for thought. “Alex. That guy’s got a pretty good memory about these kinds of things. At least I think he does. Remember when he got jumped by some guy one night, then five months later he saw him again and beat the crap out of him.”
“Memory’s got nothing to do with it. He’s just a vengeful psycho.”
“I think writer’s are supposed to work that way, I think it’s built into their brains somehow. Helps them to create better imagery. At least … that‘s what my foster father used to say.”
Rum continued grunting and huffing the whole way along. Though they hadn’t visited Alex they knew what room he stayed in. The matter at hand allowed them to flog off waiting for doctor’s invite.
The room they found him in looked like a chicken coop of gurneys. In this coop the farmers took blood over eggs, and judging from some steam cleaned mattresses, provided the human sized bag makers with income. This room was one of many they passed.
Alex lay sleeping halfway down the room. He looked fine. At least he wasn’t hooked up to anything.
Rum and Sierra crept over to avoid drawing attention. Even though there was only one nurse on duty, she might frown on uninvited guests. That is, if she could first manage to pull her face more than three inches from a magazine.
They stood over him, gazing down like parents upon a new born baby.
“Should we wake him?” Sierra asked.
“Allow me,” Rum replied.
He clutched Alex by the shoulders then shook him like a rattler. Alex lightly wailed back to reality. Amazingly, the nurse didn’t even glance.
Alex cringed under blankets upon realising it was just the dirty old man who stank of drink. “What do you want?”
“It’s not what I want. Just get your ass outta bed.”
Sierra shoved Rum aside. “We need your help with something. It turns
“I’ll say.” Sierra narrowed an eye. “Wait, come again?”
Rum leaned back carelessly. “Saw the name of the shop before the ambulance took us out. Didn’t you see it?”
Sierra flexed tight as if to prevent her body from exploding in frustration. The force of the blast would most certainly knock her fist square against Rum’s jaw. She sprang to her feet. “Why didn’t you say that sooner!?”
“Calm down, I thought you noticed too. Naturally, I assumed we were dropping the whole thing.”
“They took that guy to this hospital! And we’ve been sitting here the whole time.”
“You’re not seriously thinking-“
“Get off your ass. We’re going to find this guy.”
“Jack Matters … kinda sounds like a fake name. You sure you read that note right?”
“Now you’re saying the name is fake? You’re so desperate to give up. Maybe if you didn’t quit so easy you’d be some place better.”
“Spoken from the mouth of a true celeb idol.”
“Don’t start this here. We’re already in a hospital so it’ll be no-holds-barred.”
“All I’m saying is maybe you read the note wrong. Come On, the page is damp and mushed, maybe you read it wrong. Let me see it.”
“Push off.” She stormed away at that.
Rum followed at once. “Hey come on, wait up.”
Refusing to stop or turn around, she spoke back to him. “Rum, we went looking for a shop called Jack Matters. Then we found a shop called Jack Matters. What do you call that?”
“A coincidence maybe.”
“It’s right here in this note.” She wheeled round, waving the note between her fingers. “Coincidence doesn’t come that big.”
“You say that yet I’ve been seeing them all day. Why can‘t you?”
“We’re going to find this guy. If you don’t want to help then just fall in a corner and die somewhere.”
“I’ll come with you, but I know it’s pointless,” Rum said. “This hospital’s pretty damn big. It’d be like looking for a needle in a haystack full of old, dead, and infected pieces of hay. And I sure as hell can’t remember what the guy looked like, do you?”
She paused for thought. “Alex. That guy’s got a pretty good memory about these kinds of things. At least I think he does. Remember when he got jumped by some guy one night, then five months later he saw him again and beat the crap out of him.”
“Memory’s got nothing to do with it. He’s just a vengeful psycho.”
“I think writer’s are supposed to work that way, I think it’s built into their brains somehow. Helps them to create better imagery. At least … that‘s what my foster father used to say.”
Rum continued grunting and huffing the whole way along. Though they hadn’t visited Alex they knew what room he stayed in. The matter at hand allowed them to flog off waiting for doctor’s invite.
The room they found him in looked like a chicken coop of gurneys. In this coop the farmers took blood over eggs, and judging from some steam cleaned mattresses, provided the human sized bag makers with income. This room was one of many they passed.
Alex lay sleeping halfway down the room. He looked fine. At least he wasn’t hooked up to anything.
Rum and Sierra crept over to avoid drawing attention. Even though there was only one nurse on duty, she might frown on uninvited guests. That is, if she could first manage to pull her face more than three inches from a magazine.
They stood over him, gazing down like parents upon a new born baby.
“Should we wake him?” Sierra asked.
“Allow me,” Rum replied.
He clutched Alex by the shoulders then shook him like a rattler. Alex lightly wailed back to reality. Amazingly, the nurse didn’t even glance.
Alex cringed under blankets upon realising it was just the dirty old man who stank of drink. “What do you want?”
“It’s not what I want. Just get your ass outta bed.”
Sierra shoved Rum aside. “We need your help with something. It turns
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