Chapter Text
When he woke up, he didn’t know where he was.
Or who he was, really. His thoughts were jumbled, and every time he tried to grasp on to a thread that would lead him to what he wanted, it slipped right through.
He felt a mounting sense of horror when the door opened, and a head that rung some bell popped in.
“Chad?”
Chad. That must be him.
Chad tried to push himself up, tried to summon the words, but he started coughing and his arm buckled under him.
The man raced in, and Chad felt warm hands helping him sit up and lay back.
“Chad,” The man chastised, worry clear in his voice. “Don’t strain yourself— you almost died—”
“Who are you?” Chad asked, finally finding his voice.
The man paused and stepped back, looking at Chad in confusion. “Chad— it’s Rex.”
Chad blinked at him. “Who?”
“Chad— are you feeling all right?” The man— Rex— hovered a hand over a button on the wall beside Chad.
“I’m feeling okay,” Chad said, deciding to answer the question. “My head hurts.”
“Your head hurts?” Rex asked, pushing the button. “How does it hurt?”
“It hurts. . . Like my brain is a burnt loaf of bread that someone tried to scrape all the burned parts off of.” Yeah, that should be a good metaphor.
Rex nodded, and he seemed to be forcing himself to be calming down. “Can you answer a few questions for me?”
“Sure,” Chad said, not seeing the harm in it.
“What’s your name?”
“Chad,” Chad said. “You called me Chad.”
“I did call you Chad,” Rex said, his voice sounding strained. “Can you tell me your last name?”
Chad searched for the thought. He couldn’t.
“I don’t know,” He finally said.
Rex’s expression had twisted into one of half-worry, half-horror, as a nurse and doctor burst into the room.
“Mister Roofer?” The doctor asked, addressing Rex. Or, Chad assumed he was addressing Rex. Could he have been addressing Chad?
Rex was the one who answered. “Doctor Abernathy, I— we should talk outside.”
The doctor looked from Rex to Chad, but he seemed to defer to Rex. “Of course, Mister Roofer.”
The doctor and Rex left, while the nurse made her way to Chad’s side.
“How are you feeling?” She asked in a placating tone that Chad didn’t like. Rex didn’t talk to him like that.
“I feel fine,” Chad said bluntly, not in the mood to talk to her.
He didn’t want to talk to anyone but Rex until he knew what was going on.