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“You will?”

“Yes. We can start now if you want. Just tell me what to write, and I’ll do it for you.”

He groaned in relief. Tried to fight the fog in his brain to figure out how the scene was supposed to start.

He managed the first paragraph, and she transcribed it into his document.

Then he got a second paragraph spoken.

Then he must have passed out, because he couldn’t remember anything else.

The next thing he was conscious of was pain.

Throbbing, excruciating pain.

It was centered in his head, but he felt it everywhere. It blurred his vision. Clouded his mind. Shook the entire world.

There was no way to sleep through it, but everything was fuzzy. He had no idea what day it was, what room he was in, what planet he was inhabiting.

He groaned because he could do nothing else.

Someone was hovering. He couldn’t see but he could feel it. Someone was stroking his hair back from his sweaty face. It was the most delicate of touches, but he swatted the hand away regardless. He couldn’t be touched. It felt like claws digging into his brain.

The presence withdrew immediately, so that was a relief.

The pain in his head was going to kill him. He knew it for sure. He needed to get it out, so he scratched at his scalp. Maybe if he dug in deep enough he could pry it out.

But that made it worse because everything around him suddenly felt urgent. People were moving. Holding down his hands. Keeping him from doing what he needed to do.

So he tried to explain it, tell them he was in pain, that he needed help, that they weren’t letting him get it out.

Then there were voices. Soft murmurs that still somehow pounded in his ears, his head.

“My God! He’s delirious. Is this from the tumor or the medication?” It was a male voice. Familiar but strange in the raw emotion.

“I don’t know. He’s never been like this before.” That was a woman. A voice that made his heart clench although he couldn’t currently put a face to it.

She sounded like she was crying, so Jude tried to tell her not to. That he didn’t want her to cry for him. That he was supposed to take care of her.

His attempts to fix things didn’t help. It only made her sob.

That hurt him even more. He freed one hand so he could press on his forehead.

“He needs to go to the hospital.” That was the man again. He was connected to Jude somehow, but Jude couldn’t wrap his fingers around exactly how.

“I know that, but he doesn’t want it. He made me promise not to take him.”

“Then give him more medication. He needs something. This can’t go on.”

The woman’s voice was broken and uneven. “It’s not time yet. He still has four hours before he can take another pill.”

“Who the hell cares? What difference will it make at this point? So he gets addicted. Is that really going to matter in the time he has left?”

“No. No, of course not. You’re right.”

Jude had no idea what was happening then. He writhed and tossed his head around in an attempt to ease at least a little of the pain.

Then it was terrible. Someone was forcing his mouth open. Then pouring liquid inside. Then making him swallow.

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