The Tenth Order by Nic Widhalm

wink. “But I could never get Molly to believe me, rest her soul. She said they had all kinds of people working—”
    “Pickle!” Jackie said sharply.
    The old man jumped, then wrinkled his brow again. “Fine, fine,” he muttered. “This morning. Okay. So I’m dreaming my dream about Mexico, and then I start hearing all this muttering. Really loud, alright? I mean, it took me out of my dream and everything, and I was even having this conversation with Molly. She was always talking, that one and—oh. Right. Sorry,” Alvarez smiled sheepishly.
    “This mutterings really loud,” he continued. “And I thought maybe I had a new roomy, but I looked over and it was still just me. That’s one nice thing about this hospital, you know? It’s really quiet. Anyway, so I look across the hall through the door they always leave open—I don’t understand why they do that, it’s terribly rude—and I see this big fella writhing around in his bed.”
    “Writhing?” Jackie asked.
    “Yeah, he’s moving around like he’s got bed-bugs. And he’s muttering this really weird stuff, probably Russian cause he looks a little pink to me, ya’ know? And he’s just going crazy, which I don’t have to tell ya’ happens a lot up here.” Alvarez looked up and down the hallway, his lips pursing.
    “Did you make out any words?” Jackie asked. “Anything would be a big help.”
    “Sorry,” Alvarez reached over and patted Jackie’s hand. “I was never good at that stuff. If it ain’t English it’s just rubbish to me. Math was my thing; my mother used to put my marks on the ice box, she was really proud of those.”
    “And after the muttering?” Jackie asked in what she hoped was a pleasant voice. Stupid burritos, Russ promised he wasn’t going to get hot sauce, Jackie rubbed at her stomach and tried not to moan.
    “What? Oh, right, all that weird mumbling. So, this poor fella is thrashing around, and this is one tall drink of water mind you, and all of a sudden that nurse—I think her name was…Roberts. Ya’, Roberts—anyway, this nurse runs in and starts trying to restrain him. And then this horrible ripping sound explodes out of the room, like a tree being torn out by its roots. And…and…one of the man’s hands are free.”
    Alvarez’s eyes had been steadily growing larger throughout the story, until now they took up half of his face. His voice dropped to a whisper. “He just picked her up, like I’d pick up a cup of coffee, and this whimpering was coming from her throat.”
    “Take your time, there’s no rush. Or if you’d like…would you like a short break?” The old man was obviously distressed. And with his hair disarrayed and his archaic words it made Jackie feel like she was talking with her grandpa again.
    “He lifted her right off the ground,” Alvarez continued, ignoring Jackie. “And he’s not saying a word anymore, and he’s just staring at her like she’s some kind of worm. There’s this snap, and suddenly she’s not struggling anymore. With one hand . He just held her there, and his other hand was still caught up in that Velcro band-thingy, and he’s looking at her like she’s not even there. Like he’s not even sure what’s going on. And then…and then …” Alvarez’s voice was coming between short, quick gasps and Jackie laid her hand on his shoulder.
    “Easy, now. Did he say anything? You said he was speaking in a foreign language?”
    Alvarez looked up at Jackie with wide, terrified eyes. “He snapped that poor girl’s neck like a twig, then he turned and saw me. He saw me. ”
    “It’s alright, Mr. Alvarez. We can stop if you need to.”
    “He stared at me with those eyes. Black, empty…” the old man looked past Jackie’s shoulder, his gaze wide and unfocused. “And I felt like I was seeing the last thing in my life. Like it was all about to end, and I was finally going to see my Molly.” The old man’s eyes were glassy. “For a second I felt this complete