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and jerked it out of his arm. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re not taking blood.”
    The doctor stepped back, clasped his hands in front of him, and quietly observed his patient.
    Jim tried to stand up. The room was whirling around him. He let go of the table and tried to take a step.
    The floor was coming closer.
    Suddenly everything went black.

C HAPTER 8
    Jim blinked.
    He opened his eyes to a blurry world. A few things gradually started coming into focus. There were pictures of baseball stars on the wall. He was home, in his own bed.
    Something was wrong. He tried desperately to remember. His head was pounding. What was it?
    The door opened and his mother and father came into the room. His mother was carrying a tray with a glass of juice on it. “How are you feeling, James?” She sat on the edge of the bed and propped up his pillow.
    He stared at her. It was his mother, all right, but she was different. She was dressed in a crisp tailored suit instead of jeans, and she had called him James. She had never called him James before.
    Jim rubbed his head. “What happened?”
    His father eyed him coldly. “You had an accident. Apparently you took a walk in the woods and had a nasty fall. We rushed you to the emergency room, but they said it was nothing serious. You’ll be fine with a little rest.”
    “The woods?” Jim’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t remember falling.”
    “Dr. Wiley said you might not remember a few things for a while, dear.” His mother folded back the top of his bedspread and stood up. “Don’t worry about it. Just rest.”
    Jim’s father gave him a mechanical smile. “Your mother and I are on our way to attend a company meeting. We should be back in about an hour. If you need anything, tell Laura to give us a call. The number is by the downstairs telephone.”
    They left the room, and Jim felt more mixed up than ever. He couldn’t remember even being in the woods. But there was something familiar about the name Wiley. The more he thought about it the more his head ached.
    He tried to sit up. His head thundered with pain. “Lau-ra!”
    Laura skipped into his room, carrying her new doll. “Do you need something? Mother and Father said to assist you any way I could.”
    Jim studied her. Even Laura was different. She was dressed in an Alice-in-Wonderland type of dress. He shook his head. It only made the pain worse.
    “I need a painkiller, Laura. Go downstairs and see if there’s some aspirin or something in the cabinet.”
    “No. I was told not to give you drugs. I must obey.”
    “What?”
    “I must obey. However, I am allowed to read you a story and to keep you company. What would you like to hear?”
    Jim grabbed his throbbing head with both hands. “The sound of you leaving my room. If you’re not going to help me, then just go away.”
    Without a word Laura turned and left the room.
    Jim slowly stood. He inched his way along the bed to the wall and leaned against it for a full minute. As long as he didn’t try to think, his head didn’t pound so hard.
    He decided not to try the stairs. Instead he made his way into his parents’ bathroom and found a bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet. After he had swallowed a couple, he sat down to rest on the edge of their bed.
    The telephone rang.
    Jim scooted along the side of the bed and picked it up. “Hello?”
    “Hi, Jim. It’s me, Maria.”
    “Maria?”
    She laughed. “How quickly they forget. You know, Maria from the pond.”
    “Pond?” Jim felt like an idiot. He couldn’t remember anyone named Maria.
    There was a moment of silence on the other end. “Jim, are you okay?”
    “No. No, I’m not. My head feels like a freight train ran over it. I’m sorry, I don’t seem to remember you.”
    A woman’s voice came on the wire. “This line is temporarily out of order.”
    The phone went dead.
    “Hello?” There was no answer, and Jim put the receiver down.
    He fell back on the pillows. What was going on?