The Doctor's Apprentice. Ann Walsh

two of them made me walk around and around my bedroom until Ma came back with a steaming mug of hot coffee.

      “Now we are going to sit you on your bed,” said the doctor. “You may sit, but you may not lie down. Sip the coffee slowly, but drink it all. Then we shall walk some more.”

      “I don’t want to walk,” I said. “I don’t want to drink coffee. I’m tired. Why are you making me get up? Look out the window. See, the light is grey, the sun hasn’t risen yet. It’s too early. Go away and let me sleep.”

      My father laughed. “Morning was many hours ago, son. The grey light you see is the light of dusk, not dawn. You have slept the day away.”

      I gulped, swallowing a mouthful of coffee. “It isn’t morning?” I asked, and finally began to wonder what everyone was doing in my bedroom, waking me up and making me walk around and drink coffee.

      “No, Ted. Morning is long passed.”

      I thought for a moment. “I guess it was teaspoons. Not tablespoons.”

      “Most definitely not,” said J.B. “ I was neglectful in not writing out the exact dosage. That vial contained three night’s supply, but you downed it all at once. I can only say that I am glad you have returned to the land of the living, my friend. You were lucky.”

      My head began to hurt again, the blood pounding in my temples, the pain as sharp as if someone were hitting me on the head with an iron kettle.

      “I took it all,” I said and, in spite of their efforts to make me stay upright, I lay back on the bed. “I guess that was too much.”

      “Aye, son,” said my father. “A wee tad too much.”

      Then I think I slept some more.

      When I awoke again, it was morning. Real morning this time, with the sunlight pouring through my window. I swung my feet slowly out of bed and cautiously stood up. The floor behaved itself and didn’t sway and buckle like the last time I tried standing. But my legs were weak and my knees felt as if they were made of rubber. I sat back down on the bed, took a deep breath, and tried again.

      This time I made it to the bedroom door and, taking another deep breath, ventured into the hallway. A few more faltering steps got me as far as the kitchen, where my mother saw me and came to take my arm.