I woke up facing a white brick wall, covered with a paper-thin gray blanket, shivering. Well, I thought, there's more to this than I can figure out right now, and there didn't seem to be anyone around, so I decided to lay there. I stared at the ceiling for a moment while I tried to remember how I ended up on this cot, but drew a blank. It'll come back, I thought, just don't force it. I pulled the blanket over my head, but my shoe-less feet were exposed. Jail, I decided. At least I had put on socks that night, or day. Turning my head, I saw the stainless steel toilet an arm's length away. My face felt heavy with flesh. I wondered how long I had been here? I could see a time clock through the little window in the door. Maybe when I heard the sounds of the shift change, I could put something together. In the meantime, I curled up so the blanket would just about cover me, faced the wall, and closed my eyes. Gotta wait these things out..
I sat up...didn't feel too bad, took an inventory of myself, no major injuries. I still couldn't put a thought together - I stared at the wall and noticed some kind of stain. Old blood? Maybe someone had hacked up some phlegm, but it was the wrong color. I moved down the cot a bit, and put my head in my hands, listening. What the hell? I thought. I haven't been inside a cell for a few years, and had only been drinking for a week or so. The usual thoughts of self preservation ran through my head...about my job, relationship, etc., then I realized I didn't know what day or time it was, so why waste energy on that. Shit. I hit the floor and did about twenty-five push-ups, just to take some of the edge off, then crawled back onto the cot. The brown stain was about six inches from my nose, so I curled the blanket over my head, feeling my heart beat.
