Part 5: Smokescreen.

It was raining hard; the storm had caught up to them and the visibility was getting more and more terrible for every mile they drove.

David was getting anxious. Nate was driving faster and faster, getting more furious and reckless. The oncoming headlights grew with the droplets of water, and the reds of the brakelights seemed to get closer and closer. The traffic on the Interstate was gtting heavier as the rain dropped faster.

"She's trying to ruin me!" shouted Nate, wiping the condensation off of the inside of the windshield.

"What the hell are you talking about?" David inquired, turning on the defroster.

"She's trying to ruin me!" shouted Nate again.

"Who's trying to ruin you?" David yelled back.

"Evelyn! Evelyn!"

"What the hell is going on?"

"I'm having an affair with Evelyn, David," Nate said, looking David straight in the eye.

Eyes growing wide, David knew he had to find out more. "How long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks."

"How is she trying to ruin you?"

"Just you watch for a few more days. She'll try to kill me if I don't--"

"Nate, LOOK OUT!" David grabbed the steering wheel, seeing that a truck was headed their way. Nate didn't have time to readjust himself; lights and tumbling and a giant crash soon followed.

David got out of the car, felt on his face that it was raining, and saw Nate hunched over the steering wheel. He stepped forward, felt himself pulled to the floor by gravity, and heard everyone gasp as he fell.

He woke up, and Nate was screaming in his ear again.

"She's trying to ruin me!"

And this was quite all right, since David didn't realize he was dreaming, and that he was reliving the accident over and over in his mind, etching and branding a capture of the accident in David's memory, some sort of mental conditioning that he was subjecting himself to.

-----

"Oh, look, he's dreaming again," said Leah, seeing David move his eyes under his eyelids.

Mike stood up from his chair. "I hope he's dreaming of something nice, you know, like babies and puppies and meadows. Things you see in a genital herpes ad."

Joseph laughed. "I'm gonna go grab myself something to eat. You guys want anything?"

Leah and Mike shook their heads, and Joseph headed downstairs.

The two were left alone in David's jungle, somewhat comfortable that Evelyn and Gabriel weren't ruining the mood and Joseph wasn't being his awkward, nervous self.

"Thanks, you know, for letting me know about this," Mike said.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I'd tell you first. I wouldn't know who to call otherwise," responded Leah.

Mike smiled. "I'm glad."

-----

"I knew from the very beginning."

Evelyn's feelings were in turmoil. She felt discombobulated and tense. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

She didn't even doubt that she and Nate were having an affair. "Gabriel, I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"You're probably right." He kept looking at his watch, as if time would go any faster if he looked at his watch more often.

"I wanted to end it," said Evelyn, "but he wouldn't let it go."

"You mean, you wouldn't let it go." Another glance at the watch.

"No, Gabriel. Listen, I --"

Furiously, Gabriel cast an icy stare towards Evelyn. "No, you listen. I know this is some fucking cosmic thing biting me in the ass for what I did to you and Nate a long time ago, but that doesn't give you the right to fuck around with some dipshit who doesn't even know how to treat a woman right, let alone drive a fucking car! I don't deserve this!"

"Maybe you do," replied Evelyn, "now that my worth is less than a car."

"I didn't mean that! You know what I mean, Nate driving and all."

"Gabriel, your best friends just got in a car accident. Be sensible. Have some tact."

"Tact shit. David can't even hear a word I'm saying."

Evelyn felt the words sting. "You are horrible."

"You destroy me, Evelyn."

"I despise you, Gabriel. Now shut the fuck up and get out of my face."

"And how are you gonna make me do that, Evelyn?"

"You will wish you never asked that question."

-----

The next morning, Leah and Mike went back downstairs to find the camp suddenly gone, save for a cleaned-up Joseph and their belongings.

"What happened to Evelyn and Gabriel?" asked Mike.

Joseph managed a smile. "It was the most horrible, terrifying, gut-wrenching hilarity that had ever ensued."

Leah and Mike gave Joseph very confused looks.

"Okay, okay, lemme explain," continued Joseph. "I get back from home -- that's where I ate, so I figured I should clean up -- and so they're arguing really loud here, right? And it's like fucking two in the morning. The night nurse tells them to shut up, and they move to another side of the lobby. Ten minutes later they're shouting again, and so an orderly tells them to get out of the lobby area. They go outside. They're arguing like mad, crazy. And then it starts to rain again."

"I can kinda tell where this is going," Mike said.

"Oh yes. It's raining. They're still arguing. Evelyn gets the brilliant idea to get out of the rain and go to her car. Gabriel's following her, right, and acting like he's going home with her in her car, but as soon as he reaches for the door, Evelyn's booked it. He got puddled, muddied, just plain dirty. And wet."

Leah tried to stifle a chuckle.

"So Gabriel's heading back inside, and he's spotted me. I'm trying to hold back laughter while he's almost in tears. He tells me, 'You guys should stay here. Evelyn and I need to sort stuff out.' And you know, how can I not agree to that? So I'm nodding my head, and he's going, 'And yeah, everyone's stuff is still there, so go look after it, huh? I guess you guys don't need your stuff as much anymore.' And he just turns around and leaves, and I'm like, what the shit, I'm left with your bags and jackets."

"Well, thanks for looking out for us," Leah said.

"My pleasure," said Joe. "But now I think it's my turn to go upstairs."

Mike nodded. "They're probably expecting it by now," he said.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," said Joseph.

As he headed towards the elevator, Joseph felt better than ever to go visit David and Nate, but he wouldn't let on to anyone his secret wish: that when David wakes up, he would be the first person he sees, and therefore the first he'll remember in a new beginning. Somewhat selfish to other people, Joseph found the thought completely normal if it were the plan to make David fall in love with him.

Grinning, he headed to Room 415, ready to tell David more of his secrets, things he never would and never could tell anyone else in this circle of friends.

He was a little too happy to be visiting a comatose person.