| General Fiction posted August 18, 2024 | Chapters: |
...26 27 -28- 29... 
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Brian hurts himself weight lifting
A chapter in the book DUEL with the DEVIL
DUEL with the DEVIL - Chapter 28
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant young chemist creates a new painkilling drug with unknown benefits and pitfalls. |
Recap of Chapter 27: After explaining Daniel’s awkwardness to Kimiko, he returns to his room, where he hears Julia playing the violin for Daniel. As he opens the door to enter, a number of other kids passing in the hall stop to hear Julia play, and with their encouragement, she gives a little concert with a mixture of well-known songs.
When it’s over and the kids are departing, Kimiko makes her way into the room. She had also been listening out in the hall. She and Daniel apologize to each other, and things begin to settle down between them. She stays for a while, and the four of them talk comfortably together. Kimiko asks them to call her Kimi from now on. Daniel even walks her back to her room.
The following morning, Brian, Julia, and Daniel go down to breakfast together and spy Kimi eating by herself in the cafeteria. Brian encourages Daniel to go sit with Kimi, and he does.
Chapter 28
Spring semester, 2010
Over the Christmas break, Julia and I saw each other often. Together, we attended Christmas concerts by both her parents’ respective orchestras. Things were becoming a little less stressful with her parents as we got to know each other better. I wouldn’t say her mother liked me, but she tolerated me. I don’t think she would ever get over the fact that I was an addict her daughter met in rehab, but I was always exceedingly polite to her and mainly just tried to stay out of her way. I did become quite fond of her dad, the poor hen-pecked guy, and he, Julia, and I would occasionally, in a good-natured way, gang up on her mom.
She actually did have a wry sense of humor, which she would occasionally let show, like the time I was dining with them again at their house. Following the main course, Julia, her dad, and I carried the dishes to the kitchen, leaving her mom alone at the table. In the kitchen, we all made huge ice cream sundaes with all the fixings for ourselves and prepared only a small single-scoop dish of vanilla ice cream for her mother. When we set them down in front of everyone, there was no comment from Dr. Schmidt. We began eating, and when her mother was only halfway through her single, unadorned scoop, she said with a straight face, “I’m full. Would anyone like the rest of mine?”
My study habits had improved greatly during my first semester, and they would be put to the test during this second semester. I had a 16-credit-hour load of classes, which included my final math requirement—an advanced calculus class. My second semester of organic chemistry lab was even more challenging than the first, but it was probably the most enjoyable part of the curriculum for me.
Kimi and I were lab partners again, which was great because we liked each other and were already used to each other’s strengths and weaknesses in the lab. This made it easier to assign tasks for the experiments we performed.
She and Daniel continued dating during the semester. Both of them seemed to be developing a newfound confidence in themselves, and their budding relationship proved to be one of synergism.
In the little spare time I had, I continued working out in the gym with Daniel. He and I became quite competitive, always trying to outdo each other in the number of pullups, pushups, or weights we would lift.
I entered the gym one afternoon, and he was already there, beginning to lift. I had been running a little late and decided to catch up to him by skimping on my warmup. He was doing deadlifts when I decided to join in. A deadlift is a maneuver in which you reach down by bending at the knees and waist and grasp the bar resting on the floor. You then rise up to a standing position with your arms pointing straight down, holding the bar, which has been raised only to mid-thigh. It is then lowered again to the floor.
Daniel was currently lifting 400 pounds when I joined him. “Is that all you got?” I knew he’d been as high as 440 and was probably working up to it again.
“I am taking it easy today. I have not been to the gym in four days.”
“Ah-ha. Spending a little too much time with your girlfriend now instead of working out, huh? No wonder you’re out of shape.”
“There is some truth to that.”
“Alright, watch this.” My own bar was set up to a weight of 420 pounds, which is as high as I’ve been for deadlifts.
As I squatted down and grasped my bar, I heard Daniel say, “Brian, perhaps you should—"
But that’s as far as he got before I started rising with the bar and immediately dropped it when a sudden stab of pain shot through my mid-back. Although the deadlift mostly puts stress on your hips and lower back, your entire back is involved in the effort, and if you have any weaknesses, like I had around the area of my last back surgery, the stress on the area may be overwhelming. I cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor. I think I just re-herniated the disc that was repaired. For certain my back had gone into complete spasm mode.
Daniel rushed over as I lay writhing and groaning with the pain. A couple other guys who had been working out nearby also came over and gathered around me. They offered to help me up from the floor, but I shook them off. I just needed to lay there for a while.
They soon went back to what they were doing, but Daniel squatted down beside me. “I am very sorry this has happened to you, Brian. I feel badly for not suggesting to you sooner how you might want to spend more time warming up.”
“Not your fault…. Forget that,” I gasped. “… Own stupid fault…. Christ, it hurts.” I took a few shallow breaths. “Lemme lie here for… a few minutes.” I decided right then that my lifting days were over. It would likely become too risky from now on.
I continued taking shallow breaths; anything deeper hurt like hell. In a couple of minutes, I attempted to rise, but I could immediately see I wouldn’t be able to on my own, probably not even with Daniel’s help. “Better … call the paramedics.”
“Yes, you rest. I will call 911.”
He did, and in a few minutes, two paramedics arrived and placed me on a collapsible gurney to wheel me out of there and into the ambulance.
Meanwhile, Daniel had changed out of his gym clothes, and the paramedics allowed him to ride with me to the emergency room.
I ended up getting a fluoroscopy-guided steroid injection in my spine in the area around my previous disc rupture, which has continued to cause me the greatest pain these days. It provided almost immediate relief—not complete, but certainly the spasm relaxed somewhat. They also gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxant.
The two of us returned in a taxi to our dorm. “Listen, Buddy, I want to thank you for all the help you gave me this afternoon.”
“You are most welcome. I am certain you would have done the same thing.”
“Nah, I would have let you lie there and just left.”
“Always with the jokes. I know you are telling me a ‘Big Mac.’”
“You mean a whopper. I think you do that on purpose to amuse me. It’s working. I guess I’d better call Fran and Julia and let ‘em know what happened. God, that was so stupid. I know better than to start lifting without a proper warm-up. You’d think someone with a bad back would be more careful. God, I’m an idiot.”
“You are being too hard on yourself. You deserve a break today.”
“Okay, Ronald McDonald.”
He grinned. “I will give you a chance to talk in private. I am going to see if Kimi wants to go have dinner with me in the cafeteria. I will see you later.”
I called Fran first and told her what happened. She chose not to rub it in about my laxity in the warm-up but just gave me her sympathy for what had happened. She did, however, warn me about my vulnerability and that I shouldn’t try to seek any prescriptions for opioid pain medication or attempt to buy them illegally. I should stick to the OTC stuff. I assured her that I would only do that, and I thanked her for her support.
I called Julia then to inform her of the accident.
“Oh, no!” she said. “Was the pain really bad?”
“About a 9.5.”
“Are you still in that much pain?”
“No. Daniel called the paramedics for me, who took me to the emergency room. I was able to explain my past injury and surgeries to the doctors, and they sent me for a steroid injection. They put some anesthetic in there along with the steroid, and I got almost instant relief. Brought the pain down to about a 6, practically my normal level.”
“Oh, Brian, I’m so sorry.”
“It was my own stupid fault again, like most of the pain I’ve caused myself. Daniel was freakin’ great, though. He stayed with me the whole time, except when I was seeing the doctors. He left me alone to call you and Fran while he went to dinner with Kimi.”
“Do you want me to come down?”
“Oh, that’s so sweet. I’d love to see you, but that’s not necessary. I know how hard it is for you to take time off during the semester. I’ll be alright. I just wanted to let you know about it.”
“I’m a little worried about you. I hope you aren’t thinking about—”
“No, I’m not. Fran also warned me about that. I’m good. I have no intention of getting involved with opioids again. I promise.”
“I believe you. That’s good to hear.”
“Look, I’ve gotta go now. I’m starving, and I’m going to head down to dinner, then come back and probably crash. I’ll call you again tomorrow. I love you, Jules.”
“I love you too, Babe. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
 Recognized |
CHARACTERS
Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Chloe: Brian and Fran's cat.
Sandi MacReady: She is a pretty blond and Brian's crush in high school.
Derek Shafer: Brian's best friend and lawn mowing partner.
Josh Bennett: Sandi's boyfriend. He's the center on the high school basketball team.
Don Robbins: A high school acquaintance of Brian's. He is a rich kid who throws a summer rave party when his parents are away.
Rafael Ortiz (Raffi): Youth therapy group leader at the rehab facility.
Julia Entwistle: One of the six members of the youth therapy group at rehab. She is 16 when we first meet her, plays the violin, and is addicted to barbiturates.
Alphonse: One of the boys in the youth therapy group. He is a cutup.
Henry: Another boy in the youth therapy group. He is also a cutup.
Alex: One of the girls in the youth therapy group.
Robert Entwistle: Julia's father.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother.
Helen Landry: A friend of Julia's mother. Julia stays with her during her audition at Juilliard in NY.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's boyfriend who she met on her Caribbean cruise.
Daniel Molebatsi: Brian's undergrad college roommate. He is from Botswana and is a business major.
Dr. Paul Rieke: Brian's organic chemistry professor.
Kimiko Yamada (Kimi): Brian's organic chemistry lab partner. She is from Japan and also resides in his and Daniel's dorm.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Chloe: Brian and Fran's cat.
Sandi MacReady: She is a pretty blond and Brian's crush in high school.
Derek Shafer: Brian's best friend and lawn mowing partner.
Josh Bennett: Sandi's boyfriend. He's the center on the high school basketball team.
Don Robbins: A high school acquaintance of Brian's. He is a rich kid who throws a summer rave party when his parents are away.
Rafael Ortiz (Raffi): Youth therapy group leader at the rehab facility.
Julia Entwistle: One of the six members of the youth therapy group at rehab. She is 16 when we first meet her, plays the violin, and is addicted to barbiturates.
Alphonse: One of the boys in the youth therapy group. He is a cutup.
Henry: Another boy in the youth therapy group. He is also a cutup.
Alex: One of the girls in the youth therapy group.
Robert Entwistle: Julia's father.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother.
Helen Landry: A friend of Julia's mother. Julia stays with her during her audition at Juilliard in NY.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's boyfriend who she met on her Caribbean cruise.
Daniel Molebatsi: Brian's undergrad college roommate. He is from Botswana and is a business major.
Dr. Paul Rieke: Brian's organic chemistry professor.
Kimiko Yamada (Kimi): Brian's organic chemistry lab partner. She is from Japan and also resides in his and Daniel's dorm.
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