JasonMalice Oct 29, 2007
i had this dream that there was fire everywhere!
but then, i woke up.
so there i was...
there i was, and there was fire everywhere. well smoke, to be more precise.
i couldn't see an inch in front of my face--i run to turn ont he lights--the lights turn on, but the smoke is so thick that i still cannot see a thing.
i run to my hallway, and see that the room across from mine, my weight room, is ablaze. fire everywhere. apparently the heater gave way, the antiquated pre-world war two type. the door was on fire, and everything in the room that was not metal. (mostly everything were metal weights)
the smoke is so thick, and its closing in. the fire jumps out from the door as i push it open.
SHIT! i think to myself.
i look down at my hand, and see my cell phone. i try to dial 112, which is the 911 of europe, but they do not speak english. crap. i start coughing badly from the smoke. i am sweating bullets. its so hot and the heat is moving in.
its happening way to quickly for me, and yet, is still in slow motion.
i run outside to the hallway in the apartment complex, and bang on my neighbors door. after a few minutes of panic, he opens up, and tells me to f--- off in polish
what am i to do?
i look to my phone again, and call my friend b. b is my friend who owns the hostel, and is friends with my landlord. i call him, and in panic, tell him whats going on. he says okay, and calls the fire department.
10 minutes pass. i dont know what i was doing in that time, or if it was truly twn minutes. i run back into my flat and try to open the kitchen window to get the smoke out. its too much, i feel lightheaded. i run down stairs to the entrance of the apartment complex. i need fresh air.
the fire brigade shows up, and they don't speak english. "here, here!" and then, there, there i yell in polish, "to tom, to tom!"
they rush in with a big firehose, and an axe, and do whatever they do. i dont know what they did, since before i know it, i am in the back of an ambulance. i am wearing nothing but boxer shorts, and a tshirt. i don't feel cold, even though its only 35 degrees F out. the paramedics are trying to take me away. "nie spital!" i tell them. "i am fine, i don't want to goto the hospital"
B shows up, and he approaches the ambulance. "hey man, tell them that i am fine, and i dont want to goto the hospital."
he does, but the paramedics wont let me not go. polish law, they say.
we drive off in the ambulance. i have no wallet, no passport, no coat, no shoes.....only my cell phone, which i am still holding. the battery is almost dead. it keeps ringing to remind me that its dying. just like i was.
we arrive to the hospital, and i insist that i am fine. they wheel chair me upto toxicology, and i am taken to a bathroom. the nurses take over. they tell me to shower.
i look to my watch. its 2am. i then look to the mirror before i get in the shower. my face and hair and hands and shoulders and back is burned.
"oh, man!" i think..... the pain comes flooding in at this point. why didnt i feel it before, i think.
adrenaline is a powerful drug. fight or flight.
i have to shower, because i am covered in black soot and dust. i am burned, yes, but they cannot even see the burns. stepping into that shower to wash off was the one of the most painful experiences of my life. you know how when you burn your finger, and if youre near steam, it hurts? well, multiply that by one million.
i shower, and i am in pain, and i dont even know if i am clean. i turn the water off, and start shivering uncontrollably. the nurse drapes a robe over me. some how i get led to a hospital bed.
they give me an IV, and several drugs with it. they dont speak english. i know, because i asked if they did.
i look to my phone. b calls me. says he is at my place. i tell him where my keys, passport, and wallet is. says he will grab them, and head up to the hospital as soon as they police and fire brigade leave.
after some time, the doctor comes in. he speaks english, albiet, not too well. he gets some info from me. i am in pain.
b arrives, and we talk. he says that the fire brigade told him that if it wasnt for me waking up at that point, i would have been dead in as little as ten minutes after that point. he speaks to the doctor and nurses, and then comes back to me. says that i have carbon monoxide poisoning, and that i am badly burned. i tell him that i am in pain. he says the nurses already gave me pain drugs. no, they didnt, i tell him. he says he will tell them again, and that he going home for some rest. says he will call in the morning. "but my phone is almost dead man" we look to the battery, and its empty. says he will just come, anyway.
its now about 4am. the nurse comes in and gives me and intramuscular injection with a needle. "co to jest?" i ask. "narcotica" she repies. they put an oxygen mask on me as well.
morphine, which makes me feel good in all the right places.
i wake at about 0800. the doctor comes in. tells me that i have carbon monoxide poisoning. says i need to stay there, for at least another day or two, with the oxygen mask always on.
shit....i think.
around 10 am, my face starts to drip a clear yellow liquid. gross. the nurse comes and applies cream to my burns. it feels so good.
i look to my phone, and its STILL on. i text the only friend i can get a hold of, and within minutes, they arrive. wow, that was fast, i think.
the day is long. sitting in the bed, humbling myself in front of friends as my face drips. i ask them for orange juice, and to be sure it is 100 percent....need all the vitamin c i can get. they take really good care of me. bought me some food, juice, etc.
later that day i have a surgical consult. we meet with the burn specialist, and he says that surgery is not needed, but the burns on my face and body may take a month to heal. man oh man, i think.
b never shows, because he gets caught up with work and runs into some unfortunate luck of his own.
sunday morning.
i wake at 0800, but its really 0700. the clocks were set back. the nurse comes in around 10, and takes the mask off. says my oxygen levels are normal. takes me to the office so she can redo my bandages.
i cant get a hold of b, because, i find out that his cell phone got lost or stolen. i speak to the doctor, tell him i want to leave and feel fine. except for the obvious, that is. i dont even have shows.
i walk out with the slippers on that the hospital lent me. b brought me some pants and a shirt from the day before.
i hop in the cab, and tell them to take me to my flat, hoping that b will be there. i arrive, he is not. i take out my cell phone, and it only dies just then. the battery could not last longer. i get in another cab, and have them take me to the hostel.
i stay there and wait for b to show. he does, we go to my house. its burnt and smells inside. last time i was there, it felt like i was in a movie. now it only feels like the set. we grab some things, discuss what to do, and leave. i am at the hostel now, for who knows how long.
i would worry, but there is way too much for me to worry about right now.
i am burned out.
(haha, get it)
