CHAPTER 4

I am breathing hard, choking on the blood pouring down the back of my throat. Tao is on one knee clutching his chest, his wound is about a foot and a half long, ribs visible along the entire cut. While I'm spitting up blood trying to clear my throat, I hear thunderous applause from the pirates. I guess they wouldn't get to watch people fight very often, since they are the ones fighting. If you ponder it though, Tao and I are basically gladiators fighting in a closed arena.

Captain Diabetes is screaming at Tao now, getting shriller and shriller, almost to the point of being the same pitch as an actual pigs squealing, “What the fuck are you doing Tao? The Conglomerate did not appoint you as my body guard for you to get cut up by some nobody sailor. I thought you were some big shot cage fighter back in the Oriental.”

That pisses me off, “Hey you fat fuck, lets see you come out here and fight me? Do I look like a nobody sailor? My name is fucking Dwayne Utah bitch, and Tao here is a better fighter than you deserve. We just took turns carving into each other because of your fatass, and you stand their squealing like a fucking pig because you are too damned weak to protect yourself. If Tao wasn't standing between you and I, I would come over the and castrate you like the swine you are. Also you ignorant prick, don't say oriental asshole, it's offensive.”

When I finish, I realize how ridiculous the pitch of my voice is. I'm basically yelling with a stuffy nose right now, all the while choking on blood.

I notice Tao looking at me curiously. While I am focused on Tao, the captain starts to pull something out of his jacket back while screaming at me, “Would you quit with the pig quips, I paid you better than any other captain in the Caribbean and you talk to me like that? Well, if you won't give me the respect I deserve I will take it.”

He pulls a 4 barreled flintlock pistol and points it at me. As he is cocking the striker I know this is it. There is no way he misses at this distance with four lead balls, and I doubt I survive a shot out here a week from the nearest port. Hell, he is probably going to hit Tao as well. I close my eyes waiting for the crack of his pistol in front of me. Instead a boom coming from my right pierces the silence. I open my eyes to see the Captain Saehrimir in pieces in front of me, and to my right Captain Zijde is standing behind a smoking swivel cannon, smiling ear to ear.

He hops down from the railing and starts walking towards me, “My newest friend, I apologize for intruding, but it seemed pertinent that I intervene for your well being. If it is your wish I would be more than happy to have you on my crew.” He turns to Tao, “Mr. Tao correct? I would like to extend the same branch of comradery to you as well. If not that, I would be honored to care for you until the next port. At which point you will be free to leave.”

Damn, this captain is smooth as silk, and I guess he befriended me.

Tao stands up, and smiles through gritted teeth due to the pain he's in, “Thank you Captain Zijde, since you killed the man I was charge to protect I will be shunned from the Conglomerate. Truth be told, he was a vile man and he will be mourned by few, least of all me. I would be honored to join your crew, on the condition that no harm comes to the remaining crew of The Narwhal.” He looks at me, stands up straighter, and tries to smile through gritted teeth. He walks up to me, and I stiffen not knowing what to expect. He places a hand on my shoulder, "You know, that was fun. We should do that again... with wooden weapons this time tough."

I smile, nod, and sit back down on my ass. Holy shit that was fun, but I am exhausted now. My blood rush is starting to subside, and I feel everything in full force. I'm panting hard through my mouth since my nose is clogged with a massive blood clot. It's getting harder and harder to keep blood out of my windpipe. My face is on fire, and I can stop spitting out pieces of coagulated blood.

Once they get aboard, A couple of the pirates come over to Tao and I to help us to their ship. All of a sudden Tori jumps up and screams something about challenging me. I look back at Captain Zijde smashing Tori in the face with his pistol and whispering something to him afterwards. The pirates lower us down onto their deck and take us down into their hold to be seen by an actual doctor, which is rare on pirate ships.

We meet him about halfway to his cabin, and as he introduces himself he asks me about the pain, and I just smile with bloody teeth. He gives me what I assume is a tincture of opium, lays me down, and tells me to sleep while he works on Tao.

I close my eyes happily, bring up my HUD, and go to the logout screen. I click the logout button and I slowly 'fall' back into my actual conscience over the course of a few minutes. I open my eyes to see the boring white ceiling of my tiny apartment. I sit up and disconnect the WPRW Cable from my spinal implant.

As I get ready to get up, I look down at my legs. I see the same road map of scars I've seen everyday for the past 5 years. I swing them over the edge of my bed and slowly put weight on them. I feel the familiar sharp pain in my shins, left knee, and hip as I stand up. I slowly limp to the bathroom checking the time as I go. Fuck, I only have 40 minutes to get to my pain doctor, and there is no way I'll be able pee again in that amount of time if a have a drug test. If I'm late I bet he's going to make reschedule in a couple weeks. By then I'll be out of my meds and in full on withdrawals.

I try to hurry but the pain is just overwhelming when I come out of the VR. Getting to the bathroom I slap on another patch and take four acetaminophen to try and get my pain under control. It's 10 AM now and it should take about 3 hours to get done at the doctor and an hour to get back. So I should be able to log back by 2 PM at the latest. Yea, that should work out, hopefully nothing happens to my avatar in that amount of time. I leave through my door and begin the exhausting and painful walk to my doctor's office.

Fuck, it's hot out here. My legs hurts, my back hurts, and I am sweating my balls off. When people bitch about life not being fair I wanna slam my head into something. Here I am walking to my doctor to get help with my pain and every step is making it so much worse. After walking for forty-five minutes, I finally walk through the doors of the hospital, and all that's left is a couple hundred feet and an elevator ride. I would really like to sit down right now, but I'm five minutes late and the doc may already make me reschedule, even though there is supposed to be a 30 minute window. I walk through the doors nine minutes late and the secretary, a damned nice lady, looks at me with worry in her eyes.

“You're late again Mr. Utah, I see you had to walk again this time. I hate that for you. I will go ahead and buzz Dr. Veily, but no promises. You know how he is.”

“Yes mam, I know, I guess all I can do is cross my fingers. I hope you are having a good day though Mrs. Miriam, do you know if I have a drug test this time? I've been holding it for about an hour now.”

“Oh I am thank you for asking dear. Let's see here, no you don't, but I'd try and hold it if I were you. If he calls you back and you're in the bathroom he may just reschedule you. I see you are drenched in sweat, I would offer you a glass of water, but it seems that would do more harm than good.”

“Hmm, Yep I guess you're right. Well, thank you anyways, lemme know what he decides. I like your hair today by the way.”

“Thank you Dwayne, you are always the sweetest. Please have a seat and we'll be with you shortly. I'll let you know if anything changes.”

I nod to her and go have a seat. Oh thank god that is nice. The chairs here suck, but it doesn't really matter at the moment. My knee was throbbing something awful, and my shins were starting to burn.

Anyways, today was a pretty good day in the game. I wonder how I'm doing in views. Pulling out my phone, I login as a player on the New Breed of Pirate website. Fucking yes! As I scroll down I see the title 'Utah the Vet is finally making waves, and the waves are huge'. In little over an hour I already have 4 million views, which might be the fastest climb yet. The only video more popular than mine today was 'Captain Roach captures a 14 gun brig, pushes him to #1 in player infamy'.

Fucking Leo Roach, as of two months ago he was the 3rd richest man in the world. He spent billions of dollars in the currency exchange to give himself a head start. It's actually pretty hilarious, but he only got enough to buy a 6 gun sloop that was barely floating. Although, that definitely has kept him first in wealth so far, but now he has the number one spot in infamy as well. Someone needs to take him down. I might talk to Captain Zijde about that, who knows he may go for it.

The door opens, and the nurse pokes her head through sheepishly, “Mr. Utah, could you come with me? We need to take your vitals.”

She is looking at me like I'm a suspect of a crime for some reason. She is usually quite friendly, but she seems almost scared of me right now.

“Here step on the scale, how tall are you Mr. Utah?”

“6 foot, 2 ish' inches”

“And your weight is 150, you've lost even more weight, how much time are you spending in NBP?” Shit, she saw the video, and that's why she is acting this way.

“Uhm, I guess I spend a few hours everyday in it. Why, is that a problem?”

“Could you be more specific? The doctor needs to know.”

“Lately I guess I'm spending about 6-8 hours a day in the simulator. I've been trying to get more popular so I can make some credits to help with groceries and utilities from Rio Grande.”

“I see, alright have a seat and I'll let the doctor know.”

“Can I please use the bathroom?”

“Yes, but hurry you know the doctor doesn't like to wait.”

Damn it's stressful coming here, they typically schedule you within 3 days of running out of your meds, and if you are late or can't pee fast enough they reschedule. That may sound typical, but it usually takes 1-2 weeks to get rescheduled. That's is more than enough time to send you into full on opiate withdrawals. I have only missed my appointments twice. Once was a car wreck and the other time I was pulled over for going too fast to get to the appointment. I get done using the restroom and the nurse is standing there waiting on me, she still looks wary.

“He'll see you now.”

Walking through the doors the scent of hand sanitizer permeates the air. His numerous degrees line the wall to my right, and a ridiculous amount of books line shelves on the remaining wall space. It's a nice room, but he is still an asshole.

“Hello Mr. Utah, how are you feeling?”

“I had to walk here again so my knee, hip, and back are flared up, and the meds I'm on are starting to not work as well. I was just having more flare ups at first, but now everything is starting to overwhelm me most of the time. I cannot for the life of me get comfortable at night while I try and sleep.”

He raises an eyebrow, “I would think you would get plenty of rest while you are in the simulator for hours on end. I'm surprised you don't have bed sores.” Fucking asshole, I guess everyone here has seen my game footage.

“I don't really have much else to do with my time anymore. It's been hard to get a manual labor job because of the pain. I can't get a lot of other jobs until I get this dishonorable discharge overturned. I'm not eligible for disability because I am just shy of the 'credit requirement', but I can't get a job to push past it. After all the hurdles and all those people that donated for me to get this spinal implant, of course I am going to spend a lot of time in the simulator. Just being able to run, jump, and walk normally is plenty excuse for the time I spend in there. Not only that, this is the only way for me to make ends meet. I've been able to provide for myself so much better since playing.”

“Well Mr. Utah, I think that you are escaping reality in a video game when you should be focusing on the rest of your life. Since you are spending a third of your time in the simulator I am going to change you back to replacing your fentanyl trans-dermal patches every 72 hours.”

Is this fuck-hat listening to me?, “What? But what about the withdrawals?”

“I still don't know about the validity of your complaint. The patches are designed to work 72 hours as you should know. Anyways, in the simulator you don't feel anything from the real life. Just time any ill effects to when you are in the game.”

“But I thought the article I found about the end of dosage pain could be attributed to oily skin and the sweating I do on a regular basis. I do not have a vehicle. That happens all the time.”

“At the 48 hour mark there is still over half of the medication left in the patch, what you are experiencing is probably just depression.”

That's it? There is no talking to this asshole, Fuck it. “Ok, anything else?”

“Nope, I'm glad I could help you today Mr. Utah, you can leave the door open.”

God I hate walking in this place, and I hate walking out even more. I pretty much have always gotten the run around by him. Whatever, fuck it all. I was debating whether or not the NBP facility was right for me, but that just made up my mind. It kills me to feel this powerless. If I try to argue with him, I get threatened with a 'Opiate Use Disorder' diagnoses. If I try to look for another doctor it'll look like I'm 'doctor shopping'. Either of those will just end with me not having a doctor for my pain. The DEA cracking down on any narcotic for the last few days has left doctors scared to prescribe them. Which leaves me caught in the middle, in crippling pain.

I get back home and fuck this shit hurts. The osteoarthritis in my knee and hip are always so inflamed after I walk anywhere. Whatever, I slap on another patch, disinfect the probe on the connector, and slide it into my spinal implant slot at the base of my skull. I lay back and start counting. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five....