HE seemed to be lost in a world surrounded by strangers with hushed voices. HE was swallowed up in darkness. HE remembered vaguely that he was in pain. His head had broken in two. All he felt was a terrible weariness. HE wanted to close his eyes and drift again. Dark bruises ran up and down his forearms like angry burns. Needles and tubes ran this way and that from both arms and his nose. One was also a catheter. The roll of thunder boomed and its vibrations reverberated through his frail body. Everything looked blurred through the window and his open right eye, as he strained to see past the double waterfalls. Bitterness had boiled up inside of him and he wanted to love and hurt them. 

“We belong together,” he vowed. “Neither of you can escape me. I'll love you to death!”

Like a needle stuck in the groove of an old, warped record, he swore he would become their King of Hearts. HE forced himself to remain calm. HE wanted to break out in a mad, violent laugh, but instead, he let out an easy skittering tremor. But then it raged out of him, uncontrolled, mad, hating, and it transformed again into a coughing fit, convulsing his whole body as the nurse rushed over. Blood was erupting from his mouth, which was brought on by his deep jagged coughs, and tears stormed out his hating eyes. Even his suspended sentence could not dim the light of his love. HE would one day follow them like a shadow, like a sickness that never goes away. 

The storm continued through the night and he slept fitfully. An oppressive odor stalled the entry of the third-shift duty nurse and the visage of the patient fit the despair of the room. His disheveled appearance appalled her. The woman in white left and came back, opened the window blinds a little more, pulled a chair to the window, and turned out the room's light. She sat, shivered, and stared in silence into the darkness through all of the long night. Just as she turned to look at him, she heard another rumble. Her voice was distant, like an echo. 

“The storm must be passing,” she mused, her eyes looking incredulously. As if in silent synchronization, they both looked out the window, seeing that the evening sky was looking less ominous. The black sky began to pale into gray and then cleared altogether. The downpour ended as abruptly as it had begun. Suddenly, dark clouds parted and the sun poked through timidly. 

“Look at that,” the nurse said, smiling and pointing to the sky. “A rainbow means the promise of a bright, new beginning.” The sun streamed through the heavy mesh wires on the window, leaving an odd design upon the cold floor. HE stared at the shadows, trying not to look at the keys swaying on the nurse's porcine hip. Suddenly, as the sun burst in its glow over the horizons, it was as if its brightness illuminated his mind. With the dawn of a new day, it meant no more nightmares.

His straining bloodshot eyes followed the nurse's extended finger and he saw an arch of brilliant color. Gazing up at the rainbow, he was filled with a tense peace and wonder. HE knew, with swift certainty, that he would one day find happiness with Nazir Bashir and Devery Dawson. HE knew he’d become their King of Hearts. Now, he realized his life rested on intentions, not hopes. HE knew he was a tortured, bewildered black man. 

The early morning stillness brought serenity after the storm. Come to think of it, he had never felt as peaceful as he had at this moment. HE realized he was a beaten man who had committed heinous crimes and that he betrayed himself in the process. HE felt the nurse stare down at him. HE didn't belong in this place like the other ugly, grimy, evil-looking men who truly belonged here. HE was not like them at all. HE was kind, open, and sweet. HE was being misunderstood. This was a misunderstanding. It had to be. Once he opened his eyes, he would realize it had all been a horrible nightmare.