What To Do Until the Vicodin Kicks In

I am at once too cold and too hot. My vampire-red eyes burn in the vicious sunlight. Either my hands are balled up into fists, or one hand is tightly squeezing the thumb of the other. It is comforting to rock back and forth, hugging myself.

Every part of my body hurts. My fingertips don’t like the keyboard. The soles of my feet are on fire, as if, on the way to the bathroom this morning, I had