The first thing Jason Edwards heard when he came to was a steady beeping sound. Where am I? – he wondered. The last place he remembered being was biking. . . somewhere. That’s as far as he could remember. Suddenly, he heard a shout.
“Mr. Reilly, he’s up!” Jason opened his eyes. He was lying in a hospital bed. In a hospital. A man wearing an expensive suit walked in.
“You have a meeting with Don at 11, Mr. Edwards,” he said as he hurried into the room. When Jason didn’t respond, because he didn’t know what the hell this stranger was talking about, the man gave an exasperated sigh and stared at him. “Mr. Edwards, are you just going to lie there staring into space?”
“Huh?” Jason continued to stare.
“Mr. Edwards, what’s today’s date?”
“Huh?”
“You seem to have been knocked out worse than we thought. Let me start off by telling you that you’ve been in a coma for two weeks, and in that time you have been elected vice president.”
“Huh?”
“You had strong support in Quebec.”
That got Jason’s attention. “Of Canada?!?” he screamed. “I’m the vice president of Canada?!?”
“Vice president elect,” the man corrected.
“Who the hell is Don?” Jason asked.
“Donald Fuller is the president elect.”
“Huh?” Jason sat up. He noticed that he was hooked up to all kinds of sensors and an IV feed.
“If you’ll hold on a minute, we’ll get all that stuff off of you. Then you’ll come with me to meet the president.”
“Acting president,” Jason corrected.
“Actually,” the man, Mr. Reilly, said, “I lied. He’s been inaugurated.” He walked over to the window and stared intently out. “Big changes are coming to Canada, my stateside friend. For starters, we’ll change our official language to UK English. And abolish French.” He took a book out his briefcase. “Please place you right hand on the bible.”