A Million Little Pieces Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • James wakes up in a chair in front of a TV. It's late.
  • The nurse gives him the remote, and he stares at the TV without registering what's on. Must be a Law & Order marathon on TNT.
  • A man shows up and yells at James: "HEY, ASSHOLE. THAT'S MY F***ING CHAIR" (3.43). This must be where Dan Hedaya ended up after Clueless.
  • The nurse comes in and tells the shouter to sit somewhere else.
  • James later falls asleep and slides off the chair onto the floor.
  • The shouty fellow wakes James up, and he's still yelling about that stupid chair.
  • Mr. Big Mouth drags James across the floor and leaves him lying facedown in the corner.
  • The next morning, James wakes up, goes to his room, eats breakfast, then pukes up breakfast.
  • A man named Doctor Baker comes into his room and plies him with detox drugs. "Without them [he] could suffer a stroke or a heart attack or both" (1.3.117). "Stroke Attack" is totally going to be the name of our hair metal band.
  • So... Doctor Baker then stitches the hole in James's cheek and breaks and sets his nose. Ouch. The less we write about that, the better.
  • James gets no painkillers, because painkillers are narcotics.
  • The doctor sends James to the dispensary for some penicillin to stave off infection.
  • In the med line, James meets a girl named Lilly. Could it be a dose of love?