Messages lost

Will Landschulz
Am Lit Per. 2
Mrs. LaMagdeleine

The chapter opens during the "fourth year" of his timekeeping, a day like any other, except that they completely change his sheets for new ones for the second day in a row, as opposed to having a week-long interval between changings.  Another new thing was that a nurse was spraying him with something "cool and misty" (most likely a disinfectant).  Then, after he is lying in state, they leave and several people come in.  They turn out to be high military officials, come to confer some honor on Joe, presumably for bravery.  He gets mad at the fact that they have working bodies and he does not, that they cannot do more for him than pin something on his shirt only noticeably (to him) because of its weight, and he can't do anything about it.  he gets mad and tries to rock, like he did when he was trying to turn himself over, only he was making a lot more noise, to scare the NCOs and to show them what he thought of their hunk of painted metal and cloth.  During his exertions, he finds he can grunt through what is left of his windpipe.  The group leaves in a flurry of vibrations, and Joe rests.  These vibrations give him the idea to try and get a message to the people around him, via Morse Code.  He starts tapping SOS on his pillow, and keeps doing so, to the point of forgetting all about his timekeeping system.  It is imperative, to him, that he make some form of contact with the world ouside his two-way mirrored bubble.  As he taps, his nurse thinks he is trying to relieve some of his pain, so she fusses over him, moving his pillow, changing the temperature, and eventually loving his nearly-immobile body.  Joe is annoyed at this, but then collapses into a reverie about the other girls he's had over the years.  And all the while he's tapping out his heartfelt messages, with no one able to receive.