3 a.m.
Besides , I 'd been knocked offline before , though not in fifty years , and often as not the system righted itself after a good night 's sleep . I could visit the doctor in the morning if things were still screwy . So I crawled into bed , and when my bladder woke me in the night , I had to go into the kitchen to consult our old starburst clock to get the time . It was 3 a.m. , and when the hell had we expunged the house of all timepieces , anyway ? Lil was sacked out on the couch , and complained feebly when I tried to rouse her , so I covered her with a blanket and went back to bed , alone . I woke disoriented and crabby , without my customary morning jolt of endorphin . Vivid dreams of death and destruction slipped away as I sat up .