The Hangover: Part III

Directly across the street from the Empire State Building was a McDonald's and since the foursome had yet to eat anything since the afternoon before, their stomachs were more than angry at them. And there really was nothing more American than a McDonald's across the street from one of the United States' national historic monuments and one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Appeasing their growling stomachs, the foursome sat in a booth toward the back of the chain restaurant, shoveling food down their throats like the starving Donner Party on their fellow man.

Phil was sitting beside Alan, wiping syrup from the corners of his mouth from the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes he was ingesting. Alan was finishing his third Egg McMuffin and taking a sip of his second Strawberry Banana smoothie to wash it all down. Stu, seated across from Alan, was already finished eating. He was sitting back, rubbing his stomach while his coffee grew lukewarm.

"Uhh," he groaned. "I'm stuffed."

Phil moved his tongue around, trying to pick a piece of a hashbrown out of his teeth as he glanced over at the tray on the table in front of Stu. "Bullshit," Phil muttered in between shoveling a plastic forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, and then continuing to talk with the food in there. "You ate two fuckin' breakfast burritos and some hashbrowns. You'll be starving by lunch."

"I ate enough to fill the void, not to sustain me for another twenty-four hours." Stu threw his friend a disdainful look. "And do you have to talk with your mouth full? We're in a restaurant and you look like a slob."

"This is McDonald's," Phil swallowed his food down with some coffee, "and fuck you."

Sam sat beside Stu, across from Phil, ignoring the guys as she stabbed at her hotcakes with her white, plastic fork. She took her time eating, making sure not to give herself an upset stomach. Like Alan, she had a Strawberry Banana smoothie to wash the food down with. She only had the one, however. Sam was listening to the interaction between the two men but not participating. She really didn't care about what they were saying, how much they were eating. She was focused on getting herself fed and what she was going to tell her parents when she couldn't find her sister. It was only four hours till the wedding.

Stu scoffed and looked away, bringing his coffee to his lips.

Phil, just shook his head and looked straight across at Sam, studying her face and how she seemed to be in her own world. Slowly, he stretched his left leg out under the table and brushed his foot against hers. Since the night before she had been wearing a pair of flip-flops that belonged to Stu because she had thrown her heels into the garbage bin in Times Square, which left her with no shoes to wear. She was lucky Stu had packed more than enough shit. Granted the flip-flops were quite large on her considerably small feet, but it was something rather than nothing.

"We need to get you some better shoes."

Sam felt the gesture before looking up. "These are fine," she responded curtly.

Phil frowned. "Are you angry at me?"

"Why would I be angry at you?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, you just seem it."

"Well, I'm not angry at you. I'm just thinking how my sister is probably lying dead in a sewer somewhere and I have to tell my folks this because it looks like the wedding won't take place in four hours like it's supposed to."

Stu turned to his right to look at Sam. He lifted his right hand and rubbed her upper back to show her support, but she just shrugged it off.

"I could've spent the last day looking for her, finding my own clues on her, but I was helping you three find Doug. And I know I said that Doug's life being threatened was more serious but now that we all know it wasn't, I realize that I've wasted this time and my sister could be dead for all I know."

"You can't think that way, Sam," Phil tried to speak soothingly.

"Oh shut the fuck up, Phil," she snapped. She dropped her fork down and sat back. "Stu was right, this is all your fault."

Phil sat back as well, narrowing his gaze in a defensive stare, mentally preparing himself for whatever verbal onslaught was coming his way.

"The more I think of it," she continued, "the more I realize, yeah, okay...you didn't force feed that LSD to us, but we were probably already a few sheets to the wind when you offered it. If you hadn't brought it to the table, literally, the option to take it wouldn't have been there. So, fuck you."

"Been there, done that," Phil retorted, in regard to the last thing she said.

Pursing her lips, Sam stood up out of their booth with the stealth of a cat, and without warning, brought her balled up fist right against Phil's right eye, exactly where he had the bruise from being punched by someone else. Phil let out a yelp of surprise and pain as Sam stalked off, taking her smoothie with her but leaving her food half-eaten. Stu was sitting wide-eyed at the whole situation and trying to smile like it was nothing at the other customers in neighboring booths. Alan, not surprisingly, was trying to tend to Phil.

Stu's flip-flops smacked the establishment's tiled floor as Sam walked away and the bell above the door jingled to signal her exiting to outside. Stu slid over to stand up and head out after her but Phil brought his hand up and stopped him.



Leaning with her hand on top of a garbage bin directly outside with the McDonald's logo on it, Sam looked around at the busy morning street, occasionally bringing the straw in her smoothie to her lips. The knuckles on her right hand were turning a dark shade of pink caused from the impact of punching Phil. When a pair of hands found their way onto her shoulders, she jumped and spun around. Because of her shorter stature, she found herself staring into Phil's chest rather than his face. She looked up at him and frowned.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. He was looking down at her at first, then stared over her head toward the entrance to the Empire State Building. Though she had turned her body, his hands found their way back to her shoulders. "I'm sorry for supplying us with LSD on Friday night, I'm sorry we trashed our suite, I'm sorry I danced on a bar and set it on fire, I'm sorry I stole Chow's wife's ring, I'm sorry we ended up in Brooklyn and Alan ended up slashed by Crazy Carl, I'm sorry we lost the ring, I'm sorry we don't know what happened to your sister after we got back to the hotel, I'm sorry Billy Joel's bird seemed to have a vendetta against Stu, I'm sorry you went into anaphylactic shock and your sister's purse got stolen..."

Sam just continued to look up at him as he rattled off all the things that had happened to them in the last thirty-six hours that he was taking responsibility for.

"I'm sorry for it all." He looked back down at her. "This last year has been pretty shitty. I thought my marriage with my ex-wife Stephanie was pretty great, but apparently it wasn't to her because last year she ripped my fuckin' heart out and stomped on it when she told me she was leaving me for Stu's wife's cousin Ting Deng." He'd actually gotten the name right, but that was beside the point. "It came out of left field and I've spent all this time growing bitter toward her and doubting I could move on from her toward...anything, or anyone. And I needed this weekend, I really needed it. Not just to get obliterated. I could do that at home. I wanted this..." he gestured behind him toward McDonald's where Stu and Alan were still inside. He then gestured between himself and Sam. "And this. I wanted the crazy, I craved it. I just think I needed an outlet for everything that's been building up inside me."

He pulled a hand away from her shoulder and balled it up into a fist, pounding it into his chest once. Over his shoulder, Sam could see Stu and Alan in the window inside McDonald's, their faces between the humps to the golden yellow arch of the McDonald's sign.

"I'm sorry my need to let loose for a weekend caused the domino effect of shit that this weekend turned out to be." He looked further down, at his hand and unballed it, bringing it to her arm. "I'm not sorry for me and you, though. You're...amazing. You're funny, you don't take shit from anyone, you care fiercely about people you're not even close to like Doug and your own sister and...you have an amazing ass."

Phil smirked and, despite herself, Sam began to as well. "Pilates," she responded.

"Ahh," Phil nodded, his smile more prominent. "I apologize if I'm being too bold here, but am I wrong in saying we go pretty well together?"

Sam narrowed her green eyes up at him. "Let's not jump the gun just yet," she replied. Slowly, she brought her right hand up and touched her fingers gently to the side of his right eye which was already turning a purplish color. "I'm not sorry I punched you."

He shrugged it off. "I have a feeling you wouldn't be you if you were sorry." He brought his hand up to cover hers, causing that same hand of hers to press flat against his face. "I figure you might've been the one who punched me in the same spot on Friday night."

Letting out a chuckle, Sam replied with, "I guess we'll never know."

Phil bit his bottom lip and just stared back at her. "I'm gonna jump the gun just a little, okay?" he asked before leaning forward and kissing her fully on the lips. She seemed hesitant only for a moment but then seemed to melt into the gesture.

From inside McDonald's, Alan turned to Stu and began to grin. "I'm glad they worked their issues out. It's not good for the pack when the mama and papa wolf are angry at each other."

Stu met Alan's gaze with a questioning raise of his eyebrow.

Alan noticed the look and continued to add, "You know...like Abraham Lincoln said: 'united we stand, divided we fall'."

"Wow, Alan," Stu commented, an impressed expression appearing on his face. "You honestly surprise me sometimes."



The foursome all seemed to be playing nice once again as they made the trek by foot, south on 5th Avenue, until they reached the foot of the street where they could be found staring up at the Washington Square Arch at the entrance to Washington Square Park.

"This is kinda like the Arc du Triomphe in Paris, isn't it?" Stu asked, only slightly rhetorical.

Sam just nodded. "Yeah," she commented. "It was modeled after it, but the statues of George Washington on either side of it didn't come until years later."

Phil smirked as he looked down at her. "For someone who grew up in Long Island and has lived in LA the last fifteen years since leaving high school, you sure know a lot of tidbits about this city."

Looking up at Phil, Sam shrugged. "I came into the city a lot growing up and have been back a few times since." She threw him a knowing look. "I also happen enjoy history and reading from time to time."

"Oh yeah?" he asked as she lead the way across Washington Square North, the street that ran perpendicular to 5th Avenue, through the Arch and into the park toward the central fountain where people were wading in its waters to cool their feet down from the late morning heat.

"Yeah."

"What else do you know?"

Sam gave him a look. "About New York in general?"

"No, about this park. Like, when it built or some shit like that."

"I don't know when it was built, but I know that in the early 1800s it was used as a burial ground."

They all walked forward as Sam spoke, Alan pushing ahead of them and taking his shoes off in the process. Stu took his eyes of Alan to look at Sam, considering what she said and something sounding familiar to him.

"This area wasn't originally part of the city limits. It was farmlands until it was bought at the end of the 18th century to become a public burial ground. Most of those who died from a series of yellow fever epidemics in the early 19th century were buried here, safely away from town for hygienic reasons."

"So, people are buried underneath where we stand?" Alan asked, looking over his shoulder as he neared the fountain barefoot. The expression in his eyes suggested both intrigue and nervousness.

"Yep," Sam nodded. Phil grimaced a little at that. "The cemetery was closed in 1825, and to this day the remains of more than twenty thousand bodies rest under this park."

"Does it mean this park is haunted?" Alan wondered as he climbed into the fountain and began to kick the water around.

Sam shrugged. "Maybe."

Phil smirked and looked from Sam to Alan, shook his head at how childish the portly guy could be and then to Stu who seemed to be dazed about something. "Hey, Stu." When he got no response, he added, "Earth to Stu. Come in, over." He reached his hand up and flicked at Stu's ear; the one that hadn't been hurt by Billy Joel's macaw.

"Ow," Stu exclaimed initially, touching his hand to his ear before making a face at Phil.

"Daydream much?"

"No, I think I was remembering something from Friday night..."

"Oh?" Phil narrowed his gaze as Sam followed suit, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I told ya," Alan called out, apparently able to hear their conversation over the sound of him and other people splashing slightly in the fountain. "We're gonna start to remember some things we did while on LSD at random times over the next few days."

A mother who had been perched on the side of the fountain, immediately reached out for her young son who was wading beside Alan. She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him out and went furiously about getting his shoes on so they could get away from the overweight man talking about LSD in a fountain.

Stu looked down and furrowed his brow, muttering something to himself. "Something about graves is sticking out," he said as he looked back up at Phil and Sam.

"Actually, yeah," Sam agreed, catching Stu's eye. "That is sounding familiar."

"Do you think we visited some graves?" Phil suggested. "Are there any cemeteries around here?"

"Small ones," Sam replied.

"No," Stu spoke. "I'm thinking bigger. I think we might've been at a pretty huge cemetery. I'm starting to get these fuzzy flashes in my head of walking past gravestone after gravestone."

"Well, that doesn't really help us. There are a bunch of small cemeteries here in Manhattan but the larger ones are probably going to be on Long Island," Sam remarked, placing her left hand on her hip while she looked up at Phil with her right hand outstretched. "I need your phone. I need to make the call to my parents. It's almost eleven-thirty." Sam frowned. "This wedding is not gonna happen today."

Phil gave her a sympathetic look as he pulled his cell phone out. He turned it on and glanced at the screen. "Gonna hafta make it quick. I'm down to one bar," he said handing her the phone. "I never had the chance to charge it."

Sam shrugged. "That's fine." Taking the phone, she dialed her mother's cell number. Fortunately she knew it by heart. After a few moments, her mother must've picked up on the other end, judging by the way Sam winced like someone had just scratched their nails down a chalkboard. "It's me, mom. Sam," she spoke. She turned her back to the fountain, staring toward the Arch. She began to take a few steps in that direction while conversing with her mother. "I'm sorry, mom, I don't know where Amanda is. I woke up yesterday morning and she was gone." Phil took a few steps closer Sam to put a supportive hand on the small of her back.

Meanwhile, Stu was standing in the distance between them and Alan in the fountain. Slowly, a look of realization began to spread from his eyes to his entire face.

"I know I said all those things," Sam was saying. "I was trying to buy time so I could find her. She took off around seven yesterday morning, I even went to a police station this morning to file a missing persons report to see if they can help." She sighed. "No. No, I don't think the wedding is gonna to take place."

"Wait!" Stu screeched. He ran up to Sam and snatched the phone out of her hand and put it to his ear.

"Stu, what the fuck?" Sam demanded.

"Hey, Mrs. Simmons..." he spoke and stopped, being cut off by whatever Sam's mom had just said. "Sorry, Dr. Simmons. This is Dr. Stuart Price; your daughter Sam works for me. She was just joking about about not knowing where your other daughter is. You know, trying to relieve wedding day tension by making a funny." Stu smiled knowingly at Sam. "That Sam, such a joker. Both your daughters are standing right here, having a good laugh." Pulling the phone from his face he handed it back to Sam and then ran over to the fountain.

Sam was at a loss for how to respond to her mother after that. "Uh...yeah, I was just messing with you, mom. Sorry, didn't mean to give you a heart attack or anything," she spoke looking at Phil with a shrug. They both looked toward Stu who was pulling Alan out of the fountain and making him put his shoes back on. "I, uh...we gotta go now, mom. The phone I'm on is about to die and we gotta get to Oheka Castle on time for the wedding! We're just running a little behind, traffic and all. So...bye?" Without another word, she hung up the phone and tossed it back to Phil who easily caught it.

Almost immediately she stalked over to Stu and was about to rip him a new one, demanding what was up when he beat her to the punch. "I know where both Doug and Amanda are!"

Grabbing Sam by the arm he dragged her south out of the park with Phil and Alan running off behind her. As they reached the exit onto Washington Park South, they immediately spotted a yellow cab coming their way and Stu jumped right out in front of it, causing the others as well as pedestrians to turn and look with surprise. The cab came to a screeching halt and Stu leaned forward, pressing the palms of his hands down upon the hood as he stared at the cabbie through the windshield

"We need a ride!" Stu shouted.

The cabbie stuck his head out his window and flipped Stu off. "Whatthefuck, asshole? Who jumps in front of a cab?" the cabbie shouted, but didn't seem like it was going to take off anytime soon.

"Four people who lost their friend, and a bride late to her wedding!"

The cabbie beckoned to Stu. "What are you waiting for?" he shouted back, obliging. "You want a ride somewhere or not?"

Stu grinned and looked over at his friends, motioning for them to get into the cab. He pushed Alan out of the way and took the front seat with the cabbie which forced Alan to actually be able to sit in the backseat this time with Phil and Sam.

"Where to?" the cabbie asked of Stu.

"What's the largest cemetery in Brooklyn with the best view of lower Manhattan?"

"That'd probably be Green-Wood Cemetery. Why?"

Stu looked at the three in the backseat and smirked before looking at the cabbie beside him. "Because that's where we need to be, and get us there as fast as you possibly can."

The cabbie shrugged. "I'll see what I can do."

Stu turned fully around in his seat; met with Phil and Sam's questioning eyes.

"I don't get it," Alan commented. "Why are we going to a cemetery?"

"Because that's where we left Doug," Stu announced.

Furrowing his brow, Phil looked at Sam, then back to Stu. "What do you mean that's where we left Doug? We left Doug in a cemetery?" He was unsure about this.

"And how do you know my sister's there if she came back with us?"

Stu held up a finger to silence the pair. "That bum that fought Alan told us Doug was complaining about being tired and I said we should put him to sleep. We left that park by the Brooklyn Bridge but instead of heading back into the city right away to take Alan to the hospital, we ended up at Green-Wood Cemetery. I remembered while Sam was talking to her mom," he explained. "The bum said Doug left with us, but we lost him before reaching the hospital. I remember us hopping a fence into the cemetery and wandering around the paths till we found a mausoleum that was built into a hill."

"Yeah?" Sam pressed. "So?"

"So...Doug passed out against a gravestone and Phil thought it would be funny if we could get the mausoleum door open and put Doug inside."

Phil grimaced, placing a face to his hand. "Shit, that does sound familiar."

Stu pointed with a smirk. "Yes, and you got the door open with Alan's help and then we all carried Doug inside and propped him up on a bench. Alan took off his blazer and used it to keep the door propped open. We went walking around after and I remember..."

"The view," Sam remarked, also starting to remember. "We found a spot where we could see a view of Lower Manhattan and...we forgot about Doug! Oh god, we left him in the mausoleum!" She looked at Phil and face-palmed herself.

Alan chuckled. "Oh yeah. And then my wound started to bleed a little more..."

"So we left the cemetery to head back into the city to find a hospital," Phil added. "We got distracted by Alan's cut and left Doug behind. Oh, fuck me."

"But what about Amanda?" Sam asked.

Stu held a finger up to hush her again. "Not long after we got back to the hotel, I was laying on the table already, starting to fall asleep, and she walked over to me. I was so tired and out of it, I could barely understand what she was saying but now I remember her saying something about going to get Doug." Stu shared the looks of relief on the others' faces. "She must've remembered we left him and went back. She's probably been stuck with Doug in the mausoleum all this time. And that's why you couldn't understand Doug when he called," he looked to Phil. "He was using Sam's phone inside the mausoleum which probably didn't have good reception. And the only reason he had that phone was because he left his back in LA and when she was leaving, Amanda grabbed Sam's purse instead of her own."

Sam began to laugh happily, grabbing Phil's hand. "Oh my god, this is amazing!"

"If I propped the door open, how come Doug didn't just walk out when he woke up?" Alan wondered.

Phil turned to his right to glance at the portly man. "Because he probably didn't wake up until after Amanda got to the mausoleum. Maybe she forgot your blazer was there and kicked it out of the way on accident and the door shut behind her. I don't remember how tough the door was to open but if it took both of us to do it, Amanda and Doug probably couldn't do it, especially from the inside."

All four glanced between each other as their yellow cab drove onward toward the nearest bridge to take them out of the city and into Brooklyn.

"Things are looking up!" Phil exclaimed, reaching forward and ruffling Stu's hair a bit. "Fuck yeah! We got this shit under control, baby!"