by Jamie Davis
Her fingertips traced the contour of her cheek, moving over her skin until it reached a hard, unyielding ridge that ran from beside her eye back over her ear along the side of her head.
Cass didn’t try to dig at it and remove it this time. Her head and thoughts were clearer now. She knew that wasn’t possible. It would take another surgery to remove it.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force herself not to cry. There had to be a way to fix this. She would find a way to have whatever implants the butchers put inside her removed. It was the only way she could restore herself, her humanity.
Opening her eyes again with a newly found sense of purpose, Cass looked over to her left side and spotted a small wire cord attached to her bed rail with a clip. There was a red button at the end of it.
She reached up to grab it and pressed the button with her thumb.
About thirty seconds later, a woman came into the room. She didn’t seem much older than Cass herself and wore pastel pink scrubs.
“Hi, Cassie. I’m Jess, your nurse today. I see you finally woke up again. Are you feeling a little better this time? Merry told me you had some trouble before. Are you doing all right?”
As she talked and asked Cass questions, Jess walked around her bed and checked some things on the monitor hanging on the wall to the left. She turned back to smile down at Cass in the bed.
“I need to talk to my doctor,” Cass said. “I need to talk to whoever it was that did this to me.”
“I’ll have to see if your surgeon is on site today,” Jess said. “He works at other hospitals here in the islands. I can have one of the ICU residents come in and talk to you if that will help. They’re the doctors on call right now. Will that be all right?”
“Yes, please. I have a lot of questions I need to ask them.”
“All right, I’ll be right back. After you talk to them, we can see about getting you up out of bed and walking around a bit.”
While she waited for the doctor to come, Cass spotted a plastic cup and straw sitting next to her bed. She reached out with her left hand and picked it up. Her hand and arm trembled so much as she brought the cup over to have a sip, she was afraid she’d spill it. Luckily, the lid stayed in place.
Cass savored the feel of the cold water in her parched mouth. The cool liquid felt good going down her raspy, dry throat, too. She took a few more sips while she waited.
She set the cup down as another woman came into the room. She wore a long, white lab coat over her scrubs.
Cass tried to push herself upright in the bed to speak to the doctor. She groaned as her aching muscles betrayed her and she decided to remain as she was.
“Hi, Cass. I’m Dr. Henderson,” the woman said in a voice with a smooth island lilt. “Jess said you had a few questions for me. Here, let me help you sit up a little bit. I think that will be more comfortable for you, am I right?”
“Yes, that would be nice,” Cass said.
The doctor reached over and pressed a button on the side rail. The head of the bed started to tilt upward to a steeper angle. Cass felt silly as she realized she could have helped herself sit up all along. This was all so new to her.
After Dr. Henderson helped her sit up, she smiled at Cass and said, “So, what kind of questions can I answer for you?”
“I want to know how long I have to have these implants in my head?”
“I don’t understand, Cass. What do you mean how long?”
“I mean, when can I have them removed? I want them taken out as soon as possible.”
The doctor’s brow creased as a puzzled look crossed her face. “Cass, I don’t think you understand. There is no way we can remove these implants, ever. The surgeon literally saved your life by putting them in place. They have to remain or you’ll die. I was here when you were brought in to the trauma center. You suffered a severe traumatic head injury when you struck that rock. Vital portions of your brain were failing. There is no way to remove it without you dying. If the implants were removed, you would suffer severe mental and physical impairment requiring lifelong hospitalization.”
“What do you mean by impaired. How impaired would I be?”
“I’d have to consult with the staff neurologist and have them look over the extent of the brain damage you suffered, as well as what we would have to do to remove the implant. Based on what I do know, though, it is my belief you’d be paralyzed on one side and probably lose a large portion of your mental faculties.”
When Cass didn’t say anything, Dr. Henderson continued. “Your memory, perhaps even your ability to speak or understand language would be lost. It’s hard to say for sure. Even with our modern advancements and ability to interface with the neurons in the human brain, we still do not fully understand the process the brain uses to connect everything together. It’s one of the main things that separate us from artificial intelligences. They are hampered by these limitations. Robots with AI interfaces have to use the Mantle network to navigate and move about simply because they do not possess the raw processing power or capability for filtering all the data our brains do.”
“If that’s so, how does this thing in my head make me better? If it can’t do the things my brain can do, why is it something that can help me?”
“Only a portion of your brain was injured. Hasn’t anyone gone over the extent of your injuries with you?”
Cass shook her head. “I just woke up.”
Dr. Henderson sighed. “Let’s start with the injuries that were most severe. When you struck the rock, you hit the front and right side of your head. This caused significant trauma to the cerebral cortex and frontal lobe of your brain as well as severing the right optic nerve. Your right eye itself and some core sense of your ability to hear and comprehend processed information from that side were lost as well.”
The doctor continued. “The implants you have replaced the need for the damaged areas to continue functioning. We were able to download most of your memories from the damaged tissue before it died. Your cybernetic interface restored the bulk of the memories from the lost tissue as far as we can tell. You may find gaps as time goes by, but most of them will fill in eventually as you rebuild neural connections with the memory in your implant. Your optic nerve and eye were replaced with a cybernetically enhanced one. You’ll find that you can see things a lot better from that side. You have a variety of options to choose from to utilize the full capabilities of the ocular implant.”
“What kind of capabilities?”
“You’ll have nearly perfect night vision. You can also see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums, as well as possess the ability for some limited telephoto enhancement. You have standard image and video capture capabilities as well. Essentially, you’ll be able to zoom in on things at a distance, see them as if they were close up, and even record them if you want. All of this will take time to develop. The implant’s systems will open access to the full capabilities as it senses your successful management of what is currently available. Basically, your brain needs to learn how to control what’s there before new things are added. It will take some time to return to full capability.”
Something the doctor said clicked for Cass. “I don’t have time. What day is it? I need to get out of this hospital. When can I leave?”
“It’s Sunday. It’s the day after your accident.”
“I have to return home tomorrow. I have to get back to the school before my parents find out what happened to me. They’ll never understand this. They won’t understand me at all anymore.”
“Cass, I’m sure your parents will love you just the same. If you want, I can talk to them for you. You’re not a different person. We just had to fix part of you, that’s all.”
Cass shook her head. The doctor had no idea what her parents would or would not accept in her. “No, you can’t tell them anything. You haven’t called them, have you?”
“No, as a matter of fact, that’s one of the things I wanted to ask you. Your friend hasn’t been very
helpful with giving us information about how to reach them. Can you give me a net address or number where they can be reached?”
A wave of relief passed over her. Thank God Shelby had watched out for her and kept them from contacting her parents.
“Please don’t contact anyone about my condition. If I tell you no, you won’t, right?”
“You’re an adult, Cass. We can’t force you to tell your family if you don’t want to. Is there something you’re not telling me? Do you not feel safe at home?”
It was a strange question to ask and before the accident, Cass wouldn’t have hesitated answering. Home was the safest place she knew.
Except, it wasn’t anymore.
“I’m fine. I just want this all kept private. I really need to go back tomorrow with my friends. I have to get back to school.”
“Cass, I must advise against that. This is not something you can just bounce back from. The nano bots and our quick-heal treatments after surgery will treat all the physical injuries in just a few days. Your brain and implants are another matter. You need to take time to adjust to everything. It might take a few weeks for you to fully integrate with the new systems installed in your brain.”
“I don’t have two weeks. I have to get out of here now.” Cass started to push herself up higher in the bed while she pushed and pulled up the side rail that fenced her in the bed. Dr. Henderson reached out and gently pulled her hand away from the rail.
“Cass, let’s talk about this. If you really insist on leaving early, I can’t keep you here. I suppose, if I must, I can refer you to a facility back in the United States. We could send your medical records there and you could travel home and check in at the facility once you’re back. That’s the best I can do. I still advise against it, but if you have to leave, I can’t legally stop you.”
Cass stared straight ahead at the wall and tried to organize her thoughts. It was like trying to see in the distance on a foggy day. She knew she had to get out of here. If she promised to do what the doctor asked, it sounded as if they’d let her go early.
“Dr. Henderson, I would like to check out tomorrow and be released. I’ll follow your instructions and check in at a facility at home when I’m back. You can send all the medical records with me on a chip. I will give them to a facility near my university when I arrive home.”
Dr. Henderson paused as if trying to gauge Cass’s response.
Cass had always been a horrible liar. She worried Dr. Henderson saw through her deception. She had no intention of going through with any extended therapy that would keep her out of school. Her parents would surely find out about it if she did.
The doctor nodded. “All right, Cass. I’ll start getting the orders together for your discharge. I’ll make a final decision tomorrow depending on how you’re doing in the morning. First things first, though, we need to get you out of this bed and walking a little bit before I’ll even consider letting you go. Let’s see how you do moving around here in our unit before I determine if it’s going to be acceptable to let you go home.”
Cass nodded and Dr. Henderson smiled.
“Excellent. I’ll tell Jess what we have planned and she can come help you get up out of this bed.”
The doctor left the room and Cass was alone with her thoughts. There was so much she had running through her brain.
For a moment, she wondered if her thoughts were her own anymore. What if her thoughts were influenced by the cybernetic circuits in her brain rather than her own ideas? There was so much she didn’t know. She wished Shelby were here. She might be able to answer Cass’s questions.
Jess returned to the room with a big grin on her face. “The doctor says we need to get you out of that bed. That is great news. I always believe it’s best to get people up and walking as quickly as possible. After all, moving around on your own makes you feel normal again.”
“I remember a friend of mine was here earlier. Do you know where she is?”
“I do. You must mean Shelby. She’s a very nice girl. I got the impression from her that you and she are very close.”
Cass nodded. “We are. Is she still here at the hospital?”
“I believe so. I think she just went to get something to eat. She’ll be back up on the unit shortly. Why don’t we surprise her and get you up and moving. Maybe when she gets back, you’ll be sitting in that chair over there rather than up here in the bed. Does that sound like a good idea?”
Cass nodded. Anything was better than being stuck in this bed any longer than she had to be. She was determined to work as hard as she could to give the doctors no excuse to keep her in the hospital past tomorrow.
Her parents would be calling in a few days when she was supposed to be back in her dorm. They’d ask about the trip. Cass had to be back in her room when they did. Somehow, she’d figure out a way to hide what happened from them.
Chapter 11
Cass came back from her brief walk around the nurses’ station with one of the nurse’s aides. Together with Jess, the aide helped her sit in a padded chair at the end of her bed.
Cass leaned back and reached up to touch the side of her face. She winced when she pressed too hard. There were no bandages anymore, which amazed her.
“How’s it feel, honey?” Jess asked.
“It hurts a little. I don’t understand. How did you do the surgery with no bandages?”
“We only put bandages on wounds for a day or so now unless there’s a reason to keep the wound open. Otherwise, after surgery, we use a dermal regenerator, quickheal, and nano bots to help the skin grow back. In cases where we have put in an implant like yours, there is a dermal regeneration strip encircling the perimeter of the implant. It adheres to your skin so it is always tight up against the side of the device, keeping things sealed. After the swelling goes down, there won’t be any scarring at all.
Cass felt a small shudder every time the nurse mentioned the implant. She still had a hard time adjusting to the concept of having one of those things in her head.
Once again, she worried if she wasn’t thinking like herself anymore. Was this how the machines fooled people into thinking they were normal? Cass still felt like herself and had all the memories she thought she should. Of course, she wouldn’t know if anything was missing, would she?
“Why the frown, Cass?” Shelby asked from the doorway to her room. “I leave for an hour or so and come back to find out you’ve been up and walking around without me. How are you?”
Cass caught herself smiling for the first time in a long time when she saw Shelby standing there. She winced a little as the smile pulled at the taut skin of her swollen face. She also remembered her reaction when she first woke up.
“I was just thinking about how things change so quickly. I don’t know if I’m me or not anymore.” Her hand drifted up to touch the implant again.
“Don’t worry about that,” Shelby said as she walked over and sat down on the end of Cass’s bed next to the chair. Shelby looked over at the nurse. “Jess, do you mind if I talk to her alone for a little bit? I can call you if we need anything. I know you’re very busy.”
“Absolutely,” Jess said with a smile. “You let me know if you need anything. I’ll be right outside.”
Both of them waited for the nurse to leave before saying anything.
Shelby bent down and kissed Cass’s forehead. “You almost died, Cass. I can’t believe I almost lost you.”
“I’m not sure you haven’t. Are you sure I’m still me, Shel?”
Shelby frowned. “Stop that. Do you think that way about me? Do you think my feelings for you are fake because of my implants?”
Cass shook her head.
Shelby continued. “Don’t let your family and the things they told you growing up poison you against yourself. You’ve got other problems to deal with right now without giving yourself extra headaches.”
“My family situation is my biggest problem right now, Shelby. I can’t go home. I can’t go home ever again.”
Shelby shook her head. “I know you think your parents will disown you or something. I can’t imagine they would take the chance and lose you over something like this, though. It wasn’t even your fault. How could they blame you?”
“It’s not about blame,” Cass said. “It’s about optics. At least I know that’s what my father would say. He has to keep up appearances for his work. How can he stay active advising people like Sterling Noble when he has a daughter who everyone thinks is a freak?”
“Stop it, Cassie. You’re not a freak. Do you think I’m a freak?”
Cass stopped, considering what her girlfriend said. She shook her head. “No, you’re not a freak. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Cass reached out and grasped Shelby’s hand.
Shelby squeezed back. “Damn straight I am. Don’t you forget it.”
She reached over with her other hand to run her fingers along the side of Cass’s face next to the implant. “I know you’re worried about who you are and how you look right now. I think it looks pretty awesome, though. Have you tried accessing the Mantle or the local net yet?”
A stab of panic struck Cass. “I hadn’t even thought about it. I’d be scared to even try it.”
“They probably haven’t switched on all the accessibility features yet since you’re still getting used to it. I suppose the system is still installing the connections and routines required to keep things running and transmitting signals to the rest of your brain.”
Cass reached up and brushed Shelby’s hand away. Having her girlfriend touch the implant made her self-conscious.
“I guess the eye is working,” Cass said. “Things don’t look normal. The doctor said I can see things in the infrared and ultraviolet ranges.”
“That’s awesome,” Shelby said. “I’ll bet you can see in the dark. All my enhancements are just for cosmetic purposes. Even my arm isn’t juiced up to make me super strong or anything. It’s just there for effect and to make sure I always have all the cool tools and stuff.”