“You are, in summary, a super-human.”
“Not anymore. I couldn’t even hold onto a wife-beater yesterday. I need two real hands!”
“Agent Quint, why is this different than the other enhancements you have had surgically implanted into your body?”
“SWORD never subtracted from my body! Enhancements, additions: I’m used to that. This is different.”
“How?” When Jackson couldn’t answer the question, Dr. Tisdale asked another. “Do you regret your decisions to get the SWORD implants?”
“What decisions?” Jackson said bitterly. “There’s no asking permission. They tell you what’s gonna happen. Sometimes they don’t even tell you until after its done. What they did to me and Hai—” Jackson clamped his mouth shut. What’s happening to me? He had never told anyone SWORD secrets. He took a deep breath and collected his temper. “Dr. Tisdale, everything I’ve said is to be held in strict confidence. I believe we have doctor-patient confidentiality, and you are ethically bound to keep my information private.”
“That is true. But I’m ethically opposed to what SWORD did to you. It’s morally wrong to treat teenagers they way you were treated.”
“That’s not really relevant, is it?” Jackson fumed. “I don’t want that hideous robotic thing attached to my body. It’ll never be the same. But I have to get it; SWORD requires agents to have two hands!”
“Why don’t you leave SWORD then? Just get those implants removed and have a normal life.”
“Those implants are normal to me! They’re a part of me. To remove them would be like… like you putting blinders around your eyes or cutting most of your hippocampus out of your brain.”
“The SWORD implants weren’t always normal, were they?”
“No, but I adjusted to them.”
Dr. Tisdale sat quietly, staring at Jackson meaningfully.
Jackson stared at him. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. At long last, he looked up and rested his gaze on the calm surgeon. “You’re right,” he said.
Dr. Tisdale smiled almost imperceptibly. “Agent Quint, your trepidation is normal. Your pain is normal. Your rage is normal. You are a super-human, but… still a human. We need to treat the whole human just as much as the appendage. When you are emotionally stable, when you have accepted the prosthetic as part of you – as much a part of you as your other implants – then you can face your training and your work again.”
“Do you think I will ever feel like that skeletal hand is part of me?” Jackson asked.
“I think you will be able to accept it better than most, given your history. And I have worked with thousands of recipients, and they all go on to lead normal, happy lives.”
Jackson nodded calmly. “I’d like to start as soon as possible.”
“Of course. Let’s run a few tests, take some measurements, and see how to tackle the phantom hand. Right this way, Agent Quint.”
Dr. Ruut observed while Dr. Tisdale and his colleagues attached, connected, calibrated, and tested every aspect of the durnium hand. Then Jackson was sent to a recovery room to rest. Hailey stayed with him every minute, giving encouragement and squeezes.
Jackson inspected his new hand. He lifted it with his arm muscles but moved the fingers with mere thoughts. He practiced touching each finger to his thumb and got quite fast at the exercise.
“I remember that day you came back from implant surgery and did that trick with the knife between your fingers. Scared me to death.”
“Not so scary with metal fingers, huh?” Jackson asked.
“I think that hand is going to be awesome for you. You’re learning to control it quickly,” Hailey encouraged. “What can you feel?”
He gently took some of Hailey’s hair between his thumb and index finger. “Smooth,” he reported.
“Can you feel my… lips?”
He touched her lips gently. “Soft, warm,” he whispered.
“Can you feel my…heartbeat?”
He put his new hand against her chest. “Strong and steady.”
“You’re so gentle with it, not clunky at all.” Hailey closed her eyes. “Hold me, Jackson,” Hailey requested. She climbed onto his recovery bed with him and he encircled her with his two full-length arms. She melted into his embrace, snuggling up next to him and holding him too.
Dr. Tisdale walked in on them and stopped short. “Oh, excuse me, Agents. I’ll return shortly…” he started to back out of the room.
“Doctor, it’s OK. Just testing the functions,” he said with a faint smile as he and Hailey released each other.
Dr. Tisdale closed the door. “Forgive me if this is prying, but are you two a couple?”
“Yes, sir,” Jackson answered, “but it’s private information and I rely on your confidentiality on the matter.”
Tisdale smiled. “Who am I to defy a Wraith? Two Wraiths!” He stepped closer to examine Jackson’s hand’s attachment site while Hailey got off the bed. “This is looking very good, Agent Quint. How does it feel?”
“It’s good. The phantom hand pain is gone; that’s the greatest relief of all. Thank you, Doctor.”
Tisdale nodded. “And your disposition seems to be much better. How are you doing emotionally?”
“Looking forward to life again,” Jackson reported, “with Hailey.” Hailey squeezed his real hand as Dr. Tisdale continued to examine the prosthetic one.
“Agent Quint, could you tell me about some of your implants? In particular, the limbic monitor?”
Jackson didn’t answer right away. Hailey jumped in. “What do you know about the LM, Doctor?”
“I know it’s supposed to reduce the distraction of human emotion and worry. It is supposed to be an always-on type of device.”
“Correct,” Hailey replied.
“But you two, you can turn it off, can’t you?”
“What makes you think that?” Jackson asked.
“The way you laugh together and speak softly to each other, the way you hold each other… those are not things unemotional people do. And the talk we had the other day before your surgery, Agent Quint, was very emotional, if you recall.”
“Yes, sir. It was. But SWORD didn’t program that into the LMs. It’s something Hailey and I learned to control, but if SWORD found out, they would program a ‘fix’ into the LM which would quash our relationship again.”
“Again?” Tisdale asked.
“Your performance the other day, about the morally corrupt practice of implanting minors—”
“Oh, that was not an act. I think it’s deplorable.”
“Well, we agree. They saw that we loved each other, so they implanted my LM without my knowledge during another surgery. They wanted me to concentrate on training and not be distracted by her. It wasn’t until five years later that we discovered the bypass, by accident, really,” Jackson said.
“Please don’t tell them, Doctor. Not even Dr. Ruut,” Hailey added.
“Only Wraiths have the implants?”
“Yes, though many of the directors, trainers, and handlers are former Wraiths, so they have some, if not all, of the implants. The doctors are not former Wraiths.”
“I’ll keep your secret, of course,” Dr. Tisdale promised. “Agent Quint, you don’t need to stay in this recovery bed if you’re feeling fine. I’d like you to stay in the area for the rest of the day, however, in case pain becomes a problem as the local anesthesia wears off.”
“Thank you,” Jackson said. Tisdale left them alone. Jackson sat up and faced Hailey. “What shall we do around the surgi-center area today?”
“Let’s start you PT,” Hailey said brightly. She took off her t-shirt and wadded it up into a ball, stuffing most of it into the sleeve. She backed up to the farthest corner of the room and tossed the impromptu ball to Jackson. He caught it with his left hand. She slouched. “You’re supposed to use your right hand,” she scolded.
“Well, how do you expect me to concentrate when you’re standing over there shirtless?”
/> Hailey laughed.
“How about we try some different PT with this new hand?” He tossed the shirt-ball back to Hailey.
She tossed it again as she came closer. “What do you have in mind?”
“Come here and I’ll show you,” he answered, tossing the shirt back to her. He stood. She held on to the shirt as she arrived within his reach. He pulled her close and encircled her with his arms, running his hands up and down her bare back. “How does it feel to you?” he asked quietly.
“It’s colder than your real hand, but otherwise nice. Hey, can you scratch right below my shoulder blade?” Jackson thought about it and his mechanical hand carried out the mental order. “OK, that’s a little hard.” Jackson backed off on the pressure. “Ah, that’s good. That’s it. You got it.”
She put her hands inside his shirt and returned the back massage simultaneously. “Your muscles are tense, Jackson. Everything all right?”
“They’re still all knotted up from before the surgery.”
“Get on the bed. I’ll massage you properly.” She put her shirt back on as he removed his and rolled over, face down, on the bed. She climbed up and straddled his upper legs and leaned into his back to work out the knots in his muscles. Dr. Ruut came into the recovery room to find a scene he didn’t expect. “Hey, Dr. Ruut, Agent Quint is still tense from all the pain of the past two weeks. Can you get ahold of some therapeutic massage oil I could use?”
“Uh, yes, I’ll see what I can find. I, uh, I’m sure they have massage therapists here.”
“I’m just sitting around anyway. Might as well be useful. I’ve had enough massages to know how it’s done.” She stared at him as he stared at her. “And it’s done with oil.”
“Oh, yes. I’ll have a look around.” He left and Hailey resumed the massage.
“I guess we should’ve locked the door,” Jackson said into his pillow.
“That’s more suspicious, don’t you think? Good thing he didn’t walk in a few minutes ago,” she chuckled.
“We’ve got to be more careful. Dr. Tisdale’s already figured it out.”
“It’s just so hard to keep my hands off you,” she whispered, “when we’re on the verge of getting married. What do you say about tomorrow afternoon?”
“Perfect.”
“I’ll comm Mama.”
“Hailey,” Jackson said sleepily, “I love your mom. Thanks for sharing her with me.”
Preparations
While Jackson slept, finally relaxed, Hailey travelled by taxi to an authorized officiant’s location in person to avoid her comms being found out by SWORD. The woman, Ms. Grant, performed weddings in a beautiful garden behind her house. She showed Hailey around and discussed dates, times, and prices. Hailey was confused, at first, about having to pay someone to say a few words and sign a license, but then she realized that the woman had to maintain the garden and make a living. This is regular life. Everything has a price. She realized what Jackson was talking about: when they retired, they would have to start earning money and paying for everything. She had known it, of course, but it was starting to become real in her mind.
Refocusing on the present, Hailey decided that she liked the location and the woman well enough, so she made the appointment for 16:00 the next day. Then she found a nearby restaurant and made reservations for four at 17:00. Having secured her wedding plans, she took a taxi to Carter’s house to inform him of the schedule, then returned to Jackson to wait for Karen to get off work.
“It’s all arranged,” Hailey said to Jackson with a cheerful smile. “I hope you’ll like my choices.”
“The details just don’t concern me, Hailey. The result is all that matters.”
“Karen should get off work in less than an hour. Are you up to having dinner with her?”
“If Dr. Tisdale lets me out of here, I am.”
“You can practice holding a fork with the new hand,” she said as she sent a generic comm to her mother. SWORD knew her mother lived there – there was nothing extraordinary about Hailey having dinner with her. Dinner tonight? Can you take tomorrow off work? Hailey could almost hear her mother’s voice in the return message: Yes, and YES! Hailey chuckled at her mom’s excitement. Hailey had never attended a wedding. She had seen lavish ones in vids, but she didn’t figure theirs would have any of the flowy, flowery, finicky details.
Dr. Tisdale came in with Dr. Ruut for another check. He declared the surgery a success and gave permission for Jackson to leave the surgi-center and be back for physical therapy in the morning. “Don’t exert yourself; you’ve been through a lot. Just take things easy tonight and get some rest.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you,” Jackson said, holding out his right hand. Tisdale shook it.
“A little lighter on the grip would be more comfortable for most people,” he advised with a smile. “You’ll learn quickly how to control the pressure. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Agent Quint. Enjoy your evening.”
Dr. Ruut remained behind when Dr. Tisdale left. “Would you like me to stay with you this evening? I can order room service for you at the hotel.”
“I’ll be fine. Agent Ramirez has already offered to stay with me. You should go have fun in the world,” Jackson said with a hint of a smile.
“Well, if you’re certain…”
“I’m certain. Have a fun evening.”
Dr. Ruut smiled broadly and left the couple together. So distracted was he by the ordinary pleasures of planet life – an evening breeze, dinner at an outdoor café under the moonlight, dancing with attractive ladies at a club for middle-aged singles – that he still didn’t notice that Jackson and Hailey were practically inseparable. He even dismissed the massage he walked in on as being an efficient solution to a normal problem worked out by a pair of rational Wraiths.
Hailey’s mom offered a home-made dinner, so the couple made their way to her house. By the time they got there, she had already started cooking. “Mama, can you teach me how to cook something?”
“Of course.” Hailey helped in the kitchen while Jackson studied his tablet, testing the abilities of the artificial fingertips to manipulate the touchscreen. Tired of sitting around, he went to the kitchen and offered to help.
“Wanna see if that new hand can stir?” Hailey said.
“Sure.” Jackson took a bowl and spoon and stirred the ingredients carefully. As he got better at the circular motion, he sped up.
“Oh, don’t beat it too hard, dear,” Karen said, “or the biscuits will be tough. That looks fine.” She poured out the bowl of dough on the counter and started to roll it flat. “Care to cut out the biscuits?” she asked Jackson, handing him a circular cutter. “Try to get as many out of that as you can.
Jackson looked at the flat dough and, using the same implants he used to solve the kids’ pattern-block-game, he took the cutter and pounded out eighteen circles that each touched every circle around it without overlapping, wasting as little dough as possible. He was finished in three seconds. Karen looked at his work, stunned. “I’ve never gotten so many squeezed together like that. It’s hardly even worth it to gather the scraps for a second roll-out.” She laughed. “Thank you, Jackson. Would you put them on the baking sheet? Three centimeters apart, please.”
Jackson was carefully placing the rounds on the sheet when he heard something outside that didn’t belong. He went to the door and circled the house, scouting for evidence. He found a footprint near the kitchen window. Using all modes of vision and focused hearing, he expected to find someone lurking around; he had not heard anyone leaving the scene, though he was now sure that someone had been there.
“It’s strange,” he said when he re-entered the house. “No one should’ve been able to get far enough away for me to have missed them.”
Karen closed all the blinds around the house. “There. No one’s spying on us now.”
“You’re awfully calm, Mom,” Hailey said.
“Some nebby neighbor is curious about my company. So what? People ar
e nosy around here, but not dangerous. Besides, what’s gonna happen with a couple of Wraiths hanging around?”
In the morning, Jackson went back to the doctor’s office for physical therapy and training. He surprised the trainers with the things he could already do with his new hand. They had never seen anyone learn to use the prosthetic as quickly as he did.
Meanwhile, Hailey spent the morning with her mom. Karen insisted on buying Hailey a pretty dress, so they went shopping and chose a royal blue dress that was the bride’s favorite color. “Now we need shoes and jewelry.”
“Mama, don’t spend so much money. I don’t need those things. Hey, do you still have my lucky bead? That’s almost exactly the same blue as this dress.”
“An old bead on a cheap chain?” Karen asked.
“That bead has sentimental meaning to Jackson and to me.”
“To me, also, but let’s at least get a nice chain for it,” Karen insisted. Hailey didn’t ruin her fun. Once the accessories were chosen and purchased, Karen took Hailey to a hair stylist.
“Jackson won’t recognize me!” Hailey laughed. “Are you sure about this, Mama?”
“This is where my neighbor’s daughter got her hair done for her wedding. It’ll look great.”
Hailey subjected herself to the stylist’s craft. She came out of the salon with an up-do that changed her appearance dramatically. “I feel so girly,” Hailey said uncomfortably. “If I walk around like this, people are gonna stare at me.”
“Only to notice how beautiful you are.”
“No one else is so fancy,” Hailey noted.
“I’ve learned, honey, that people are not nearly as interested in what you’re doing as you think they are. People just don’t notice that much around them. They’re in their own worlds most of the time.”
“Is that why witnesses are so unreliable? No one’s paying attention?”
“I would think so,” Karen answered, steering Hailey toward a taxi. “Two more stops.”
“Where are we going now?”
“Jeweler. You need rings.”
Hailey's Comet Anthology Page 46