The Man In The Machine

by Silas Vale

  Nych tensed. He knew she wouldn't tell him about the machine, but he still didn't like that he was suspicious.

  Willow would come up with some explanation.

  She always did.

  "Like I said, I make a lot of money from my partnerships with the hospitals." Willow gave him a warm smile. "This isn't the only equipment I make, either. I have other inventions that I sell to companies, and much of my money comes from that. A lot of my resources for building these also come from sponsors and charities that recognize the work I do. I also work as a doctor in certain hospitals in the surrounding area, but I deal mostly with special-case patients. People with rare illnesses or who have been in serious accidents, much like your daughter."

  It was a reasonable explanation.

  "I'm quite busy, but…" She laughed softly. "It's well worth it."

  The man nodded, standing to hug her once again. "Well… Thank you. Thank you so much for the work you do, Willow Grace. Without it, kids like my daughter would have a much more difficult time in life."

  He then looked to Nych, who hadn't been very noteworthy up until this point. He was going to ask what he was doing there, but then he saw his eyes.

  "Hey… Are those contacts, buddy?"

  Nych tensed once again, and looked to Willow. What should he say? Was it okay to reveal he was a robot?

  Willow hesitated, but after a moment smiled. "… No, actually. Nych is my crowning achievement so far." She looked towards the man, and tilted her head to the side. "He's like you, Lucy. He uses robotic enhancements to live." It wasn't the full truth, but she wasn't lying either.

  "That's so cool!" Lucy grinned, looking up at Nych from where she was fiddling with her new arms. "You're like- uh- a cyborg!"

  Willow laughed softly. "Kinda. He's really strong, too. That's why he's been helping me carry all of my things around." She zipped up the duffel bag and tilted her head to the side. "And he's super smart, too. He's a total genius."

  Nych sighed lightly with a smile. She always found some way to compliment him.

  "Yeah, the eyes are robotic. There's a ton of stuff about me that is, and it would take a while to list it all. Just know that Willow's a genius, and your daughter is in good hands." He hefted the bag up onto his shoulder and left, waiting for her in the hallway.

  Lucy's father nodded his head, and looked deep into Willow's eyes.

  "Thank you, doctor."

  "You're welcome." Willow smiled back at him, and then turned and grabbed her stuff off of the table. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. Enjoy your new arms, Lucy." She waved to the child with a grin. She was a pretty cute kid.

  "I will!" Lucy nodded eagerly. "Thank you Ms. Grace!"

  Willow laughed and shook her head. "It was no problem. You two have a good day, and hopefully I won't see you around this hospital again." She winked, and then quietly shut the door behind herself as she stepped out into the hallway.

  She sighed, relaxing as she smiled to herself and then looked up at Nych. "Alright. Onto the next one."

  Leaving The Past Behind

  They had just finished with the last of the children when a voice began speaking through Willow's pager.

  "Hello, Willow! Your boyfriend is here to see you. He says it's really urgent, so do you have a moment to come down?" The receptionist couldn't have known that the words she spoke would turn both Nych and Willow's blood to ice.

  Nych didn't even have blood, but all motion inside him seemed to cease.

  He felt cold. Empty.

  Angry.

  Willow froze, her hand outstretched to press the button on the wall outside of the elevator, before she withdrew it. "I…" Her face went pale, and she clasped her hand over her mouth. Of course he knew she'd be there. She turned away from the elevator, seeming to shrink in on herself as she tried to think of what to do. She knew that Marcus wouldn't be able to hear her on the receptionist's end, so she made her decision right then and there.

  "… I need you to do something for me." Willow spoke into her pager. "That man is dangerous. And he should not be here in a hospital full of children. Tell him I'm going to be another couple minutes, and call the police." Her hands shook, and she paced back and forth nervously. "Under no circumstances do you tell him where I am or let him leave your sight."

  She was scared, and that much was obvious.

  The receptionist, to her credit, didn't sound alarmed or panicked at all. "Alright! See you in about ten minutes, then." She’d been trained to deal with situations like this one.

  At their hospital, there was a red button underneath the desk that would immediately call for the police, just in case a patient ever got rowdy or an unwanted visitor appeared.

  As she pressed that button, she told Marcus that Willow would be down in ten minutes.

  The police would respond in only seven.

  Willow held her hands tightly over her mouth, pacing back and forth in front of the elevator as her heart hammered in her chest. She bit her lip, eyes focused intensely on the floor, as hundreds of thoughts raced through her head. Marcus was looking for her, and if he was looking for her, then…

  She fumbled her phone from her pocket, dialed Blake's number, and held it up to her ear as she stopped in her pacing.

  When she picked up, Willow’s words sparked immediate concern in her friend.

  "Is Aisling there? Is she safe?"

  With Willow's words, Blake put her on speaker and walked up to Aisling.

  "Hey kiddo. Say hi to your mommy at work!" Blake had no idea why Willow would be calling like this, but she figured it couldn't be good. She also figured that her daughter's voice would put her at ease, which was usually the case with parents.

  Octavia sat in the kitchen, as Blake had been showing her how to make Ramen noodles in a coffee machine.

  An old college trick.

  "Hi mama!" Aisling perked up, looking towards the phone with a smile. "We had cookies for breakfast!"

  Willow relaxed with a sigh at the sound of her daughter's voice, and she pressed a hand to her forehead. "Hi sweetheart. I'll be home in an hour or so." She sat down, leaning against the wall and thumping her head back against it. "Blake. Take me off speaker. I need you to do something."

  Something was definitely up. Her voice sounded… Strained.

  Blake looked to Aisling with a smile before getting up, leaving the house and standing outside the front door. She supposed that if Willow wanted privacy, she'd go all the way.

  "Alright, you're off." Blake said, switching it back to normal audio and holding the phone to her ear. "What is it, Willow? What do you need me to do? What's going on?"

  There was clearly something wrong. Blake knew her well enough to understand that.

  "Is it Marcus?"

  "He's at the hospital looking for me." Willow lowered her voice, pulling her knees up to her chest. "The receptionist called the cops, but… On the off chance he takes off, you need to make sure Aisling is safe. Lock the doors and the windows, and I'll keep you posted, okay? Don't tell her what's going on. She doesn't need to worry." She fidgeted anxiously, obviously an internal mess. She didn't think she'd have to look at him again.

  But here he was, trying to corner her at a fucking children's hospital.

  "I'm fine, he doesn't know where I am, I just…" She sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen in the next twenty minutes, so take care of her for me, okay?"

  Blake nodded her head resolutely, walking back inside and locking the front door. "She’s safe with me. Good luck, Willow."

  The police arrived, as usual, in seven minutes.

  Two officers had ridden to the hospital, as was customary, but they kept their guns hidden. They also weren't wearing any sort of identifying badge or clothing, because often times, hospital maniacs would immediately begin firing if they knew police were in the building.

  Everything was to be kept calm, at all costs.

  The two men walked in and walked up to the receptionist, lo
oking around as they did so. They very carefully presented the tips of their badges in their breast pockets, before one asked, "Hey, Mary. How's it going?"

  That was the cue, and she nodded, very hesitantly, at Marcus. Then, she pressed a button on her pager which would signal for Willow to come downstairs.

  Marcus, none the wiser, was mulling around the lobby with a sour look on his face.

  It took a minute or two, but soon Willow came walking towards the lobby. She was terribly nervous, and her hands were shaking slightly, but she kept her head held high. If he was there, it was no doubt to try and hurt her in some fashion. And if he couldn't get to her, he knew he'd try to get to Aisling instead.

  And she wouldn't let that happen.

  She had wiped the makeup off of her face before she went downstairs, exposing some of the ugly bruising that still remained on her face. It was evidence, after all. "… Marcus?" She sidled close to the receptionist's counter. "What are you doing here?" She silently commended herself on how steady her voice was.

  The man's head turned towards her, and his lip curled in a sort of annoyed sneer. "I need to talk to you about something." He walked towards her, reaching out and gripping her wrist tightly as he pulled her towards him. "Let's go outside." Willow staggered forwards, and then took a quick step back to try and distance herself from him. She cast a desperate glance towards the two police officers standing in front of the counter.

  She took a deep breath, pulled herself away from him, and took a couple steps back. "I'm not going with you anywhere." She narrowed her eyes. "You beat me and my daughter. I'm not letting you anywhere near either of us ever again."

  Marcus sent her a venomous look, before it faded off into innocent confusion. "… What?" His brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

  "I can attest to that." A voice came unbidden from the doorway. Someone had walked through the door without anyone noticing, and the speaker was now glaring at the man that everyone in the room was wary of.

  Blake Medea held a phone in her hand as she walked to stand right in front of Marcus, their faces nearly touching. If he hit her here, he'd be arrested, no doubt. She'd already worked out who the officers were, by the fact that they were the only two standing besides her and Willow.

  "Aisling, sweetie." She said, putting her current phone call on speaker.

  "Would you and uncle Terry like to explain what Marcus did?"

  Marcus' lips curled with a snarl, and he resisted the urge to slap Blake's phone out of her hands. "Listen here, bitch." He took a step backwards, intense purple eyes staring her down. "I haven't forgotten that you assaulted me. You're fucking lucky I have a good dentist, and I don't know where you live."

  "Hey, asshole." Terry spoke through the phone, a growl to his voice. "You stay far away from my sister and her friends. Aisling, honey. Tell them what he did to you and mom."

  "Uhhh." Aisling sounded nervous. Willow hated that she was being put on the spot like this. "I… I don't know. He um… He would get angry and yell and be really mean… And he used to hurt mama and she'd need to get an ice pack from the freezer."

  "Please." Willow looked towards the officers. "Arrest him. I have evidence on my laptop, and I don't want him to hurt anybody else."

  Marcus' eyes flashed with recognition as he looked towards the two men, and then he shoved Blake aside with a growl as he began to storm off towards the door.

  Willow could be heard inhaling.

  Oh boy, Marcus, that was a mistake.

  Blake was a very good fighter. She stiffened, stood back up, and then struck.

  She first kicked in the back of his knees, causing him to fall and hit his head face-first against the glass door, which hadn't slid all the way open yet. She then pulled him by the leg against the ground and pressed her knee into the small of his back, grabbing a handful of his hair and yanking his head back.

  "When are you going to learn?" She asked him, stepping back as the officers cuffed him. They pulled him to his feet, and Blake stared at him coolly.

  "You'll have to get used to the fact that your ass can be whooped by a girl. I know, must be hard, considering you spend all your time abusing women. But I promise you, you alcoholic scumbag, that you'll stay away from Willow and Aisling from now on. Mostly because, well…"

  As the officers led Marcus from the building, she gave him a good shove.

  "… You'll be in prison."

  Marcus struggled against their constraints, spitting and cursing all the way until the doors closed, and then they couldn't hear him anymore.

  Willow silently watched them lead him away, then turned away from the doors and shrunk in on herself. The smell of alcohol that he reeked of still burned in her nose, and she hated it. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and took a deep breath to keep herself together. Today was supposed to be a good day, and it had been, until he had come along and ruined it for them.

  But he was gone now.

  Hopefully forever.

  Blake walked up to Willow, wiping her mouth on her leather sleeve. She really didn't like that guy. Hopefully this was the end of it.

  "You're going to have to go up there later and tell them what you're charging him for. If you don't, they'll just release him tomorrow with a fine for disturbing the peace. Come on, I'll take you now."

  Blake held out an arm, and suddenly, it was just like old times. Blake had always come to Willow's aid, whenever she’d needed it most. The past few years… With Blake gone, lots of bad shit had gone down.

  It was good she was back.

  "And don't worry, I locked all the windows and doors before leaving Aisling with Terry. It's all good."

  Willow glanced up at her, before hesitantly nodding and looking back down towards the floor. She reached out towards Blake, lightly holding onto her arm and taking a deep breath to maintain her composure. She had been so happy only a couple minutes ago, it hurt to see what kind of effect he had on her. She was practically a shell of her former self, sunken and withdrawn at the mere sight of him.

  She sighed, lifting her chin and tucking her hair behind her ears and away from her face. She was exhausted already.

  Nych walked into the lobby from where he’d been standing in the hallway, and Willow looked up to him, pursing her lips. "I… You can come to the station if you want, but… If you don't want to, that's fine."

  "Oh, I'm coming." He said, taking the hand that wasn't already taken by Blake. "There's no way I'm letting you go through something like this alone. Hell, we tried once, this time will go better. Hopefully this time, Blake won't be arrested."

  Blake rolled her eyes before they all left the hospital, Nych still carrying the duffel bag that was nearly emptied of prostheses. He put it in the back of Willow's car and then took the key from her. "You're in no condition to drive. I'll take you there. It's fine, driving can't have changed that much since I was alive."

  Hopefully.

  Willow hesitated. "… You've been dead for fifteen years, and you don't have a license. Let Blake drive, and come sit in the back with me." She sighed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I still have my laptop, so we don't have to make any stops along the way." She opened the car door and climbed into the backseat, relaxing into the cushions as she put her seatbelt on.

  She was glad she wasn't alone through all of this.

  She didn't think she would have had the strength for it.

  Nych gave the key to Blake and allowed her to take the driver's seat. He then sat down in the back next to Willow, wrapping a protective arm around her. He didn't want her to have to go through this at all, but… He also wanted justice.

  He wanted to see that man in jail.

  "As soon as he pushed you, I chuckled. You did good." Nych said to Blake with a laugh.

  Blake smiled. "I won't let that asshole mess with any of us ever again."

  Willow sighed, closing her eyes and cuddling up against Nych's side as she sought comfort from the man she loved. She nodded slowly. "Thank
you for coming by." She looked up at Blake in the driver's seat and lightly took Nych's hand to give it a tight squeeze.

  Something occurred to her in that moment.

  "… We're going to have to explain to Aisling that we're together." She looked over at Nych. "It might be a little difficult." Given that her biological father was an assbag that beat her and her mother…

  It would make sense if she didn’t trust anyone right away.

  Nych nodded, though he smiled warmly. "Yeah, but I don't think that'll be too much of a problem. She likes me so far, so I don't think she'll associate me with the kind of man that Marcus was."

  He was right, but then again… Kids worked in mysterious ways.

  Blake nodded, looking at the two of them in the mirror. "I can attest to the fact that Aisling likes Nych. She can build much better Lego towers, thanks to you. Or so she says."

  He laughed lightly, nodding. "Yeah, I showed her a few things."

  Willow nodded slowly. "… Yeah. She does really like you. I think the idea of a healthy relationship will just be a little hard for her to comprehend at first." She snuggled close to Nych as she let some of the tension unwind from her limbs. "Let's just… Get this over with. I don't want to deal with Marcus any longer than I have to." It would be tough on her, no doubt, but she could do it.

  The trials and testifying would be difficult on everyone involved, though.

  Soon enough, they reached the police station, and everything became much more real. Willow would have to go in there and relive some of the worst moments of her life.

  But she was strong. She could do it.

  "We'll be with you the whole time." Blake said, opening the door so the two of them could exit. The building loomed in front of them, tall and foreboding, but what Marcus had done was unforgivable.

  "Let's go."

  Willow looked up at the building, and for a moment considered not going in there at all. Simply turning back and running away like she had before, avoiding her problems and pretending that they weren't there. Ignorance was bliss, but after today she knew she couldn't ignore Marcus any longer. He'd keep going until either her or Aisling were dead, because now he was on the path of revenge.