by Lucian Bane
“It’s like a spaceship!” Charlie said, astonished.
“It is.” Cheryl gripped Ben’s hand tighter. He brought it closer to him and covered her hand with his other one. God, she missed cuddling with him. His warmth soothed her, she realized.
“Dr. Wong is on his way to welcome you,” the driver said, staying put.
“We wait?” Cheryl double checked.
“Yes ma’am. Dr. Wong is very traditional in his hospitality. He wants to personally welcome you here. He’s very excited.”
Judging by the man’s tone, not a lot excited Dr Wong. That was good, she thought.
“Look!” Charlie whispered, pointing in the house. “They have one of those house robots!”
A group of people dressed in suits and some women in dresses approached. Even a young girl. Well, small but not young, she realized, eyeing Charlie. “Looks like you might have a possible playmate, Charlie,” Cheryl barely whispered.
“Playmate? And she’s a girl.”
“She’s probably super smart,” Ben enticed. “Like Mulan.”
Cheryl smiled a little, looking at Charlie who said, “Hm. Maybe so.” The optimistic smile warmed her heart. He’d been scared during all of this, and quiet. But there was an undercurrent of un-faze-able strength she admired and envied at times.
The man at the front of the small group of people hurried to the car and opened Ben’s door himself. “Mr. Rabinowski! Mrs. Rabinowski!” He bowed with each greeting then spoke Chinese, his smile unwavering. The driver wasn’t kidding about his excitement. He reminded Cheryl of an eager child getting the impossible gift he’d always dreamed of having. “I’m Dr. Lo Wong, but please, call me Lo. This is my wife, Yan Wong, and my daughter Alice Wong. It is an honor to have you at our facility and home. The other doctors and assistances will arrive tomorrow.”
He stepped aside when another suited man hurried forward with a wheelchair, parking it at Ben’s open door. “This is our good friend Haiko Kahn,” Lo said. “He will be tending to all of your family’s needs. Anything you want, anything at all, we will provide it.”
“Thank you,” Ben said.
The pain in his voice jolted her. “He’s in a lot of pain,” Cheryl hurried.
“Oh, please, yes.” Mr. Wong said, his face a sudden mask of serious as he hurried Mr. Haiko to get Ben. “Bring him to the pre-op room so that we can get him comfortable.”
The man nodded with a curt word in Chinese.
“The pre-op room is like an all-purpose medical area,” Mr. Wong explained without her having to ask. “A type of urgent care, or clinic,” he said, bringing Cheryl’s smile and nod as another person assisted with a now groaning Ben in the wheelchair. She scooted out after him, sick that he was hurting.
“I have all of his records and have developed a pain management protocol to begin upon his arrival,” Mr. Lo explained. “I merely need to assess Ben’s current condition and run a few simple tests to see exactly what he requires at this time.”
Cheryl nodded more as Charlie climbed out of the car behind her as Ben was hurried to the pre-op area.
“This must be Charlie,” Mr. Lo, said, putting a handout to him. Charlie shook it. “Alice looks forward to making an American friend. Alice, why don’t you take Charlie to see the aquarium?”
He looked at Cheryl with eager eyes, and she smiled. “Go, we’ll get settled in.”
“If you will excuse me, Mrs. Rabinowski, I will go and see about Ben.” Mr. Lo turned to his wife. “I leave you with my wife.” He kissed her cheek and the expression on her face implied they were a happy couple. And for some reason, that put Cheryl at ease.
“Thank you for everything,” she called to him as he went. “And call me Cheryl,” she added to his wife. Wow, she was a real beauty in her light lavender pant suit. Cheryl suddenly felt underdressed. Under everything. “I look a mess. It’s been a long…week.”
“Please, leave your things there, and Haiko will take them to your residence when he returns. Would you like to join me? I was in the middle of preparing dinner.”
“I would love to.” Cheryl unshouldered her purse, not wanting to part with it quite yet but feeling rude not to. “Could I use… the…” Good lord what did they call them here?
“Lavatory?”
“Yes!” Cheryl said, tugging the hem of her shirt, nervously. She had on jeans. Very, very underdressed. “I would like to freshen up if that would be okay?”
“Of course, of course,” Mrs. Wong sang in a silky voice and bright smile that relaxed Cheryl a little more. She looked around with a grimace. “I will help you bring your things. We are not cripple.”
“Right!” Cheryl laughed, suddenly liking her a lot more as they went to the car.
“My husband is very traditional,” she apologized, opening the trunk from the driver’s side.
Cheryl met her at the back of the car. “I only have one bag, that’s what they told us to pack.” Cheryl pulled hers out.
“We will allow Haiko to get the rest,” Mrs. Wong said, eyeing Cheryl. “Or he will throw a tantrum,” she mumbled quietly, shutting the trunk softly like she didn’t want anybody hearing.
Cheryl found it comical as she followed the graceful gait of her hostess down a large hall. They stopped before a wall that opened to a glass elevator the size of a small room.
“They are large to accommodate the equipment in the facility,” Yan explained. “Third floor,” she said.
“Good evening Yan. Third floor. Would you like music?”
“No thank you.”
Cheryl looked around at hearing the robotic voice, amazed. “Wow.”
“One of Lo’s many toys. He is obsessed with gadgets and robotics of all kinds. Your husband is in very good hands.”
“Oh,” Cheryl said, not meaning to sigh with so much relief. It got a chuckle from Yan.
“I do not blame you for being worried. But I have utmost confidence that this will be a success. My husband has done many head transplants that are all successful. You and your husband have given him the greatest gift to allow him to perform the first human head transplant. And for that, I am in your debt.”
The elevator must’ve come to a stop because the doors whooshed open. “Wow, I didn’t even feel it stop. I’m…so nervous.” Cheryl’s confession gushed as she held her suitcase in both arms now, needing something to hug as she followed Yan out. “Not because of the elevator,” she said, realizing it might sound that way.
“Welcome to your temporary new home,” Yan said when they exited a foyer.
“Ohhhh wow,” Cheryl whispered, looking around at the spacious area.
“Lo loves open spaces and minimal décor but he broke protocol and allowed me to have the home fitted to your tastes. The walls are all glass,” she gestured as she walked toward the kitchen side of the room, “but we keep them covered at night for privacy. They are set on a timer and open with the sunrise.” She turned at the huge gray granite looking island. “Unless you want to open them later than that. Haiko will show you everything you need to know. The home is run by a computer program named AHNS which stands for Automated Household Navigation System. But can be run solo.”
“Solo,” Cheryl wondered.
“As in manually? Where you turn things on and off with your hand,” she informed with raised brow.
Cheryl nodded a lot. “That’s more my speed.” She wasn’t the least comfortable with advanced technology.
“In that case, you tell AHNS you want to switch to manual functions,” she said with a simple smile before sweeping her arm to the left. “This is your kitchen. I hope you like it,” she sang, going from cabinet door to cabinet door, showing off how well she stocked it.
“I…I’m speechless. This is all surreal, almost.”
“I hope you can feel at home while here. Oh, and this is the laundry room,” she said, opening a door next to the fridge. “And bathroom here,” she pointed to a door opposite the laundry. “Each bedroom has its own full bathroom.”
“Wow. Again. And again,” Cheryl laughed, setting her suitcase down on the floor, slowly looking about. It was amazing. “You did an incredible job Yan. Are you an interior decorator by trade?”
She gave one of her small tinkly laughs that reminded Cheryl of wind chimes. “Lo has his electronic obsessions and his wife obsessions. He says I can do and be anything I want as long as I can do it from here.”
Cheryl’s eyes widened at the chauvinistic sound of that, but judging by Yan’s smile, she was equally obsessed with him, and loved it. “Well, how sweet is that?” Cheryl cooed, her heart bubbling with warmth. “I’m so happy for you. Both of you.”
Yan suddenly appeared awkwardly confused, panicking Cheryl.
“I mean you don’t…well in America, people… or couples I mean, usually aren’t so close. Divorce rates have skyrocketed in this last decade.”
The tragedy of it touched Yan’s perfect features. “This is very sad. We do not believe in divorce.”
“Neither do we,” Cheryl said, nodding. “Through better or worse, thick and thin.” She suddenly wondered what kind of sex life they had. Were they obsessed with each other there too? “Ben is obsessed the same way. He and your husband will get along in that area.”
“And you and I as well,” she smiled, implying Cheryl shared her obsession for her husband.
“Of course,” Cheryl nodded, looking at the small hall at the far end of the room. “Is that where the bedrooms are?”
“Oh!” Yan said, snapping to attention. “I’m not used to having company, can you tell?”
She couldn’t no, but now that she mentioned Lo’s possessiveness, it made sense.
“Do you have family near?” Cheryl wondered as she picked up her suitcase and followed Yan again.
“Not so close, no. Just me and Lo, and Alice. She is so happy to have somebody her age. I should warn you that she thinks Charlie looks just like the…Slater actor?”
“Christian Slater?” Cheryl wondered with a grin.
“Yes, that is the name,” Yan said with wide, serious eyes. “I told her not to scare him off.”
“Oh, I doubt she could. Charlie is in love with everything Chinese. Does Alice go to school nearby?”
“Oh no, she has tutors that come to our home. We are allowing her time off for this special occasion. It was her idea. She is always looking for an excuse to skip studies. She said somebody would need to make sure Charlie didn’t die of boredom.”
The laughter in Yan’s words said that was cute to her.
“Oh wow,” Cheryl said, when Yan opened a door.
“Charlie’s room.”
“He is going to flip out!” Cheryl cried. “You made it everything he’d love!”
“I did,” she said proudly.
“Now, come and see your suite.”
“Suite,” Cheryl said in amazement, not missing the excitement in her voice as she hurried after her. A sudden wave of guilt washed over her. Here she was being so pampered, while her husband got his head removed.
The hall opened to a foyer area and she touched a panel next to a glass wall. The glass split in half and opened to a large bedroom that stole her breath. “Oh my,” she said, walking slowly in. She looked down at her sandals now buried in lush, white carpet. “It’s like clouds.” She gave a light laugh, setting down her suitcase again.
“That wall has an amazing view,” Yan said, gesturing to the left. “I cannot wait for you to see it.” She hurried to the opposite wall on her right and entered an arched hall about three feet thick made of rough-hewn granite it seemed. The same steel gray she saw everywhere, like the home was been built inside a mountain.
“Oh my God!” Cheryl gasped when they entered the bathroom. “This is a flippin’ cathedral Yan! Did you design this? I’m blown away!”
She giggled. “Well, Lo and I shared the architecture design. It was a fight worth having with him. He agrees,” she said, with a proud, burning look as she held her hands behind her, admiring their incredible talent.
“This tub!”
“We had large granite imported from Italy and it was carved right in place,” she said proudly. “Most people who come here are very high paying customers,” she said.
“You read my mind. I was just wondering why so much?”
“Lo does nothing halfway. He is a man of excellence.”
“You adore him,” Cheryl said, smiling at the wall of mirror framed by more of the granite. “This sink!” Cheryl laughed when Yan demonstrated how the water was motion sensor.
“Wait till you see the shower.” Yan hurried to the far end of the room and Cheryl followed her around a winding wall of the same granite.
“Oh my word,” Cheryl whispered, entering the pure granite cave-like space.
“Dual showers so that you can shower together.”
Judging by her tone, this was her favorite thing to do. A mixture of jealousy and hunger tightened Cheryl’s stomach. Her and Ben never did stuff like that. But she was sure they would after the operation.
“You don’t like showers?” Yan asked.
“Oh, no, I do. We just… we don’t have a shower like this so we… take turns.” It wasn’t technically a lie, but it sure burned her cheeks like it was.
“Well now you can!”
“Right,” Cheryl said, ready to check on him.
“I’ll go see about Charlie and Alice while you freshen up.” Cheryl followed her out. “When you are done, I will take you to the pre-op room, so you can be with Ben.”
Oh God, the relief. “Thank you so much, Yan,” Cheryl said. “You have done such a great job with all of this. I wasn’t sure what to expect, honestly,” Cheryl said, back at her suitcase now.
“I am very pleased to hear that my hard work has paid off.”
“It really has, thank you.”
“You can try out the shower if you like.”
“Oh no, I’ll just change my clothes and wash my face for now. I’ll do that later.”
“See you soon. If you get lost, just call out a question and the home navigation system will guide you.” She gave a nod and smile and left. Cheryl marveled at the glass doors she passed through. On this side of the room, they weren’t clear but densely opaque. Interesting.
She grabbed up her suitcase and hauled it to the large bed on the mountain-like platform in the middle of the room. Wow. She climbed the three steps leading to the floor where the bed sat. Setting her suitcase on it, she quickly unloaded everything, shaking out the wrinkles. Only they didn’t shake out. She couldn’t go out dressed in frumpy clothes. She remembered the laundry room. She could toss her planned outfit in the dryer.
She brought her toiletries to the bathroom first and made quick with the face washing and hair brushing, finding her two fancy red pins for her hair. They were for the floor-length red skirt she needed to dry the wrinkles out of. The white peasant blouse with the long sleeves was a bit flary, but she wasn’t sure what the weather would be and wanted to be well covered and tasteful, but not formal.
God, she hoped Ben was okay. Everything Yan told her gave her more hope, but then that somehow got converted to dread. She needed to sleep. This too-good-to-be-true disease was getting the best of her.
As she switched her sandals for her white pair, she recalled Yan’s confidence in her husband’s ability to do this operation. Out of all the things she’d said that one helped her the most. At least Charlie seemed happy, but she also knew he was good at hiding his feelings. She never liked how Ben taught Charlie he needed to be strong as if that meant he couldn’t be weak. But now, she envied the lesson. Strength was necessary when you needed it and an iron resolve fed determination. Something any human would need in a crisis.
She’d been too focused on the stigmas put upon most boys that were never allowed to be emotional. But too much focus on emotion could also weaken when strength was needed. It was a balance she really attempted to strike but always felt like Ben fed into it unevenly. But her son was still ve
ry empathetic and compassionate. Somehow in their fight to be the best parents, they succeeded in something.
She pushed away the continuous thought of Ben not making it. It kept returning to her like a just-swatted-fly. She whacked it with force this time, smashing it into silence. For now.
Putting her things in a small bathroom closet, she hurried to the room and got the outfit needing de-wrinkled. Spying a door in the room, she found the large walk in closet slash changing room, complete with walls of built in drawers and shelves, and a center area for sitting. Amazing.
Setting her suitcase on the first shelf, she headed out with her wadded outfit. At the bedroom door, she stood, unsure of how to open it. She remembered the voice control and said, “Open.”
“What would you like to have opened?”
Cheryl jumped at the instant computerized voice. “The door.”
“Which door would you like opened?”
“The bedroom door.”
The glass parted, near soundless and Cheryl hurried through it, feeling a little creeped out with the voice thing. Having it answer her so quickly made her feel like it had been there the whole time, lurking.
She would like that turned off. She was a manual person, not an auto one. Ben would probably like it. She might have to bite the bullet and put up with it since he would need that kind of thing after surgery.
In the laundry room, she was again amazed. The space was neat and minimal but not cold feeling. Thanks to Yan and her intuitive décor skills. It could’ve passed for Cheryl’s home on that perfect cleaning day she always dreamed of having. Her problem was throwing out things. Ben on the other hand was a couple-item kind of guy. One or two, maybe three items on any counter was enough. After that, he saw clutter.
She opened the fancy, seemingly brand-new, white dryer and tossed the clothes in then shut it. The fancy control panel sat there without any obvious instructions. Did the home system run this too? “Turn on the dryer.”
