"He's sure feeling better," AJ said.
"The physiology of a canine is relatively simple and as a result, Seamus is able to affect healing at an accelerated rate," Beverly said. "It is a good sign that Seamus is capable of projecting imagery. Greybeard must be an intelligent specimen."
"Bulldogs are lazy but smart as they come," AJ said, wistfully recalling his buddy, Max. "How long will she be out?"
Jack appeared, seated on Jayne's pillow with a clipboard in hand. "I would like to keep the patient sedated until mid-afternoon. Groceries are scheduled for a lunch-time delivery. I'm afraid the good doctor will awake with quite a hunger."
"Are you sure?" AJ asked. "Whenever I wake up in the hospital, I get the Jell-O treatment for the first couple of days."
"An understandable comparison given your limited understanding," Jack said, pushing a tobacco pipe to his mouth. "It was a difficult night for both of us so please excuse my terse response. I will require your assistance in blending a liquid meal. A smoothie, I believe you would call it. We are dangerously low on fundamental building blocks for her healthy recovery."
"Perhaps we could continue our work in the shop," Beverly said, hovering in front of him, having strapped on a rocket pack. "We'll come back in when the groceries arrive."
AJ nodded, biting back his desire to say something snarky to Jack. "Let me get this stuff in the wash first," he said, pushing the wheelchair-turned-laundry-basket from the room.
"Dr. Jayne is in good hands," Beverly said as AJ loaded the washing machine.
He gave her a quick nod. "I hope Diego is okay. We haven't seen him since all that business with the Korgul went down. Any word on the police report?"
"You were right about the policeman's suspicions," Beverly said. "He recommended an investigation – which I redirected, though I must be careful so Korgul do not become aware of my meddling."
AJ loaded the wheelchair with protein shakes and other supplies and used the handles for balance as he made his way to the machine shed. Just before entering, he stopped and turned his head abruptly at the sound of a loud whistle. Diego sat on his bike, waving from just outside his property on the other side of the open gate. AJ waved him in.
"Good morning, Mr. AJ," Diego said. "Do you need help today?"
AJ considered the boy for a moment. Two days previous, Diego saw a woman shot and was asked to help cover it up and now, here he stood, like nothing had changed.
"I don't think I paid you for your help the other day." AJ leaned over and flipped open the cigar box that held a substantially reduced stack of twenties. He peeled off two and set them on the table. "Yes, I could use some help today, if you're up to it."
Diego smiled and snagged the bills, stuffing them into the pocket of his tattered jeans. "What do you need me to do?"
"Parts. I need a piece of metal that looks about like this," AJ said, hastily drawing a shape onto a piece of paper. "Needs to be about this big." He held his hands apart eighteen inches. "Doesn't matter if it's already hooked up to something, we can cut it off."
Diego nodded and ran out of the shop. AJ dragged over his favorite stool and smiled. For the first time since the accident, he was able to sit up straight and see his entire workbench. He flipped through Beverly's virtual plans and reoriented himself to the project at hand.
"I just don't see how this extractor is going to do anything," he said, blue solder smoke wafting up from the board in front of him. "It's tiny."
"Fantastium and Blastorium are much smaller than any elements humanity has worked with, although many human laboratories are capable of recognizing them," Beverly said. "Of course, Korgul have infiltrated those laboratories and hijacked scientists who display any possibility of discovery."
AJ slid the cover onto the device. While he'd completed both the tiny extractor and the containment chambers, he couldn't fathom how they'd work, especially with only a single triple-A battery for power. It wasn't lost on him that the containment device was designed to mount onto the extractor, so he slid the two pieces together.
"Will this work, Mr. AJ?" Diego asked, holding up a piece of metal. While close in size, it didn't have the requisite bends for the next device on Beverly's construction list.
"It will not work," she said.
"Good try," AJ said. "Set that one down and keep looking. Needs to be more bendy."
"Okay, Mr. AJ," Diego replied and ran off.
"What do we do with this?" AJ asked, holding up the device he'd been working on.
"A test run is in order," Beverly said. "The highest concentration of Fantastium is in the soft dirt next to the foundation of your home. I propose we bury the device eight inches beneath the ground for at least twenty hours."
"I'll get a shovel."
"I do not believe that will be necessary," Beverly answered as Greybeard lumbered into the shop. "Greybeard and Seamus are well suited to the task."
Greybeard woofed and sat on his haunches, looking up at AJ with his mouth open. AJ gently set the device into Greybeard's maw and watched as the animal clamped down and ran off.
Doing his best to avoid looking amazed, AJ pointed at the workbench. "What's the next project?"
"I don't want to ruin the surprise," Beverly said, switching back to her Rosie the Riveter outfit. "Trust me when I say, you'll love it."
AJ rolled his eyes and flipped to the first page of the new schematics.
"Hey there, Doc," AJ said in a quiet voice as Jayne's eyes fluttered open. Her eyes flitted around the room and she struggled to sit up. "Take it easy. You're safe."
"Water," she rasped. If AJ hadn't been in her position several times before, he might not have understood. He held a bottle to her lips and dribbled out a stream of water. "Where?" she managed, nodding for him to give her another shot.
"You're at my house," he said. "You were shot. You probably don't remember."
She nodded and brought her hand up to the bottle, directing it back to her mouth. "Thought I was dreaming. Bullet out?"
He held up a clear plastic baggie which held the deformed bullet as well as three pieces of Vietnam-era shrapnel. "Not recommended for the faint of heart," AJ said. "All out, though. You're a tough old broad."
Jayne chuckled. "Irascible."
"You or me?" AJ laughed.
"Both," she finally answered. "Help me up."
He stood up from the chair he'd positioned next to her bed and helped her to a seated position with pillows at her back. "You're sure looking better," he said as she confidently grabbed a glass of water sitting on the table next to the bed.
Setting the half-empty glass down, she picked at the t-shirt she wore. "This yours?" she asked.
"Afraid so," he said. "Don't worry, your dignity's intact."
She lifted the covers and looked south. At some point, AJ had swapped out her underwear for something the hospital had sent him home with. "You took care of me?" she asked.
AJ nodded. "Good help is hard to find."
"Good for you," she said, patting his arm. "You've been down this road before, haven't you?" She glanced at his left hand which still sported his wedding band.
"My wife died a few years back. Cancer," he said. "Did my best for her."
"She was lucky to have you by her side," Jayne said. "I don't have to tell you how hard getting old alone is."
"That's heavy, Doc," AJ said.
"Tell me that's for me." Jayne was eyeing the tall green smoothie on the table.
AJ nodded and handed it to her. "You remember the aliens?"
Her eyebrows shot up as she tipped the glass back. Her expression soon changed to that of revulsion. "What the heck is that? Are you feeding me your old shoes?"
"Aliens, Doc," he pushed. "Remember?"
"Vaguely. I seem to remember agreeing to something, then indescribable pain. It's all a bit fuzzy," she said. "And there was this handsome English man."
"That would be me." Jack took the opportunity to appear on the nightstand wearing a doctor's lab coat,
complete with stethoscope around his neck. "Formally, Jack 903218876-1-J of Beltigersk. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." He bowed and then gave her a bright smile.
"Ah, right. I recall this conversation. Nice to meet you – again. And, I hate to appear indelicate, but I very much need a restroom," she said.
AJ worked his way around the end of the bed and offered his hand to her as she pulled back the sheets. "How is it you're walking, Mr. … AJ?" she asked, taking his arm for support.
"The Beltigersk aliens bonded with us," he said as the two shuffled toward the bathroom. "They have the ability to cause our bodies to regenerate. Beverly, how about you introduce yourself to Dr. Jayne."
Beverly appeared next to the sink in the bathroom wearing a white knee-length, red polka-dotted dress. She smiled brightly, waving at Jayne. "Very glad to meet you, Dr. Jayne."
"You, as well," Jayne said. "If my head wasn't so clear, I might think I was hallucinating. And, my lord, but my hip feels like someone stabbed it." She rested her hand against the dressing just below her waist.
"There was stabbing," AJ admitted, turning so she could have the illusion of privacy. "Things got a little grisly when Jack removed your shrapnel."
"I'd be happy to describe the process in more detail, Doctor," Jack said, standing on the lip of the tub.
"Perhaps later. Thank you, Jack," she said. "What now? I recall asking you to call the hospital and let them know I was unavailable. There was something about Korgul."
"Would you like it straight or sugar-coated?" AJ asked.
Jayne laughed. "What do you think?"
"Life as you know it is over," AJ said. "The Korgul invaded Earth several hundred years ago. They monitor the hospitals and if you go back, you'll be killed. They're stealing materials called Fantastium and Blastorium. The names are stupid, I know. Beverly made them up on the fly. As it turns out, these elements are critical for space travel and without space travel, we won't be recognized by the Galactic Empire. Oh, and there's the issue that they believe as a species we're not terribly intelligent."
"I lied," Jayne said. "Maybe I do need a little sugar coating. I'm not giving up my life. I can’t believe the Korgul exist. This feels like either an elaborate hoax or a hallucination. Either way, I need medical, likely psychological, help."
"How do you defend that we've been talking?" Jack asked. "Are we just figments of your imagination? What of the bullet I removed or the shrapnel?"
"I've seen seemingly lucid people talk quite rationally with imaginary people," Jayne said, standing up. "It is not as uncommon as you might imagine. The shrapnel could be metal shavings from Mr. Jenkin's salvage yard."
"What are you doing?" AJ asked.
She scowled at him. "I'm leaving. Where are my clothes and my car keys?"
"You'll need to keep the t-shirt," AJ said. "I had to cut off your shirt so we could work on the bullet wound. Slacks are on the table next to the bed. Car keys in your lab coat. I'm afraid I wasn't able to get all the blood out."
Jayne washed her hands in the sink and AJ stepped out of her way.
"You need to stop her," Jack said. "If she is found at the hospital, she will be killed."
AJ held up his hands. "I'm not stopping anything. She's the doctor. If she thinks the most reasonable answer to what she's seeing is that she's hallucinating, then who am I to question it?"
"Reverse psychology won't work on me." Jayne stumbled as she walked from the bathroom.
He caught her and helped her back to the bed. "Are you hallucinating my recovery too?" He worked his way around to the nightstand where he picked up her folded clothing and placed it on the bed next to her.
"That is troublesome," she said, uncertainty crossing her face. "The roots of your hair are dark."
He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. "All part of the Beltigerskian experience."
"Lie down on the bed," Jayne said.
"Now we're getting somewhere." AJ waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"On your stomach."
"Kinky."
"You're being ridiculous." She lifted his shirt and probed the area where she'd recently performed surgery.
AJ gave a quick shiver. "Your hands are cold."
"You can feel that?" she asked. "You had significant nerve damage and shouldn’t feel anything below this point." She poked his back with her fingernail.
"Ouch. Stop that," he said. "Seriously Doc, we're not screwing with you. Jack and Beverly are real, if only a few hundred nanometers long. Even Greybeard has an alien buddy."
She raised her eyebrows. "The dog has a parasitical bonding with a Beltigerskian?"
"That's right," AJ said. "And good for you for pronouncing it correctly."
Greybeard tipped his head back and woofed, wagging his tail.
"Okay, Greybeard, go fetch twenty-four divided by six rocks from the driveway and bring them back," she said.
"I'm not sure …" AJ started, but Greybeard woofed in response and ran off.
Jayne frowned. "I thought the dog was injured."
"He was, but apparently they recover more quickly than humans," AJ said. "You should finish your shake."
"It tastes terrible."
"That's because it has material Jack needs to help your body recover more quickly. I promise. I mixed it and there's nothing dangerous in it."
"When Greybeard comes back," she said, drinking deeply from a water bottle.
A few minutes later, Greybeard came back and spit three rocks onto the ground next to Jayne's feet.
"Math much?" AJ chuckled.
"That's remarkable," Jayne said. "How could he know to pick up any number of rocks and bring them back?"
Greybeard shook his head, causing his oversized lips to shake and a fourth rock to fall out. He sat back on his haunches and allowed his ears to fall back, wagging his tail. AJ reached down and scooped up the rocks after petting the dog on the head. He handed the rocks to Jayne.
"Pretty elaborate hallucination, don't you think?" he asked.
Jayne picked up the green smoothie. "Yes, you’re right. A hallucination does not generally have this level of consistency."
"What are you saying?"
"Maybe I'll stick around a little longer and see how things play out."
The next morning, Jayne walked into the machine shed, looking pretty darn good for an old lady who’d been shot just yesterday. "I wondered where you disappeared to."
"Sleep all right?" AJ asked, taking advantage of the break to finish his protein smoothie. With a new batch of groceries, he'd spent much of the previous evening blending and packaging the significantly different recipes specified by Beverly and Jack.
"I was hot," she said. "Jack says he's had to fire up my metabolism to kick out the cancer cells. You know you don't look like the same man I operated on a couple weeks ago."
"You're past the hallucination thing then?"
She nodded. "You and I fought in a war that seemed to have little definition. I was proud to be an American then – as I am now. To discover that aliens have slipped in behind our guard infuriates me. I've been talking with Jack about attempting to escalate the problem. Get people with power to understand what we're up against."
"Oh? How'd that conversation go?" AJ asked.
"There are just so many of them. Discovery is our biggest danger. Jack convinced me that we need to finish the Beltigersk mission."
"We're starting at quite a deficit," AJ said. "Did he tell you about the spaceship in Mexico?"
"Ironic that it sits in a junkyard," she replied as she shifted back and forth on a stool in an attempt to get comfortable.
"Junkyard? I guess BB didn't get that far with me," AJ scooted an old dusty recliner over for her. "I told her it was a bad idea to go after the ship. No doubt someone's watching it."
"You call her BB?"
"You need to keep up on your Star Wars," AJ said. "Beverly from Beltigersk. BB. It works."
After she lowered herself into the recliner
, Jayne sighed in relief. She looked up at him and smiled in thanks. "It was kind of freeing, telling the hospital I won't be back. I've practiced medicine since I graduated medical school. I was just one accident from being forcibly retired."
"I got fired. Deserved it too," AJ said. "Pam was sick and I didn’t deal with it very well. I was drinking on the job."
"What did you do?"
"Engineer for Pacific Aerodyne."
"That's quite a change from door-gunner."
"Enjoy working with my hands." He picked up a component and ran his fingers along its edge. "Engineering is more about design, but it worked for me."
"What are all those boxes?" Jayne asked, pointing to a pile of envelopes and boxes on the end of the workbench.
"More parts for this mystery device," he said.
"A puzzle, then? Want any help?"
"Sure. Beverly, can you get the doc plugged in?" AJ asked.
Beverly and Jack both appeared, standing behind a drafting table. Beverly peeled off a sheet from her roll of schematics and handed it to Jack. "We'll have the two of you work on the frame," she said. "AJ, you're making very good progress."
"Thanks. Doc, you might put earmuffs on. I gotta grind down this piece Diego fetched for me," AJ said, picking up a conical piece of steel from the pile. "Feels like you've got me making a fire extinguisher, BB."
"You don't know what we're making?" Jayne asked.
"She won't tell me. Wants it to be a surprise."
"An interesting way to keep your attention."
The two worked companionably, only stopping long enough to refuel with AJ's protein shakes and to frequent the bathroom. Finally, the setting sun caught his attention.
"That was a helluva day," he said. "I'm pretty sure I know what BB's got in mind, though."
"Really?" Jayne asked. "I've no idea."
"What do you say we get out of here and get a real meal for once? I'm dying for a steak."
"And good Scotch," she added.
He grinned at her. "Damn, that's sexy."
"I need a shower first," she said, looking down at the filthy t-shirt and oversized jeans she'd borrowed from AJ. "I'd like to stop by my apartment, too."
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