by Jesse Jordan
“You were a fucking idiot,” Dr. Gordon says, looking more pissed off than I’ve ever seen him before. The walls are pale white, and while the decorator obviously tried to make it look more comforting with the use of pastel furniture and some drapes, there’s no escaping the fact I’m in a hospital room. Well, at least I’m in one of the best in the world, and I’m looking with blurry eyes at one of the best doctors in the world, too. Even if he is pissed off at me. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I’d like to be known as more than the real world Myles Bennet Dyson,” I reply, my voice papery thin and weak in the quiet room. Since waking up, I’ve been on oxygen the whole time, but I still can’t seem to catch my breath. “You know the name?”
“Nope.”
“Watch Terminator 2,” I answer him. “He’s the guy who invented Skynet.”
Gordon sighs, nodding as he gets the reference. “That may be the case, but what you did… well, our lab tech said it would be like taking a breaking down engine and dropping three bottles of nitro into it. Sure, you went fast as hell for a while, but-”
“But I cracked the case in doing so,” I finish for him. “Remember, I’ve got an supercar. I know what can happen.”
“Yeah well, fixing a sports car is a hell of a lot easier than fixing you,” Gordon says sadly. “Rick… there’s nothing I can do. We can make you more comfortable, but that’s about it.”
I nod, giving Gordon my best smile. “That’s okay, Doc. Hey, do me a favor. Two, actually.”
“What’s that?”
“One, don’t spend the whole endowment I’m giving you in my will on hookers and blow,” I joke lightly. “Second… can you ask Su Lin and Freida to come in?”
“Freida’s right outside, but Su Lin is upstairs talking to OB,” Gordon says. “Don’t worry, but she thought you were going to be out a while longer, and they had a few minutes to squeeze in a weight check. She’s healthy as can be, Rick.”
“Thank you, Doc.”
Gordon leaves, and a moment later Freida comes in. Her face is grave, and I know that inside she’s got her emotions in that same iron grip that I saw all those years ago, back when I knew I’d found the person I could have as my right hand and who could deal with my bullshit. There’s a reason I’m entrusting her with my wife and child.
“Hey,” I greet her, wishing I didn’t look like I’m dying, even if I really am. “Is everything okay with Su Lin and the company?”
Freida nods, sitting down next to me. “Harvey doesn’t know. And nobody here is going to say a damn thing until the power of attorney is in effect.”
I nod, relieved. I lay my head back, looking up at the ceiling. Four floors or so above me, my wife is getting checked out, and it’s the only thing on my mind. “I think I’m ready, Freida. I’ve done my best.”
“Don’t say that,” Freida says, her control slipping a little. “You’ve got more to do.”
“I took care of Harvey, my inventions are in good hands,” I reply. “Hey… just think, you’re going to be one of the richest women in America pretty soon.”
“I’d give it up if it meant you getting to be there for the birth,” Freida says.
I nod, wiping at my suddenly tearing eyes. “Me too.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell Alexander all about how great a man his father was,” Freida promises me, making me laugh sadly.
“I’m not a great man, Freida. I’m pathetic. So weak I can’t even tell Su Lin that I love her, because I’m afraid it’ll hurt her. She’s stronger than me, you know that? I should have trusted her, and now… it’s too late to tell her.”
“It’s okay, she knows,” Freida says. She reaches over, taking my hand. “She knows even if you don’t say it.”
“Thank you, my… my friend,” I tell her. “Su Lin’s not the only one who’s saved me from being a totally pathetic crazy inventor.”
Freida smiles, and reaches down, giving me a hug. “You’re the brother I always wanted,” she says quietly, hugging me tighter. “That was the whole reason I stuck around.”
Suddenly, a sharp pain jabs me in the shoulder, and Freida lets go. “What did you do?”
“I’m sorry,” Freida says as the curtains drop again. “Please forgive me.”
Su Lin
“Is he out?” I ask as Freida comes into the exam room. She nods, and drops the syringe into the wastebasket.
“I already told Gordon. He’s pissed, but I don’t think he’s going to call the cops.”
When Rick passed out on the Panther again on the way back from New York, I didn’t need Gordon’s evaluation to tell me that Rick’s idea had worked, but at a tremendous cost. If it wasn’t for the speed of the plane and having a medical helicopter waiting for us at the airfield, Rick might not have made it.
Freida knew as well, and went to work. When she approached me while Rick was unconscious with her plan, I realized again not only how smart this woman is, but how devoted and devious she can be as well. Thankfully she’s on our side.
“You know he still might,” I tell her, pulling my shirt on and giving her a hug. “I still don’t like that part.”
“He had to go into a coma for you to get the power of attorney,” Freida explains again. “Now you have the power not only over his company, but his medical care as well. Gordon knows it, he’s not an idiot.”
“Will Rick hate us if he wakes up?” I ask as we leave the exam room heading for Rick’s room.
“If it works, then who cares? I’m willing to risk jail for attempted murder, if a prosecutor wants to go that route. I don’t think losing my job is that much more,” Freida says. “And you love him. That’s worth the risk, don’t you agree?”
I smile, nodding. “You’re a romantic.”
“Perhaps,” Freida acknowledges. We get to Rick’s room, where Dr. Gordon and a nurse are checking the monitors that are attached all over Rick’s chest, his mouth and nose covered in a mask. “So Doc?”
“So… I really wish you’d told me about this cockamamie idea of yours,” Gordon growls after dismissing the nurse with a jerk of his head. “Jesus, after all that he’s pumped himself with, and you go and give him more… you’re both lucky that our code blue team is fast or else you’d be looking at a dead billionaire.”
“Mayo’s the best,” Freida explains simply. “Now, what’s his condition?”
Gordon rolls his eyes at Freida’s supposed nonchalance and turns to me. “Mrs. Kelley, I’ve got your husband stabilized in a medically induced coma. He’s on a ventilator, but I don’t want to insert a breathing tube unless absolutely necessary.”
“What about maintaining his health?” I ask, speaking for the first time. “Can you keep him alive?”
“With Trikala Syndrome?” Gordon asks, slightly surprised but nodding. “For four months, five months maybe. Mrs. Kelley, what Rick did to himself… he’s facing systemic organ failure unless the Trikala is reversed, and even then he may never be the same man.”
“Half of Rick is still more than enough for me,” I tell Gordon.
“But Rick refused treatment,” Gordon says. “Without the treatment, I’m just delaying the inevitable. And I must respect Rick’s wishes, regardless of your power of attorney. He refused the treatment using the fetal cells.”
“There’s another source of genetic code,” I reply, rubbing my stomach. “Five months? You might just have enough time.”
The house feels empty, even if all of the staff are here and it’s only Rick missing. I’ve asked the housekeepers to clean up our bedroom, and moved back into what was originally mine. Right now though I’m in the gym, not doing wushu but just walking on the treadmill while in front of me a widescreen TV plays a movie. I’m not going fast, just trying to keep myself moving and in shape for my babies.
The door opens, and Freida comes in, dressed casually like she always is now. “How’s the movie?”
“Barely paying attention,” I reply honestly, wiping at my for
ehead with a towel. “It’s just noise.”
“If you’re looking for a recommendation, I’d watch Iron Man,” Freida says. “It’s about a billionaire who gets injured, has a major change of heart, and becomes a superhero.”
I shake my head, smiling a little. “Already seen it. And I don’t find Robert Downey Jr. sexy.”
Freida gawks in mock disbelief, then smiles. “Okay. Well, to each their own. I’ll take tall, dark and snarky any day of the week.”
“I would have too… before I met Rick,” I reply. “And Harvey still doesn’t know?”
“So far, he’s behaving himself,” Freida replies. “If he does know, he isn’t raising hell. Probably because he knows that with your power of attorney, you can block anything he does. And he knows I’ve got your ear.”
I nod, turning my attention back to the screen. “Well, let me get another half hour on here before I’m done with my morning exercise. If you don’t mind, unless there’s an emergency I would like to be alone.”
“Of course,” Freida says. She turns, pausing at the door. “By the way, when you get back to your room, check the top drawer on your right hand dresser. I put some clothes there that I think you’ll enjoy for your exercise sessions.”
“Thank you,” I reply, putting it out of my mind as I keep walking. I’m not trying to be strenuous, but it helps distract me from the pain in my heart. Waking up and knowing where Rick is, I want to not even be here, I want to be in that room at the hospital, spending all my time with my husband. The only thing that’s gotten me out of bed the past four days is our twins. I want Rick to hold them some day soon, and that means I have to make sure all three of us stay healthy.
“Well Alexander, I guess I’ll spend plenty of time telling you about your father,” I tell my stomach, rubbing it through my t-shirt. “You too, Roxanna. You’re both going to get tired of me talking to you for the next few months.”
I keep up my steady pace, not sweating heavily but not strolling. The television keeps making pictures on the wall in front of me but I’m not really conscious of them as I tell my babies a story about how Rick and I met, switching between English and Mandarin the whole time. I know what the books say, that the babies probably can’t understand me even if their brains are conscious at this stage of development. But right now talking to them is as much for my comfort as it is for them.
When the treadmill beeps I lower the incline and reduce speed to a slow stroll, letting the show in front of me finish before stepping off. I look around the gym as I stretch, seeing everything that’s been sitting around unused since Rick’s disease started really taking a toll on him. “I’m going to change that,” I say to myself. “I’m going to learn how to use all this equipment, and use it right. So that when Rick gets better, I can be right beside him.”
That decided, I go up to my room, where Freida’s last words come back to me. I go over to the righthand of my two dressers, opening the top drawer. What I see brings tears to my eyes, as folded in nice, perfect squares are a pile of Rick’s exercise shirts. On top is one of his favorites, a silly picture of Albert Einstein’s head attached to a bodybuilder’s body. I pick it up and inhale, smelling the scent that is undeniably Rick.
To hell with it, I haven’t cried since Rick went into a coma. I can let myself cry for now.
Su Lin
The hum of the ventilator doesn’t disturb me any longer. After three months of sleeping next to it every night, none of it disturbs me. I know some people might think it strange, or maybe even crazy, to have an entire library turned into a state of the art hospital room complete with all of the sensors Rick had in the hospital, and then later on a bed put in for me. I consider it doing what I can to give him the best opportunity to live.
I’ve even hired two full time live-in nurses to monitor him and make sure he’s as stable as possible. Dr. Gordon didn’t have an objection after the first month, after coming out here and evaluating what we have. He says that Rick’s deterioration is constant, but slowed down, and this room is just as good as staying at the hospital.
Carefully, I swing my legs out of bed and with the help of the railing on my own bed, sit up. I might only be half-Chinese, but the two babies inside me are huge, and my tiny womb is currently overfilled, no more room in this inn. Sitting up is a challenge, and I feel like I have to run to the toilet every half hour sometimes.
“Good morning my love,” I tell Rick when I’m finally sitting up, going over to look at him. He’s shrunken some more, his body thin to the point that I’m glad the nurses cover him with a blanket. They say it’s to keep him warm, I think it’s to keep me from seeing the skeletal condition of his body… but still he doesn’t give up. His heart still beats, his brain is still working in its sleep, and I believe that as I talk to him, he hears me somehow.
“Your children are getting especially squirmy,” I tell Rick, picking up the blanket to take his unmarked hand and place it on my stomach, letting him feel. “They know that it’s a big day, and that they’re going to be able to help their Daddy soon. According to the hospital, they can induce labor in one month, and they’ll be able to say hello to you. And then the other half of the team’s ready.”
I clear my throat, putting Rick’s hand back under the blanket. “Rick, I know you maybe wouldn’t have approved of what I’m doing. Oh, on that… these hospital bills and all, technically you’re not a billionaire anymore. I had Freida check with the accountant, and you’re now officially only worth nine hundred and ninety four million dollars. K-S has seen a slight downturn in the stock price as well, so that’s part of it also. Don’t worry, Harvey’s been quiet. In fact he’s been too quiet, and Freida thinks that we might need to check up on him soon.”
I talk with Rick for another ten minutes before there’s a quiet knock on the door, and the nurse comes in. “Mrs. Kelley? I need to get Mr. Kelley’s food.”
I nod, leaving. I tried watching once, but the feeding tube and the gloop they pump into Rick’s stomach made me want to vomit myself, and I can’t risk that right now. Morning sickness was bad enough back in the first trimester, I wouldn’t want to know what kind of hell it’d be like now. Instead I pull on my robe and leave, walking down the hallway to the main living area, looking for food. With the twins putting so much pressure on my stomach it’s nearly impossible to maintain weight, but I’m doing my best. Freida’s helping too, and since two months ago the only fluids I get to drink are high calorie ones. Whole milk, protein shakes with vegetable powders, and more. Five star living, for sure.
I go into the kitchen where I see Freida already has my breakfast ready. “How’d you sleep?”
“Just fine. My back hurts, but it’s not like I can roll over easily,” I mock complain. “So… egg and weight gainer?”
“And I want to see if you can get a whole eight ounces down,” Freida challenges me. “If not, I’m not going to allow you to aqua walk today.”
I glower at her, picking up the glass of thick white liquid. “Wait, aren’t I the one that supposed to be in charge?”
“Yes,” Freida admits, “but I’m the one that’s supposed to look out for those two in your belly. And there’s no way my little nephew and niece are going to come out looking skinny because their mother can’t man up and swallow the thick white goodness of breakfast.”
“I should make you swallow some thick white goodness,” I grumble, sipping the glass. Ugh, yogurt flavor… I hate this one more than all the others. “Get you a line of strippers, you can get all their thick white goodness.”
Freida smirks, shaking her head. “Please do. I spend all my time with you, people are going to start thinking I’m a lesbian or something. I could use some time with men who don’t work around here.”
I smile slightly, forcing down half the glass before turning my attention to my scrambled egg. “Is there any way I can get some vegetables for lunch?”
“Sure,” Freida admits. “No rice though. Tiny as your stomach is getting, we need to m
ake sure everything going in there is nutrient dense.”
I sigh, knowing I’m not going to win the argument. Still, at least Freida’s willing to mix up a half dozen of these tiny drinks a day, rotating the flavors so I don’t go insane as I try to keep my weight up. The hospital isn’t worried, they say it’s not unusual for a woman with twins to have the problems I am, but still, Freida and I are doing out best.
I finish off the small glass, burping as I set it down. “Oops. Excuse me. Why the yogurt?”
“Supposed to be good for digestion,” Freida says. “Clean digestion means less gas coming out the back end. You’re getting a little… well, you know.”
I can’t help but blush, nodding. It’s not like I’m trying, but with all the high protein foods, vegetable powders, and more, I’ve become somewhat of a gas bag. Thankfully, my huge waist more than explains it to anyone who sees me. “Well, let’s get my morning aqua walk taken care of, and then we can look at anything relating to K-S that we need to take care of.”
I guess it would seem strange that I do a half hour water walk while wearing a daring bikini, but it makes a certain amount of sense. My stomach is growing almost by the day, and having a bottom that ties on the sides while avoiding my stomach is helpful. Extra long strings especially complete the ensemble.
I get to the pool, setting the pace on the current and start my walking. It’s more of a waddle now, even with the relief of the water taking some of the weight off my body I’ve got something the size of a basketball sticking out of my stomach, and I have to deal with that.
“Well, well, well… I didn’t think a woman as advanced as you could still be seen as beautiful, but I must admit, I was wrong.”
I whirl around, reaching for my towel and barely keeping my balance. Harvey’s standing in the doorway, dressed in a sharply pressed business suit and eyeing me like a piece of meat. I half stumble, not used to trying to move this quickly right now, and sit down on the edge of the pool. “What are you doing here?”
