Two Years' Past: The Whys

“You didn’t deserve what happened, and I might be able to fix some of the damage. You’re young, with more to do in life ahead of you. You were still alive when they pulled you out of the rubble. You’re strong. Stubborn. Those are both qualities we need in the candidates for this sort of program. You were a dancer, the very best at the academy, which means you have other qualities that we will need for this type of work.

“I talked to the medic that flew in with you. You know what he told me the first thing you said to him was when he found you?”

Kailey shook her head. Her memories of the accident were fragmentary at best.

“You grabbed his sleeve and said ‘I’d rather die than not be able to dance again.’”

Kailey blinked at the sudden hot sting of tears in her eyes.

“So that has been and is my promise to you. You aren’t dead, so we’ll make it so you can dance again.”

The Wizard fished in his pocket, and pulled out a handkerchief, handed it to Kailey.

* * * * *

“You all right?” Jordan asked, as they went back up the corridor. “Your eyes are all puffy. I’ll knock his ass down if he made you cry.”

“No, it’s okay, Jordan.”

They went up the elevator in silence.

“Hey, Jordan,” she said, as they rounded the corner to the cafeteria.

“Yeah?”

“How much did you know? About me? The surgeries? The metal?”

“Not much. Knew you had a tough time, someone dropped a house on you, and they did some Humpty-Dumpty. Guessed they did something first time I picked you up. You’re heavier than you look, girl. Not, like, megatons, or anything, maybe an extra two or three kilos. I’ve lifted enough weights to be able to tell the difference.”

“I’m not fat, I just have titanium laced through all my bones,” Kailey said, batting her eyes up at him.

Jordan laughed.

“Hey, what’s that he gave you?”

“Homework,” Kailey said, indicating the three folders.

“Huh. Thought you only got that after Third Session.”

“He says it’s required reading.”

“Well, what is it?”

Kailey flipped open the top folder, showed Jordan. He frowned.

“It’s all fuzzy,” he said. “Like they do in those porno videos when they don’t want you to see the naughty bits.”

“What do you mean? Look, it says right here: ‘Microfilament nerve architecture is…’” She frowned when Jordan frowned again. “It does,” she insisted.

“I believe you, girlfriend. Never heard you use words like ‘micro-whatever’ so you must be getting it from somewhere. Maybe the computer in your head is deciphering it.”

“Well… He did say it was for my eyes only…. I wonder what else it can do. Maybe I could use it to help me with my other homework, too!”

Jordan shook his head. “I don’t know what’s scarier, girl. The fact that you can just accept that they crammed all that stuff into you, that your first reaction is to want to use it to cheat on your homework.” He laughed again.

“Okay, headin’ on into the chow hall. Think maybe we should keep all the super girl stuff hush-hush?”

Kailey nodded. Chances are, the dirty old men would just ask when she was going to get the skimpy costume, anyway.

* * * * *

Dr. Burke stood in front of the door to Kailey’s room, arms crossed, and the scowl etched even deeper into her features.

She unfolded her arms at Kailey’s approach, extending a hand.

“Those folders, Miss Winter, if you please.”

Kailey’s grip on the folders in her lap tightened.

“The folders,” the older woman repeated, the word coming out close to a hiss at the end. “You are not allowed to have those, they are property of this Institute. Return them immediately.”

“The information relates directly to my ongoing medical treatment. I have a right to know. They are part of my medical records, and I have a right to those, as well. Why didn’t you tell me about any of this before?” Kailey asked.

“It was not necessary for your recovery up until this point. As your physician, I—”

“I think I have a right to know what’s been done to me in an operating room. That’s what doctors do. They say ‘We’ve reinforced your entire skeleton with metal, oh yeah, and let’s not forget about the computers and microfilament wiring’ not ‘We replaced a couple crushed vertebrae and repaired your legs.’”

Dr. Burke’s lips set in a firm, grim line.

“And that buzzing in my head? It’s line noise across the nanofilament webwork that bled over into my audio cortex. Not tinnitus.”

“You—”

“I want another doctor.”

“You can’t—”

“I can. Doctor Diggs was very open about my rights as a patient. He said that if I wanted a new general physician, all I have to do is ask.” She looked up. “Jordan, I do not feel that Dr. Burke has my best interests at heart and has acted unethically by withholding information about my condition and deliberately lying to me.”

Jordan stared at the doctor. “Now that a patient as expressed concerns regarding her treatment, it would be unethical to continue treatment with such a breach of trust.”

Dr. Burke turned, stalking down the hallway, her back very straight.

* * * * *

Kailey was in her room, brushing her hair, still damp from the after-Fourth-Session shower when the knock came at her door.

It wasn’t Jordan’s jaunty two-knock cadence, or the gentle tap of her morning nurse, but slightly more hesitant.

“Come in,” Kailey said, tugging at a snarl in her curls.

Another doctor in a white coat stepped in, tallish, with short blonde hair and wire-rimmed glasses on a chain around her neck, dangling along with the lanyard full of keys and her Institute ID badge, which was turned around so the magnetic stripe showed. She carried a thick file under one arm.

“Good evening, I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said in a clear, high voice. “I’m Dr. Emily Carter, and I’ll be taking over your general medical care from Dr. Burke.” She held out a hand, and Kailey took it, surprised at the warm, firm handshake. Dr. Burke’s was like a dead fish.

“I’ll be sitting down later tonight with Drs. Harris and Diggs, and—”

“He hates being called Dr. Diggs,” Kailey said.

“He— oh, all right.” She looked down, and made a notation on a pad of paper that was at the top of the stack in her arms. She sat in Kailey’s wheelchair, propping the files up on her knees, and flipped back a few pages in the notepad.

“Dr. Burke never sat in my wheelchair,” Kailey said.

“She probably always stood by your bedside, so you had to look up at her,” Dr. Carter said.

“Well… yeah, now that you mention it.”

“I like to think of this as part of seeing things from your perspective,” Dr. Carter said. “Now, having read over your medical notes and case file, I have some questions here…”

Kailey and Dr. Carter talked for several hours, and they both looked up when the night nurse came in with Kailey’s evening medications.

“Just the two yellows and the big pink one. You won’t be taking the little red and blue ones any more. You might have some difficulty getting to sleep the next few nights, but I’d rather it was natural sleep.”

Kailey nodded, sipping water to wash down the pills.

“Rest of the glass. Water is the best thing for you.”

“Yes, doctor,” Kailey muttered, and settled back once she’d finished the glass. Dr. Carter got up, and pulled the covers up, tucking them in around Kailey’s legs.

“Comfortable?”

Kailey nodded.

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” Kailey said.

“Never,” she said, and turned off the overhead lights on her way out the door.