Chapter 5

19 September

Once back in Alex’s room, Dr. No insisted on a quick physical. He still couldn’t understand how Alex had survived without being harmed. Stacy was almost as interested as the doctor was in how Alex survived. However, after nearly an hour, neither could see any physical signs that the accident had even occurred. Alex hadn’t made a point of his legs working yet, as he knew that when the doctor found out, he would be turned into a pincushion.

“I don’t suppose I could get a bath?” Alex asked once they were done with his exam. “I still smell electrical smoke.”

“Of course. Give me a few minutes to get the stuff.”

“I mean, can I get a regular bath or a shower?”

Doctor No looked at Alex and shook his head sadly.

“Sorry, Alex, but that’s not going to happen for a couple of months.” Alex was so tempted to show that he could move his feet, but in the end, he decided not to, yet. Since Alex was already undressed from the physical, Stacy had no problem washing Alex. She could smell the electrical smoke, too, especially in Alex’s hair, so she had his hair washed well. Thanks to union and hospital rules, nurses couldn’t wash a patient’s hair unless they had a head injury. With any other injury, a 3^rd party was brought in to wash the patient’s hair. Since it had to be a third-party service anyway, the hospital contracted with a local beauty salon to wash patients’ hair as needed.

After finishing Alex’s sponge bath, Stacy stepped out to set up a hair cleaning. By sheer luck, the salon crew was already on that floor, so Stacy flagged them down and explained what was happening. Initially, the salon crew was reluctant to accommodate Alex on such short notice. Stacy was prepared for that and dragged one of the crew to Alex’s room, where they could smell the electrical smoke.

Stephanie, the crew member that Stacy grabbed, was furious at first. She had been washing the hair of unappreciative patients all day and only wanted to go home and prop her feet up with a glass of wine. Aside from unappreciative customers, Stephanie also had to contend with indecent propositions. Surprisingly, the most disgusting propositions were made by the female patients and staff. Stephanie was in a committed relationship with her boyfriend, and neither of them had any intention of breaking up.

When Stephanie smelled how bad Alex’s hair was, she instantly agreed to wash it for him. She couldn’t see forcing anyone to tolerate that smell any longer than necessary. It only took a few minutes to get everything set up, as Stephanie had a catch tray that slipped over the bed and under the patient’s head.

As Stephanie began washing Alex’s hair, he moaned and groaned in delight as her strong fingers dug into his scalp. Alex didn’t think he had ever felt such sensations before. He would have been thumping his foot if he had been a dog. Stephanie, however, was fighting a wave of nausea as the smell was getting to her. It was so bad that she had to stop and step out after shampooing his hair. While Stephanie stepped out, Alex jumped into his mind.

“Hey, Intell. Why didn’t you warn me the MRI smoke would be impossible to get out of my hair?”

“Sorry, boss, but if you remember, you never gave me a chance to go over the downsides.”

“Bite me. So, how are the injuries to my back and legs?”

“Completely healed, although something needs to be done with all the metal.” Alex thought for a moment.

“Can the metal be dissolved and incorporated into the bone as reinforcement?” The three subconscious beings looked at each other and shrugged.

“Don’t see why not,” answered Intell.

“Good, let’s do that. Additionally, utilize any excess carbon to produce carbon fiber. Use that as the primary bone reinforcement. Let’s see if we can keep my bones from breaking again.” Alex thought for a moment. “Let’s also look into adding some to my skin to increase its cut resistance.”

“Sounds good to us.”

“Okay, I’ve got to go.” Alex jumped out of his head as Stephanie entered the room.

Alex thoroughly enjoyed his hair washing and swore he would eventually have enough extra income to treat himself to a professional wash at least once a month. He became so relaxed that he fell asleep, unaware that Stephanie had finished. When she left, she and Stacy talked for a moment, and by the time they were done, Stacy had an appointment with Stephanie at her salon when she was off again. Stacy was jealous after what Stephanie had done for Alex and wanted some of that for herself.

It wasn’t until late the following morning that Alex woke up. He was groggy, his eyes were crusted, and his mouth felt as if he had eaten a bag of cotton, but he had rarely ever woken from sleep feeling better. Not seeing anyone in his room, Alex used his powers to check the rest of the floor. Stacy wasn’t around, but Dr. No and Dr. Hastings were. Alex assumed they were talking about him, and a quick check confirmed it. Dr. No was telling Becky about the incident the day before, including seeing what he thought were Alex’s feet moving. They began moving toward Alex’s door, and he quickly shifted to looking out the window.

Only ten seconds later, the door opened, and the two doctors walked in. Alex looked at them.

“Good morning, Dr. No, Dr. Hastings. What can I do for you?” Becky was stunned by Alex’s formality, but Dr. No took it in stride.

“I wanted to see you after yesterday’s incident, but when I came down, they told me you were having your hair washed and had fallen asleep.”

“Damn right, I fell asleep. That woman has the fingers of a goddess, and when I have enough extra money, I’m going to have my hair professionally washed at least once a month. Maybe even have her cloned so I can get my head scrubbed like that all the time!” Becky and Dr. No smiled.

“There’s something else, Alex. Dr. No swore he saw your feet moving yesterday while everyone else was running around. Can you feel your feet now?” Instead of answering, Alex wiggled and curled his toes. The doctors were staring at Alex’s moving feet.