Chapter 6

In the morning, my normal routine was again disturbed, Martha was riding my face, while Barbara was posting on my dick.

I suddenly heard Lucy, the female paramedic’s voice, she was talking about going off duty, and probably wouldn’t see me for a few days. But most importantly, she hoped that I would wake up, so that we could get to know each other.

I was, to say the least, flabbergasted, I never expected anything like that.

I think that that was what pulled me to the edge, and suddenly I sneezed, Martha still hadn’t shaved, she kept talking about it, and a hair was irritating the end of my nose, but the sneeze happened in my nose in the real world.

Lucy jumped up, and suddenly the room was filled with medical staff, any number of doctors and nurses crowding in.

A porter was called to push me down to radiology, it was deemed important that they document all changes, so amongst other tests, an MRI and a CAT scan were scheduled.

Nobody seemed to have noticed, or if they did, they weren’t commenting on how a fat, balding middle-aged man had come into the hospital recently, but now had the physique of a younger much fitter man, in much better shape. Although, with the military buzz-cut, I don’t know that my hair would have been much of a talking point, anyway.

I closed my eyes, and I tried to tell the girls sorry, as I felt the intense disappointment, as the lead disappeared from my pencil, and they were left riding just another plastic doll.

I was to be kept overnight for observation, the doctor in charge would review my case and I might go home tomorrow.

I was ambulatory, I hadn’t been there long enough for muscles to atrophy, although with what I think are stupid hospital rules, as a patient, I may not walk about, but I should rather have to suffer indignity and be transported everywhere by wheelchair, wherever I might wish to go.

I returned to the coma ward, where I looked in on Barbara, I held her hand, while talking to her about getting better and coming into the real world and then we could go out, do things, I thought she might still want to lose her cherry for real.

Martha, I could feel, almost there, but I think that Barbara might have been holding onto her. Martha wouldn’t be leaving the hospital for a while, she did still have some fairly serious injuries.

I eventually found Ken, although he was still in a paediatric ward, whereas Barbara had recently been moved to the adult ward, as she grew older.

Anyway, Ken was a kid by the name of Kyle, he had had to have facial reconstruction surgery done, and sitting next to him, I had realised that the constant snuffling and grunting may have been due to the damage done to his nose by a cricket bat; he was on the fielding team, and the other team’s batsman had stepped out of his crease to get what was essentially a wide ball. There is, of course, a reason why some fielding positions are referred to as silly.

Kyle seemed a bit reluctant to return, I think that he thought that the pain would still be there.

I did visit with a few others, too much favouritism might set off alarm bells, especially when two of the people that I, a middle-aged man visited were good-looking younger females.

I was being released, I could go home. First, I went to Barbara, and then Martha, and then a few others. Martha was ready to return, although she was also afraid of the pain, but Barbara was still holding on tight to her fear, she wasn’t ready to let go.

I got back to the house, and as soon as I was alone, I went looking for the dolls. Barbara/Barbie acted as though she didn’t know me, aloof, just another plastic doll. I had betrayed her.

On the other hand, my interaction with Martha showed me that I was still in tune with the dolls, I couldn’t hear her, but she heard me, she nodded in the affirmative.

Kyle/Ken was ready to go back as soon as he realised that the pain was no longer there. I watched as the doll winked out. The plastic doll became just another plastic doll, but for one moment I had seen that magic spark of life within.

I didn’t even worry about him telling the world about his experiences as a plastic doll, they would have been dismissed as the confused ramblings of a kid still too inarticulate to be able to tell the tale in a manner that people might actually understand.

Lucy was excited when she came to visit me, it was the talk of the hospital, one of the paediatric patients that I had visited had also woken. I said, “wow, imagine that, I mean I only went to look for others because I wanted to see what might be wrong with them, and also if possible to help them, but I never in my wildest dreams, expected something like that to happen, as long as no one expects me to do anymore miracle cures, I’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t yet cleared to return to work, and I had a follow-up check-up at the hospital. I met Pamela, she was pleased to see me up and about.

We went and looked in on Barbara. When Pamela went out to the lady’s room, I whispered in Barbara’s ear that I loved her, and didn’t want her to not be in my life. For a moment I thought her eyes were about to open.