Chapter 36

Fred, in street clothes, was sitting in his room, fuming. The young nurse hesitantly came in, having already run afoul of the big man's temper.

"Sir, I've told the doctor that you refused the CAT scan and the MRI, and wouldn't let them take blood..."

"I'm not mad at you, Nurse. I know you're just following orders, but we all know that he's just trying to figure out why I heal so quickly. Those tests don't have a thing to do with a cut across my chest. Now get the paperwork done, or in ten minutes we're walking out that door without it being done."

"But, Sir, if you leave AMA..." At Fred's look, "Uh, against medical advice, most insurance companies will refuse to pay. It could wind up costing you several thousand..."

"In that case, when I leave, I'm heading straight for my attorney. Now when the insurance company hears about the tests you're trying to run, and you want to keep me another day for something that's ridiculous, considering my injury, who do you think is going to win this? Besides, I know a couple of folks that you see on the six o'clock news. I'll bet they could make a big deal out of the hospital running up the bill on needless tests. Now quit stalling, and quit lying for that doctor who suddenly won't come in to see me, but keeps trying to send me for useless tests. If you want me to sign that paperwork, you've got ten minutes."

The nurse left, but came back in a couple minutes with a digital camera. "Sir, I'm not the one trying to make you stay and take the tests, but would you please let me take a picture of your wound in case the doctor tries to put all the blame of your leaving AMA on me?"

Fred thought for a moment, stood and pulled his shirt up to reveal a wound that had to be at least three or four days toward healing. There was no swelling or redness, just a long railroad track from his side to the center of his chest. He had also stood up from the chair without any sign of pain. The nurse took several pictures with the hospital camera.

On the way out the door, she turned back. "I'm sorry, Sir. The doctor is still refusing to sign your release papers."

"Me, too," Fred said as he tucked his shirt in. "Tell the good doc that if my insurance company refuses to pay my hospital bill, he'll hear from my lawyer."

Turning to the women, who were also standing now, "Let's go, Ladies. I need another breakfast, or early lunch, as the case may be."

Of course, since Fred wasn't released from the hospital, he wasn't offered, or required to ride in a wheelchair.

Fred ushered his women ahead of him and down the hallway, then onto the elevator. Just as he started to step on, he caught sight of a woman he assumed was some kind of clerk, hurrying in their direction. She was waving a bunch of papers at him. Jessica, who had been waiting with her finger hovering over the button for the parking desk crossover, quickly pressed the button when Fred motioned to her.

Jessica, who had seen the clerk, asked, "Think they changed their minds about the paperwork?"

"Looks that way, then again, it could be another ploy to get me to stay and have them check my blood, and do their other crap. I've always healed quickly, but whatever Jeff did to me is obviously the reason I've healed virtually overnight. Whatever. I'm not going to be their guinea pig and get them after Jeff. It's time we got out of here."

"You sure you're all right to drive?" Carla worried a few minutes later when Fred maneuvered the Cruiser to the booth to pay as they left the parking deck.

"The only thing wrong with me is I need to hold my women, eat lunch, drink another gallon of water — and scratch," he laughed. "Damn, that cut itches."

The doctor stood by the window watching the PT Cruiser pull onto the street. He wasn't sure, but he thought that it was carrying the big man who came in yesterday afternoon with a heart rate that was less than ten beats per minute, would not stay under in the operating room, and woke up before they got him across the hall into recovery, wanting something to eat. Well, not just wanting, but demanding something to eat.

Later, he had managed to get one of the nurses to bring him a meal, ate it, then ate two Big Macs, super fries and drank a large coke, according to the wrappers in the trash. The nurse had said that Mr. Wilson had drunk at least a gallon of water. This morning, the wound appeared to be days old. There was no apparent infection or inflammation. In addition, Mr. Wilson appeared to be no more than forty years old, but his paperwork said he was fifty-six. He also had three women with him that were protective of him, to say the very least. They certainly didn't act like his sisters, either.

They're all very pretty, too, he thought as he threw the paperwork on the desk. It surely isn't his money they're after, though. He's driving a PT Cruiser, for goodness sake. Shit. I missed my chance at the discovery of a lifetime. How in the heck can he look so young and heal so fast? Shit!

Turning back to his desk, he signed the releases on Wilson. No use getting sued over this, but somehow I have to run tests on this man. He seems to be a walking fountain of youth. The lab typed and cross-matched his blood, then threw the sample away. Standard procedure, but shit, Wilson wouldn't give us any more! I could have been famous over this. Now all I've done is piss him off.

"Up there a block ahead on the right," Audrey, who was sitting behind Fred, said as she pointed past his shoulder.

Fred lucked up and found a parking place right in front of the small restaurant. At ten-thirty in the morning, the place was deserted with the exception of two old men sitting in a corner drinking coffee and eating doughnuts.

They found a round corner booth and slid in; Fred all the way back, Audrey to his left, then Jessica on his right with Carla beside her.

When the waitress came over and asked what she could do for them, the women all ordered lime pie and coffee. Fred cleared his throat and put his finger on the menu, "Uh, I know it's early, but would it be possible to have one of these thirty-six-ounce top sirloin, cooked medium rare, a couple of big baked potatoes and about a gallon of your sweet tea with lemon?"

The waitress grinned at him, "Sure. Why not? We serve breakfast all day, a steak a little early for lunch won't hurt a bit."

Later, about halfway through the steak, the waitress came over to refresh the coffee for the women and refill Fred's tea glass. Fred swallowed and wiped his mouth. "Why don't you tell the cook to put on another of those steaks, and another potato?"

The waitress did a double take, then grinned at him, "I don't think anyone has ever eaten two of those before, but I'll tell the cook to pick you a really good one."

That had even gotten Carla's attention. "Are you sure, Baby? That's a lot of food..."

"I've always eaten a lot, but after what Jeff did to me, my eating went way up, then ever since I woke up from that operating room, I just can't fill up. I suspect this will ease off when my body is done healing. Hell, I hope so, I'm going to eat myself broke if it doesn't," he laughed.

Dropping the volume of his voice, "Besides, I have to produce a lot more sperm than I used to."

Jessica giggled and almost punched him in the side, when she remembered his injury. Face red, "I almost hit you. It was the opposite side, but I might have hurt you, anyway."

Her voice sounded so contrite that Fred couldn't bring himself to kid her. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. "I won't break. The thing is barely sore, anymore." He raked his nails ineffectively across his shirt-covered chest. "I can't wait to get back to the RV and get a really good shower. I'm going to take that back brush and..."

"No," three voices hissed at him.

"The nurse gave us a written set of instructions concerning your wound. We're going to follow them to the letter. No scratching."

After Fred finished his meal, eating every scrap of it, they returned to the RV. As Carla unlocked the door with the remote, Audrey tried to assist Fred up the steps. Laughing, he scooped her up, frowned, and put her down. "Not quite there yet," he laughed, "but I'm getting close."

"I can't believe you did that," Audrey said. "Let's get you inside and that shirt off so we can check you out. You may have pulled some stitches."

Fred grinned at her, but went on inside, pulled his shirt over his head, and sat on the couch. "Ohhh, that looks sexy," Jessica said as she again saw the puckered railroad track across his chest.

Carla washed her hands, then came over and knelt down in front of him, gently running her fingers over the obviously-healed wound. "It looks like it has healed for a week, maybe more. We need to get those stitches out while we can. They're way past due. And they're probably going to smart when I pull them out, they're so grown in."

Audrey frowned as she leaned to stare closely at the healed wound. "But ... it hasn't even been a day yet. Stitches are always left in a week, aren't they? Oh, crap, that's ridiculous. The darned thing is healed; they obviously need to come out."

"On most people," Carla said as she got up to get her kit. "But Fred isn't most people. Those need to come out while they still will."

Later, as Carla snipped and pulled the last stitch out, she seemed to think aloud, "Diana said Jeff took a week to heal from the bear attack. How come your injury healed so much quicker? He's a Prime, whatever that is; looks like..."

Fred reached down and gently lifted Carla's chin until she was looking at him. "Never think that Jeff isn't different. I knew that from the first day I met him. Also remember, that bear almost took his shoulder off. There was a lot of tissue that just plain wasn't there. On anyone else, they would never use the arm again, and the shoulder wouldn't even look like a shoulder when they were done healing. Mine was just a simple cut..." At Carla's frown, "Well, a big fucking cut, but just a cut, nonetheless. I bled a lot, but once that was stopped, there was no real comparison of the injuries."

"The paramedic said the emergency room doctor about went bananas with your heart rate. I'm under the impression he didn't know quite what to do with you. But after I confirmed that you were in a self-induced trance to slow your body down, he seemed to accept it. The surgeon said they decided to wait about giving you blood, since you seemed to be stable. By the time they got you to the operating room, your heart rate was slow-normal and the bleeding had completely stopped. Then you healed practically overnight. No wonder that doctor wanted to run tests on you."

Fred smiled down at her, "You do realize that you both," he said, looking over at Jessica, who had also knelt down near him, "will probably heal the same way. Oh, I used that little trick my sensei taught me to slow down my heart, but I suspect you two will probably heal very quickly, too."

Audrey sat on the couch near them. "But what are you talking about? How could..."

"All I really know is that Jeff walked into my room in the middle of the night, I saw a blue flash, then woke up the next morning feeling like a million dollars..."

"Same for Jessica and me," Carla interrupted.

"Anyway, Jeff is an inventor. He won't tell us anything about what he did, will barely discuss it. But since then, I've lost a lot of weight, and transferred a lot more weight to muscle. And yeah, I've worked out hard, and been running for a little while now, but I've had a far greater response rate than I would have ever believed. I'm in better shape now than I was when I was twenty-five."

Fred reached out to touch Audrey for a second, "As soon as we get back to Colorado — assuming you want to go back with us — Jeff will do this to you, too."

Fred slid his hand down Audrey's arm to take her hand. "Will you go back with us? Make your home with us?"

Fred suddenly had a laughing woman in his lap. When she removed her tongue from his throat, he said, "I guess that's a yes, huh?"

Laughing, she kissed him again.

Later, Fred absently scratched his chest as Jessica slapped at his hand.

"Getting hungry again?" Carla joked, but half-expected Fred to say he was.

"No, I think the steaks did it. Whatever my body was looking for must have been in the steaks. I feel content now," he said looking around him. "Well, just a wee mite horny with my honeys making over me so much."

"Well, when a man starts thinking about pussy, he's just about back," Carla joked.

Fred stood up and slipped his shirt back on. "I think some cars just pulled up outside. Looks like we've got company."

Jeff had called Diana again after they were on the jet, and asked her to get his sat phone out of his desk.

"It's right here on the table by the bed," she said, the smugness in her voice mostly concealed.

Jeff didn't even bother to wonder that she knew where his sat phone was, or knew where he kept the spare key to his desk. She was Diana, after all. "All right. Hang up and I'll call you on it."

After the equipment had synched, "This thing sounds weird," she complained.

"Yeah, it does, but guaranteed, only the two of us are hearing this conversation," Jeff responded. "Look, this isn't exactly something secret, but I didn't want it overheard, either. I hope you can understand this, Baby. Uh, the general rushed through the paperwork to make me..."

"Well, last night you told me you were bringing home the girls. I suppose you're going to tell me that you're responsible for them, now," Diana finished for him.

"How did you..."

"Logical conclusion. You did tell me they were orphans. Where else would they go? And if they come to live with us for a while, then they'll stay. Then it's logical that you would be made responsible for them."

Jeff could hear his other wives laughing in the background. "Uh, the general sent Kayla on a mission to help settle the girls in. She has two months without using her R & R time."

"So the general offers the palm branch in exchange for sticking you with the girls, huh?" she said, but there was laughter in her voice.

Jeff let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, that's about it. Sometimes I think I don't understand him at all."

"So when are we to expect you?"

"Midday, I guess. Depends oh how, uh, circumspect the route becomes. Sometimes, it's almost direct, other times..." Then very quietly so the girls wouldn't hear him, "Uh, Baby, they don't have anything but the clothes on their backs, and I guess they've never had much more than that, since they've been in an orphanage so long. Maybe one or two other foster homes, but I'm not sure about that. They're going to need clothes..."

Jeff could hear Diana repeating what he said to her sister-wives, then "We'll have a shopping trip planned out by the time you get here. We'll have a quick bite to eat, then hit the shops in Winter Park this afternoon to get the girls started. We'll get them to Denver for a real shopping trip in a few days."

"Di, they only have light coats and sneakers to go with their jeans and tops. How's the weather there?"

"Well the snow gauge says about two and a half feet, but I have no real idea how much has really come down. There are drifts against the outside garage until you can hardly see it. Dave and Arlene are out clearing off the back parking lot right now. Dave had to get the plow out, before Alesha could even get out of the inside garage to go to work. He made a trip down the mountain with her following him out. He's back now and using the plow to clear the parking lot while Arlene has taken over the big riding snow blower. It's still snowing some, but the wind is down. The temp is hanging just below zero (Fahrenheit) and we're due more snow, according to the mountain forecast. Tell you what, if you'll call me when you're thirty minutes or so out, I'll put one of the Escalades near the helipad and leave it idling so it will be warm for the girls; just pull into the inside garage with them. That will keep them out of the cold. With all they've been through, I don't want to risk them getting sick, even with the healer here. We're bound to have some coats that will fit them well enough to get to Winter Park."

"That sounds good. Uh, Di, I think we need to put the girls close to our suite. Uh, they know Ingles is dead, but..."