Chapter 5

Friday morning came too early for him after his late night eavesdropping on people's minds. He was awoken by the arrival of his breakfast and he slowly sat up as the table was rolled over the bed. He thanked the girl and tried to see if he could read her while looking at her but nothing came to him. He quickly closed his eyes and concentrated on the steam to see if he could hear what she was thinking.

"Crappy scrambled eggs again with soggy toast and dry cereal! Damn hospital food!"

That was definitely not her thoughts as he somehow knew it was a man. I guess it's going to take a lot of practice Brian thought to himself.

Brian opened his eyes and began eating his breakfast while thinking about his new talent. It was obviously due to the damage resulting from the attack and wondered if it was going to be permanent or would stop as his brain healed. Only time would tell. He thought of all the things he could do with the ability to read minds. He could read women's mind to see if they were attracted to him, find out about financial deals from people in the know that could make him money, find out what people really thought of him. Other than being invisible, mind reading was the coolest talent he could think of.

He knew he couldn't tell anyone about it or he could become some sort of lab monkey for the government, locked away forever. He decided to let the Doctor know he wasn't hearing the sound anymore and hoped it would be forgotten about soon after. Brian finished his breakfast with a plan in his mind and eager to be getting out of the hospital tomorrow.

The nurses came in and hovered near as he got up by himself and walked slowly to the bathroom. They gave him a shower cap and had him shower to clean himself up after the long stay. It felt good to finally be clean as he got dressed. He was tired as he walked back but was happy that he would be able to take care of himself at home as long as he was careful.

The Doctor came in and checked him out briefly and pronounced him ready to go home in the morning after a last look at his healing shunt holes.

"You will have to visit your own doctor once a week for him to look at the holes but other than that I see no lingering issues. How are your eyes and ears?" the doc asked.

"My eyesight is still a bit blurry but it's getting better and the sound seems to have stopped as well" Brian informed him.

"That's good news. Let your doctor know if your eyesight doesn't correct itself fully in about a week Brian" Doctor Mason instructed.

"Sure thing Doc. Thanks for everything" Brian replied.

"No problem Brian, have a good day" the doctor said before leaving the room.

Brian relaxed with his eyes closed and picked out minds in the stream. He found he could flick through them a bit quicker, basically scanning them to pick one he thought was interesting. He wished he could somehow mark them with a bookmark so he could easily go back but he couldn't find a way yet.

"Good morning Brian" his Mom said, startling him as he opened his eyes.

"Good morning Mom, how was your day yesterday with the Simon ladies?" he asked, still a bit distracted.

"Quite pleasant actually, Carla is a nice lady and Heather is a sweetheart" she replied with a smile. "That young lady is going to make someone a wonderful wife."

"Well I'm glad you had a good time with them. At least you had one good day down here" he replied.

"Yes I enjoyed their company. Though that Heather had a lot of questions for me about you" she teased me.

"Sorry that she bugged you so much Mom" Brian said as he sat up a bit. "I hope you didn't get mad at her?"

"No silly, a Mom loves to talk about her son to anyone who wants to listen, especially a gorgeous, intelligent, available young lady" she answered with a smile.

"Mom, I hope you didn't say anything to embarrass me" Brian said worriedly.

"Relax, I talked you up quite nicely, I think" she said smugly. "They're coming in soon again today."

Brian just shook his head and closed his eyes. He scanned the stream again and picked up a mind who might be his Mom's.

"It would be nice if she liked Brian enough to want to go out with him. I worry so much that he hasn't met anyone yet. He's such a nice boy, I don't know why he doesn't attract girls, he's decent looking and he's got a good job, with a nice car and an apartment. I swear I don't know what women these days are looking for. I hope she can look pass those horrible scars. That reminds me I better put a cap on him before she gets here. He looks neat and tidy enough otherwise"

Brian hadn't known that she worried so much about his love life or lack of one. He heard her get up and rummage and get up while he kept up the connection.

"That's the one she picked it out for him, I'll put that one on him."

Brian heard her walk over and lightly put the hat on his head. He opened his eyes and lost the connection with her mind.

"Hiding the Frankenstein scars from the Lady folk Mom?" he asked with a smile.

"Well, no need to get her upset again is there? She told us she's not grossed out or anything, she just got upset on how close to dying you were when she saw how bad you were hurt. Let's try and keep her happy today instead shall we?" his Mom suggested.

"Fine by me" Brian agreed.

The Simon Ladies showed up half an hour later wearing nice dresses, with Heather's a bit shorter than her Mom's.

"Good morning Ladies, you look very beautiful today" Brian said with a smile as he was looking at Heather.

"Thank you Brian" replied Mrs. Simon. "We would have been here earlier but someone couldn't make up her mind what outfit to wear!"

Heather blushed as she smiled back at him.

"So what is on the agenda today Ladies?" Brain asked.

"Your mother and I will be going for a nice lunch at our club and then we will do some more shopping. Heather wants to spend the day with you for some reason. She thinks you'll be lonely all day with no one to talk to or something" she answered with a frown.

"Heather, you don't have to spend a whole day here cooped up in the hospital. Why don't you have fun with our Mother's instead?" Brian asked. "I'm used to being alone and I have my laptop and books to entertain me."

"See Heather, Brian will be fine, why don't you come with us. You can visit him when he gets back to work if you want" her Mother suggested.

Brian's Mother frowned behind them as she heard what she thought of as a put down on her son.

Heather looked sad and looked ready to argue with her mother but backed down and nodded and looked down.