The Rescue Mission
Chapter 10
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

7 AM, Thursday morning at Jacksonville Memorial, I wake up hearing a beeping noise. “Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .” I notice it is the phone base flashing a light.

I whisper quietly, “Unnnh . . . they must have it from the nurses’ station.”

My fairies slowly wake up as well. Tigress whispers to me, “I wish we can change to our normal selves now, father.”

I whisper back, “I hear you on that, Tigress. It will have to wait for another week at least until we are in Charleston.”

“We can wait until then, mother.”

“I will be leaving in an hour for the operation. Please fly to the potted flowers to get your morning meal. You’ll need to stay in this room until I’m back.”

“Yes, mother.”

The butterflies flutter from my bed to the potted flowers. Five minutes later, the nurses show up.

“You’ll get to eat your breakfast when you get back Richard. Right now you can have this cup of apple juice.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I take the cup of apple juice from the nurse. I drink it through the straw in about ten minutes. “Thank you. That helps some. What is for breakfast?”

“It will be cold cereal and milk. What is your choice for cereal?”

“Corn flakes will do, ma’am.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

Then the door opens again. The male nurses come in with a gurney. They transfer the intravenous bags to the portable stand attached to the gurney. Then they carefully pick me up and transfer me to the gurney. I relax as much as possible as they wheel me down the hallway, to the elevators and to the second floor. I’m then wheeled into the surgery room where they are waiting for me. They put me to sleep, then in fifteen minutes they begin operating on my wrists.

With the aid of the 3D photos of the wrists they eventually find the small chip in each wrist. They use a micro-grabber as they thread their way to the chip. On the end of the grabber is a fiber optic mini-camera. The doctors are watching the progress on a nearby screen. They operate the grabber and grab the chip touching the nerve very carefully. Then the cable assembly is pulled out slowly.

They do the same thing with the other wrist as well. The total operation is done in about forty-five minutes. Then they further scope the wrists to make sure there are no more chips in the wrists. They find none. Then they close the cut and sew the hole they created with some silk thread. I’m given another drug to wake up from the surgery.

My eyes flutter as they gather around me. “Unnnh . . . How did it go, docs?”

“It went fine, Richard. You should be okay now. Just get your rest this morning and eat a light breakfast and lunch. Work on your legs again this afternoon. We’ll try the wrists tomorrow.”

“Okay, docs. Thank you.”

They wheel me back to my room on the fourth floor. I’m placed in the bed and my body is raised to about fifty degrees. The nurse comes in with a bowl of corn flakes, milk and more juice. She watches me as I try to grab the spoon to use it. I pick it up gingerly because of the surgery earlier.

“How does the wrist feel, Richard?”

“It is hard to say. It feels stiff in some ways and it’s a relief that the chip is removed.”

“That’s expected. Try to use the spoon. I’ll be here if you spill it.”

“Okay.” I put the spoon into the bowl and bring up some corn flakes and milk. I keep it level as best as possible. I open my mouth and put the spoon into it.

“I’m sure that was trying.”

I nod my head up and down while I eat and swallow it. “Yes it was, ma’am.”

I continue eating the bowl of cereal. About half way through I take a drink of apple juice as well. I get done eating and drinking the morning meal in about fifteen minutes.

“There are a toothbrush and toothpaste near the sink. Let me get them for you.”

“Yes ma’am. I can’t wait to start walking and running again.”

The nurse brings over the toothbrush and toothpaste along with a cup of water. I dip the toothbrush into the water first. Then I use my left hand to put some toothpaste onto the brush. I then proceed to brush my teeth.

“Is there any pain in the wrist, Richard?”

I pause to answer her question as I take out the toothbrush for a moment, “I feel no pain, ma’am. That’s a good sign.”

“Yes it is.”

She brings over a bowl for me to spit the paste lather into. I dip the toothbrush again and brush some more. After the second time, I rinse the toothbrush and my mouth with another cup of clean water from the nurse.

“Again, I feel no pain in the wrists, ma’am.”

“That’s good, save up your strength for this afternoon, Richard.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The nurse puts the toothpaste and brush in a separate cup on the small table next to the bed. She leaves the bed up at fifty degrees. She takes the tray, the bowl and utensils with her. Once she leaves, my fairies return to me. They check out my wrists to see how the doctors did.

I hear them whisper to me, “They did a good job, mother. There is no heat in the wrists. We sense no pain there.”

I whisper back, “That’s good, Ruby.”

They continue to minister to me. I can feel their excitement that I will try to walk again today. They check all of my bones, to be sure they are healing properly. I lay back and relax in the bed. “I’m going to lower the bed now.” I take the controller and lower my upper body to about ten degrees. I take a morning nap and get well rested for the afternoon. Once the fairies have checked me out, they relax around me like before.

At noon time, I see the nurse and Brianna come into the room. The nurse brings in a tray of food for my lunch. My fairies flutter from around me and fly back to the potted flowers.

“Well, there is the sleepy head. Are you ready for lunch?”

“Yawwwnn . . . more than ever, Brianna. I can’t wait to get walking and running again.”

Both ladies smile at me.

“I’m sure you do, Richard.”

“So, what is for lunch today?”

The nurse puts the tray onto the table. I see applesauce, very soft peas and carrots and broiled fish. For dessert it is vanilla pudding and Jell-O mixed together.

Did you have your lunch already, Brianna?”

“It is being brought up here like last time.”

A nurse comes in with a covered plate. She hands it to Brianna. Both nurses leave the room so we can eat together. My fairies flutter around me like last time. We give our thanks to the Creator for our time together again and for the food to restore our strength. We all say ‘Thank you, Creator’ at the same time. Then they flutter back to the potted flowers to have their noon meal as well.

I talk about the wrist surgery this morning. Brianna is relieved that is taken care of properly. We also discussed what is to be expected at the Rescue Mission. A room has been set aside for me that is near the staff wing.

“So, what is security like there?”

“It is not too bad, Richard. We have several trained female guards there, and some male guards as well.”

“What about cameras and monitors?”

“I guess that is your specialty.”

“Yes it is, Brianna.” I smile at her.

She smiles back, “It is nowhere near as sophisticated as your system. I think it has been there for more than fifty years.”

“That’s not good. It will need to be upgraded quickly if I’m there.”

“What are you saying? Do you think you’ll get attacked again?”

“If you ran a country who lent money to another country and they lost your money that is owed to you and want it back, but you can’t get it back. What would you do?”

“Hmm . . . I would kidnap the person who did it and force the info from them on how to get it back.”

“That’s right, Brianna.”

“But we’ll need to get you there secretly without letting anyone know for it to work. I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt there.”

“Sigh . . . I agree Brianna. Hmm . . . if I bring in my 3D system there with the new enhancements it just might work.”

“What are you talking about, Richard?”

“I’ll tell you later when I’m there.”

“Hmm . . . I don’t think I will like this profession of yours with secrecy, security, Shaolin fighting and such.”

I smile at her, “But it will be the most fantastic journey of a life time.”

Brianna tries to smile back, “I know I’m having second guesses right now, Richard. This is all new to me right now.”

I reach out to touch her hand. “I know it is, Brianna. My first trip to that special place during Spring Break took a big step as well. It was new to me as well.”

“I guess I will need that trip as well to convince myself as well.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time.”

By this time we get done eating our lunch.

She giggles at me, “Yes you will, Richard. You’ll have to take it one step at a time.”

I smile back at her, “Hah . . . hah.”

The nurse comes in to collect our plates. We continue talking about our lives since we split apart. I can see Brianna slowly becoming more comfortable with our being together again.

When it becomes 2 PM. The male nurses come into pick me up and place me in a wheel chair. I put a potted plant onto my lap while Brianna carries the other one. We arrive in the rehab center on the fifth floor.

After we put the potted flowers on a nearby table, I’m placed in the reclined bicycle seat. My fairies flutter about whispering to me encouraging words that I can only hear. I begin to pedal my legs slowly. I find it a little easier today. I don’t grimace in pain too much this time. Then I’m picked up and put into the leg press machine. They set for the lowest weight on the rack. I easily push up the ten pounds and lower it down easily.

One of the nurses asks me a question, “What is your best weight push on this machine, Richard?”

“About four hundred pounds. However, I can only push it five times without hurting my stomach muscles too much. I would need to wear a belt around me to be safe.”

“That’s impressive. You’ll definitely need the belt for the higher weights. You need to push your own weight at least before you leave next week.”

“Yes, sir.”

They slowly increase the weight to fifty pounds for the hour. Soon, I start to feel the strength coming back to me. After reaching fifty pounds, I work on my stomach muscles by doing some stomach crunches.

Brianna smiles at me, “Let me see those six pack abs, Richard.”

I lift my shirt up to show her.

“What? Where are they?”

“I have a layer of loose skin all over the body. It helps hides my strength.”

Brianna reaches forward and touches my stomach. I then bring myself up to rest on my elbows. I then flex the ab muscles.

“There they are. Oooh . . . I like this deception. I bet the pecs, the legs and the arms are the same way.”

“Yes, they are, Brianna.” I smile at her.

She smiles back, “So, I get a stud muffin incognito. I pity anyone who comes against you the next time.”

I smile at her, “That’s the idea. Sensei Chou helped me immensely to do this deception with the Mantis technique. The attacker will realize too late what he is up against.”

“Just like what I saw on You Tube for your graduation ceremonies.”

“Yes, it is, Brianna.”

“Well, get back to your workout, Richard.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

She giggles as I continue the work out. I then work on the arms without using my hands. What that entails is attaching a strap-on weight to the forearms. I then do the circular motions in all directions. After finishing all of that. I’m wheeled over to the parallel bars to stand up and walk again.

The male nurses pick me up carefully, I place my forearms on the parallel bars, my legs are flexed underneath me. “All right, here we go. Pant . . . pant . . . ”

I slowly straighten out my legs a lot easier this time. “Whew . . . that is not too bad this time.”

“How do the legs feel, Richard?”

“The bicycling and the leg presses helped a lot. There is very little pain this time. I think the ligaments are being stretched. I think they are still a little tight.”

“That’s expected, Richard. Have you ever split your legs?”

I look at Brianna while I answer the male nurse’s question. I smile at her, “Yes I have, sir. It is part of my training in the Shaolin sashes.”

She smiles back.

“That’s good, Richard. This means you should be able to walk this room with no problems soon. Try to walk the length of these parallel bars.”

My fairies are fluttering around me. They feel the excitement that I will be able to walk this distance. One of the nurses put the wheel chair down at the other end for me to get my rest.

I slowly lift my left foot and move it forward. Then I do the same with the right foot. “Whew, that is not too bad.” I then repeat the sequence again and again. When I get to the end, I turn around sit in the chair. I breathe a lot less harder than yesterday.

“You did it! Congratulations, Richard!”

Brianna bends down and gives me another kiss on the lips. I lick my lips, “Mmm . . . strawberry. Tasty lips you have there, Brianna.”

Everyone laughs, giggles and chuckles when they hear my response.

“I’ve got many more of those flavors for you to taste test.”

“I can’t wait until you kiss me again and again.”

She giggles again. “That will have to wait until later. I need to get back to the apartment complex to close it out. I’ll meet you in Charleston on Sunday at the hotel in a week.”

“Yes, my fair lady in waiting.”

She giggles at me again. She picks up a potted flower plant and I take the other. My butterflies fly into the flowers to get their rest. I’m wheeled back to my room. The flower pots are put on the table with the others. I slowly get up from the wheel chair with the male nurses’ help. I turn around and sit on the edge of the bed. Then they reposition me on the bed with the covers on top of me.

Brianna comes up to me again. She takes my hand as she looks at me. “I’ve been thinking about us a lot now, Richard.”

“I kind of figured you would be, Brianna.”

“I look at you and see you are very determined to do what is right. I commend you for that. I see myself as well doing the same thing. I want to help others very much to get past their pain and move on with life and live it to the fullest. And yet, I haven’t, when I see you lying there. It is like we are playing this same scene when you protected me the first time.”

“But what is that inner-voice telling you?”

“The Creator is telling me I should trust you. You will get stronger and stronger. We are to work together to help where we can with our abilities and gifts given to us.”

“Did he tell you anything about me getting into fights or wars?”

“They are inevitable. However, he tells me you are one of his important keys to help protect Earth. Sigh . . .”

“What does that ‘sigh’ mean, Brianna?”

“It means I will be there as well to help you. Right now I just don’t see it happening like you have seen it.”

“We’ll take it day by day, Brianna. That is all we can do right now.”

“I know, Richard. Well, I need to get going before it is too late. I’ll call you at least once a day until we are together again.”

I reach with my other hand as we hold both of our hands together. “I look forward to those calls, Brianna. Your voice will lift my spirit up each time when I hear it.”

“Your voice will do the same for me as well.” Brianna then bends down and gives a lengthy kiss on the lips. We both come up for air and do it again. When she gets done, she looks at me and giggles.

“Now your lips are like mine.”

“Yes, I will lick the strawberry until the lips are clean.”

“You silly boy.”

“I’m silly about you, you crazy girl.”

“Yes, I’m crazy about you.” Brianna turns around walks to the plants. She whispers to the butterflies. “You take care of him. I hope to see you all in about nine days.”

Tiger whispers back, “You take care as well, Brianna. We’ll see you then.”

Brianna stands back up and puts her purse strap on her shoulders. She turns to face me one more time. She gives me a kiss into her hand then blows it toward me.

I feign with my left hand to touch my left cheek, as if the flying kiss hit my left cheek. “Oooh . . . you have a good aim, Brianna.” I smile at her.

She giggles and smiles as she turns around and leaves the room. My fairies flutter to me and land around me like before. I lick my lips carefully to remember her presence.

Bianca whispers to me, “She has a nice perfume on her, mother. We can also smell the strawberry scent on your lips as well.”

I whisper back to her, “That’s the idea, Bianca. She wants me to remember her. Let’s get our rest after that workout.”

“Yes, mother.”

I lower the bed down to about ten degrees. I slow my breathing down and get a nice nap until dinner time. My fairies do the same thing as well in their butterfly mode. The nurse opens the door to wake me up at 4:30. My fairies flutter back to the potted flowers as before.

“You did better in the rehab room, Richard. That is very good. You are progressing faster than most people who have injuries similar to yours. I understand you will be eating alone tonight. Brianna has left to return back to the Rescue Mission.”

“Yes she did, nurse. She has to get back to work now and get ready for my arrival. Nurse, I need to make a call to our Charleston office. Can I get the charges transferred to our office here in Jacksonville?”

“Why don’t you call the Jacksonville office first. Push number nine for an outside line first.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I pick up the phone and punch the numbers for the Jacksonville office. “Ring . . . ring . . . ring . . .”

“Click . . . Good afternoon. This is Secure-Sys. How can I direct your call?”

“Hello Cheryl, it’s Richard.”

“Hello, Richard. How are you doing?”

“I’m still a little stiff right now. I finally walked the distance of the parallel bars today.”

“That’s great, Richard. Whom would you like to speak to?”

“I need to contact our SC branch.”

“That is no problem, Richard. I can do that connection for you here. Do you want to let Mr. Bryson know as well?”

“Yes, go and tell him that I’m calling the SC branch. He’ll need to know eventually what I want to ask them. Thank you, Cheryl.”

“You’re welcome, Richard.”

Cheryl puts me on hold and pushes a series of buttons. Soon, I’m connected to the Charleston office. “Ring . . . ring . . . ring . . .”

“Click . . . This is Secure-Sys in Charleston, SC. How can I direct your call?”

“Hello, Sarah. This is Richard Moore.”

“Hello Richard. I’m sorry to hear how you ended up in the hospital. We do want to thank you for saving our money.”

“Your welcome, Sarah. I need to get hold of sales right away.”

“That’s no problem, Richard.”

Sarah puts me on hold.

“Click . . . Hello Richard. This is Bob Watson. What can we do for you?”

“I’m going to be transferred to the Rescue Mission to be with Brianna for the next month, Bob. She tells me their video equipment is fifty years old. It will need a serious upgrade if I’m out there recuperating.”

“I agree, Richard. Where do you want the cameras and holo-transmitters located?”

“I need a web of them on as many trees as possible around the complex. Besides the usual locations inside the main building.”

“That’s a lot, Richard. I have seen the property once before. I know what they have. Are you expecting some sort of retaliation hit on you?”

“You’re very perceptive, I have an idea to test my new enhancement to the 3D Server. Let’s just say that the holograms will hit you back.”

“Oooh . . . I like the sound of that idea, Richard. I can see several new applications already for it. Let me get an engineer in conference with this call, Richard.”

“I’m sure you do, Bob. Get Randy. He’ll be the right one for this application.”

“I’ll get Randy on now.”

“Click . . . click . . .”

“Hello, Richard. Bob tells me you have something new for the 3D server.”

“I do, Randy. I have been working on an idea to make the holograms more solid.”

“I like that idea already. What do you want me to do?”

“To do this, I will need to do a remote transfer of my new subroutine to you. It is at my apartment here in J-ville. You know where to put the subroutine and folders on the server. To make it work I will need some head bands that have a wireless connection to the server.”

“Is the head gear special?”

“No it isn’t, Randy. The band is just a holder for the sensors. They are the same ones for the finger tips. I found out they can pick up brainwave patterns as well. The subroutine I wrote takes those brainwave patterns and makes an object. There is another set of subroutines that makes them solid.”

“That sounds great, Richard. When do you need this set up?”

“I will be at the Rescue Mission a week from tomorrow.”

“I see, so we have a week to get this set up out there. It can be done. Send your subroutine to my desk top right now, Richard.”

“Okay, Randy. We’ll communicate via the internet. I’m hanging up the phone now.”

“Okay, Richard.”

“Click . . . click.”

“Computer, access my 3D server in my apartment here in Jacksonville.”

“Recognize Richard Moore’s voice pattern. Accessing home 3D server in Richard Moore’s apartment. . . . Have access to home 3D Server.”

“Computer, make a copy of the new software subroutine under folder “Solid-Holo”. Establish air-link to Randy Grantham in Secure-Sys, Charleston, SC office.”

“Copied “Solid-Holo” folder. Accessing Randy Grantham’s PC at Secure-Sys, Charleston, SC office. . . . established air-link to PC.”

“Transfer copy of folder to Randy’s PC. Locate it at his root directory.”

“Transferred copy of folder to root directory of Randy’s PC.”

“Establish air-link to Randy’s computer for video conference.”

“Establishing video air-link with Randy’s computer. Able to pass through all gates to directories with Richard’s voice authorization.”

~~~000~~~

Then my face appears in 3D in front of Randy’s monitor.

“Hello, Richard. You look better than I expected.”

“What can I say. I’m a fast healer. You’ll find the folder “Solid-Holo” at your root directory. Open it and read the text file there. It has the instructions on how to do this. It is like any other install EXE file that is out there. If you’re unsure of the install, use the ‘uninstall EXE’ to undo it and start over.”

“Are there any pictures on how to construct the wireless head band?”

“There’s another subfolder under it named “Headband”. You’ll find it there. I suggest you test it out in a safe area and not in your office there. When I first did it, my thoughts became very real and broke a real chair. I was trying to create a solid chair from the hologram.”

“Thanks for the warning, Richard. We don’t want to let our dark thoughts become tangible and cause problems.”

“This is just the beginning phase, Randy. I have yet to finalize this enhancement feature. It still needs a few tweaks to the subroutine to make it safer so those dark thoughts never come out.”

“Why do you want it done so quickly and untested?”

“I have a sneaky suspicion someone will try to kidnap me for what I did to the New Dawn virus.”

“I get it now. I’ll get busy on it right away. When we set it up out there, it will be for a normal install. Then you can train your mind to make it work better. We’ll probably have to come up with a tutorial program so the new user knows what to do and avoid the pitfalls of someone getting hurt while learning how to use it.”

“You can start on that tutorial outline as you work on it. Once I’m up and about, I will be there to oversee the expansion of the 3D server to large scale.”

“I remember that request now from the security agencies. Besides, you are still a hot item until this goes to court.”

“I just saw the news that someone leaked where the anti-virus came from.”

“I saw that on the news the other day. This is not over by any means, Richard.”

“No it’s not, Randy. All right, I’ll let you go now. Give me a video call via the internet if you need some questions answered. Anna and Dr. Mitchell were nice enough to put a 3D System here in my room.”

“That was nice of them to do that. Talk to you later, Richard.”

The video conference with Randy ends.

~~~000~~~

Then I see the image from Mr. Bryson in my room.

“Hello, Mr. Bryson.”

“Hello, Richard. I heard your conversations with our Charleston office. Even you were to get it to work, we’ll still need a professional presence there. I contacted the Charleston Police Department on the situation. They agreed to have two units out there along with some FBI units. They are airlifting two portable shelters for them that will house the officers.”

“I just hope no one comes after me, Mr. Bryson. But you know how it is in listening to the Creator.”

“I heard him too, Richard. How many will come and when? I don’t know, but we must be prepared. Train as many as you can there and keep them in their rooms. There is a sizeable, well-built storm shelter on the grounds there. That would be the best place for them.”

“I understand, sir. I’ll do my best to train them. If they intend to overwhelm us with numbers, I might have to use my memories from that special place.”

“How many do you remember from that place?”

“I know of about a thousand individuals I met there personally.”

“Use them if it is the last resort, Richard.”

“I will, Mr. Bryson.”

“Have a good night, Richard. It will be great to see you back to your normal self.”

“Yes, it will, Mr. Bryson. Good night.”

The image disappears in the room.

I look up at the ceiling and give a breath, “sigh . . .”

Cobalt whispers to me, “What’s on your mind, Richard?”

I whisper back to him, “Usually, the Creator gives me a warning of something is about to happen. Then sometimes it is my own intuition if something bad will happen.”

“Which one is it this time?”

“It is my own intuition. I guess it comes from experience with the people I have met so far.”

“It’s possible, Richard. When we are in the balcony garden, I hear people arguing, kids playing, I see parents hugging each other and many other interactions going on. It is the same back on Twainor. When we hover up close in front of their faces, we can determine what their attitudes are. Each attitude emits a different pheromone that we can sense. It is the same pheromone on both worlds. Your horse sense is doing the same thing. You are starting to become more aware of your surroundings.”

“So, that’s what is going on.”

The door opens to my room. Cobalt and the fairies fly back to their potter flowers. The nurse brings in a tray of food for my dinner, then she leaves the room. I eat my dinner quietly while my fairies have theirs in the potted plants. When I get done, I turn on the TV to see the latest news.

The reporters are getting opinions from around the world. Some are saying they are glad the international debt is gone. Some are saying they don’t like the idea of starting over.

The rest of the news focuses on the current events here in the USA. Once the half-hour is over, I turn off the TV. I get comfortable as I lower the bed down to get some sleep. I mutter to myself as my fairies gather around me. “I can’t wait to get moving again.”

“We know, father. But we are glad you are healing very fast.”

I give a smile before I whisper to them again. “That’s true, thank you very much for looking out for me. Well, let’s get our sleep tonight. I will be working on the wrist movements tomorrow.”

I soon fall asleep with a little humming melody from my fairies. Soon they fall asleep as well. We all have nice dreams while we slept.