Oh, not again! I just gave two days ago. Why always me?
"It's no use telling him," his companion remonstrated. "He's not looking at you, so he can't understand. Remember, he's this freak of nature that's deaf to all we say."
These two must be new. It's been a while since they belittled me this way.
"Why they even want his blood, then?" demanded the other. "I thought the flaws weren't allowed companions?"
"They usually aren't, but every once in a while we get a reject, a difficult case they've put a lot into, and don't want it to go to waste. Anyway, Flaw is of cross-mix blood. He can give blood to any new one developing."
"You'd think that would result in a flawed one?"
The other shrugged. "What do I know about it? Let the docs do their thing. They can deal with the consequences; it's their experiment, and...they're learning new things each day."
Chapter 6
"Arch your back! Like a cat!" ordered the large, solid man behind Gemma.
She tried to comply, but she wasn't certain what he meant. She pushed out her belly.
"No! Not in!" he commanded gruffly. "Out! I can't get the needle between the vertebrae. Do you want me to cripple you?"
His anger was apparent, though Gemma knew doctor Harmon wasn't usually this curt. He was the more gentle of the physicians caring for her. But, she was small, compared to him, half his girth, and she'd always been afraid of larger men.
Yet, he was the only one in whose eyes she'd ever seen compassion; the others all looked at her like she was something growing in a Petri dish, and they were watching through the microscope.
Gemma moved her hips backward, toward the physician.
"That's better!"
To break the silence that followed, as he swabbed, then injected the freezing, Gemma tried to explain.
"I didn't understand before, but now...I do."
"Hold still..."
She was seated on a stool, leaning forward, her arms on a pillow atop the bed, with Doctor Harmon behind her, so she wouldn't see the huge needle coming. But Gemma felt when it punctured the skin; the numbness wasn't quite complete.
He drove it deeper, and she held her breath.
To keep from thinking about what was happening at her back, her mind went to the many unanswered questions.
Why am I the only one who gets my treatment in the spine? I still get all the chemicals the others get intravenously, but I get this, too. I've never seen them do a spinal on anyone else.
****
Where he came from, they were taught not to be emotional. Emotion was deadly! It caused you to break cover.
But unlike the others stationed here, the one who called himself, Doctor Harmon, had learned the pretext of showing compassion; sometimes, it wasn't all put on either. He really didn't like to see this one hurt.
When he'd seen her IV site festering, he knew drastic measures were needed, but he couldn't do it himself. Even when the nurse was squeezing out the puss, he had turned away, so as not to watch. He knew the patient had seen the tears forming in his eyes, before he could hide them.
And his weakness angered him.
Surely, there is an easier way to form what we want; why must we torment them so?
This one was so full of questions. Right now, she had another one, he found hard to counter.
"How come, I have to have this procedure in my back? Are there others who get it this way?"
How can I tell her? She is receiving foreign altered cells from an alien donor?
He thought quickly, fabricating according to the diagnoses she'd been given.
"Because the tumor is in the sinus area, we need to get to it as quickly as possible. The straightest course is directly into the spinal fluid, up to the brain, and into the nasal area."
She was quiet, then; satisfied.
Why must they be so trusting? This one believes nothing without being given the reason. Yet, she has faith in me. Why? I am no different than the others. Is it my manner...the sympathy? Perhaps, this trait is not wise to portray?
If she only knew what I am actually doing to her...she would run so far from me; never let me touch her again.
****
"All done," the physician declared, pulling shut her gown, giving her shoulder a pat, and pushing away from behind Gemma.
He moved away so quickly, as if he didn't wish to interact further, and had disappeared around the corner, before she could turn around.
At least it didn't hurt. But, now for the more difficult part.
She was required to lie flat on her back on the bed, her head lower than her feet, not moving, for an hour. The hardest part would be holding her water that long.
Gemma sighed resignedly, and got up onto the bed. The nurse lowered the head-end of her cot.
At least, I went potty in their stupid hat before my treatment!
It seemed to her, she was always filling that annoying thing, that up-side-down pot, that fit into the stool. The nurses called it a hat, and that's just what it looked like...all, so they could measure her output. It was so utterly public!
Embarrassing!
Chapter 7
At last, Gemma was back at home!
Three weeks between each treatment.
But, what they had failed to prepare her for, was that there would be extended hospital stays. During the three separate encounters, when she added them together, she had spent nearly five weeks on the hospital oncology floor.
First, it had been the Thrust; then, the infected IV site, and this last time, something had gone very wrong with her heart. It now had a new crazy beat.
The nurses, at first,
