Perphektion Kode - chapter 4

Physical therapy is long and more tiring than I thought it would be. Not only did I have to figure out how to work my new limbs, but I also had to work to regain muscle strength from being in a coma. Dr. Eckard said I was only out for a few months, but my body feels stiff as a board and my muscles are jelly.

It took a few months before my full strength returned. I’m annoyed that it took so long, but the doctor seemed pleased.

“It usually takes longer for people to get as far as you have Roy,” Dr. Eckard said. “You really have a knack for using your new limbs too.”

I think that it took longer than I would have liked. At least I figured it out though. I thought about it more than once…what it would be like to not have replacements for my arm and leg. It’s difficult to imagine where I would be without them. I find that I am much more mobile now. If it weren’t for the replacements, none of it would have been possible, and that makes me thankful.

I sit in my ‘room’ of the out-dated hospital, waiting for Analise. Someone else had taken over the physical therapy job for her a long time ago, but she still comes to get me every morning.

This morning she smiles at me cheerfully and says, “Ok Roy. You’re moving out.”

That was the last thing I expected her to say. Moving out? Where? In my head, I imagined more than a few times what it would be like after the physical therapy was complete. Would I be able to move into the community, just as Jimmy had suggested a few months back? Would they keep me for experimentation?

I hope it’s the first possibility. I might have a chance to escape.

Escape from what? I find myself suddenly wondering. Why do I want to escape from here so badly? These people have been nothing but kind and charitable towards me.

I follow Analise down the hospitals corridor. I’d taken this hallway so many times before that its familiarity was imprinted in my mind. But this time we take a different corridor from the one that leads to the physical therapy rooms. Suddenly all the familiarity is gone.

She leads me into a storage room. Boxes are stacked upon boxes, each with a large white label on the side. I can’t see them clearly in this light, but I think there is something written on them.

Analise stumbles around in the dark for a few moments before she finds the light. The room is more visible now, and I can clearly read the labels now. ‘Shirts’, ‘jeans’, ‘shoes’, and other clothing items are written on it. Analise looks over me thoughtfully before pulling out a couple shirts and pants. She hands them to me and points to the empty corner of the room, where there is a curtain set up.

“Go change and we’ll see if those clothes fit,” she says.

I nod and do what she says. Beyond the curtain I’m surprised to find that there is a full length mirror. There is a stranger standing in its reflection. I know its me, but I don’t recognize myself at all.

My black hair is well past my ears and unruly. My skin is pasty white, probably from not having seen sunlight since I got here. Dark bags lay under my deep brown eyes. I look like crap.

“You ok in there?” Analise asks.

“Yeah.” I’m pulled back into reality and start tugging a pair of jeans on. They fit pretty well. Next is the shirt, which is actually a bit too big and hangs off my shoulders. I step out of the curtained changing room and ask, “Well?”

She nods approvingly. “Man I’m good at guessing sizes. You’ll grow into the shirt, promise.”

Analise pulls out another couple pairs of pants and shirts from the boxes. While she is doing that I stick my hands in the pockets of my jeans. Another random fact pops into mind.

“When did jeans come back into style?”

“I don’t know if they are, but they are great for doing anything in,” she replies.

“It feels very…10ish.”

“10ish?” she questions, handing me the clothing.

“Yeah,” I say, wondering how she doesn’t know that expression. “From 2010.”

“Oh. It might have been in style then,” Analise says with a shrug. She heads out of the room and I follow her. “Now we just need to get you a place to stay, a job, and get you into the community.”

We walk back through the hallway. I almost ask if we were heading back to my room to get my things, but then I remember that I don’t have any belongings. I wonder if I had come with here with anything. I want to ask, but I don’t. I just follow Analise as we head outside. The sun hits me for the first time in months.

What I see before me is both amazing and frightening.