Chapter 5

Chapter 4  (13+) Jack and the Sheriff meet the Air Force...and Colonel Lanier #2035658 by Hyperiongate

Chapter Five
 
Lise got up early in the afternoon after having slept just a couple of hours. Only complete exhaustion had allowed her to sleep at all. Her first thought, Today is the day! No calls while she slept meant that her John Doe had managed to survive the last few hours. If he could only hold on a little longer, they would take his treatment to the next, highly experimental stage.

And there was Jack Barton. “Strange that I remember his name,” she thought.

“How did he get into my head?” Lise wondered as she climbed into the shower. He was just a flash in the pan, a moment in time at the end of a very long night. If her history of “picking” had taught her anything, Jack was just another wasted effort hoping to take her to dinner. And yet she couldn’t stop her heart from beating just a little faster at the idea of him stopping by the hospital a little later that day like he said he would.

She pushed Jack aside.

Stick with what you know and save the dreams for later, she said to herself.

Today was too big for distractions. This was what her professional life had been leading up to. Romantic distractions were just that …distractions. Fantasies of Mr. Barton would have to wait.
The new John Doe was her top priority. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was to put work ahead of relationships.

Thirty minutes later, she was heading into the hospital.

The team was assembled and waiting when she arrived. The lively discussions subsided quickly as she entered the conference room and everyone was visibly excited. If this technology worked, it would have practical applications well beyond treating burn victims. The ability to regenerate skin was just the first step. Someday the application might be developed into an effective cure for skin cancer. Even the sagging skin of old age may one day be a thing of the past.

It was time to put this thing to the test. Turning to Dr. Shepherd she said, “Ben, what’s the status of the TIG Solution?”

“The fermentation cycle is well underway and should be completed in a few more hours. At that time, the bio-density will be at the optimum levels for sustaining growth. Right now, the DNA strands are above one billion parts per liter. All chemical components are well within standards. We’re ready to fill the tank with the oxygenated pretreatment solution at any time,” Shepherd said, barely able to hide his excitement.

Lise turned to Dr Ruiz who was in charge of the mechanics surrounding the tank itself. “How are you looking, Paul?”

“The tank, pumps and all monitoring systems are online and ready for immersion. All backup systems have been verified.” Dr. Ruiz, ever the professional, kept his enthusiasm tightly under wraps.

Lise continued around the room. Every doctor and nurse checked in as being ready to go. Their hours of preparation were paying off. Even the newest addition, nurse’s aide Annie Franklin, was beginning to make small, yet noticeable, contributions as she hustled about assisting the other doctors. Whenever someone needed something, Annie was there with it before they thought to ask. Lise made a mental note to keep an eye on this promising young nursing assistant.

The pre-immersion briefing lasted for the better part of an hour. Everything had to be perfect before JD11 was unwrapped and lowered into the TIG tank.

The rest of the afternoon flew by for Lise. Thoughts of Jack would pop into her mind but only during those few moments when she wasn’t completely buried in what she and her team were doing. By the time they started taking quick breaks for dinner, it became apparent that he was a no-show. Lise was a little disappointed but not surprised. As usual, her worked filled the void. She and her team were too busy making history for thoughts of a man to get in the way.

At 9:32 p.m., Dr. Lise Marshall pushed a button that sent a small trickle current of electricity into the gelatin that held JD11 in suspension. This final step was all the signaling needed by the DNA enriched solution. Almost immediately, at a microscopic level, the strands began to reproduce and interact with the man’s horribly disfigured body. No one understood completely how the process worked. The entire concept was based on the idea that nature knew better than man as to what needed to be done. The doctors had created an environment where nature had all of the tools it would need to take whatever course it chose. In simplest terms, the TIG was little more than an artificial womb.

The neutrally buoyant body of patient John Doe #11 floated in the center of the large glass tank, midway between the surface and the bottom. Numerous wires were attached to his body, enabling the staff to monitor his vital signs as well as the progression of the treatment. Conspicuously absent was any sort of breathing apparatus. The amniotic-like fluid contained sufficient dissolved oxygen to allow the patient to breathe while submerged. His lungs had been charged with the fluid and a small pump inserted near his lungs ensured a constant flow of the enriched liquid.

No one knew how long the regenerative process would take, nor the extent to which the healing would impact the massive internal organ damage. The process was designed with the idea that only the skin needed to be repaired. Estimates for that ran from several weeks up to nine months, the length of time the body’s original growth signals took to make a healthy baby. Throwing in the rest of the organs was like adding a wild card to the mix. Since most organs, aside from the skin, seem rather inclined to not regenerate, the staff had very low expectations in that area. The missing ears, nose and fingers were considered beyond any hope of regrowth. The body just didn’t work that way. The plan was to see if it looked like their patient would survive at all. If he started to make progress, they would submit requests for various organ transplants to replace the ones that were currently on the verge of failing at any moment.

The process was placed in full automatic. Everything was checked and checked again, so now there was nothing left to do but wait. Lise sent her team home for the night. She stayed in the observation room until Annie showed up for the night shift. Lise was impressed by the load of text books the young woman had brought along to keep herself busy during the long slow hours nighttime shift. This girl was definitely going places.

As she left the hospital, Lise failed to notice the burly maintenance man who whispered into his collar. Nor did she notice the green van with a logo from a carpet cleaning company on its side as she pulled out of the parking lot. The van, with seeming coincidence, pulled out right behind her and followed at a discrete distance.

Fifteen minutes later, Lise pulled into her driveway; the unseen green van was still a couple of blocks back. It never made it to her street as there was no need for it there. An electrical utility truck was already parked two houses down. Inside the truck, men listened and watched the woman they had been assigned to both investigate and protect.

As she piddled around getting ready for bed, Lise paused to stand in front of the mirror; looking at her thirty-five year old body. Her five-foot, two-inch frame was still as taut as it had been when she graduated from Johns Hopkins more than a decade ago. Her black hair would occasionally betray her with the odd grey strand, but for the most part, she was happy with what she saw.

She wondered about who her patient was. She made a note to call the sheriff to see how his investigation was going. One thought led to another and soon, Jack was back. He’d never showed up that night like he said he would. It was probably for the best. She had other priorities right now. A man would just get in the way.

“I don’t have time for you,” she thought, as she pushed him aside. It proved to be a case of the harder she pushed the more clear the man’s image became. The persistence surprised her. It was as if he was being pushed towards her. Why you, Mr. Barton? As she entered the fog of sleep, she knew the truth of things, if only for a fleeting moment. It occurred to her that of course, JD11, herself and Jack were all linked. The thought left her as soon as it came and Lise drifted off to sleep.

That night she dreamt of a tall handsome mad with a kind face. His brown eyes had a kindness to them. In her dream, she felt safe and content in his presence. They were walking through a forest together, hand in hand and all was well with the world. In an instant, everything changed. They were no longer in a forest but in a large building. There were fires and explosions everywhere. She had somehow lost contact with the man and was running terrified through the burning hallways. Suddenly he was there. She took his hand and understood that he was part of her. She felt a sharp pain and then watched as he drifted backwards, his arms extended helplessly as he struggled against and unseen force to be close to her once more. As he drifted out of sight, she felt herself being lifted up. With a thought, she was able to find him again. He was kneeling over a body that a distant memory told her was someone she once knew. She reached down and touched the man with unseen hands and said, “Don’t worry, Jack. Everything will be alright.”

“Jack!?”

Lise woke with a start. She could still see him in her mind’s eye. She could still feel him in her chest. She wrapped herself in her arms and lay back, staring at the ceiling. Jack Barton had a bigger grip on her than she had thought. It had taken two minutes. That’s all the time they’d spent together. Lise wondered if there really was such a thing as love at first sight.

*****

Nursing assistant Annie Franklin sat at the monitoring console in the observation booth that looked out over her new patient. Her chart had said that John Doe #11 was Code Blue Probable. This meant his chances of surviving from one minute to the next were deemed slim by those that knew way more about medicine than her. She looked out the observation window at the badly damaged body floating in the tank. It was a site that was going to take some getting used to. She wondered if her patient was even remotely aware of his condition.

She was new to Dr. Marshall’s team and was really little more than a helper. She had no idea how any of the equipment in the room operated. Her entire job consisted of recording readings every fifteen minutes and calling for help if he flat-lined. A monkey could do it. Annie knew this but at least it was a foot in the door. She’d be ready for her nursing exams in 2 years and she wanted to make sure there was a job waiting for her once she graduated.

For as long as she could remember, she had wanted to be a nurse. Now, at the tender age of twenty, she was struggling with the nursing curriculum offered at the local junior college. It was not from lack of effort; she just found it hard to learn everything. There was so much to study that it was overwhelming. Hopefully being at the hospital and among those she wished to someday join, something would rub off. So far, this didn’t seem to be having much of an impact. At least it paid enough to keep her in school.


Her plans for tonight were simple: Study and, if needed, push a button if JD11 tripped off-line. Once that button was pushed, she would begin recalling the burn team associated with this case. This was standard operating procedure and the only possible interruption to her studies.

She had her books laid out and was just starting to read when she glanced up at the body floating in the room outside her both. She stood up and looked at him as he floated in the tank, supposedly fighting to survive. There was no way to tell for certain. She glanced over at the brainwave monitor and saw it was registering the absolute minimal readings across all levels. In other words – he was comatose and quite probably unaware of anything at all.

It was a sure thing that he was not in any pain; given the amount of drugs being pumped into him. For a moment, Annie felt oddly envious. He had no cares in the world. His only task was to lay there and dream; or whatever it was that people in comas did. She tried to imaging what it would be like to be him. She closed her eyes and reached out.

“Who are you?” She said out loud.

Annie felt a momentary chill and goosebumps raced up her arms. A thought filled her mind. It said simply, “I don’t know.”

Her eye’s popped open in surprise.

“Did that really just happen?” She thought.

After a moment, the thought passed, unremembered. Annie sat down and picked up a text book; time to get to work. She plowed through the first couple of pages, the words jumbling in her head without real meaning - nothing new there. Then something unnoticed began to take place. She began to understand. Thoughts like “of course” or “I see it now” began to make their way into her mind. The pages began to turn faster and faster as she soaked up the material.

“How could I have not understood this before?” she thought.

Chapter 6  (13+) Jack goes to underground base and meets Colonel Lanier. #2035888 by Hyperiongate