Frontier Online

Rough Start Part 30

Ryan awoke slowly, his mind filled with cotton. After a few moments spent clearing his eyes, the Titan realized he wasn't in his room. Clean white tile floors and beige walls greeted Ryan as he looked around, a patient's gown on his body. 

At first confused, the events of the previous night rushed back to Ryan all at once. The memories of all the pain, emotional and physical, overwhelmed the giant for a few moments and left him misty-eyed. 

I'm probably in the clinic's Recovery Room. Does that mean it worked?

Unable to see himself beneath the gown and bedsheet, Ryan performed a test. The giant carefully began to twist his torso, almost like he was trying to pop his back. When he felt no pain or tight grinding, Ryan's heart started to beat wildly in his chest. 

As Ryan sucked in huge lungfuls of air, he felt nothing. Excitement and joy crashed through the Titan as he began to thrash in his hospital bed, every movement delighting him.

It doesn't hurt!

That one thought silenced all others. Ryan sat up in bed and curled up, something he hadn't done since he was a child. Tears traced paths down the giant's face, at first slowly and then pouring out of him.

In the privacy of the Recovery Room, Ryan cried quietly.

Eventually, when Ryan came back to himself, he shifted his feet off the hospital bed. It was only as he prepared to stand up that the Titan realized his feet didn't hang off the end of the bed. 

The clinic had exactly one Titan-sized bed for their giant patient to use.

Ryan shifted his weight onto his legs and struggled to stand. Every instinct in his body told him to hunch his back to avoid causing more pain. 

The giant ignored those instincts and continued to straighten his back until he stood fully upright, resting his hand on the wall for support. 

In his first few steps, Ryan stumbled and nearly fell. When the giant walked, even using the wall for support, his body wanted to walk with a pronounced limp. Besides the limp, Ryan felt like he was farther from the ground now.

Just as Ryan got to the bathroom door, the Recovery Room door slid open, and Dr. Kroner walked in. 

For a moment, they stared at each other.

"You know, I really expected you to need some Physical Therapy to start walking, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Dr. Kroner chuckled at the giant as he walked into the room and pulled out the standard rolling stool doctors always have.

"Go ahead and get cleaned up, then we'll talk." Dr. Kroner shooed the Titan into the bathroom. In the meantime, the doctor sat at an AR terminal near the door.

Inside, Ryan relieved himself and washed his face. There weren't any clothes for the Titan to change into, so once he finished up, he carefully walked out and back over to the bed.

Once Ryan was seated, Dr. Kroner addressed him.

"First and foremost, congratulations. Although no one can ever know how we did it, the R.N.R. was a success." The doctor continued to explain that many of his balancing muscles were atrophied. "Even though you managed to walk without Physical Therapy, you will need guided training to reach a normal state."

"Are there any potential drawbacks from the procedure?" Ryan wasn't concerned with finding a trainer since he owned Musculo. Although he never saw income from the company, the Titan did have unlimited access to the amenities. 

"The nanites are small enough to rest inside your cells, with a great deal of them already committed to your organs, bones, and muscles. Unless your body develops some auto-immune response to their presence, I think you'll be fine." The nanites were designed to give off electrical signals mimicking the body's natural hormones.