Spilling Guts

Part 142 - The... thing? Part 2

Wednesday, 9:16am.

Reese held a towel-burrito'd Copperfield in his arms, while Beni held a can of Arizona green tea and a fresh apple fritter on a plate. And a napkin, knife, and fork. Because Reese insisted. Fluff and sugar. Just the thing for whatever was ailing Will.

But Cetz stopped them at the threshold. "Now's not a good time."

"He's sleeping?" Beni glanced around Cetz's shoulder. Will shuddered on the hospital bed, eyes closed and face drawn in pain. Rachel and a strange doctor with pepper hair and black clothing under his lab coat spoke softly to Will, as if coaxing him to wake up.

Cetz stepped to the side, blocking Beni's sight. "Yes, and he needs all the sleep he can get. I'll message you when he's alright for company."

He shuffled them out of the way and Rachel and the strange doctor wheeled Will's bed out of Med Tech.

Will hadn't been well. Hence the comfort pastry and the fluff therapy Beni and Reese brought. But what they saw on the bed was worse than "unwell".

Reese sniffed haughtily, cuddling the Copperfield burrito. "We've been downgraded to minor characters in a side plot," he quipped to Cetz's back as he followed the bed down the hall.

"Do the patents on Louis' desk if you want to help!" Cetz shot back.

Beni remained silent as they walked back to Main Tech, holding the plate with the pastry as carefully as Reese held the rabbit.

"Will doesn't look good," she said.

Reese nodded, grim-faced. "I've seen healthier looking men receive last rights."

When they reached Main Tech, Beni tried to muster up the energy to claim the apple fritter. Instead she laid it on Will's desk next to his storm trooper figurine. Reese didn't claim it either. They took turns holding Copperfield between patent paperwork.

***

Will pulled his head away from the weak sandy fingers that tried to twist his neck. It was too bright, too much light. He couldn't see who was singing that bad song that made his head ring and his ears ache. Not his room in Med Tech. Where was he?

"Will?" The brightness dimmed around a figure. Rachel leaning over him.

"Where 'm I?" His throat felt as rough as a rotary sander.

"The BT-10. Remember?"

Not really. The only thing he could remember about the BT-10 was the failed punching test that ended up with him freaking out from a nightmare. Zachs wasn't here, was he?

"We have the new device ready." Rachel held something in her hands. Something bright but not white. And odd.

"That's the... it?"

"Yes. It's not the Devil's Neckbrace anymore. It's... We don't have a name for it yet."

"It looks like a headdress for space elves."

A chuckle. Not from Rachel. Louis loomed behind her. "You ain't joining the Fellowship of the Rings of Saturn, fanboy."

Louis? Here in a BT? Will needed his light switch. Better yet.

Hayman caught his fingers as they stretched out. "What is it you need, William?"

"Glasses," Will croaked. "Too bright." Louis' shades would work, they worked for Louis all the time. Except for that one time, when he thought Louis wasn't real. But Louis wasn't wearing them at the time.

Aren't those the shades I gave him?

"I brought a sleeping mask for you." Hayman took the sweaty sleeping cap off Will's head, popping away the sensors that stuck like octopus suckers.