Artificial Heart

32

A figure was standing over her. A very familiar and missed one. Blurry. Dark. His eyes were shining. Just like the metal of his face was shining. There was a faint beeping sound and it seemed to beep in time with the flashing of his red eye. She was lying on his hard bench. He was gathering his "data" again.

'Alf?' Her voice echoed strangely. 'But I thought you were done.'

He shined a light in her eyes. He said something but his voice was muffled. He disappeared into the shadows, then reappeared. Prisha blinked and found herself lying in the narrow bed in the main part of the ship. Alf was lying next to her, shoulder pressed against hers. How was that possible? The cot shouldn't be so big. It was stretched. The whole ship looked stretched. Like she was looking down a long corridor.

'Alf,' she whispered, reaching out to touch him.

He turned his head and smiled. His lips moved. He said something. But again it was like she was hearing from a distance.

'Prisha,' she recognised. But his voice sounded different, sharper, higher. 'Prisha, can you hear me?'

Prisha blinked. She rolled her eyes, closed them, then opened them again.

The ship was gone. Along with Alf. Instead, she was lying in an unfamiliar brightly lit room. Several figures were standing over her. The beeping sound came from a heart monitor. The man leaning over her shone that damn light in her eyes again. Prisha winced.

'Where am I?' she croaked.

'You collapsed. We're taking care of you.'

He was wearing a white cloak. He had short curly black hair. Dark eyes. Prisha looked at the others. There were five. One woman. Ralph.

She shut her eyes. 'Too bright.'

'Turn down the lights please.'

Prisha opened her eyes again.

'How do you feel?' he asked.

'Better ... now.' She tried to sit up.

'Easy, easy,' the man said, gripping her shoulder.

She grabbed the side of her head at a hard throb. 'How did I get here?'

'Your agent brought you in.'

'My agent?'

Ralph lifted his hand.

'Tell me what happened,' the doctor asked. He took her chin and pressed his fingers to her throat like the army doctor did. 'Have you been sick? Coughs? Sneezes? Fevers?'

'No. I don't know what happened. I just felt dizzy, sweaty, and I blacked out.'

'We've taken some blood. We might get some answers.'

'They already took some. Back home. In Australia.'

The doctor turned to the man next to him and said, 'Go get those records.' He looked towards the others in the room. 'You can go now. She's fine.'

They filed out one by one. The woman whispered something in the doctor's ear. He nodded. Then it was just the two of them and a man standing in the back corner. He was wearing black and leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

'Another bodyguard,' Prisha said. 'What exactly are you afraid of?'

'Should I be afraid?' the doctor asked.

Prisha scoffed.

'My name is Craig, by the way. And this is not really a hospital, only the medical portion of our secure compound here in D.C.'