Chapter 6: Integration

I opened the doors to the Engineering Academy and was greeted with an onslaught of cheering. I focused on a brick above a doorway to help myself stay focused and not get overwhelmed. I looked around at the students cheering for me in the lobby. My senior class was welcoming me back. "Welcome back, Wiress!" Mr. Jones said hugging me.

"We kept your workbench the same!" Mike said grinning. I nodded my thanks.

"I have -" I handed Mr. Jones a thick envelope that had the assigned drawings in them.

"My my - nothing slows you down, does it, Miss Wiress Carpenter?" Mr. Jones asked chuckling.

"It - It helps - me stay focused on good things." I explained. Julie and Melissa walked with me to class. It was easy to listen and not worry about speaking as they filled me in on what we were doing and of course how everyone was so estatic to have me back. We entered the seniors' classroom which was more like a work area. I had a box of earplugs on my desk as well as a little lamp that would offset the fluorescent lighting. I would wear earplugs when the students were using the machines so I could concentrate. Julie sat next to me so I could look at her notes in case I missed something during Mr. Jones' lectures. Sometimes peoples' voices would cut in and out in my brain if I was feeling overwhelmed.

My first few days back at school were exhausting, yet I finally felt like I was myself again. My train of thought was broken by Julie sneezing. "Oh - sorry!" Julie gasped before blowing her nose. "My mom wanted me to stay home - but - I know you need my notes."

"Oh - I don't -" My train of thought was interrupted by another of her sneezes. "I - I've been doing fine." I brought her a box of kleenexes from the back of the room. We went back to discussing how to design a bridge as part of our project for the hour.

"Wiress - I'm going to move to another bench so you can -" She paused to sneeze again. "Concentrate."

"Ok." I said softly. I patted her on the back before going back to my work. Melissa sat next to me and we worked on our projects together.

"It's almost like you've never left!" Melissa exclaimed giving me a hug my second week back. I smiled. I was getting back into a routine, but there were still the nightmares that would wake me up. I would do my homework until I fell back asleep. Beetee had found me asleep at my desk several nights ago. I spent the previous weekend in bed recovering from the activity of the week. "Do you want to go to Meg's house after school today?"

"I - I dunno. I - I guess I'll see how I feel." I said. "I still get tired." I admitted. Melissa nodded understandingly. I went back to my drawing. The scratchiness in the back of my throat was bothering me again. I still didn't talk much, so maybe the little conversation with Melissa irritated it. The scratchiness made it hard to concentrate on my work. I sighed. During a break between class sessions, I got some water. That made me feel better. The day ended and I walked with Melissa to her house. She lived halfway between the school and Victor's village. Beetee would pick me up there.

"That's odd!" Melissa said. "Look at the middle stack on Factory 4." I looked. Thick black smoke was coming out.

"I - I don't hear an alarm." I said. I gulped. "Should we -" I looked at Melissa.

"Maybe you and Beetee could check it out." I nodded. I coughed. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Soot. I think. Yeah." I coughed again. We reached Melissa's apartment building.

"Come in and wait for Beetee here." She said opening the door to the lobby. I looked out the window at the smokestack with the black billowing smoke. "Wiress - Wiress - he's here. He said you can go check out the factory." Melissa was saying. I blinked.

"I - how -"

"Oh - I explained it to him. You seemed - preoccupied." Melissa explained. I got in the car and Beetee drove to Factory 4. It was the electronics factory where they made computer chips and fiber optics as well as wires.

"I'll ask the foreman what's going on." Beetee said. "If I need you, I'll get you."

"Beetee -" I paused. I grasped both of his hands before he could open the door. "Please - be careful." To my surprise, Beetee placed a kiss on my forehead.

"I will." He said, his lips brushing my hairline. Even though I was used to soot, it was making me cough. I sighed. I had only been outside to go to school and back. I guess my body was still getting used to being home. Beetee came out a few minutes later. He opened the door and handed me some ear-plugs and tinted safety goggles. "Everything's ok. They're just burning extra materials today. But the foreman said that since you're here, he wanted a fresh pair of eyes to look at something."

"I don't have my -" I began as I put in my earplugs. The change of how my voice sounded made me loose my train of thought.

"Engineering certification?" Beetee asked. "That's ok. Your classmates are consulting on projects already." I nodded. Beetee handed me a slate so I could write things down instead of try and talk in a noisy place such as a factory. Beetee put on a helmet and safety goggles and we went inside. The noise was still overwhelming, and things were moving so fast that I had to make a conscious effort to focus on walking. The foreman waved us into a room. Thankfully, it was away from the noise of the main floor. It housed a prototype of a piece of equipment. I took out one of my earplugs.

"Wiress, it's a pleasure to meet you." The foreman said shaking hands. "Beetee tells me you're quite the designer. I smiled and shrugged. "He told me you're the humble type." He explained his problem and I took a look. After sketching some things out on my slate, both Beetee and I chipped in on how he could solve his problem. "Well - thanks for stopping by. You take care, Beetee, and Wiress, you talk to me once you get that certification." I raised my eyebrows. "You'll pass with flying colors. Everyone knows that." I nodded. Beetee and I left the factory.

"I feel - normal." I said. He smiled at me as we pulled up to the house. "Like - I'm - back."

"I'm glad." Beetee said. "That's a very very good thing to feel." We walked hand in hand into the house. Grandma set some tea on the dining room table. I was grateful for it and it soothed my throat. I blushed as Beetee went on about how I helped the man at the factory.

"You helped -" I said looking at the tea-pot.

"I know I helped also, but he'll use your suggestion for sure." I nodded.

"I'll see you at dinner." I said yawning. I felt more tired than usual, but I had gone on a bit of an excursion after school. The old Wiress would have been able to do school, go on an outing and then spend several hours on homework before going to bed. I wasn't at that point, but I knew I was getting there.