Chapter Twelve
Jupiter Station
In orbit around the planet Jupiter
Sol System, United Federation of Planets
Early July, 2185
When Justin awoke the next morning the first thing he did was go and check on Juliet. He walked passed Jim and Max who were eating a late breakfast at the kitchen island and straight into the hallway leading to the laboratory. When he arrived outside Juliet's door he paused before reaching out to press the button that would ring a buzzer-like chime alerting the room's occupant(s) to a visitor. He was half expecting he hear Juliet's voice allowing him to enter. But was taken by somewhat surprise when Harper answered the door instead. He entered the room to find his girlfriend sitting upright in bed with her pillows behind her back. Alex was sitting on the bedside holding a glass of milk while Juliet slowly sipped at it through a straw.
"Justin!" Juliet exclaimed when she saw her boyfriend.
A mouthful of milk escaped and landed on her chest halfway soaking her outer shirt. Justin's face became a little red when he realized he was staring for far much too long than she should.
"I am not cleaning that up." said Alex before looking to Harper.
"Fine, I'll clean it up." Harper said with defeat in her voice.
She exited the room, crossed the hall to the linen closet, and retrieved a towel before returning to clean up the spilled milk from Juliet's chest and shirt.
"Juliet, you're talking." said Justin. "That's wonderful."
"I know. And check this out." she said before she looked down at her left arm which raised up a few centimeters in the air.
"That's great!" exclaimed Justin. "Pretty soon you'll be up on your feet and walking."
"I can't wait." Juliet said. "Earlier when doctor Phlox checked in on me he said that I would begin rehabilitation sometime later this week."
"Well I'll be there with you every step of the way." said Justin.
"Awwwww.........how sweet of you." said Juliet. "Come here and give me a hug and kiss."
A smile grew wide on Justin's face as he approached his girlfriend and sat down closer to her pushing Alex off the bed and onto the floor with slight thud. Alex got up angry and came close to pouring the rest of the milk in the glass on top of her brother's head but Harper was quick to snatch it from Alex's hand. Justin pulled Juliet into a hug followed by a long passionate kiss before returning to a hug.
"I'd put my arms around you, too, Justin," began Juliet, "but I can't lift them that high just yet."
"That's okay my sknoogly boo-boo mc-cutie-kins." said Justin as he placed a kiss on her nose getting a giggle reaction from her. (A/N: That's how it's spelled on Justin's "Lost Vampire" picture of Juliet in the episode. High definition kicks-butt!)
"Oh get a room you two." said Alex with half disgust in her voice with an expression on her face to match.
"Alex." said Harper as she motioned to the room they were in.
"Whatever." said Alex as she walked out of the room with Harper following her.
"Justin, I'm hungry." said Juliet. "I feel like I haven't eaten in over a hundred years."
"A hundred and seventy five years to be exact." said Justin. "Shall I conjure you up your favorite breakfast?"
"That would be wonderful." replied Juliet. "But not here. I don't want to spend all day in this bed. And I would also like to get a shower sometime today also."
"I can carry you into the main room." said Justin. "As for a shower, Alex and Harper will help you out there whenever you get ready for one."
He carried her out into the main rooms where she was greeted by Jim and Max. Justin carried her over and lay her down on the couch which faced toward one of the two windows. A window blind of some kind was blocking the view to the outside.
"No Justin, I don't want to lay down flat on my back." Juliet said. "I've been lying down for over a month straight and I'm sick and tired of it. I want to sit up."
"I'm sorry Juliet." Justin apologized before he repositioned her to a sitting position. "There now. How's that?"
"Better. Thank you." said Juliet.
"Hey Juliet, check this out." said Max as he walked over to the windows and pressed a button.
The blinds over the windows disappeared and Juliet was able to see the sun off in the distance for the first time in over two thousand years. She immediately closed her eyes and fear spread across her face.
"NO!" she screamed. "CLOSE THE BLINDS! CLOSE THEM!"
Justin quickly ran to the windows and hit the button to close the blinds as Jim, Alex, and Harper came over to see what was wrong with Juliet.
"MAX!" exclaimed Justin. "Why did you do that? You know that she can't be exposed to sunlight."
"I'm sorry." Max apologized. "But Jim and I were just talking earlier that now she's human again the sun won't kill her."
Justin looked angrily from his brother to Jim.
"That's right Justin." said Jim. "There's no reason for her to fear the sun any longer. In fact some sunlight will do her some good but not until we return to Earth. Go ahead and open the blinds again."
Justin looked to Juliet for her approval before reaching for the button. Juliet nodded her head and Justin pressed the button again opening the blinds once more. She closed her eyes before the blinds fully opened and after she was aware that she was in no danger of incineration like a vampire would be in direct sunlight, she opened her eyes and looked out the window toward the sun. Her eyes widened as she saw the view of space from the station for the first time.
"What do you think of it?" asked Jim after a few moments of silence.
"Wow!" exclaimed Juliet with a tear in her eye. "It's beautiful. I never thought I would actually see the sun again in my entire life as a vampire."
"Well you're no longer a vampire anymore." said Alex. "So soak up as much of the sun as you can. Get a tan going for you because I never thought the vampire pale look was you." (A/N: In the show Juliet wasn't pale but in my story she is kinda like the Twilight fag vampires.)
"Jim said the sun wouldn't help me until we returned to Earth." said Juliet.
"Why won't the sun give you a tan while we're here on Jupiter Station?" asked Harper.
"Yeah, shouldn't you be able to just sit in front of the window and soak up the sun light?" asked Max.
"That won't be possible with these windows." said Jim.
"Why not?" asked Justin. "They look like ordinary glass to me."
"They look like glass. But they're not." said Jim.
He walked over to the window and tapped on it with his fingers on his right hand.
"This is not glass like what's used for windows back in our time." he began to explain. "What's used on starships and space stations is called transparent aluminum. And it's solar shielded to keep out ultra violet radiation so getting a tan through these windows won't be possible.
"Transparent aluminum." said Max.
"Yes." said Jim. "Rumor has it that the formula for transparent aluminum was invented back in the mid nineteen eighties. But the first product wasn't created until the twenty seventies after warp drive was invented on Earth a decade earlier. It holds up more efficiently in deep space travel at warp speeds than conventional glass does."
"So no tan until we get back to Earth?" asked Alex.
"Sorry." said Jim.
"Well there will be plenty of time when we get home to go for walks in the park when spring time rolls around." said Justin as he came to sit down on the couch beside his girlfriend. "Now what would you like for breakfast?"
Juliet gave her order and Jim prepared it at the food dispenser and brought it over and handed it to Justin who began to feed Juliet. After she was finished eating Justin carried her into the bathroom and then left while Alex and Harper gave her a sit-down shower, washed her hair, and dressed her in a fresh suit of clothes. Justin carried her back to the main room and sat her down on the couch.
For the next three to four days it was the same routine over and over again. Justin would carry her into the main room, feed her meals to her, and Alex and Harper would help her to bathe. She also continued to drink milk several times a day and by the fourth day she was able to lift her arms over her head and give Justin a full embrace in return. She could also lift her legs high enough in the air to satisfy doctor Phlox and he told her that she would be starting the rehabilitation the next day.
~-+-~
Mid July
Day by day since starting on the reconstruct of Mason's DNA it was Alex's turn to check in each day on Phlox's progress with her boyfriend. Mason was connected up to the main equipment in a similar way Juliet had been the previous month and after about two weeks a noticeable difference could be seen. His hind legs had transfigured from wolf back into human as well as his head and forearms from the front of a wolf's torso to the side of a human one. His human face was recognizable once more and the only wolf parts left was his upper, mid, and lower torso.
"It won't be too much longer Alex." said Phlox as he came to stand beside her.
"How much longer do you think?" she asked.
"Oh I'd say give it another week and he'll completely human again." replied Phlox.
"Will he need any rehabilitation like Juliet?" Alex asked.
"I'm not sure." replied Phlox. "His case was entirely different from that of Juliet's. But he will be paralyzed for a while like she was after he wakes up."
"Why?" asked Alex.
"It's a side effect of the drug used to keep him in a coma." replied Phlox. "It's a design advantage the drug makers added to keep some patients from hurting themselves or others once they awoke and found themselves in a strange environment."
"You don't think Mason has forgotten me, do you doctor?" asked Alex with slight fear in her voice. "After all he did try to attack me when he was taken out of suspended animation."
Phlox was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Well......... it's like Jim said at the time." he began. "Mason's humanity had faded and his wolf instincts took over telling him to defend himself the way wolves do. But I think that once he wakes up as a human again his humanity will return as well as his memory."
Phlox wasn't entirely sure of himself but the "Fatherly sense" in him urged him to say that to Alex to ease the fear in her.
"One more week." she said.
"One more week." Phlox repeated with a nod and a smile.
The days passed and Juliet's rehabilitation went as smoothly and easily as doctor Phlox had expected it to. He would stand and support her on one side while Justin would stand and support her on the other. Together the three would walk slowly side-by-side each other as Juliet's legs grew stronger with each step. As time progressed, Juliet's speed increased as well and after a few days she was able to stand and walk on her own while Justin stood close by to catch her if she should fall. But she never did. By the beginning of the last week of the month Phlox had declared her fully rehabilitated.
Author's Notes:
A short chapter I know. But I wanted to at least get Juliet's reaction to seeing the sun for the first time in more than two millennia and her rehabilitation posted before I began with Mason's entrance dialog. It's not much so maybe next chapter will be longer.
BlazerGuitar831
