Chapter 14: Reflections
The moment footsteps could be heard everyone turned their attention to the door of the control room. All of them were silent as they walked into the room but the others noticed that none of them, Ein especially, seemed that upbeat. On the plus side none of them looked like they were about to deliver bad news, or in Ein's case that he knew bad news was coming, so everyone remained quiet and waited, in Ed and Meifa's case very anxiously, for them to say something. Jet was carrying the skull under his arm and decided it would be best if he talked to Ed directly and not mince words.
"We don't know how bad it is." He told her and held out Arnold's skull so she could see the damage. Meifa moved in closer so she could get a better look but John and Faye stayed where they were. They looked from the skull up at Jet and he could tell they were thinking the same thing Spike had in the silo. There was next to no chance Arnold would have survived damage like that. "It might have gotten something vital but it also might…." He didn't get a chance to finish as Ed snatched the skull out of his hands and went over to Tomato. Jet didn't say anything or try to stop her. She knew more about terminator's inner workings then he did so she would be the one to gauge what kind of damage had been done anyway.
"MPU, Ed needs to know if bump on Arnold person's head is really bad or just looks funny." She said and she turned the skull in front of the computer's built in camera. Though she did sound worried she also sounded confident that things weren't beyond her ability to fix. On screen a digital schematic of a normal T-800 skull popped up on the left side. On the right a second schematic popped up, one of Arnold's damaged skull. Arrows and bits of text that were incomprehensible to anyone but MPU and Ed began to appear on identical places on each skull. That set of information disappeared and a different set took its place. A blank column appeared in the center of the screen and more text began to scroll by at a rapid pace. Meanwhile the digital skulls began to rotate and were broken down into their individual parts, which added more data to the flow. Finally when the analysis got to the areas that were damaged by the heat the entire thing suddenly stopped and only the pictures of Arnold's skull remained onscreen.
"Without visual conformation of the extent of physical damage I cannot make an accurate estimation of what systems are still intact and what are not." There was a very noticeable silence in the room as everyone realized that MPU had just admitted that even after going through all that he had no idea just what was wrong with Arnold's skull.
"So you're saying that things might not be as bad as they look?" John asked, hoping to raise everyone's spirits a bit.
"No." Was MPU's blunt response. "I am saying only what I can ascertain from the information available. Things may indeed be not as bad as they look. They may also be far worse then they appear. With no physical evidence on how the heat or melting metal affected the interior of the skull I can give no diagnostic with any degree of certainty." Well that wasn't what John had been going for. Yeah MPU didn't say Arnold was dead but unless he could see the damage he wouldn't be able to make a decision on way or the other. And the only way they were going to be able to physically look at the damage….
"We're going to have to open him up?" John asked. It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought. Just trying to get the outer layers of the skull off in its condition might cause more damage then was already there.
"No we're not opening him up." Jet said with finality. "With a place this big the medical wing is bound to have an X-ray machine, we'll use that. It'll also give us a chance to get everyone patched up before we go back to the ship."
"We should probably look for a Medkit on the way there to." John added. "At least then I'll be able to walk under my own power."
"That would be ill advised. With your specific injuries the kit would do you much more harm then good." MPU spoke up. In response everyone was now looking at the computer quizzically. How could something that had helped John and especially Faye before actually hurt them? "The exact contents of the Medkits are a combination of proteins and other chemicals essential for the formation of tissue and a crude but effective form of stem cell therapy designed specifically to speed the human body's natural healing process. While all forms soft tissue could be genetically programmed into the stem cells, making it able to heal and rebuild everything short of Neocortex neurons, the coding needed for Osseous tissue to re-grow correctly outside hospital controlled conditions could not be determined and was never implemented. If you should use a Medkit with your current injuries…."
"I'll be growing new flesh around the shrapnel that's still in my knee." John finished, catching MPU's drift. Well looks like this place didn't have a magical cure-all after all.
"Are there any other side effects you'd like to tell us about?" Faye asked in an annoyed tone. She had taken a much bigger dose of the stuff then John and she had been planning to use it again to completely heal up her shoulder.
"For small amounts none are listed." MPU answered calmly. "There were no accounts of large and numerous treatments ever being used for fear it might lead to new forms of autoimmune diseases, benign but prolific tumor growth, sterilization…"
"And just how much can cause all that?!" Faye screamed, making the others jump.
"Much more then you have taken." MPU answered, still calm. "I have calculated that at most you have a less then a .05% chance of any harm coming to you. If you so choose you may still use the kits again…"
"OHHH no!" Faye cut him off. "I'll stick to the old fashioned way and wait thank you!" She didn't care how little the odds were she wasn't going to risk getting sick from this stuff. Modern medicine could do all the stuff the Medkits did for serious injuries almost as fast but they'd still take several days to a couple of weeks to heal up completely, bone breaks included.
"Then it's settled." Jet stated gruffly to stop Faye's shouting. "We go to the medical wing, no stops. Ed, find the quickest way there and a transit station so we don't have to walk." After typing on her computer for several seconds looked up at her companions.
"Bandage and boo-boo taxi service in on the way and tour guide Ed will provide fast and helpful route." She announced, putting Tomato on her head and moving towards the door, though much slower then she normally would.
"Come on." Faye said as she pulled John back onto his feet and put his arm back over her good shoulder. The others waited, knowing that this was exactly why Ed wasn't moving at her normal manic pace, and fell in behind them. It was an almost fifteen minute walk to the nearest transit station since the blast pit itself was built so far away from the main tracks. Everyone kept their pace slow to accommodate John and Faye, neither of whom was having an easy time of it. John's knee was giving him jolts of pain every time it moved regardless if he was actually putting weight on it and Faye was trying to support the taller and heavier John with only one shoulder. But John never asked to stop and rest, and Faye didn't try to pass John off to someone else. Still once they got to the station both of them became visibly relieved when they saw a transit car waiting for them, its doors open and ready.
"Due to popular demand all grouchy pants and mummies will be loading first." Ed chirped and stood to the side of the open door. "Watch you step please." She said in a voice that sounded like a flight attendant and motioned towards the door like she was presenting a prize. John smiled slightly at Ed while Faye sent her an annoyed look for calling her grouchy but the hacker never lost her own smile.
"There'd better be a first class dinner included." Faye said as she maneuvered herself and John through the door, deciding that playing along with Ed would be less aggravation.
"And the movie better not suck either." John added as they moved towards the seats that provided the most room. With some effort John was lowered onto the outermost seat so he could keep his leg straight by sticking it out into the aisle. Once he was settled in Faye sat down in the seat directly opposite of him. The others took various seats while Ed once again elected to stand and press her face against the windows so she could see the scenery go by. There were no announcements this time and the ride was silent for several minutes before Spike decided he was tired of hearing nothing.
"Think they're going to throw you out for that?" He asked John, nodding towards his knee.
"Doubt it." John said as he shifted his weight to put less pressure on his leg. "They didn't throw out Specs and he lost the whole thing. Only question is do they make me loose it so I can get a new model."
"That's your choice." Jet replied before Spike could say anything. "But after this I'm not going to be surprised if they make you take time off."
"Yeah, plenty of time for calls and family visits." John said bitterly. Jet could sympathize with him. He had needed to make a few of those visits back in his ISSP days and even with as dirty as some of those cops were he always felt that facing a firing squad would have been easier then being the one to tell someone their loved one had just died. That also brought up one very unpleasant eventuality.
"Did Kyle have a will set up saying what he wanted done?" He asked carefully. With no family he would have had to make arrangements himself, something that most people didn't think of when they're younger. Even though it was none of Jet's business he wasn't going to stand by and let someone like Kyle be left with nothing after all he had done.
"Not that I know of." John answered, shaking his head. "We really didn't talk about legal matters." Jet was about to offer his help when John continued. "He probably left instructions to his family anyway and I'm sure they'll be able to handle everything." Jet raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Something wrong?" Jet didn't say anything as he realized it and just shook his head with a wry smile on his face.
"Large family?" He asked. John looked at him in confusion but answered.
"Well in his immediate family he's got his mom, dad, two brothers and his sister." He said, sounding as confused as he looked. This time Jet let out a dry chuckle as he looked up at the car's ceiling.
"Back on the cliff when we thought Skynet was still coming after us he told me he didn't have any family, so he should stay and stall while I went on with the others. Damn near worked to except that I wasn't about to let him get himself killed. If you hadn't showed up when you did I probably would have had to drag him back in a headlock." John was silent for a moment before he let out a small laugh himself.
"Yeah, that does sound like something Kyle would do." He said in a sad but amused tone. "I probably would have to if you guys didn't know about mom and uncle Bob." He admitted.
"Well what do you know." Spike remarked. "Looks like ISSP can still turn out people selfless to the point of stupidity." He told John with a smirk of his own.
"Looks like it's contagious to, or at least it's able to dig it out of someone else " Jet added, glancing at Faye with a small smile of his own. She scowled and turned away from the conversation.
"Mom always said that kind of unselfish stupidity ran in the family." John answered with a shrug. "As for getting it out of other people, I honestly didn't think it was possible for someone to dig that deep without killing themselves." He continued, looking over at Faye, who sent him a glare that told him to shut up. Figuring that she had already been embarrassed enough by proof that she was actually a decent person he obliged her, but his own triumphant grin let he know that he wouldn't keep quiet about it forever. In turn this caused Faye to scowl even deeper and pretend to be interested by what was going on outside the window.
The (mostly) good natured ribbing directed at Faye proved to be able to relieve some of the tension that everyone was feeling, both about what had and what was about to happen. However Jet noticed that Meifa looked to be deep in thought.
"Meifa? Is something wrong?" He asked. She turned towards him in response with that still thoughtful look on her face.
"Arnold and Skynet were both machines." She started. "Very advanced machines but still machines. They were both given free will, both could choose who and what they were, but they ended up so different. When making that choice they chose two distinctly different paths based on their own thoughts and feelings, not what their programming told them to do. A person makes that choice on what they think is right or wrong, not a machine. But both of them did, and they weren't even alive. Do you think…is it possible for a soul to be created after the body, that it could form on its own based only on the good or evil actions that are taken?" She asked, sounding uncertain of the question itself and her own thoughts on it. For a moment total silence filled the car as everyone, even Faye who turned around along with Ed, looked at Meifa with shocked faces.
"You felt something?" Jet finally asked, the same question going through everyone else's mind. The reason Meifa had been so nervous around Arnold was his lifelike actions but his complete lack of Chi, making him 'alive but dead' and if she had suddenly sensed something in either of them….
"No I didn't." Meifa confessed. "It was the same nothingness as before, but it was different at the same time. Like they weren't just metal and wires, but real human beings, even without the Chi of the living. It's all so confusing, and the only thing I can think of is that somehow they created their own life-force, their own soul. Nothing can become as evil as Skynet, or as good a person as Arnold was, with just programming. I can't explain how it may have happened, and I couldn't sense it at all but I'm positive it did." Everyone stared with amazed and disbelieving looks. This was what she had been afraid of, that it would just be too unbelievable for them to take seriously. Despite the potential meaning of the bombshell Meifa just dropped Jet found his voice and answered her honestly.
"Meifa I can't answer that. No one here, heck no one alive, could tell you that you're right or wrong. On the other hand, that also means that if you're convinced that Skynet and Arnold somehow got souls, silicone or otherwise, we've got no reason to doubt you." Meifa looked surprised that Jet believed her so readily. "With no proof one way or the other it's about as good an explanation as we have about how those two turned out."
"You haven't been wrong on stuff like this yet." Spike added. "No reason to think you're wrong on this." He personally doubted that Skynet and Arnold had suddenly developed souls but there was no proof to the contrary and he had seen enough weird shit to not discount it as a possibility.
"If there's one thing I learned hanging around with you guys it's the more out of left field an explanation is the more likely it is to be true." John piped up.
"Wizard Ed is proud to have helped Arnold person find his soul!" Ed declared. Next to her Ein barked his support, though it was hard to tell whether either of them really believed it. There was one person left and after looking at Meifa blankly for a few moments Faye turned back around and slumped into her seat as far as she could without hurting her shoulder.
"I need a drink." She groaned. Almost being killed by a sentient supercomputer possessing a body made of liquid metal was quite enough for one day, the last thing she needed was to become involved in a philosophical debate on whether that same supercomputer had developed a soul or not.
"Now arriving at Sector R hospital and medical support facilities. Please have a safe and productive day." The PA announcer suddenly told them, cutting off any remarks the others might have had at Faye's reaction.
"Finally." Faye said as she stood up, knowing she had just dodged a bullet.
"So how do we do this?" Spike asked Jet as they watched Faye pull John back onto his feet.
"Same as any other time you've got more then one wounded, the most serious gets treated first." Jet answered. "That means John first, then Faye and you last."
"What? For these?" Spike asked and pointed at the cut across his chest that Skynet had made back during their fight in Waste Disposal then the cuts on his arms from the shotgun pieces. "This hasn't bled since it stopped the first time and these are hardly bleeding at all. They're so shallow they'll probably heal on their own without bandages."
"Make sure to get some on there anyway." Jet ordered. "You're going to feel really dumb if something gets infected and you die of that."
"There are plenty of other dumber ways to die." Spike stated with a shrug.
"And I'm sure you'll find the dumbest way there is when it's your turn." Jet deadpanned as they made their way inside. Knowing just how Black Mesa was designed it was a given even the medical wing would be expansive and confusing but thankfully the walls all had arrows painted on them, pointing the way to various areas. To make things even easier there was even a map next to the receptionist's desk with a handy 'You are here' marker.
"So is X-ray first or later?" Spike asked as they studied the map.
"First. That way we can see exactly what we're dealing with in John's knee and in Arnold's head at the same time." Jet answered, pointing to the location on the map. "But my first stop is this area." He told Spike, gesturing towards the section of the map that had multiple rooms listed as medical supplies. "I'll be getting everything we'll need to bandage and immobilize John's knee. You should be able to operate the X-ray machine with MPU and Ed's help. Meifa, some of this stuff is going to be bulky and I won't be able to carry everything at once that easily, so you'll be helping me. "
"You know it just might be me but it sounds like you're forgetting about something." Faye said in a low and dangerous voice. Jet's response was to merely turn around and face Faye with a slightly annoyed expression of his own.
"Aside from a proper medical sling, which I will pick up, everything needed to treat your wounds can be found in one of the examination rooms or with the leftovers we'll have after we take care of John. Until then you can wait." He told her gruffly. Faye narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. "Just follow the arrows and it'll lead you right to it. I'll be back in a few minutes." He told Spike as he handed him Arnold's skull, who gave a slight shrug in response and began to follow the direction of the arrow on the wall marked X-ray while Jet and Meifa went down a different hallway.
With the easier to follow setup the four found the X-ray area fairly quickly and discovered that they had their choice of three rooms that contained machines ready to go that looked almost brand new. They chose the one that had an examination table positioned underneath a ceiling mounted machine, most likely designed to be used for instances when the patient couldn't stand for the procedure.
"Now that big brother John is ready to get his picture taken cameraperson Ed will make sure not to make it look as bad as Faye Faye's." Ed declared as she turned to head to the control booth, ignoring Faye's glare and Spike's snickering.
"I think Arnold going first would be a better idea Ed." John said, making Ed stop and turn around. "Getting on and off that table is going to be a pain in more ways then one and it'll probably be better if I stay on it once I'm there. We can move Arnold around a lot more easily then me."
"Ain't that the truth." Faye grumbled not quite low enough for anyone not to hear and prompting John to give her a look of his own, which she returned with a glare.
"Makes sense to me." Spike remarked as he put the metal skull in the center of the table. "Best kind of person to take a picture of is one that doesn't move too much." He added as he headed towards the door.
"Arnold person's hard head will make the perfect subject!" Ed agreed as they exited the lab, headed towards the control booth. She stopped when she noticed Ein was the only one following her and looked over her shoulder.
"You go do your thing Ed. It doesn't make sense for us to keep running back and forth when we don't have to." John told her, unconsciously shifting his footing at the same time. Understanding why they didn't want to go with her Ed didn't say anything to him or Faye but she turned her attention to Spike.
"Hey I'm not going to understand anything you're going to be doing anyway so I might as well just stay here. Besides…" He added with a smirk. "...Someone has to keep an eye on these two." He finished, gesturing towards Faye and John with his thumb. Both looked over at him, neither one of them amused. Ed, on the other hand, gave them a wide smile.
"Just make sure big brother John stays in one piece until Ed can send the super secret signal." She said as she darted off, Ein close behind her, before anyone could respond. They looked on in confusion, trying to make sense of the last part of her sentence, when they heard a low humming sound coming from behind the door they had just shut. The sound repeated itself several more times and was then followed by several seconds of silence. That silence in turn was broken when they heard the clinking of dog tags and looked to see Ein trotting up to them. He didn't bark but simply sat down and looked up at them, waiting for a response.
"Let me guess." John stated. "You're the super secret signal?" He asked Ein, who gave a quick bark in response and looked very proud with what he had done. "Only Ed." He remarked.
"Thankfully only Ed." Faye amended as Spike opened the door and the three of them went inside. Spike took Arnold's skull off the table while Faye helped John to sit on the other side. After taking several breaths to ready himself he grabbed his bad leg and swung it up onto the table, grunting in pain at the effort. "I would have helped." She told him as he swung his other leg back up.
"After that help with it in the rocket silo?" John asked with a snort. "No thanks." He finished as he lay down on the table. Faye rolled her eyes and turned to follow Spike back out the door.
"Well if it starts turning green and sprouting eyeballs because of this don't come crying to me." She remarked casually as she shut the door. John gave an eye roll of his own, despite the fact she couldn't see it, and laid completely flat on the table.
"No need to worry with professional photographer Ed in charge!" Ed's cheery voice rang out from the speakers in the room's ceiling. "Will make 110% sure that big brother John doesn't grow any extra bits and pieces or turn any swooky colors….unless Ed thinks they look neat." She added, which brought a look of concern to John's face for a moment because it was one of those instances where you couldn't really tell if she meant it or was just yanking your chain. That concern didn't exactly go away as the arm of the machine above him whirled to life, lowing the 'camera' that contained the X-ray tubes closer to the top of his knee. It came to within a hair's breath of touching the wounded limb but true to her word Ed was able to stop it before it made contact. "Now watch the birdie and smile big big BIG!" Ed instructed over the intercom. John held his breath and remained as still as possible. The machine let out a loud hum as it took the X-ray and when the humming stopped the camera rotated slightly so it was focused on the side of his knee. He heard more humming and when it stopped a second time the camera rotated again so it was focused on the other side of his knee. As the machine started humming for a third time John was honestly starting to wonder if getting this many X-rays at once was healthy when the hum cut off and the mechanical arm drew the camera back up to the ceiling.
"All done!" Ed announced as John propped himself up. "Will be there real quick to show everyone Ed's great pictures!" Outside the lab Spike and Faye had heard everything Ed said over the intercom and couldn't help but smile at the not so veiled thought of Ed thinking it would be neat to turn John into some kind of mutant. Faye's smile had been a bit bigger then Spike's but he pretended not to notice. A few moments after the last announcement Ed came down the hall, Tomato perfectly balanced on her head, and looking very proud of herself. "Come one come all! The grand showing of big brother John's insides is about to begin!" She said, sounding like a carnival barker.
"We should probably wait for Jet and Meifa to get back with the supplies." Spike said as Ed walked up to them.
"What, you think we'd miss this after a build up like that?" Jet's voice said from down the hall. Looking in the direction it came from they saw Jet and Meifa, both of them loaded with medical supplies. Jet was carrying two sets of crutches and several knee braces under one arm along with several glass bottles and boxes under the other. Meifa carried even more boxes, mostly gauze, bandages and medical tape. "Between her yelling and her little intercom announcements it was a little hard to miss." He added, cutting off the question that was sure to come next.
"Even the extra bits and pieces part?" Spike asked with a smirk.
"Even the extra bits and pieces part." Jet confirmed with a smile of his own, one that was mirrored by Meifa.
"Well we shouldn't keep him waiting now should we?" Spike asked and went into the lab before anyone could answer. The others followed him in, Jet and Meifa setting the supplies on a separate table and sorting through them while the others went to the table John was laying on. Everyone watched Ed as she set up her computer on an empty section of the table, with John hanging his good leg over the side to give her more room.
"So how does it look?" John asked as Ed brought up a 3D composite of all the X-rays taken of his knee. In addition to the bone structure MPU had added in the major blood vessels and nerves to give them a more complete picture then just the X-rays on their own could.
"So long as there aren't any extra fingers or heads growing out of it not as bad as we thought." Jet answered as he brought over a couple of bottles and some boxes, putting them on the table next to Tomato. "Color looks normal though so I guess we don't have to talk Ed out of trying to keep it that way." He added with a dead serious voice. Looking around at the amused faces John sighed and turned to Ed.
"You just had to let everybody hear didn't you?" He asked in an accusing tone.
"Ed didn't haaaaave to tell everyone. Ed just thought Bebop Bebop wanted to know what Ed was doing." Ed pointed out in an innocent voice. "Not everyone heard Ed either. Ed is very sure no one on Mars heard anything at all!" She said triumphantly.
"I guess so long as you showed some restraint." John said flatly.
"Ed is glad that big brother John is so happy at Ed for being so well behaved!" Ed replied. Again John didn't know if she had actually missed the sarcasm or was just pretending to in order to mess with him so he deicide to let it drop and change the subject.
"So what's it really look like?" He asked Jet, who was studying the 3D image.
"Pretty good all things considered." Jet said as he made the image rotate. It was bad, no question about it. With the details the X-rays provided they saw that the bullet had struck the back of the tibia, shattering it, then deflected upwards where it destroyed part of the femur and the kneecap entirely before exiting out the front of his knee. Gruesome yes, but more importantly it wasn't fatal. "None of this stuff is near anything that'll kill you so that means we don't have to be overly cautious when we're patching you up." He explained pointing at the bone shards.
"Say that again?" John asked nervously, not liking the sound of that last sentence.
"We're not going to try to get your leg back in working condition John." Jet told him as he began opening the boxes he had brought over. "We just need to make sure it doesn't get any worse before you can see a real doctor. There's no need to try to be neat or overly precise, we're going for what works. Spike, you're helping. Start by taking off the tourniquet." He took a pair of surgical gloves and a mask out then tossed them over to Spike. Spike caught the items, looked at them suspiciously, then back up to Jet. "We can at least try not to get it infected." He said in exasperation.
"If you say so." Spike said with a shrug as he put the gloves on. "You got those hairnets to?" He asked sarcastically. "Though I think we'd only need one." He added, glancing up at Jet's dome.
"Very funny." Jet growled, but didn't make any retort. "We're being cautious, not anal." He told him as he took out a second pair of gloves. Spike just shrugged again as he put on the mask and started untie the jacket around Johns knee. John hissed and tensed up but didn't say anything. "Faye, the examination rooms start three halls down to the right. Take Ed and Meifa, go to the first one and stay there, I'll be in to help you when we're done here." He ordered, putting on a pair of gloves.
"Hold on a second! How come I'm getting sent for a time out?!" Faye demanded. "And why do I have to take them with me?" She added, nodding at Ed and Meifa. "We've all seen that wound up close. They know how bad it is."
"I know, and that's not what I'm concerned about." Jet explained as he put his own mask into place and picked up one of the bottles. "I'm not going to trust any painkillers this place has, even with the quarantine protocol. They break down too easily." He said as he unscrewed the top of the bottle. "Antiseptics last longer, especially when they're in glass." He finished as he handed the bottle over to Spike as the latter dropped the blood soaked jacket to the ground. The label had a complex chemical label on it but everyone could clearly read one word that was part of the name. Alcohol. John's eyes widened to the point they seemed to be bugging out of his head and Faye was able to put two and two together.
"But…." She started to say.
"And I don't care how amusing you'd find it I don't want the two of them hearing stuff like that!" Jet said with a tone of finality. "Spike, hold his legs down and pour when I tell you to. The rest of you, OUT!" He barked and the others moved to obey, heading towards the door. The last sight they saw was John, who looked like a dog that was being abandoned, roughly pushed back down by his shoulders onto the table and pinned by Jet. Faye closed the door behind them but Jet waited for a few seconds to see if she would try to reopen it. When there was no sound coming from the door Jet nodded to Spike and hoped the room was soundproof enough.
Out in the hallway the girls, plus Ein, were about twenty feet away from the lab when they first heard it. It was muffled and completely unintelligible but it was the distinct sound of someone screaming at the top of their lungs. All of them stopped and turned around in surprise at it being so loud but the one that had the biggest reaction was Ein. His ears were straight up in surprise and despite him not having a human face the look of shock he had was unmistakable.
"Now that's impressive." Faye commented as the muffled screaming continued without pausing for breath. Looking at the others she saw Ed was looking back in interest, possibly wondering what kind of neat words John was using, while Meifa shook her head sadly. "Don't worry about him, he can take it. He wouldn't have lasted this long if he couldn't." Faye assured her.
"I know." Meifa answered. "It just seems so pointless, for him to have to go through something like that. He didn't deserve it."
"No, he didn't." Faye agreed quietly. She actually thought it was kind of funny that John could be heard clear through the wall and this far away, but at the same time it didn't seem funny at all. If it was Spike she would probably be snickering, if not outright laughing. Now though, now she probably had a concerned face of her own. Wanting to get rid of that before the others noticed she looked at Ein to see how he was assessing the situation and saw the dog looking up at her in shock. "That bad?" She asked in amazement. Ein looked from the room up to her, then actually nodded his head yes. "Now that is impressive." She said in honest approval with a small smile as she turned back around and started towards the exam rooms. The others fell in behind her, leaving John to continue using language his mother would definitely not approve of.
A/N:
Sorry for putting such a short chapter in between two much larger ones but the original layout would have had the final chapter being over 30 pages long and I didn't want to make one chapter that went on and on, eventually giving people eye strain.