37
A Second Chance
"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance." – Harrison Ford
After a few moments I regained the ability to move, and I paced nervously trying to figure out what had just happened. Had I forgiven him? Had I decided he wasn't worth the trouble? How did I feel now? But my emotions were too muddled for me to tell. I felt like I could laugh, cry, and scream at the same time.
Suddenly I remembered what the Doctor had said about a gift. I spotted cabinet 101, and carefully I opened it to see what was inside. Sitting inside were a large plastic box and two marked envelopes: one for me, one for Jeb. I was curious because Jeb's was a lot thicker than mine, but I decided to read mine first.
Dear Maximum,
Thank you for a wonderful night of intrigue and competition. Even though you have probably destroyed my life's work, as well as made me a wanted fugitive, I enjoyed every minute of this evening, even though it was at your expense. I bear no ill feelings about what you've done to my career—it was probably time for me to retire anyways.
As a reward for surviving this ordeal and making wise choices, I have re-assembled the brain of your beloved for you, the one you call Fang—no need to thank me, it was unbelievably easy—and have left Dr. Batchelder extensive instructions on how to transplant the brain (and other necessary organs) into the damaged body of one of the deceased but well-preserved clones stored in my special gel suspension units, which are located in the back room. Their brains are damaged beyond reasonable repair, due to the vast clone elimination that took place in Germany, and they have been sitting there for months. I'd appreciate very much it if you could take one of them off of my hands.
For your purposes, I'd suggest the body in unit 234; it is largely undamaged except for a bullet through the eye, slight grazing of the ribcage, and the unfortunate shooting of its–ahem–more delicate organs. The parts are still in the room where you found them, and you will find that they are all well-labeled. I am confident that Dr. Batchelder's knowledge of biology and surgery will be sufficient to restore your friend to full health and reproductive capability—something you might appreciate in a few years, my dear—within a few hours.
Anyways, the best of luck to you and your set. Just be sure to leave before our agreed upon deadline, or I might still be tempted to keep you for myself.
Sincerely,
The Doctor
I wasn't sure whether to smile, blush, grimace, or sob after reading the Doctor's letter. I was overwhelmed. All the rage, all the confusion and hurt and bewilderment that had been tumbling around inside of me just sort of faded, replaced by a mixture of hope and numbness. I could get Fang back, I realized. Fang wasn't gone forever. I now had a second chance I never dreamed I could get: I could still save Fang.
Realizing that time was short, I ran to the elevator shaft and pressed the up button. This time the elevator actually came, and I got to my desired floor without a hitch. I ran through the halls looking for the others. "Guys! Guys!" I shouted as I ran, "Guess what!" Finally I found them and told them my amazing news. I was beaming from ear to ear the entire time.
"This is incredible!" Jeb declared, running his hand through his hair.
I handed Jeb his letter, and he glanced over it quickly. "I know what parts we need," he confirmed. "Now let's go back to the refrigerator and find the right boxes."
And so we set to work on finding the right organs. Angel insisted on helping, but Jeb used discretion in which body parts he allowed Angel to look for. I, too, also avoided searching for the more private organs we needed. Jeb was a guy; he could handle the awkward stuff. We were quick in locating all the right parts we needed to repair the body in storage and then transplant Fang into it, partially because Iggy grew impatient from waiting and urged us to hurry up and find the parts already.
However, after twenty minutes of searching we still couldn't find either of Fang's eyes, and we needed one of them to replace the clone eye that had been shot. "We've double and triple-checked everything," Jeb confirmed. "I don't think they're in there."
"Then where are they?" I asked.
"Maybe they got tired of chillin' and left," Iggy joked, his grin pushing up on the cotton pads on his face.
Those cotton pads... Just then I was struck with a curious notion. "Iggy," I asked, "can you feel your eye sockets yet?"
Iggy paused, concentrating on the upper part of his face. "Uh, yeah," he said.
"Are your eyes still there?"
"Yup. I guess they kept them in after all."
My stomach churned slightly as a startling idea formed in my head. I knew what I had to do. "Iggy, close your eyes for a few seconds. I'm taking the pads off your face."
"Um, alright." The muscles around his eye sockets tightened, and carefully I peeled the tape off of his temples and pulled off the cotton pads, letting them fall to the floor. Iggy opened his eyes, and we gasped at the same time. My reason for gasping:
Iggy's eyes were dark like Fang's.
After blinking a few times to adjust to the light, Iggy focused on me with a look of awe on his face, and I knew what was happening: for the first time in years, he could see my face. "Max," Iggy whispered, as if he couldn't believe that I was actually standing there in front of him.
I nodded, still dazed by the sight of those eyes staring at me. They looked at me so intensely, just like they always had. It was like having a small bit of Fang back with me. "I guess we know what happened to Fang's eyes," I choked with a smile, my eyes brimming with tears. I wasn't sure if I was happy or horrified. Finally I gave up on deciding; I reached forward and hugged Iggy, and we just stood there for a while, embracing and crying as the bittersweet moment passed.
Awww, you see? Now none of you have to try and kill me anymore. :) Oh one more thing: The Game.