"He tried to manipulate Carla into letting him call his parents?" Oscar was kind of impressed.

"Yeah," replied Rudy. "Fortunately, we were able to use that to our advantage to keep his spirits up before the surgery."

"You know, in everything I've read about him, he doesn't seem like the manipulating type."

"Oh, he isn't," replied Rudy. "The Steve Austin you see before you is not the same man that I've known all these years. It's incredible what extreme trauma will do to a person. But don't think for a minute, Oscar, that you or I would be able to handle it any better."

"Oh, I don't. Believe me; I shudder to think what I would do in his position. But I do have to say that his newfound ability could be useful to the OSI," Oscar said with a smile.

Rudy chuckled. "I bet."

Oscar looked down at an unconscious Steve. A large bandage covered the eight-inch incision that ran down the middle of his chest. "How is he doing?"

"He's doing well. If I had put off the surgery much longer, however, we might have lost him."

"How so?"

"Well, his mitral valve sustained damage. He was barely pumping enough blood to maintain a proper blood flow. So we ended up replacing his damaged valve with an artificial Teflon rimmed silastic disk valve."

"Already starting to make him bionic, eh, Rudy?"

Rudy laughed. "Well, this is actually a procedure that's been done many many times already throughout the world."

"So is he going to be able to function normally with that valve?"

"Yes, definitely. His heart is as good, maybe even better, than it was before."

"How long are you going to keep him in electro-sleep?" Oscar asked.

"For a week," replied Rudy. "I want to get him through the worst of the pain. Then I'll put him on sedatives and pain killers after that."

"Why not just keep him in electro-sleep until he heals? Isn't that safer than sedatives and pain killers?"

"It is, but if I keep him unconscious, his mind won't heal. He needs to be conscious to be able work through all the stages of grief that comes with limb loss. He can't do that if he is unconscious. So it's a delicate balance between keeping him physically comfortable and giving his mind the time it needs to heal."

Steve was somewhat aware of what was going on around him. But he felt so tired. Even opening his eye was more of an effort than he could manage. He felt moisture on his skin. He thought about the familiar sensation for a minute and came to the conclusion that he was getting a sponge bath. Then a soft towel was drying him off. Next, gentle hands smoothed lotion all over his body. He let himself enjoy the feeling. There was little to enjoy these pain-filled days and this new chest pain was especially bothersome. He felt the sheet covering him and was sorry that the bath was over.

"Steve? Steve?"

Steve recognized the voice as Rudy's.

"Uh," was all he could manage to get out.

"Steve." The voice was insistent. "C'mon, Steve. Wake up."

Steve struggled and finally got his eye open. Rudy was standing over him.

"Welcome back. How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy," he replied groggily.

"Yeah, that's the sedative working." Rudy pulled up Steve's eyelid and checked his eye. He didn't want to keep him awake for long, but he did need to do a quick check for pain. "Any discomfort?"

"Chest hurts."

"Okay, we'll get you something for that. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Uh, huh" was all Steve could manage as he closed his eye and drifted off to sleep.

Steve woke up for the first time since the surgery without the grogginess. The morning sun was shining through the window. He looked down at his chest and saw the large bandage covering his heart. He let his head fall back into the pillow in resignation.

"Good morning," Carla said. "Nice to see you looking more alert."

Steve looked at her. "When did I have the surgery?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Two weeks? Wait, I never got to call my parents."

"I'm sorry," Carla replied in her best apologetic voice. She already knew what she had to say. "You were already asleep when I got here and I'm afraid I chickened out."

"But you said you would help me."

"I know. But I completely forgot about the guard. If I had run phone cord from the other room, he would have seen it. I love my job and I don't want to lose it."

"Guard? What guard?"

"Oh, there's a guard stationed outside your room twenty-four/seven. I guess I'm so used to seeing him that I don't pay much attention to him anymore. Please don't be mad at me. I can't lose this job." Carla had hated deceiving Steve, but she understood Rudy's reasons for wanting Steve to go into heart surgery hopeful instead of angry.

"If I give you their number, can you call them for me? Please?"

Carla shook her head. "I can't do that. They'll find out I called. I'll lose my job."

"Please. This is my life," Steve pleaded.

"I'm sorry. I can't. But don't worry. You're getting the best medical care here. You'll be fine."

Steve didn't say anything but he looked like a man who had lost all hope.

It was midnight and the hospital was quiet. The minutes ticked by slowly. Steve stared at the ceiling of his room. It was over. There would be nobody to rescue him from this nightmare. He had lost his one ally. He was alone and completely helpless and at the mercy of the OSI. His life would be one of a lab rat from now on. He was just a body to them – a body that they would use to conduct their experiments. And there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not a thing.

So he withdrew. Deep within himself he went. Deep, where no one else could reach him.