Rudy took Steve's left arm and felt his pulse. It was elevated. He noticed the deformed bed railing that Steve was unconsciously bending with his right hand.
"Steve, can you open your eyes for me?"
Steve groaned but managed to get his eyes open.
"What do you see, Steve?"
"Everything's…blurry. Room's spinning around."
Rudy turned to Vicky. "Sparine, 50 milligrams. Quickly!"
Vicky immediately left.
"Hang in there, Steve," Rudy said soothingly as he swabbed a small area on Steve's upper left arm with alcohol.
Steve groaned.
"C'mon, I need you to hold on for just a little while longer."
Steve held his stomach. "I think I'm going to be si—" He leaned over the bed railing and started dry heaving.
Rudy grimaced.
Vicky was back within a minute with a hypodermic needle.
"Lay back, Steve," Rudy ordered as he pushed Steve onto his back, grabbed his left arm and quickly pushed the needle into his arm and pushed the plunger. The Sparine went into Steve's system and within seconds his breathing evened out, his body visibly relaxed, and he fell into unconsciousness.
Rudy let out a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" Oscar looked down at an unconscious Steve. "I thought you said this was minor surgery."
"Yes, it is a minor procedure but the recovery can sometimes be difficult," Rudy explained. "You see, swelling is a normal side effect of surgery. But because of the location of this particular surgery, the swelling is pushing up against the cochlea and causing severe vertigo. It's like what he was experiencing when he was pulling negative g's, only much worse. This doesn't let up after a few minutes. It's constant."
"How long before the swelling is gone?"
"About a week or so. In the meantime, I've hooked him up to the electro-sleep machine."
"That's the machine you used when you made him bionic," Oscar noted.
"Yes. The best thing for him is to keep him unconscious until the swelling goes down. And the electro-sleep machine is the best solution for longer-term needs. It doesn't have the side effects that sedatives have."
Oscar sighed. "Okay, well, keep me apprised of his condition. I want daily reports."
