Chapter 27 - If I Leave Before You Wake.
Doc came into the room and found Riddick sitting in the chair reading one of his books, or at least appearing to. He crossed the room and sat on the couch across from his old friend. "Well, you look a little better. Still look like hammered shit, but not everyone can be as good looking as I am." He smiled as the younger man rolled his eyes.
"How's Jack?" Riddick knew Amy had said she'd done well during surgery, but he still wanted to hear the words from Doc.
"She's doing good, real good. Well, at least as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but she's out of the danger zone." Suddenly feeling every bit of his age, he sighed tiredly and leaned back, rubbing his fingers over his closed eyes. "Got a strong will to survive, that one."
Riddick was suddenly reminded of that night in the dark and rain on that hellish planet. How many other kids her age would have been able to keep it together long enough to get through that? "Yes. She does." Closing the book, he laid it on the table. He didn't bother to mark his place since he hadn't really been paying much attention to it in the first place. "So, she's going to be ok?"
Doc knew Riddick wasn't someone he needed to pull punches with, but he wished he had a more definite prognosis. "I don't know. She's not the first person to have to live with just one kidney, but how well her body handles it will remain to be seen." He held up his hand to tick off the good points. "She's young, strong, and on the upside the kidney hadn't been working at 100% for a while anyway so it shouldn't be a huge shock to her system. But there's no perfect guarantee that everything will be just peachy keen. If she was at a research facility, or even one of the big mainstream hospitals that deals with transplants, she probably would have qualified for a cloned organ, but that's just not an option here." He shrugged apologetically. "For what it's worth, I think she's going to be fine."
There were no guarantees in life, Riddick knew that, but he was glad to know that Doc thought she was going to be ok. "That's good enough for me."
Doc was glad Riddick trusted him, that meant a lot to him. "You wanna see her? She's still out of it, but you can see her."
"Yeah," he said quietly, pushing himself out of the chair. He wanted to see her and though he was still angry that she'd endangered her life, right then all he wanted was to reassure himself that she was alive.
Riddick followed as Doc led him through a back hallway to the room where Jack was recovering. "Damn. You've been busy." The clinic area had grown a lot since the last time Riddick had been on D2.
"We're moving up in the world." Doc pushed open a door and led him through the small ward to a curtained off area and slipped inside.
Riddick hadn't really been prepared to see Jack lying pale against the white sheets with tubes and monitors and the oxygen mask over her face. Despite her willowy height, she looked so small and vulnerable. His heart clenched painfully in his chest. "How long will it take for her to recover, until she's ready to leave?"
Doc brushed his fingers over her forehead, he was pleased with the readouts on the monitors. "About a month, give or take."
Riddick blew out a breath. "A month is a long damn time." He knew if he stayed that long, the people on D2 would start to get nervous.
Doc put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're more high profile than most of the people around here are comfortable with, but no one is going to make you leave. Not after I get done with them." Doc truly liked the boy, he was nowhere near as bad as everyone liked to think, nowhere near as bad as Riddick liked to think.
"I won't put you in that position, Doc." Riddick shrugged. "I got some stuff I need to do anyway."
"You can stay here for a bit, though." He looked over at the bed where Jack was now peacefully sleeping under the influence of the drugs Doc had given her. "Or if you have to go, you can leave her. I'll make sure nothing happens to her."
Riddick weighed his options, he could wait until she woke up and explain the situation to her. It would be safer if she'd just stay here while he went to New Sydney to get that stupid box she wouldn't shut up about. But he knew if he did, she'd never let him leave without her. Even if it was safe for her to travel given her current medical condition, it would be dangerous there now. The authorities would be watching Imam's place for Jack to show up, they'd be waiting for her and Riddick didn't know if he'd be able to get her back out again alive. He knew she wanted to see Imam, if for no other reason than to say goodbye, but she was just going to have to wait until the heat was off a little. Maybe in a few months she could go back, but not now. He realized that his mind was already made up.
Nodding to Doc, he looked the man in the eye. "You make sure she stays safe. I'll be back for her if I can, if I can't." he let the thought trail off. "Well, if I can't, just keep her safe." Walking over to the bed where Jack lay, he bent down and brushed his lips over her forehead. He knew she was too far out of it to know he was even there, the kiss was more for himself than her. Turning away from her, he strode toward the curtain. He could make it to the ship and be off planet way before daylight hit, and before Jack woke up, if he went now.
"You're leaving now then?" Doc had thought he'd at least stay a few days.
"If I leave now, I can get off planet before daylight and before she wakes up." He smiled down at Jack. "If I try to leave while she's awake, you'll have a bitch of a time keeping her here. She's pretty damn persistent."
Doc shrugged. "Ok. Well, let me tell Amy we're going and I'll take you back to your ship."
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The ride back to the ship was as quiet as the trip to the caves had been. Neither of them spoke until they reached the ship. As before it was Doc who broke the silence. Turning off the engine, he leaned his forearms on the steering wheel, his hands clasped together. "I have something I want to talk to you about."
"What is it?" From the look on the older man's face, Riddick wasn't sure if he should be nervous or not.
"I think I can fix your eyes."
Well, that certainly hadn't been what he'd expected. Riddick frowned at Doc, the skin between his eyebrows furrowing deeply. "What do you mean "fix" my eyes?"
When Doc first heard of the research being done, he'd thought of Riddick. He knew that the shine job had been necessary, but he couldn't help feeling he'd left the man with an Achilles heel he didn't need. "There's a new procedure, a computerized ocular implant, that's being used to treat blindness." He could see that he had Riddick's attention now, and he smiled. "If we can get the equipment, I can modify it to return your normal sight."
Riddick leaned back in his seat, scratching through his goatee in thought. The idea that he could have his normal sight back had never even occurred to him, he'd always figured the shine job was a one way ticket. Now Doc was offering him a return trip. He wasn't really sure how he felt about that. He'd had his shine for so long now, he didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't see in the dark. "I don't know, Doc. I've kinda gotten used to my eyes the way they are."
A smile crossed Doc's face. "That's the beauty of it. Some of the trials were on miners who'd had shines. There was a 75% success rate on returning their normal sight while allowing them to keep the benefits of the shine. Basically the implant is an ocular sensor that replaces the cornea, iris, and lens, and sends signals that are normally processed by the retina directly to the ocular nerve. It's kind of an eye bypass surgery. With just a little adjustment in the programming and the equipment, the lens sensor can be set to 'turn off' and the plasma display that takes the place of the iris becomes transparent letting the retina process visual information the way it normally would, in other words you'd see as you do now."
This sounded just a little too good to be true, so it probably wasn't. "So, what's the downside of this little miracle?"
Doc took a deep breath and his smile vanished. Like most things in medicine, there were no guarantees. "There are some side effects that may or may not diminish with time. There's a lot of pain involved in the procedure, and the conservative estimate on the recovery time, especially with the modifications, is six months."
Riddick raised an eyebrow at Doc. He'd known it was too good to be true, no way could he be down for six months. "And just what are the side effects?"
"The side effects for the blind patients are minimal. For the miners the side effects were loss of vision, control problems with the implant, and chronic pain."
"Oh, so nothing big," Riddick said sarcastically.
"It's not as bad as it sounds," Doc countered. "That was just a very small handful of the test subjects, overall the tests were very successful." He crossed his arms over his chest and scratched his jaw with his thumb. "The biggest problem, though, is getting one of the implants. It's not like we can just walk into a research facility and ask for one. The choices are pretty much theft or black market, and they are big time expensive on the black market." He knew, he'd checked. He'd always known that Riddick would come back someday.
Riddick thought about what Doc had told him. If there was a chance to get his normal vision back, should he take it? Even with the risks? "I'll think about it," he said at last, and he meant it.
Doc came into the room and found Riddick sitting in the chair reading one of his books, or at least appearing to. He crossed the room and sat on the couch across from his old friend. "Well, you look a little better. Still look like hammered shit, but not everyone can be as good looking as I am." He smiled as the younger man rolled his eyes.
"How's Jack?" Riddick knew Amy had said she'd done well during surgery, but he still wanted to hear the words from Doc.
"She's doing good, real good. Well, at least as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but she's out of the danger zone." Suddenly feeling every bit of his age, he sighed tiredly and leaned back, rubbing his fingers over his closed eyes. "Got a strong will to survive, that one."
Riddick was suddenly reminded of that night in the dark and rain on that hellish planet. How many other kids her age would have been able to keep it together long enough to get through that? "Yes. She does." Closing the book, he laid it on the table. He didn't bother to mark his place since he hadn't really been paying much attention to it in the first place. "So, she's going to be ok?"
Doc knew Riddick wasn't someone he needed to pull punches with, but he wished he had a more definite prognosis. "I don't know. She's not the first person to have to live with just one kidney, but how well her body handles it will remain to be seen." He held up his hand to tick off the good points. "She's young, strong, and on the upside the kidney hadn't been working at 100% for a while anyway so it shouldn't be a huge shock to her system. But there's no perfect guarantee that everything will be just peachy keen. If she was at a research facility, or even one of the big mainstream hospitals that deals with transplants, she probably would have qualified for a cloned organ, but that's just not an option here." He shrugged apologetically. "For what it's worth, I think she's going to be fine."
There were no guarantees in life, Riddick knew that, but he was glad to know that Doc thought she was going to be ok. "That's good enough for me."
Doc was glad Riddick trusted him, that meant a lot to him. "You wanna see her? She's still out of it, but you can see her."
"Yeah," he said quietly, pushing himself out of the chair. He wanted to see her and though he was still angry that she'd endangered her life, right then all he wanted was to reassure himself that she was alive.
Riddick followed as Doc led him through a back hallway to the room where Jack was recovering. "Damn. You've been busy." The clinic area had grown a lot since the last time Riddick had been on D2.
"We're moving up in the world." Doc pushed open a door and led him through the small ward to a curtained off area and slipped inside.
Riddick hadn't really been prepared to see Jack lying pale against the white sheets with tubes and monitors and the oxygen mask over her face. Despite her willowy height, she looked so small and vulnerable. His heart clenched painfully in his chest. "How long will it take for her to recover, until she's ready to leave?"
Doc brushed his fingers over her forehead, he was pleased with the readouts on the monitors. "About a month, give or take."
Riddick blew out a breath. "A month is a long damn time." He knew if he stayed that long, the people on D2 would start to get nervous.
Doc put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're more high profile than most of the people around here are comfortable with, but no one is going to make you leave. Not after I get done with them." Doc truly liked the boy, he was nowhere near as bad as everyone liked to think, nowhere near as bad as Riddick liked to think.
"I won't put you in that position, Doc." Riddick shrugged. "I got some stuff I need to do anyway."
"You can stay here for a bit, though." He looked over at the bed where Jack was now peacefully sleeping under the influence of the drugs Doc had given her. "Or if you have to go, you can leave her. I'll make sure nothing happens to her."
Riddick weighed his options, he could wait until she woke up and explain the situation to her. It would be safer if she'd just stay here while he went to New Sydney to get that stupid box she wouldn't shut up about. But he knew if he did, she'd never let him leave without her. Even if it was safe for her to travel given her current medical condition, it would be dangerous there now. The authorities would be watching Imam's place for Jack to show up, they'd be waiting for her and Riddick didn't know if he'd be able to get her back out again alive. He knew she wanted to see Imam, if for no other reason than to say goodbye, but she was just going to have to wait until the heat was off a little. Maybe in a few months she could go back, but not now. He realized that his mind was already made up.
Nodding to Doc, he looked the man in the eye. "You make sure she stays safe. I'll be back for her if I can, if I can't." he let the thought trail off. "Well, if I can't, just keep her safe." Walking over to the bed where Jack lay, he bent down and brushed his lips over her forehead. He knew she was too far out of it to know he was even there, the kiss was more for himself than her. Turning away from her, he strode toward the curtain. He could make it to the ship and be off planet way before daylight hit, and before Jack woke up, if he went now.
"You're leaving now then?" Doc had thought he'd at least stay a few days.
"If I leave now, I can get off planet before daylight and before she wakes up." He smiled down at Jack. "If I try to leave while she's awake, you'll have a bitch of a time keeping her here. She's pretty damn persistent."
Doc shrugged. "Ok. Well, let me tell Amy we're going and I'll take you back to your ship."
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The ride back to the ship was as quiet as the trip to the caves had been. Neither of them spoke until they reached the ship. As before it was Doc who broke the silence. Turning off the engine, he leaned his forearms on the steering wheel, his hands clasped together. "I have something I want to talk to you about."
"What is it?" From the look on the older man's face, Riddick wasn't sure if he should be nervous or not.
"I think I can fix your eyes."
Well, that certainly hadn't been what he'd expected. Riddick frowned at Doc, the skin between his eyebrows furrowing deeply. "What do you mean "fix" my eyes?"
When Doc first heard of the research being done, he'd thought of Riddick. He knew that the shine job had been necessary, but he couldn't help feeling he'd left the man with an Achilles heel he didn't need. "There's a new procedure, a computerized ocular implant, that's being used to treat blindness." He could see that he had Riddick's attention now, and he smiled. "If we can get the equipment, I can modify it to return your normal sight."
Riddick leaned back in his seat, scratching through his goatee in thought. The idea that he could have his normal sight back had never even occurred to him, he'd always figured the shine job was a one way ticket. Now Doc was offering him a return trip. He wasn't really sure how he felt about that. He'd had his shine for so long now, he didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't see in the dark. "I don't know, Doc. I've kinda gotten used to my eyes the way they are."
A smile crossed Doc's face. "That's the beauty of it. Some of the trials were on miners who'd had shines. There was a 75% success rate on returning their normal sight while allowing them to keep the benefits of the shine. Basically the implant is an ocular sensor that replaces the cornea, iris, and lens, and sends signals that are normally processed by the retina directly to the ocular nerve. It's kind of an eye bypass surgery. With just a little adjustment in the programming and the equipment, the lens sensor can be set to 'turn off' and the plasma display that takes the place of the iris becomes transparent letting the retina process visual information the way it normally would, in other words you'd see as you do now."
This sounded just a little too good to be true, so it probably wasn't. "So, what's the downside of this little miracle?"
Doc took a deep breath and his smile vanished. Like most things in medicine, there were no guarantees. "There are some side effects that may or may not diminish with time. There's a lot of pain involved in the procedure, and the conservative estimate on the recovery time, especially with the modifications, is six months."
Riddick raised an eyebrow at Doc. He'd known it was too good to be true, no way could he be down for six months. "And just what are the side effects?"
"The side effects for the blind patients are minimal. For the miners the side effects were loss of vision, control problems with the implant, and chronic pain."
"Oh, so nothing big," Riddick said sarcastically.
"It's not as bad as it sounds," Doc countered. "That was just a very small handful of the test subjects, overall the tests were very successful." He crossed his arms over his chest and scratched his jaw with his thumb. "The biggest problem, though, is getting one of the implants. It's not like we can just walk into a research facility and ask for one. The choices are pretty much theft or black market, and they are big time expensive on the black market." He knew, he'd checked. He'd always known that Riddick would come back someday.
Riddick thought about what Doc had told him. If there was a chance to get his normal vision back, should he take it? Even with the risks? "I'll think about it," he said at last, and he meant it.