Chapter Four: Recovery
Several days after the surgery, Speed's world was still silent. One morning, she woke up to find her desk's screen flashing dully at her. After several moments, she realized she had received a mail message, her first ever. Child's fingers tapped the screen as she pulled up the message and read it over.
"Speed," it read, "Now that you are recovering from your surgery, I must move on and prepare other children for launch. I will return in four months time to see if you are ready to launch."
The note was signed "Captain Dimak, International Fleet." Speed read it over once more before exiting out of the mail program.
'Don't worry Dimak' She thought, 'I'll be ready.'
As the weeks passed, Speed's pain slowly diminished. During this time, she was kept separate from the other patients in the hospital. Not that she really minded, she had never had friends when she was at home and she wasn't surprised that they weren't going to let her have them now.
Instead, Speed occupied her time by reading. In the past, all that was available to her was the homework her oldest brother struggled with. Now with the help of this marvelous desk Dimak had given to her, she had an entire library at her fingertips, and with nothing else to do, she tore through it like lightning.
There was a problem though. Speed couldn't read nearly as fast as she once could. Her typing wasn't as fast as I could have been. There was something wrong, and the young girl didn't think it was a result of the surgery. She would have to look closer at her life style before she could figure out what was changing her.
A month after the surgery, a young doctor wheeled a small cart into Speed's room. Speed was halfway through the Iliad and looked up when she came in.
"Can I help you?" Speed signed.
"We've decided that you're ready to have the computers turned on." The doctor replied, "Are you ready to hear again?"
"Duh." Speed said, hearing nothing.
The doctor wheeled the cart around to beside Speed's bed. Two magnetic strips were placed behind her ears, which were then connected to the computer on the cart. Speed watched as the doctor pressed several buttons and with a slight zap, a quiet metallic buzzed filled Speed's ears.
"Can you hear me?" The doctor said, her voice metallic but understandable.
"Yes." Speed replied, hearing her own voice for the first time in a month.
"You're a bit of a test case." The doctor bubbled as she removed the strips and wires, "This type of surgery has never been attempted in both ears. We would have done them a few weeks apart but we wanted a fast recovery time."
"Who's we?" Speed asked, but the doctor didn't answer, instead, she packed up her cart and left Speed to her sounds.
Speed recovered quickly, she became used to the metallic background noise as well as the way it altered voices. The biggest adjustment, was to Speed's balance.
The medication had totaled Speed's eardrums. The first time she was allowed out of bed, she nearly fell on her face because of inner ear damage. As the weeks turned to months, she relearned how to walk.
Two weeks before Dimak's return, the isolated Speed developed an infection from one of the doctors. She was devastated, and spent the next thirteen days in bed. At times it was so serious that she was placed on a ventilator for three days and had a tube placed in her chest to drain fluid.
The morning of Dimak's visit, Speed called a nurse into her room, she had pulled herself up to rest in a sitting position and was staring determinedly at the nurse as she entered.
The middle aged nurse was shocked, after all, Speed had only been off the respirator for two days.
"Remove the chest tube." Speed said, her voice strong and unwaivering.
"Pardon?" The nurse stuttered.
"Remove...the...chest...tube..." Speed repeated herself.
"I must contest." The nurse responded,
"Contest as you take it out." Speed said, "I'm going up in that shuttle in two months and some little infection is not going to stop me. So either you remove it or I will."
"Very well." The nurse sighed, "I'll get the doctor."
Speed winced as they stitched her side up but did not say a word until they were done. As they were leaving, Speed swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Shakily at first, then with more conviction, she began to pace her room.
"The girl's stubborn, that's for sure."
"We knew that when we selected her. Will she be ready?"
"Actually, I think she already is."
Several days after the surgery, Speed's world was still silent. One morning, she woke up to find her desk's screen flashing dully at her. After several moments, she realized she had received a mail message, her first ever. Child's fingers tapped the screen as she pulled up the message and read it over.
"Speed," it read, "Now that you are recovering from your surgery, I must move on and prepare other children for launch. I will return in four months time to see if you are ready to launch."
The note was signed "Captain Dimak, International Fleet." Speed read it over once more before exiting out of the mail program.
'Don't worry Dimak' She thought, 'I'll be ready.'
As the weeks passed, Speed's pain slowly diminished. During this time, she was kept separate from the other patients in the hospital. Not that she really minded, she had never had friends when she was at home and she wasn't surprised that they weren't going to let her have them now.
Instead, Speed occupied her time by reading. In the past, all that was available to her was the homework her oldest brother struggled with. Now with the help of this marvelous desk Dimak had given to her, she had an entire library at her fingertips, and with nothing else to do, she tore through it like lightning.
There was a problem though. Speed couldn't read nearly as fast as she once could. Her typing wasn't as fast as I could have been. There was something wrong, and the young girl didn't think it was a result of the surgery. She would have to look closer at her life style before she could figure out what was changing her.
A month after the surgery, a young doctor wheeled a small cart into Speed's room. Speed was halfway through the Iliad and looked up when she came in.
"Can I help you?" Speed signed.
"We've decided that you're ready to have the computers turned on." The doctor replied, "Are you ready to hear again?"
"Duh." Speed said, hearing nothing.
The doctor wheeled the cart around to beside Speed's bed. Two magnetic strips were placed behind her ears, which were then connected to the computer on the cart. Speed watched as the doctor pressed several buttons and with a slight zap, a quiet metallic buzzed filled Speed's ears.
"Can you hear me?" The doctor said, her voice metallic but understandable.
"Yes." Speed replied, hearing her own voice for the first time in a month.
"You're a bit of a test case." The doctor bubbled as she removed the strips and wires, "This type of surgery has never been attempted in both ears. We would have done them a few weeks apart but we wanted a fast recovery time."
"Who's we?" Speed asked, but the doctor didn't answer, instead, she packed up her cart and left Speed to her sounds.
Speed recovered quickly, she became used to the metallic background noise as well as the way it altered voices. The biggest adjustment, was to Speed's balance.
The medication had totaled Speed's eardrums. The first time she was allowed out of bed, she nearly fell on her face because of inner ear damage. As the weeks turned to months, she relearned how to walk.
Two weeks before Dimak's return, the isolated Speed developed an infection from one of the doctors. She was devastated, and spent the next thirteen days in bed. At times it was so serious that she was placed on a ventilator for three days and had a tube placed in her chest to drain fluid.
The morning of Dimak's visit, Speed called a nurse into her room, she had pulled herself up to rest in a sitting position and was staring determinedly at the nurse as she entered.
The middle aged nurse was shocked, after all, Speed had only been off the respirator for two days.
"Remove the chest tube." Speed said, her voice strong and unwaivering.
"Pardon?" The nurse stuttered.
"Remove...the...chest...tube..." Speed repeated herself.
"I must contest." The nurse responded,
"Contest as you take it out." Speed said, "I'm going up in that shuttle in two months and some little infection is not going to stop me. So either you remove it or I will."
"Very well." The nurse sighed, "I'll get the doctor."
Speed winced as they stitched her side up but did not say a word until they were done. As they were leaving, Speed swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Shakily at first, then with more conviction, she began to pace her room.
"The girl's stubborn, that's for sure."
"We knew that when we selected her. Will she be ready?"
"Actually, I think she already is."