Steve slowly came to consciousness. It took him a several seconds to focus his eyes but when he did, he saw Rudy and Oscar standing over him.
"Hey, Pal, welcome back," Oscar warmly greeted him.
Steve gave him a weak smile.
"How are you doing?" Rudy asked as he felt the pulse of Steve's left wrist.
"Y—you tell me," Steve whispered hoarsely. His throat was sore from the tube inserted into his trachea during surgery.
"The surgery went well. We successfully removed all the old scar tissue. Your vitals are good," Rudy responded confidently. "You'll be back up on your feet in no time."
"Yeah, pretty soon you'll be able to pull all the negative g's you want, Pal," Oscar added.
"W—wanna go for a r—ride with me, Oscar? I pro—promise your stomach will be up in your thro—throat." Steve winked at him.
Oscar laughed. "I think I'll pass on that ride. I like my stomach where it is."
Rudy pulled up Steve's eyelids and checked both of his pupils. Rudy was pleased that Steve's bionic eye was reacting to his brain impulses exactly the same as his real eye. There was no difference in pupil size. "Any dizziness, blurry vision, or pain?"
"No." Steve shook his head. "Uh..."
Steve's hand shot to the side of his neck and he gingerly felt the large bandage under his left ear. "Sp—spoke too soon. Moving my head…not a good idea."
"I'll have Vicky bring you some medication for the pain."
Rudy noticed Steve's eyelids starting to get heavy. "We're going to let you get some rest now. I'll check on you tonight."
"Okay."
"Take care, Pal." Oscar patted Steve's leg and walked out of the room with Rudy.
Steve didn't try to fight the drowsiness coming over him. He shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later the call light went off at the nurse's station. Vicky noticed that it was coming from Steve's room.
Steve was moaning and hyperventilating. His eyes were tightly shut and he was pinching the bridge of his nose. His right hand was bending the steel bed railing out of shape.
Vicky ran to his side. "Colonel Austin, what's wrong?"
"Dizzy…room spinning around…bad," was all he could manage to get out.