Penny stared at the white satin bodice and the trailing skirts trimmed with silver rhinestones. Jessica fidgeted with the shoulder straps a little and looked at the girl. "Well?"
"It's beautiful, but you don't look like all those women on the TV. You aren't crying." The girl replied.
Jess nodded in agreement. "Next." She said to the dress consultant. The two women left Penny alone on her seat.
The small wedding dress shop was a frilly elegant place. The chairs were wood framed with cushioned backs and seats. Jessica had tried on four or five dresses already. None of them had struck either of them as 'the dress'.
Jessica had tried on what she thought she would like, but as was the case with brides, none of them fit just right or looked perfect. So each one had been sent back to the racks unsuccessful. The consultant had promised the next gown would be something totally different.
A few minutes later Jess came back out.
This time in a pearl white gown. It was slightly asymmetrical with a dropped waist and a short train. The top satin seemed sleeveless but matching lace that climbed from the top of the satin to around her neck. It ended at the edges of her shoulders. There were beads on the left side of the skirt. Jessica beamed in it with glassy eyes.
"Oh that's marvelous." Penny exclaimed. "It's gorgeous." She added.
"Isn't it?" Jessica asked. The consultant seemed pleased with herself.
"How will you be paying my dear?"
"Cash." Jessica replied. There was no question about it. This was her dress. A tear escaped down her cheek.
"You can't tell Dad." Penny commented. The consultant looked at the two for a minute. She was dressed in a black blouse and pants and had assumed that Penny was Jessica's daughter. They both had blond hair and seemed so close.
Jess caught the look. "Penny is my fiancé's daughter." The woman nodded understandingly.
"How wonderful to be so close. Is your fiancé divorced?" Jess shook her head.
"No. Penny isn't biologically his. She's adopted." This seemed to confuse the woman more. "Never mind. Please lets just get this off and finish ordering it." Jess decided it wasn't worth it.
The woman nodded and within the hour the two ladies left.
For Rick his day wasn't as easy. When they arrived at the AMA Alex had yet to unlock his weapons systems. She'd decided it was best to focus on what was important.
They were sent into a room with chairs to wait. Alex had everything organized. Grant seemed uncommonly relaxed. He was quiet but didn't fidget or talk nervously the way that Rick was and he didn't keep looking over his own stuff like his wife.
"You sure are calm." Rick whispered. Alex was busy reading her paperwork again. It kept her mind on something else and gave her a chance to double check everything one final time.
Grant smiled. "I'm not nervous until I see their faces. I'll probably freeze up a little once we begin." He whispered back.
"Good luck." Rick replied. He didn't have a whole lot of talking to do. He'd be answering their questions, most likely they'd be personal ones.
A woman in a sharp skirted suit opened a door. "Dr.'s Lawrence and Jackson?" She asked. The three stood up. Alex quickly tucked her papers back into her briefcase. "Please follow me." She turned back towards the room she'd come from.
They followed her into a conference room with a group of aging men and women. There were a few younger people and they all looked like they were hoping to see something worth their time.
Alex smiled at them confidently. Rick nodded his head to them. Had he been wearing his hat he would have tipped it to them. Grant did as he had said. He stepped in awkwardly and didn't make eye contact. There were three empty seats at the end of the table everyone was seated at.
Alex took the head seat Grant at her right and Rick to her left. The group looked at them intently.
"Welcome Dr. Lawrence." An aging man in a dark suit spoke up. He was balding and wore round thin rimmed glasses.
"Thank you for allowing me the honor to bring my work before you all." Alex replied.
"If you are ready please begin."
Grant was already pulling things out of briefcases and setting them in an order. Alex took a flash drive. "Where would I insert this into the projector?" She asked. The man who had greeted her pointed to a table in the corner with a computer tower on it. It was on and Alex hurriedly plugged it in.
She began speaking. "I know that many of you are probably very skeptical about what I've brought to you today. All I ask is that you listen, watch, and please ask questions." The projector screen turned on and Alex pulled up a chart of the number of organ transplants in a year and the number of patients waiting for transplants. The numbers weren't very good. Too many people waited for a transplant and too few were actually granted one.
"You all know what this is." Alex said. "What I have can make these statistics switch. I can provide the entire world with efficient prosthetic organs that will eliminate the need for donors of the same blood type, require less recovery time, and will cut the waiting time to nothing."
Murmurs began. She was expecting this. Nobody needed to ask questions yet. She continued. "These are the designs I worked on years ago with the help of my mentor Dr. McDowell." The screen changed to some blueprints.
"I've continued to work on these designs and eight years ago I employed them in the first test run. Detective Barnes was dieing. He needed numerous organ transplants. And in today's world that was impossible.
"The explosion he was in took his right lung and the right ventricle of his heart. His liver and left kidney were also unsalvageable. With his permission I replaced the destroyed organ tissue with the cybernetic replacements.
"Today my patient is healthy and strong. He's had no signs of rejection and has needed no repairs. Actually he's been through some rather harrowing incidents and being throne from racing vehicles or falling from a story high has not caused any damage to the prosthetic organs."
This seemed to get a little more interest out of the assembled doctors. "What keeps them running?" A female doctor in the back asked.
"Using synthetic veins the artificial organs accept and process the nutrients brought from human blood. It runs on no more than the average organ does." Alex was ready. Rick was impressed by how sharp and quickly she answered the questions that came to her.
"Are there any side effects?"
"None whatsoever that we have observed."
"How long is the recovery time?"
"Detective Barnes was stable and on his feet in two weeks."
"What about children?"
"That's simple. I have designs for smaller organs. They will have the ability to 'grow' with the patient. A checkup every six months will help the doctors know when and how much organ expansion to initiate. It's run by a doctor can be done wirelessly and painlessly. No anesthesia or surgery necessary."
"How are these artificial organs controlled?"
"Through a nerve-like wire grafted along the spine through the spinal cord and into the brain stem. There will be a tiny neural net grafted to the pinpoint location that controls that organ's functions."
"I want to see an x-ray of this so called patient." Alex paused for a brief moment.
"Could it be that you do not believe in the work I have brought you?" She asked.
The same gruff voice came from an ancient looking man who stood up. "No I don't." He snapped.
"If it's physical proof you want I can show you." Alex replied easily.
"Then please do so." He retorted.
"If you'll all be patient." Alex said turning to Rick. "I'm sorry Rick, but I have to ask you to do something rather uncomfortable."
Rick had been enjoying the show till now. If there was anything Rick hated it was Alex's checkups. It was the way she had repaired his body to be accessible in any circumstance. If necessary she could effect repairs in a moving vehicle without the hospital clean room environment.
"This is why I tagged along." Rick replied. "If ya'll will excuse me a moment, you'll get your proof." He said to the doctors seated around the table.
"Is there a smaller room they can use real quick?" Alex asked. The doctor who had originally greeted her nodded and pointed to a door. Rick and Grant rose and left the room.
Grant was almost laughing. "You have the worst of luck my friend."
"Don't I know it." Rick replied. He unbuttoned his shirt and sat down on the desk in the middle of the room. Grant pulled a device from his pocket. He turned it on.
"I hate doing this to you. But I think we'll just have the ones who need to see come in here one at a time." He held the device up to Rick's bare chest and pushed a series of buttons.
Rick felt the sudden jolt of pain and then one of the scars on the right side of his chest came apart. It was actually a seam created to allow easy access.
Grant checked the opening to make sure it was ok and looked inside. The artificial lung was a silicone sack that began in a metal connector with the nerve wires coming out. It had a series of wires running down it and a light at the connector flashed green. "They may have a heart attack." He said with a devious smile.
Rick shook his head.
Thirty minutes later Rick was dressed again and back at his seat. He looked at the tabletop in silence. He had let them peer into a world that was extremely private and just a touch sensitive. Not that he was ashamed, just that it was an awkward thing to do. Letting doctors stick their faces close to his chest and have a gander inside of him.
There was a stunned silence in the room. All of them had taken their turn to see Alex's living proof.
Alex had sat down. She knew that they would soon have to begin their discussion.
"I don't believe it." A woman said incredulously.
"I can, we're looking at the apprentices of McDowell." A man replied.
"There may be something here." Another murmured.
"It's too unethical." A second woman almost yelled.
And just like that a debate began. After fifteen minutes of arguing the obvious head of the meeting spoke up.
"Now everyone. Before you go judging Dr. Lawrence's work why don't we ask the patient some questions?" People agreed. All eyes turned on Rick.
The man asked the first question. "Do you have any regrets at all for what Dr. Lawrence did to save your life?"
Rick met his eyes. "I was a dead man. Lawrence offered me a single albeit unconventional chance. I chose it of my free will. I am without regret."
"And do you ever feel that you cheated death?" A woman asked.
"No. When a person comes to his time, there is no escaping' the inevitable."
"Is there any pain associated with your artificial organs?"
Rick shook his head. "I am never in pain caused by the implants."
"What about your recovery. How hard was it?"
"My body reacted to the mechanical replacements as if I were born with them. No pain, no real recovery. I was monitored for a while, but as Dr. Lawrence said. I was feelin' fit enough to walk within two weeks."
"You're not afraid that one of those false organs might malfunction on you?"
"I trust the person who built them. After almost a decade I haven't had a single complaint. There is nothin' for me to fear."
These answers started up the debate again. Alex was thanked for her presentation and told that they would call her in a week to let her know if they wanted to start a trial run or if her work would be black labeled for future use.