I have about 7 chapters left after this. Hope you enjoy!
I HATE PT. Ok, it's not really PT, but it's nanobot therapy at Star Labs in central city. I mean, I love central city because I get to see Uncle Barry and Uncle Ray, and used to love it more when I was obsessed with The Flash. But I don't think ANYBODY likes getting two shots in their spine, or trying to stay afloat in water without use of your legs.
Should I really call it PT when I'm not moving my legs?
Anyway, we always have to stay there for the weekend every couple of months, and though Mom schedules important meetings in central city around this time, Dad tries to make the best of it. We go to the best pizza places, and hang out with Uncle Barry, and go to see the Hero's Museum, which I now see in an entirely different way.
We walked into Star Labs, met by Uncle Barry. He gave us both a big bear hug. I love Uncle Barry. I wonder if he knows my dad's secret? I mean, I asked him if he knew The Flash once, and he just laughed at me. Maybe not.
"Hey, Oliver! Hey, Tommy!"
"Hey, Uncle Barry!"
"Dude, Tommy, check this out. Cisco had some free time on his hands." He shoved a remote control in my hand. "Press the red button."
"Aren't you not supposed to press the red button?" I asked, skeptical. He loved to show me the newest tech that Star Labs was coming up with. Luckily, none of those things were particle accelerators.
"This isn't a cartoon, Tommy! Just press it."
I pressed the button, and out came a little helicopter buzzing around the lab. It hovered down and sat on my swim trunks. I smiled. "Cool. Doesn't Cisco have a life?"
"Nope. Well, it's time for your Nanobot therapy. Cisco tweaked them, so maybe we'll begin to see some improvement."
I doubt it, I thought, but wheeled myself into the next lab over, beginning to take off my T-shirt. Behind me I overheard Dad and Uncle Barry talking.
"So how are the twins?"
"Oh they're… rambunctious, as toddlers usually are. You know, genetics are really really weird…"
Nobody was in the lab yet when I showed up ready to go. I looked at the table, covered by a sterile sheet and a small, uncomfortable pillow. I shuddered. I thought I would be used to being in Star Labs by now and thinking about the big needle. It has a sort of dullness to it, a sort of hopelessness, yes. But I also hate needles.
"Hi Tommy," Dr. Snow said, pulling on some rubber gloves. "Would you mind if I lifted you onto the scale?"
I nodded, and she helped me onto the scale. It was one that I didn't have to stand up on. Dr. Snow noted that I have gained weight without gaining BMI(which is good, because it means my growth isn't completely stunted). Then, she put me on the table.
She did the normal check-up, my heart and my breathing and ears and all that. She tested out the nerves in my knees, and my legs did not react. As usual.
"Dr. Snow, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, Tommy," She said absent mindedly, wiping antiseptic where they were going to inject the nanobots. It was cold to the touch, but I knew it was nothing compared to the needle that was coming.
"What is Star Labs, exactly?"
Dr. Snow laughed. "What do you mean, Tommy?" She lay me face down on the table.
"I mean, you don't have any patients besides me, it seems like, and Dad's never really told me what you do- GAH!" I saw stars for a moment as the special needle pushed into my skin and pulled out the dead nanobots from last session.
"Well, we have a defective particle accelerator. It's mostly just a research lab. You're our subject."
"That's great," I said, winded.
"Ray swears these will work. I'm not so sure. If it doesn't, maybe some experimental stem cell therapy…"
"What are stem cells?" I tried to ask, but was silenced by another needle pushing into my spine. I promised I wouldn't cry out this time…
"Oh, that's a lesson for another time. Ready to swim?" She asked, smiling.
"No." I HATED water. I never really learned to swim, and this wasn't really swimming, either. This was just a shoulder-height pool that pushed a current under my legs. I even had a net to hang onto. Dr. Snow carefully dropped me on the edge to let me go in at my own time. "Where's Uncle Ray?"
"He's… busy. You'll have to do it alone this time." She stuck some wires to my skin so that she could check my vitals while I swam. Sometimes I wondered how safe this was in water.
When I slid in, I could only feel the current trying to pull my body under. I gripped the net. I hate water.
After a half hour of swimming, it got cut short by Dr. Snow very quickly pulling me out of the lap pool with the help of my dad. Why was dad in here?
"Ray didn't SERIOUSLY," Dad exclaimed, placing me onto the examination table. "I did NOT agree to this!"
"Well I'm sorry I didn't know!" Dr. Snow snapped.
"What? What did Uncle Ray do?"
"Hold on, Ray," Dr. Snow was saying, pulling out another big, sterile needle. This one looked different than the others, though.
"Hey, wait a minute!" I was only supposed to get two injections today! I did not sign up for this.
Without stopping to explain, Dr. Snow put the needle into my sore back, and this time, I DID cry out. Instead of injecting or pulling, though, she pressed a button on the syringe and pulled it out. She emptied the contents into the pitri dish, sprayed water on it with a pipet, and in a few seconds Uncle Ray was smirking at me through the Atom suit.
"Sorry, sport. I ran out of oxygen sooner than I thought."
"Uncle Ray is the ATOM?" I sat up, rubbing my sore back. "The Atom was in my SPINE?"
"Yup. Don't worry, the nanobots are still in you, they don't turn on their magnetism until they become inactive." The suit opened up and out came Uncle Ray in a jumpsuit.
"Uncle Ray is…"
"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Dad said, scratching the stubble on his chin. "Didn't come up."
I was too shocked not to forgive him.
Uncle Ray came up and hugged me. "Now how bout we go talk about this over pizza?"