Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond the Fallen Star ❯ Dead Men Tell No Tales ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: All characters in this story except Jonathan and Dr. Gaul are the property of Sunrise, Inc. and Bandai Entertainment. No money was made off this ode to my favorite green-haired cowboy. (Sorry for the cliché title. Nothing better came to mind.)

Chapter 2: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Spike woke up feeling disoriented. Hoping to make the feeling go away, he kept his eyes closed while he tried to remember where he was. The incessant beating of the heart monitor was enough to remind him.

Slowly, he wiggled the fingers on both hands, and then his toes. Everything was just fine there. The aches and pains from his first awakening had also faded, and he felt about as good as one could who didn't know where they were or what was going on.

With a grunt, he sat up all at once, and instantly regretted it. The white room spun around him, and he quickly propped himself up on his elbows. Gradually, the room slowed down as he practiced calmly breathing in and out.

"You probably should have taken that first step a little slower, friend." Cautioned a quiet voice behind him. Spike tensed, cursing himself for not noticing the other presence immediately, and glanced over his right shoulder to where the older man stood at the doorway. "It's been a long time since any of your muscles have been used. Most likely, you'll have to do some reconditioning to get everything back into tip-top shape."

The portly balding doctor continued to prattle happily to himself as he checked the various monitors surrounding and attached to Spike's body. For his part, Spike relaxed slightly, and let him do his work, hoping to catch onto some small detail as to where he was and how long he had been there.

During the course of the absent-minded doctor's ramblings, Spike learned next to nothing, except the fact that he was somewhere safe, his medical bills had been taken care of, and that his body would need physical therapy.

That much was obvious. The doctor, who introduced himself simply as Gaul, took hold of Spike's right arm, and told him to flex his bicep. With a shrug, Spike complied. To his surprise, his arm barely responded to his mental urging.

Gaul shrugged at his amazement. "It's not all that surprising, really. My assistant gave you the last dose of the post-cryogenic drug, and your body has yet to catch up with your brain." He scratched his head and frowned. "In fact, my assistant disappeared right after your last dose. Oh well." He reached up to tap Spike on the head, who jerked back in reflex.

The doctor laughed. "Well, no problem there. I think you'll be back to your old self in no time." He pulled what Spike had thought to be a pen out of his coat pocket, and shone the light into each of his eyes individually.

Spike's good eye reacted normally, causing him to wince, but the other merely stayed frozen. "Your cybernetic eye will catch up with the change in your body chemistry soon, also. Have you been having any problems with it?" It was, of course, a particularly life-like replica, but the Red Dragon doctors had always assured him no normal doctor would be able to tell the difference.

Seeing his reaction, Gaul smiled paternally and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. All of your medical records are safe here, and you'll receive the best care." Spike opened his mouth to reply, but all the questions he had planned on asking came barreling out at once, and he could only stutter out a few words.

The doctor held up a finger. "Ah. I almost forgot." He made his way over to a small cart across the room, and returned with a small orange pill and a cup of water. Returning, he held them out to Spike, who only regarded them suspiciously. "Don't worry, Spike Spiegel. This is only a general vitamin to ward off any infections that might try to get into your immune system before it has a chance to get to 100 percent efficiency."

He motioned for Spike to take them. Nothing to lose, nothing to gain. Spike thought, and the pill was gone in a second, followed by the cold, pure water. He licked up the last drop, and eyed Gaul, who was watching him expectantly.

"Am I supposed to turn into some kind of lizard now?" Spike managed. The doctor paused, looked hard at him for a second, and burst into a surprisingly bright peal of laughter. He calmed down long enough to tell Spike to lie back down and get some rest, and shuffled slowly out of the room, still chortling to himself.

Spike leaned back and stretched out on his bed. "One thing common to every hospital," He muttered, and shifted onto his right side. "The beds suck." With his right arm securely tucked under his head, he drifted off to sleep, wishing they'd at least turn the lights off.

As soon as Gaul exited the patient's room, his slumping posture straightened, and his steps quickened with an urgency that he didn't feel. At the end of the secured hallway, he typed a high access password into the number pad, and hidden elevator doors silently swung open.

He stepped inside, and punched a number for the higher levels of the building. A voice crackled across the hidden intercom. A raspy man's voice simply asked, "Did he take it?" Gaul smiled sadly to himself, and faced the door. "He took it." The voice purred, "Good." And there was a click as the hand attached to the disembodied voice clicked off the connection.

As soon as he heard it, Gaul slumped against the side of the elevator, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. Soon it would all be over, and he could go back to his life again, assuming he still had one. It was going to be a long day.

Above him in the elevator shaft, smoothly oiled gears and cables suddenly ground to a halt. Down in the car, the lights blanked out. There was one strangled scream, and then silence.

Down in the white room, Spike slept on.

IT'S GONNA BE A LONG DAY.