CHAPTER 3   Visting Dano

Dano pushed past the pain of moving and reached for his app on the bedside table.  He wasn’t sure what he wanted.  He’d already napped in and out of the latest 007 holoFlick.  Maybe the book that Milan uploaded for him?  Nah, too groggy to read.  Maybe some good musicVids?  What the hell... He hit PLAY and tried grooving on ZigZig Sputnik but all it did was depress him, reminding him of his guitar that he couldn’t play.  Nurse Silvie came in.

“How are we doing?”

“Great!” Dano clicked off the vid, “if you’re into pain.”

“I can increase the morphine if you want.”

“What, and sleep through your visits?  Where’s the joy in that?”

Nurse Silvie moved his app to the night table and set down a tray.  “I have some juice, some soup and a sandwich for your lunch.”  

“Thanks, but you can keep the juice.  It’ll just make me want to pee and it hurts to get out of bed.”

“You have to stay hydrated.  If you don’t want to get out of bed just call me and I’ll hold the urine bottle for you...”

 “Oh man, there’s gotta be somethin’ better we can do for fun around here.”

“How about a diaper?”

“Only if you spank me first.”  

Nurse Silvie propped her hand on her hip,  “Okay handsome, roll over!”

“Aren’t you supposed to take your dress off when you say that?”

Nurse Silvie’s eyes widened in a look of disapproval.

“Okay, fine, you win.  I’ll drink the juice.”

Audrey slowly opened the door and poked her head in.  “Hey...”

“Hi babe.”  Dano muted the holoVid newscast he’d been watching.

“Wow!” Audrey gestured at a huge fragrant bouquet, “nice flowers!”

“Ahnka sent them.  I wish she hadn’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Dano swept his long dark hair behind his ear, “I just feel embarrassed, I guess.  You know what I mean?”

“No.  You saved her life.”

“I accidentally took a bullet that was meant for her.  It’s not exactly the same thing.”

“I don’t know, Dano, that’s a pretty fine distinction.  Besides, on all the NETvid posts it doesn’t look so accidental.  You pretty much look like a hero…” Audrey looked around the room.  “No more forest holo?”

“Naw, not in this room, that’s only in intensive care.  Just as well.  It gets old real fast, even when you’re flying on morphine.  But I’ve got your tree here...”  Dano tried reaching for his app.  Audrey noticed him wince and handed it to him.

“Thanks, babe.”  He switched on the holo of Milan and Audrey’s Christmas tree.  “My Dad couldn’t get over it.  Said it was beautiful.  He practically cried.”

“Over a Christmas tree?”

“Well, you know my dad.”

“Yeah,” Audrey chuckled.  “Oh, look!” she pointed to the holoScreen in front of the wall, “there’s something flashing on your inBox.”

 “I’ll be damned.  It’s a message from Drax.”  Dano selected the icon and a holo of Drax appeared in front of his bed, speaking in his thick Indian accent.

“Hey there Dano Mr. gRazer man.  You didn’t have to go get yourself shot live on the news just to attract the attention of beautiful ladies all over the world.  But since you went to all that trouble, I hope only the very prettiest doctors and nurses are treating you, and treating you right, if you get my drift.”  Drax smiled and his body morphed into a drop-dead gorgeous sexBot babe, wearing a racy nurse’s outfit, sexy panties scarcely hidden under a micro-mini, her tits struggling to burst out.  The head was still Drax, wearing a bad blond wig and a demented smile.  “So take care man, and Merry Christmas!”

“Oh, my god.  I can’t handle it!”  Audrey protested as she shook off her coat and draped it over her chair.  “Turn it off!”  They laughed together and Audrey pulled up a chair next to Dano.  “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, but it fucking hurts to breathe.”

“I’m sorry, but please don’t stop breathing…” she smiled in sympathy.  “Maybe this will help.  Here…” Audrey reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small glass marble, a marble that over years had passed back and forth between her and Dano, shared since they were in grade school, passed to whichever one of them needed luck.

“Our lucky marble?  But I gave it back to you.”

“Yeah, and look what happened.  You got shot.”

“The universe works in strange ways.  Maybe the laws of karma intended that I take it.  That bullet had Ahnka’s address on it, so, who knows, if I hadn’t caught that pony express, she might be dead.  In the end, neither one of us died, so…I’d consider that pretty lucky, even without the marble.” 

“Cut the bullshit and just take it.  It’s your turn to have it anyway.”

Dano reluctantly held his hand out.  “How’s Milan doing?”

“He’s doing fine.  He misses his friends on the Other Side.”

“Don’t let the staff hear you talking about the Other Side, or they’ll give you a brain scan.”

“Ha, yeah, I bet they would.”  Audrey dug into her coat again.  “Before I forget, here’s a piece of vanočka from the Four Seasons I saved for you.”

“Thanks, really, that’s razz because the food here sucks.  But how are you doing?  Did you have a nice Christmas?”

“I don’t know, yeah, but everything’s kinda weird.  I’m having trouble sleeping.”  Dano noticed the haunted look that drifted into Audrey’s eyes.

“I’m sorry to hear that.  You haven’t had that problem since…well…you know when.”  

“I guess it’s hard to wrap my mind around all this shit…stuff that I would have thought was crazy before I actually experienced it.  How can I go back?  You know, to my life...nothing’s the same, is it?  I mean, it actually is the same but I’vechanged...everything has changed.  I can’t pretend it hasn’t.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.  Just hang in there, babe, we just need to digest it all, it’ll be okay.  But Milan, are you sure he’s okay?  He took the sharp end of all this weirdness.  I mean, he’s just a kid.  How does a kid slip from one dimension to another, and then back again, and stay normal?”

“Well, that’s the strange thing.  He’s acting totally nonchalant, you know, like nothing happened...it’s odd.  I keep getting the feeling he’s up to something.”

“Like what?”  

“I wish I knew...” Audrey’s demeanor changed abruptly.  “By the way, did you hear what happened this morning?”

“The Christ Apparitions?  Yeah...hard to avoid.  I saw it on the news, again and again and again…and I could have sworn that in a couple of those vids you were there.”  Dano looked at Audrey.  “That was you, wasn’t it?  In the Old Town Square!  You’re just in the middle of everything these days.” 

Audrey smiled sheepishly.  “There’s someone waiting outside who wants to meet you.”

“Your new boyfriend?” Dano asked glumly.

“Yes,” Audrey nodded.  “Marc.  You’ll like him.”

“I have to, right?  I mean, he fucking saved my life.”

“And that bothers you?”

“Well, it’s just that, well, you can’t do anything in a small way, can you?  You hook up with this dude, which is bad enough, but I don’t blame you, I mean I screwed up big time, but then he has go and save my life?  That sucks.  Why couldn’t it have been some Good Samaritan stranger that saved my ass?”

“Daaanooo!”  Audrey chided.

Dano painfully pulled himself up into a more alert sitting position.  “...okay...” he groaned, “let’s get it over with.”

“Non, non, don’t move!  It is a pleasure to finally meet you.  I am Marc.  I’m a huge fan of yours.”  Marc shook Dano’s hand.  “You are looking très bien.”

“Thanks to you, I hear...”

“Well, you should thank Audrey, en fait.  If she hadn’t had that pen in her hair...”

Dano couldn’t help noticing the tender way Marc looked at Audrey and the mesmerized look she returned.   “But if you hadn’t been a medic in Médecins Sans Frontières,” Audrey said, “the pen wouldn’t have made any difference.”

“You’re one lucky bastard...” Dano smiled ruefully.  Marc wasn’t actually sure what Dano was driving at until he followed his glance towards Audrey.

“Ah!  I am!  Indeed!”

“Are they going to let you out by New Years?” Audrey asked.

“Depends how I’m doing.  Doc says they might release me into my dad’s care, but he says on condition of no parties.”

“I guess he knows his patient.  Well, you’re just going to have to join us in SIM!”

Dano looked unconvinced.

“Get over yourself, gRazer.  It’s the only way you’re gonna do anything for New Years... besides, you have no choice because I’ve already told everyone you’d be there.  It’s going to be at Anton’s, in SIM-overlay...”

“Huh?”

“SIM-overlay,” Audrey rolled her eyes.  gRazers!  “It’s like SIMactive,” she explained, “but we’re all actually there.  Well, except you of course, you’ll just be joining us in SIM.”

“I know what SIM-overlay is,” Dano grimaced. 

“Hey, like you said, look where you are,” Audrey gestured at the hospital room, “it can’t be helped.  It’s better than nothing.  Anyway, we’ll all be at Anton’s, and it’s going to be one hell of a dance party—I mean, check this out, ever hear of Andrea Cervelli?”

“That hot Italian SIM artist?”

“Hot is right!  His stuff is really expensive, but Anton splurged for it...”

“You mean Paul splurged for it,” Marc interjected.

“Yes, okay,” Audrey agreed, “Paul splurged for it.  But I don’t think he knows it yet.  Anyway, you’ll see, it should be kickyFab to the max!”

“Andrea Cervelli,” Marc pointed out, “how can you refuse?”

Dano threw up his hands in a gesture of acceptance and flinched in pain.  Audrey never took “no” for an answer, and this time she had backup.  Besides, Andrea Cervelli was tuned-in sharp.  “Maybe I can dance like this.”  Dano did a couple of kick steps with his fingers.  “But someone’s going to have to get my eyeVid, I mean, your eyeVid.”

“Where is it? In Potters Bar?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll get it for you.”

Dano noticed Marc shoot Audrey a sharp look.  There was an uncomfortable moment of silence.

“Can I give you some advice?”  Dano asked.  Marc wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what was coming.  “Let Audrey be Audrey.  You can’t protect her from herself.  You just gotta let her be, and love her for it.”

“You are probably correct.  She is a handful, c’est vrai?”  Marc smiled tenderly.  “I look forward to seeing you out of your hospital bed, finger-dancing at the New Years party.”    

Dano nodded.  “Thanks for coming by.”  He watched Marc and Audrey put on their coats, reached for his app, and turned the news back on.

“NetPolice claim they are making progress in tracking down the Christ hacker.  Anonimous sources say that foremost among the suspects are the notorious art hacker group BLANK...”

Audrey stopped in the doorway and turned around.  “You’ve gotta be kidding me!  These people are totally lame.  That was so not a BLANKprank.”

“How do you know?”  Asked Marc.

“Well...” Audrey faltered, “BLANK signs everything they do, don’t they?”

Dano watched the door shut behind them. Hmm, I guess she hasn’t told him yet.  I wonder if she ever will?