Invasion

Pitt was again able to grease the skids, and within a half hour Beau was comfortably situated in one of the student overnight rooms. It looked like a typical hospital room with vinyl flooring, metal furniture, a TV, and a window that looked south over the hospital lawn. Beau was dressed in hospital-issue pajamas. His clothes were hung in the closet, and his watch, wallet, and the black mini-sculpture were in a metal valuables cabinet affixed to the top of the bureau. Cassy had programmed the combination lock with the last four digits of their home phone number.

Pitt excused himself to get back to the ER desk.

"Comfortable?" Cassy asked. Beau was lying on his back. His eyes were closed. He'd been given a cough suppressant which had already taken effect. He was exhausted.

"As comfortable as can be expected," Beau murmured.

"The doctor said I should come back in a few hours," Cassy said. "All the tests will be available and most likely I'll be able to take you home."

"I'll be here," Beau said. He was enjoying the sensation of a strange languid sleep settling over him like a welcome blanket. He didn't even hear Cassy close the door behind her when she left.

Beau slept more soundly than he'd ever slept. He didn't even dream. After several hours of this comalike trance his body took on a faint phosphorescence. Inside the locked valuables box the black disc-form object did the same, particularly one of eight small domed excrescences arrayed around the object's rim. Suddenly the tiny disc detached itself and floated free. Its glow intensified until it became a pinpoint of light like a distant star.

Moving laterally the point of light contacted the side of the valuables box, but it didn't slow. With a muted hissing sound and a few sparks it traveled through the metal, leaving a tiny, perfectly symmetrical hole behind it.

Once free of the confined space, the point of light traveled directly to Beau, causing Beau's luminosity to intensify. It approached Beau's right eye and then hovered a few millimeters away. Slowly the intensity of the point of light decreased until it assumed its normal flat black color.

A few pulses of visible light traveled from the tiny object and impinged on Beau's eyelid. Instantly the eye opened while the other stayed shut. The exposed pupil was maximally dilated with just a bare band of iris visible.

Pulses of electromagnetic radiation were then dispatched into Beau's open eye, mostly in the visible light wavelength. It was one computer downloading to another, and it went on for almost an hour.

"How's our favorite patient?" Cassy asked Pitt when she came through the ER door. Pitt hadn't seen her until she'd spoken. The ER had been busy and he'd had his hands full.

"Fine as far as I know," Pitt said. "I looked in on him a couple of times, as did the nurse. Every time he was sleeping like a baby. I don't think he moved. He must have been exhausted."

"Did his blood work come back?" Cassy asked.

"Yup, and it was pretty normal," Pitt said. "His white count was up slightly but only his mononuclear lymphocytes."

"Hey, remember you're talking to a layperson," Cassy said.

"Sorry," Pitt said. "The bottom line is that he can go home. Then it's the usual. You know: fluids, aspirin, rest, and some TLC."

"What do I have to do to get him released?" Cassy asked.

"Nothing," Pitt said. "I already did all the paperwork. We just have to get him out into the car. Come on, I'll give you a hand."

Pitt got leave from the head nurse to take a break. He found a wheelchair and started down the hall toward the student overnight ward.

"You think a wheelchair is necessary?" Cassy asked with concern.

"We might as well have it just in case," Pitt said. "His legs were pretty wobbly when you brought him in."

They got to the door, and Pitt knocked quietly. When there was no answer he cracked the door and peered inside.

"Just as I thought," Pitt said. He opened the door wide to push in the wheelchair. "Sleeping Beauty still hasn't moved."

Pitt parked the wheelchair and followed Cassy to the bed. Each went to a separate side.

"What did I tell you?" Pitt said. "The picture of tranquility. Why don't you kiss him and see if he turns into a frog."

"Should we wake him?" Cassy asked, ignoring Pitt's attempt at humor.

"It's going to be hard getting him home if we don't," Pitt said.

"He looks so peaceful," Cassy said. "He also looks a hell of a lot better than he did earlier. In fact, his color looks normal."

"I suppose," Pitt said.

Cassy reached out and gently shook Beau's arm while calling his name softly. When he didn't respond, she shook him harder.

Beau's eyes blinked open. He looked back and forth between his two friends. "Hey, how ya doing?" he asked. "I think the question is how you are doing," Cassy said. "Me, I'm fine," Beau said. Then his eyes made a rapid sweep around the room. "Where am I?"

"At the med center," Cassy said.

"What am I doing here?" Beau questioned.

"You don't remember?" Cassy asked with concern.