Amoeba (The Experiments) by Jacqueline Druga

Jake. “Sarge is all dressed up to see me. Dude, did you like get in trouble for missing work for so long?”
    “Rickie.” Jake whispered his name , laying his hand on Rickie’s cheek and gripping it.
    “Guy, you aren’t gonna , like, lay a big wet one on me are you?”
    Jake laughed.
    “Cal-babe.” Rickie pointed to Jake. “He just . . . UH!” Rickie found himself in the midst of a huge Jake hug. Wrapped in Jake’s arms, Rickie’s face pressed to Jake’s chest so tight he could feet the buttons on Jake’s shirt indenting his forehead, his thin body flopped about in Jake’s grateful embrace. “I’m dying. Help!”
    In a rare occasion, Jake smiled, freeing Rickie from the life threatening hold. “I am so, so, happy to see you ,” Jake told him.
    Cal couldn’t stop touching him, but she had to ask Greg. “How . . . how did this happen ? We lost him.”
    “I know ,” Greg said. “Like I told you, there was a mixing of blood. Rickie acquired enough to regenerate but not complete the stasis process.”
    Jake’s head swayed. “As much as I hate to admit it , I missed you. You were the biggest pain in my ass I ever encountered, but right now, I’m enjoying every second with you.”
    Cal grinned at Jake. “That was sweet.”
    “Yeah, Sarge.” Rickie told him. “Thanks. We can like spend lots of time together.”
    “Yeah , you can visit us.” Jake said.
    “Cool.” Rickie nodded.
    Still in awe, Jake looked at Greg. “Is he staying here?” Jake turned back to Rickie. “Where are you staying?”
    “Dude.” Rickie reached out and gave a pat to Jake. “With you and Cal-babe. You guys , like, invited me to live with you, remember?” Rickie scratched his head. “Or was that just the Cal-babe.”
    Cal grabbed on to Rickie. “It doesn’t matter. You can live with us.”
    “Wait a second.” Jake held up his hand. “I like Rickie and all, but . . .”
    “Sarge.” Rickie stopped him. “I have nowhere else to go.”
    “How about an apartment?”
    Cal backhanded Jake. “We have an extra room, Rickie. In fact , we just bought a house. With lots of room.”
    “Cool.”
    Greg stepped forward into the happy reunion. “Actually, if I can say something.” He waited until he had all of their attention. “Rickie can’t get an apartment, not just yet. He knows this.”
    “Yeah ,” Rickie commented. “Setting the Rickie Meister free on his own will cause mass chaos amongst the women of the world.”
    Greg smiled. “Something like that. Rickie needs to be monitored, watched for any changes or occurrences that aren’t normal. We don’t foresee any; however, we have to be on the safe side. He either has to go into special housing, or he has to go to you. We’ll be happy to release him to you because, well, let’s face it, you two pretty much can handle things. Also, there are medical observation papers that need to be filled out weekly for us. But Jake, you know what to do with them, what to look for. With your back . . .”
    “Yes.” Jake cleared his throat. “Now . . . this special housing , how bad is . . .”
    “Jake!” Cal yelled. “He comes with us.”
    “I know.” Jake held up his hand. “Just reviewing our options. All right . . .” He faced Greg. “Get me what you need to get me, because I want to go home. I got a headache.” He looked at Rickie. “And it’s only gonna get worse.”
    Greg pointed to his door. “My secretary has it ready. I’ll go out and get it. Rickie, you brought your bag up , right?”
    Rickie gave a thumps up.
    Jake glanced oddly at Rickie. “How do you have a bag? You’ve been dead.”
    “Dude, they like got me new clothes. Check me out.” Rickie turned his back to Jake. “I got the Levi butt thing happening.”
    “And you also have that rebel teenage hair thing happening,” Jake told him. He reached out, gripping Rickie’s hair and tugging it, causing an ‘uh’ to come from Rickie. “If you live with me, you lose it.”
    “No, dude,