Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) by Chris Hechtl Page B

shook
her head in resignation as he said that. “Will you soldiers
stop... oh hell; it's like talking to a wall. Never mind.” She
sat on the edge of the bed. “Any problems?”
    “ No. I'm
adjusting to having depth perception again.”
    “ Good. Clarity
is okay?” She took a pen light out and pointed it at his eye.
She moved it around then stopped. “Follow the light. With your
eyes.” He did so.
    “ Good. The
muscles have adapted well. Luckily the scarring wasn't too
intensive.” She nodded making a note on her padd.
    “ The eye is
easy,” he said and then shrugged.
    “ Well, I did
offer you a prosthetic for it if you remember?”
    “ No thanks
doc. Having a camera would have been hard to swallow. Besides, it
would have meant going through this rigamarole twice.”
    “ Already tired
of hospital food?” she teased, then smiled, looking up from
studying his notes. He shrugged.
    “ Just eager to
get back to work.”
    “ You'll be
snarling at the recruits in no time gunny,” she smiled again,
patting his foot. “The arm will take longer to get used to.
You’re in for a lot of rehab. Are you sure you can balance duty
and rehab?”
    “ I've made it
this far ma'am,” he shrugged.
    “ Good
attitude,” she nodded. She got up. “You've got a
therapist coming in an hour to work you over now that the swelling is
down and your tissues have integrated.”
    “ Doc?”
he asked. She paused at the door.
    “ Yes?”
    “ Thanks.”
    She smiled. “You're
welcome. gunny.” She cocked her head to him in a slight bow,
and then used the padd to give him a jaunty salute. She turned, put
her free hand in her pocket and left.
    “ Humans,”
the gunny sighed. The doctor obviously didn't understand military
protocol. He tried to flex his right hand. It was still bound up in
the cast. Not for much longer though. He was eager to give it a shot.
    ...*...*...*...*...
    Jethro grimaced as
he woke. It was hard to tell time in here, they didn't have a chrono
on the wall, and all this sleeping left him confused and dry when he
woke. He licked his dry lips. He didn't have a choice, he'd have to
do something about it.
    He opened his eyes
and then locked onto the juice on the nightstand nearby. He reached
for it, and then paused. He slowed his approach but still ended up
knocking the glass off.
    It fell to the floor
with a clatter as he swore. “Here, let me get that,” the
male orderly said, reaching over and picking the cup up. “Still
having trouble?”
    “ Yeah. It's
like I'm floating sometimes. And sometimes it's hard to move,”
Jethro grimaced. He hadn't counted on being like a baby. The first
group didn't have this problem. The gunny didn't when he had his
implants. At least that was what he had thought. He'd have to
remember to ask later. Hopefully without getting his tail in a
wringer when he did. “To tell you the truth it's driving me
crazy. Maybe implants aren't all they are cracked up to be,” he
admitted. He shook his head.
    “ Easy,”
the orderly said, resting a hand on his chest. “I wouldn't
know, I've only got the basic implants. Data and IFF stuff. You've
got the muscle enhancements and stuff. Full kit.”
    “ Yeah,”
Jethro grimaced again then exhaled slowly trying to release the
building frustration.
    “ What we can
do, we did. Or at least some of it anyway,” a nurse said,
looking up from her padd. “You'll get specialty implants when
or should I say if you graduate.”
    “ Which isn't
going to happen with me stuck in this bed,” Jethro sighed
fighting the frustration again. He tried to get up but the orderly
pushed him back down.
    “ Nope, not on.
Not in your condition son,” he said firmly. Jethro's lips
writhed in a snarl. The orderly drew back at the sight of his teeth.
    “ Sorry,”
he grimaced again. “Muscle cramp. And yeah, I gotta get up. I
gotta... ah, you know.”
    “ No... I don't
know. I do know you’re stuck in bed. Doctors orders.”
    “ But I gotta
ah... number two,” he