Chapitre 17: Prosthetics
With closed eyes, he lay motionless, resembling a lifeless body.
The silence drowned out any sounds, and a pungent stench permeated the room. Hours passed, during which the unconscious Kaiden showed no signs of life.
However, appearances were deceiving; he wasn't dead, but rather caught in a near-death experience.
His breathing seemed steady, as it was supposed to be. The process seemed to unfold perfectly, without any obstacles.
The usual scent emerged as his entire body renewed itself from within, expelling dead cells outward.
His skin seemed to shed, particles detaching irregularly, drifting away from his seemingly new body.
More hours passed in this seemingly calm and relieving slumber, although he had previously suffered extreme agony.
His body continued to shed, layers of transparent, seemingly thin film removed from Kaiden's form.
Inside the undisturbed room, brightness seemed to shift into darkness, individuals entering and exiting appearing in fast-forward.
The clock, always stationed on the wall's edge, ticked by in seconds, whole days passing in mere moments, the moon seemingly waving to the sun repeatedly.
It turned dark, then bright again, supported by the constant comings and goings of other people, yet they remained unrecognizable due to the distortion. Whole days continued to pass, until the daily exchange of sun and moon abruptly stopped, the two celestial bodies almost touching.
The moon seemed to shout angrily at the sun, but it too had already receded and was no longer visible.
****
Weeks passed, and Kaiden still seemed lifeless in his white bed. Even though cleaning staff came in repeatedly to remove the detached cells, it seemed there was still much left.
Despite his layers having been removed several times, it seemed as much was left as shortly after falling asleep. Yet the seemingly lifeless body seemed to breathe louder and louder, almost as loud as after an eternal marathon.
Suddenly, the volume of his chest seemed to swell, and a tremendous energy seemed to burst forth from him. Light steam in the form of extreme whiteness rose from his body.
It was as if the steam from boiling water was rising. With the reaction of the white surrounding air, his previously closed eyes seemed to open.
The pupils were wide open, as if he had just experienced an adrenaline rush, eyes and iris separated by only half a centimeter.
With a start in his vocal range, Kaiden, still mentally in the throes of pain, screamed.
But the peculiar thing was that he was sitting upright as he did so. Suddenly, he could fully control his upper body. His left arm also obeyed him.
Confused, he reached out to touch his own body. Frantic explorations followed, first his severed legs, then his upper body, and finally his face.
He seemed to almost be poking himself in his still wide-open eyes.
With a shout of relief, Kaiden touched his still severed right arm once again. He was relieved, not only that he no longer possessed certain limbs, but also that he could freely move his body without any discomfort or pain.
Why was this?
Was it due to shock or an adrenaline surge? Probably not; not even the strongest drug could make those devastating phantom pains disappear.
It must be magic, he thought, and suddenly he remembered the syringe. He must have awakened because of it.
Yet he couldn't even dream in his wildest dreams that he would be strengthened to such an extent.
While his thoughts revolved around the miraculous healing, he relished in freely moving his body.
He moved his left arm wildly, again and again forming a tight fist and lightly slapping his face to make sure it wasn't a dream.
A wide smile spread across his worn, yet seemingly well-blooded and moist lips. It wasn't a dream, he screamed internally, and it seemed like he jumped for joy.
In reality, he only swayed lightly, causing the hospital bed to squeak loudly.
He admired his own body and couldn't stop touching himself. Everywhere he touched, he felt seemingly tough, sturdy skin with many slight undulations representing the scars.
As Kaiden viewed himself from above for several minutes and felt everything with his left hand, he only then realized how severe his injuries were.
His legs and arm were severed, and at the end of the amputation, skin and muscles had grown back together, pierced by a large piece of bone, which, however, didn't protrude but was only palpable.
As he admired his severe, yet painless injury, the doorknob turned again, illuminating the silent room with a soft sound.
Familiar sounds entered. With a sharper gaze, he now saw them clearly: the sister, the nurse, and the doctor. The short and quiet, yet joyful greeting sounds echoed, just as he had expected.
They stared at the upright Kaiden with wide eyes, who wore a broad smile. Surprised that he was already awake, they still seemed pleased, except for the doctor. He maintained his poker face and didn't flinch.
However, the three suddenly entering individuals seemed to start coughing abruptly due to the steaming aura emanating from Kaiden, and the coughing grew stronger. The doctor quickly said,
"Please, someone needs to open the window."
Without hesitation, the nurse rushed to the spot and opened the window exactly as he had closed it weeks ago.
The atmosphere was different, not only because the air was stuffy, but also because Kaiden looked pleased, instead of gloomy and withdrawn, showing no sympathy for what was happening.
As fresh air mixed into the slightly stuffy room, the nurse seemed to want to ask him how he was feeling.
But as he moved to open his mouth and express his thoughts, the doctor said they needed to do some tests for the coupling of the prosthetics.
Kaiden, who had forgotten with joy that such inventions existed, seemed even happier and asked if they could start right away. The doctor confirmed this and turned around without waiting long; after all, the government had already brought some things here.
A box, completely black and identical to the mysterious case, could be opened with a button press.
Even the doctor was surprised when he saw the contents: a variety of C8 prosthetics.
****
The doctor had never seen such before. What was special about them was that they adapted to the individual on their own and functioned like real limbs.
The older arms reached for the three prosthetics, a right and left leg, as well as a right arm. They seemed almost weightless, they were so light.
Puzzled by these prosthetics, he walked towards Kaiden and gently placed them on his bed. The steam now settled completely, and refreshing, pure oxygen was to breathe.
Kaiden, attempting to stretch out his non-existent legs, achieved nothing, and then it came back to him. He was even more excited about these, as he no longer had to think about it.
In the doctor's rough, large hands, there was a prosthesis for the left leg.
Coming closer and closer, the prosthesis and the leg seemed to draw nearer to each other until the prosthesis was magically drawn to Kaiden's leg.
It was like a positively charged magnet immediately responding to a negatively charged field.
The prosthesis, which also appeared metallic black, embraced the remainder of the severed leg, enveloping it as if it was melding with it to grasp and insert it.
With a brief pain and a loud shout, the leg seemed to move. His joyful face seemed to sink into grinning and laughing. He could feel everything, and the prosthesis did everything he did.
Even the little toe was controllable and movable like a real one – a true miracle.
Not only Kaiden was happy, his smile infected everyone in the room, so even the doctor had to suppress a smirk, although he immediately suppressed it again. Followed by the other two prosthetics, which proceeded similarly, if not identically.
They adhered to the body, pricked briefly to connect with the nerve pathway, and whoosh, Kaiden's body was functional.
Happier than ever, he moved everything he could. Left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. He swung everything around wildly like a playful child.
He didn't hesitate and simply got up from the bed. He leaned on it by grabbing his arms behind him and moving forward with his legs.
Once at the edge, he placed his now usable feet on the slightly cold, flat, white-gray floor and braced himself with his arms on the edge of the bed.
He stood up carefully and seemed to be able to stand shortly after attaching the new prosthetics.
But not only that, he also seemed to be able to start walking already. He moved his legs in rhythm, lifting the left leg forward, followed by the right. On and on, until he couldn't anymore, he intended.
But at some point, it became faster, and he seemed to move quickly. He ran towards the nurse and the sister, who avoided him. The refreshing wind pushed one last time with a strong thrust, causing Kaiden's long hair to float in the air.
The ventilated clothing seemed to detach from his body, and he was almost running naked through the area.
Kaiden was happy and felt free again after a long time. He could walk through the rehearsed corridors of the hospital on his own.
Filled with thoughts of freedom and bliss, he pushed his tumor into the past and only looked to the future.
****
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