Paul Kater - Bactine

“Okay.” Argh, she was right. He moved a finger.

“That is wonderful, Mr. Zacharias. Very good. Now, just relax. I am going to remove the covers and put more oil on your body, sir. It will help the recovery.”

While Daniel still was working on the meaning of her words, he felt a rush of cool air flowing over him.

“Keep your eyes closed, sir, please. I will start with your face.” Gentle, soft hands and fingers touched his face, and a warm slick sensation spread over his face. The dull pain seemed to yield to whatever it was the woman did.

Slowly and skilfully she worked his whole face, his shoulders and his chest, down to his abdomen. “I am now going to oil your private area, sir. Don’t worry, I will be gentle.”

Daniel, halfway dozing, wondered about her remark. His genitals had disappeared as he had been put inside the Bactine body and-… His mind froze for a moment as the feelings that rushed up to his brain told him something that could not be. Then another sensation, one he had not had for a long time, told him something else.

“Oh,” the woman said. “Not to worry, sir, that happens at times..”

Daniel had an erection. The impossibility of this puzzled him so much that he did not even felt how the woman oiled his legs and covered him again. She said something.

“What? I beg your pardon… I did not hear you.”

“You will be feeling better soon, sir. I’m taking my leave now, another nurse will come to sit with you.”

She left, leaving Daniel in wonder. She returned again also, to oil him again.

“How are you feeling today, Mr. Zacharias?”

“Much better already, thank you, miss.” Daniel could speak again without pain. Also most of the pain in his body had gone, save the odd tweak and throb.

“Very good, sir. I shall be oiling you again, and after that we will see if you can sit up.” As she was oiling him, this time without the embarrassing situation, she told him that there had been people asking for him. “Alas, you are not allowed visitors yet, but they said they will return as soon as they may see you.”

“I wonder, miss, if you can tell me what has happened to me?” Daniel asked. He had asked the other nurses too, but they had simply said they could not tell him.

“The medical team, assisted by the rather unladylike woman doctor have removed the material that was your other body, sir, and you have been restored in Glandrine. Do you know what Glandrine is?”

Glandrine. “Yes. Some people sort of explained it to me. Uhm. Thank you.” Glandrine. “So they used Glandrine to fix me?”

“Yes, sir.” She pulled the covers over him. “Now, do you think you want to try and sit up?”

Daniel was all in favour. He had been on his back forever, and bored out of his mind by the white ceiling. As she helped him up, his body screamed from all pores, but he was sitting. Such a relief.

“That was quite good, sir,” the nurse smiled. She put a small mountain of pillows behind his back. “You can lean back now. Careful, sir.”

Cold fire ran over his back for a moment as he sunk into the pillows, then it felt all good.

“You must be hungry, sir. I’ll see that a tray of food is brought to you.” Quickly she left the room.

Daniel looked at the dresser against the wall opposite him. Then he looked in the large mirror that hung over it. He scared himself. His face was black and blue, as if a herd of cows had taken a stroll over it. He pulled the cover down, to discover that his whole body was in that shape. And he stared at the penis.

A knock on the door made him cover himself again, quickly. A nurse carrying an insanely large tray came in. “Good afternoon, Mr. Zacharias. We heard you would fancy some food. Here is a starter for you. Do let us know if you are in need of something. You only have to pull the cord here by your bed.”

He had the tray, which had short legs, on his bed in an instant. The nurse had left before he could respond. The smell of food made him forget that. He attacked it.

A gentle knock on the door. “Mr. Zacharias?” a nurse asked as she opened the door. “Ah… you are awake. Do you think you can see some visitors, sir?”

After three days of nurses, Daniel could certainly do with some other company. He was glad that most of the bruised colours on his new skin had gone away. He was a strange shade of blue still, but the nurses and the doctor had assured him that would settle itself once he was up and moving about.

To his surprise, Ulaman, Xandree and Draiky came in.

The three kept a respecting distance to him, something he did not understand, until Xandree explained that the nurses had told them to do so. “We should not chance to touch you, as your skin is healing.”

They told him that the repairs on the Pricosine were going well. “In a few days we will be taking her out for a test again. And you are supposed to stay in bed for that, Daniel,” said Ulaman.

“The doctor said you will be fine, Daniel. And you will be fit to sail with us again.” Draiky sounded very happy about that, and Daniel was glad to hear it. He missed the ship already.

“The Seigner asked me to tell you he is very sorry about what happened, Daniel. He is very busy, so he could not come to visit you. He does regret that,” Ulaman also told him.

Daniel told the visitors what he had learnt about his mishap. They all nodded, probably not understanding everything, but he felt that they had to know at least. They had done all they could to pull him through.

Their visit was short, but Daniel felt good about them having come to see him. It meant a lot to them.

“Next time I want to see you on the ship again, my friend,” said Ulaman.

When he was alone again, Daniel felt better than he had done in days.

The next morning, a doctor came to see him and this time the man had time to talk to Daniel.

“I am sure you are wondering about many things, Mr. Zacharias.” He got that right.

Daniel learnt that Rhonda and the local surgeons had worked on him for many hours. “The knowledge of the anatomy of a person that your doctor Flower possesses is amazing.” In turn, they had surprised Rhonda by reengineering Daniel’s genitals, something that the doctor was especially proud of.

“I am very grateful for that, doctor,” Daniel said.

“It was our privilege to be of service, sir,” the man brushed all praise away. “Most of your physique that is under the skin has remained intact, so your strength should be close to what it was. Doctor Flower also asked us to inform you that the air pockets in your limbs are still present, but you cannot use them to breathe through anymore. Concessions had to be made.”

Daniel understood that. He was very sharply aware that he could have been dead without ever having know it. “Doctor… How was it possible that you could reach Rhon- doctor Flower so quickly?”

“She was on the planet, so that was easy. Do you have any more questions? You should rest now.” The man got up.

Daniel’s head was in turmoil. “She was still on the planet? Uhm, no, I’m… I have no more questions. Thank you, doctor.”

The patient kept wondering about Rhonda for the rest of the day…

The next morning a nurse came in, holding a rattling box. “Mr. Zacharias, it sounds as if someone is trying to reach you.”

“Thank you, nurse,” Daniel said, and opened the device. The call was from Tomlin Barker.

“Daniel, man-” Tomlin fell silent as he saw Daniel’s face. “Good grief, man, what happened to you?”

Daniel gave him the nutshell version of recent events, which was enough for Tomlin to drop what he was doing and rush over to the hospital.

“Holy fucking shit, Daniel,” Tomlin said after fighting his way past a few stern nurses, “you look like crap!”