Chapter 28

  SIZZLE

  Gillian was surprised and confused, then her face lit up. “Vienna, just like on our honeymoon! How did we get here?” Deke and Gillian stood in Stephan Platz outside the cathedral.

  Deke excitedly explained as much as he could about getting from place to place. “We’re not limited by speed or distance anymore. I have been to some amazing places. I sat on a satellite! I tried to go to the moon! I think I can get there, but I just don’t know how to yet. Oh, and get this! You want to know what happened to me the last week?” In the blink of an eye, Deke shared with Gillian his experiences of the last week.

  The download staggered Gillian. For a moment, she was speechless as she processed what she had just learned. “You were with me! You were watching out for me! You really, really love me!”

  Deke told her, “Is that amazing, or what? You know the word grok? There’s really no other word for it. Instant, complete, gestalt understanding. It’s so much more meaningful with you though. To be able to communicate without fear of misunderstanding. I want to know how it works! I want to know how much I can learn this way!”

  Gillian laughed, “Ever the scientist!”

  They walked the pedestrian zone in deep communion, taking in the sights, sharing their perceptions. Listening in on conversations. Gillian said, “This is so nice! It’s amazing! Why is it so much easier to focus on each other here? ”

  “I think it’s because we don’t have the distractions of our bodies. Before, we were distracted, without our knowing it, by hunger, thirst, aches and pains, and even pleasure and lust. The chemistry of the body got in the way. Especially in memory recall.”

  Gillian gushed, “Oh, I know! That cliché of your life passing before your eyes? That’s real! I saw everything. I can remember every instant of my life with crystal clarity.”

  “That has some drawbacks. I have a lot of regrets. I want to forget so many things. All the memories are not great. There is so much that I don’t want anyone to know about me.”

  Gillian let that sink in. “It’s terrible to remember those moments so clearly. It’s funny, though. The things that were done to me don’t trouble me. It’s the things that I did, the things that I regret that bother me the most.”

  They spent the next days exploring places they had always dreamed of seeing. They visited with the family members and friends they could find. They wondered why they were able to find some of the people they were looking for but not others.

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  A few days after the explosion, Gillian said, “Let’s go see how Beta is doing.”

  SIZZLE

  Before Deke could respond, they were standing by Beta’s hospital bed. A nurse in mid-sentence stood beside the bed .“…bathroom? You’re getting around really well. Have you been eating?”

  Before Beta could answer a doctor knocked on the door and entered the room. “Good morning, Beta! You are awake and looking much better today! How did you sleep?”

  Beta responded tiredly to the doctor’s chit-chat questions.

  Deke encouraged the doctor, “Ask her what she remembers!”

  The doctor asked Beta, ‘Can you tell me about the explosion? What happened?”

  Gillian asked, “Did the Doctor hear you? Why could she hear you and I couldn’t?”

  “What the doctor said was probably a coincidence.”

  Beta was struggling to answer. “The last thing I remember is driving to the hearing with Alex. We were going out on our first date. We were going to dinner after the hearing. Ohh, Alex! He died, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, I’m so sorry about your friend.” The doctor had a solemn look on her face. “But it’s good that you are remembering. Yesterday you asked about Alex three times .”

  “I’m OK, Beta!” Alex’s voice came from the hallway. “Oh! Hi Dr. Kelton, Gillian!

  “I think it’s time you called me Deke.”

  Alex grinned and nodded. “I figured you two would show up. I’ve been popping in now and then to see Beta. She’s looking much better today. Beta has a lot of cuts and bruises, and she had a nasty concussion but seems to be getting better. She’s been walking, just holding on to her IV roll-around. She’s talking much more clearly today.”

  Deke said, “It looked like you two were getting along pretty well. I was there when you asked Beta out.”

  Alex was a little embarrassed, “You saw that? It was... I was…”

  Deke said, “I didn’t mean to be spying on you. It’s hard to know where to draw the line! I couldn’t look away. I was so excited to see you two get something started. You are two of my favorite people. It makes me sad that you didn’t get together. ”

  “You can never tell who’s watching,” shrugged Alex. “Frankly, that’s one of the things that I’m really P.O.’d about. Chaz cheated me. I thought that I was finally going to get to kiss a girl! It was a weird relationship, but I know I’m a weird guy. I really liked how weird Beta was, you know, in the good way! I dunno, maybe I even loved Beta! I thought Beta was cute and funny and we got along really well. That’s an experience I’ll never have.”

  “The advantages of having a body,” Gillian said. “I think that’s the saddest story I have heard in a long time. Today, that’s really saying something!”

  “Spilt milk and all that,” Alex said. “You want to know another thing that ticks me off? Tilly walked out of the hospital yesterday. His foot is in a cast. His eyes were all red as blood, petechial hemorrhaging they said, but in spite of that, he is on his feet. He’s probably back at his desk in full weasel mode.”

  “It’s hard not to feel that the wrong people died in that explosion,” said Deke.

  “Yah, Buddy!” Alex agreed.

  Gillian gasped, “Deke, Alex, I can’t believe you said that.”

  “It was a bit over the line. Sorry. That sort of thing has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s just something I’m going to have to take up with Zenek,” sighed Deke.

  Jilian changed the subject. To Alex, she said, “Thanks for being here with Beta; I’m glad you were here to be able to tell us about Beta’s progress.

  “It sounds like you are getting ready to go,” said Alex.

  “It’s good to see you again. Thanks for the updates.”

  Alex smiled and waved, “Hasta la vista, baby!”

  Deke laughed, “Maybe ‘baby’ is a little over the top. Let’s stick with ‘Deke’,” he waved back.