The glass case with the girl in begins to elevate downwards and the glass walls fold out and under the metal panel until the girl is lying horizontal, perfectly parallel with the operating table.
The woman is obviously the leader of my make-over team, I look at her, smile and say, “Of course I trust you’re all highly competent at your jobs, but I’m very happy with the face The Surgeon gave me, thank you,” I say. She smiles, “We are here to complete the job we have been commissioned, and paid to do. So I’m afraid your personal preference cannot be accommodated,” she says, standing up and giving me a patronizing smile.
I kind of play it by instinct and stand up with her, “OK. Well can I at least have a closer look at my new face, please?” I ask.
“Sure you can,” she says, joining her male colleagues who are scrupulously scrubbing their hands and forearms in the lengthy pre-surgery process.
I approach the girl and stare intently at her face.
The make-over woman, who has her back to me scrubbing up, interrupts my thoughts, “It’s remarkable, isn’t it?” She says, without turning round.
“What’s remarkable?” I ask, still staring at the terrified girl.
“Her resemblance to Kelly. We had scouts scouring the four corners of the globe to find a girl who most resembled her, I think we’ve hit the jackpot with this young beauty. In fact, she’s a better version of Kelly, far prettier, in my opinion,” she says.
The girl, who looks no more than sixteen or seventeen, opens her mouth wide in a silent scream – they’ve muted her.
I avert my gaze from the girl, “So let me get this straight, you’re going to transplant this girl's face onto mine because she looks like Kelly?” I ask, feeling surprisingly calm despite the absurdity of the situation.
“Correct,” she answers.
“Why would they want to commission such a risky procedure so close to my wedding day?” I ask.
She continues to scrub but turns her head toward me, “Because it’s obvious Troy likes Kelly, so it makes sense that his bride should look like the girl he thinks is hot,” she says, turning back to continue scrubbing up.
……
OK, at least I now know one of two things: 1. we were either being observed in the chill-out area the whole time, or 2. Kade and Kelly have betrayed me. How else would they know that Troy likes Kelly?
Kade’s last words to me ring in my ear, ‘Keep your cell safe, I’ll give you regular signs (silent vibrations) to let you know all’s well, and you do the same to me. Trust me, Tanya.’
Yeah – right!
Trust my elbow?
There’s only one person I will ever truly trust – me.
I’m ANGRY.
But I remain calm, quiet and think – fast.
I won’t be sliced up anymore by these people.
……
I scan the interior of this mobile operating theatre, “So what about the girl, whose face is she going to get?” I ask, whilst walking deftly toward my isolation helmet that still sits on the couch.
“We have been instructed to keep her faceless. She will look horrendous, but hopefully the Love Rush will put her out of her mizery, if she’s lucky. She’s going to be amongst the coasters first human riders; that’s what I admire so much about The Surgeon, she wastes absolutely nothing,” she says.
