Sam woke up to something cold and wet in his face. It was a half hour before his alarm went off...what is...its Chip!! At the side of his bed with his face in Sam's. Sam woke up and there is Chip, wagging and licking – ready to go. Sam said, "Boy, you're more excited than I am! You and I have a really big day today, I'm so glad you're up! And you're better than my alarm!" Sam laughed as they both made their way to the kitchen for breakfast. Of course, at the table, dressed and ready with a box of doughnuts and a new coffee pot still in the box was Reg. Sam stood in the kitchen doorway wondering how Reg does it. "Well good morning sleepy head!" said Reg. "I always thought you were an early riser! Spend the night with someone and you learn some things!" Reg laughed. "I see everyone is ready for today but me!" Sam said. "You guys go ahead and open up the lab, I'll be right behind you. Oh, and Reg, no breakfast for Chip today. He's having surgery so he'll have to eat after that, got it?" Reg said, "Yea, we got it. Poor Chip has to go without a breakfast. Slave driver I tell you!" With that, Reg, Chip and the coffee pot went out the door.
Sam was excited. He showered and shaved and went through his morning routine as quick as he could. Just as he was getting ready to go, there was a knock at the door. It was Rita. Dressed to the nines, make up on and a small gift in her hand. Sam opened the door and said, "Good morning beautiful lady! My you look lovely today. Chip isn't here. Reg and him already set off for the lab, I'm sorry." "Oh, that's alright, Sam" Rita said, "I'm here for you. I want you to have this" she said as she handed the gift to Sam. "What is this?" Sam asked. Rita replied, "please open it and see!" Sam opened the gift and inside was a stethoscope. A very nice one too! Sam just looked at Rita with a quizzical look. Rita said, "Sam, my husband was a doctor. He probably brought half this town into the world. He received that as his retirement gift and he never used it. He kept it more like a trophy. You are doing very important work Sam and I want you to have it." Sam didn't know what to say. Rita continued, "please Sam, you remind me so much of my husband and the work you are doing could end up changing so many lives. You deserve this. Please, use it and keep it." Sam draped the gift around his neck and gave Rita a big bear hug. "Thank you Rita. I will use it and I will cherish it, always. Your husband was a very lucky man to have you." Rita blushed and said, "Good luck today Sam. Good luck to Chip too. I know he's in good care. Have a great day today and if you have time, please let me know how Chip does today." As Sam walked Rita home he assured her he would call her once the procedure was done. As they got to her porch he could hear all her dogs waiting for Rita to get home. Sam said, "thank you again Rita. I'm really enjoying knowing you and you've become very special to me. I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll talk with you later." With that, he practically skipped to his car to get to the lab.
As soon as Sam stepped off the elevator he could smell fresh coffee. Ah, Reg. When he got in the lab sure enough there was fresh coffee and Reg had the doughnuts out on a plate. Reg was hard at work at his work station, he didn't seem to notice that Sam had gotten there. Sam walked over to him with coffee and doughnut in hand and said, "Well good morning again!" Reg jumped and looked up at Sam, startled. "Good morning Sam! Wait til you see what I've got for you and Chip! Hey, I see you're enjoying the coffee! See that? Put me in charge of something and I'm on it!" Reg laughed. Sam replied, "Sure enough Reg! Damn good coffee and as much as I want to see what you're working on I have to get ready and get Chip ready for today's procedure." Reg said, "Oh I know Sam. We're all very excited. My stuff can wait til later. Do you need any help from me getting things ready?" Sam replied "Not right now. I'm going to get the surgical area ready then Chip. I'll let you know if I need you. You keep making miracles over here." Sam then went to get the surgical area, Chip and himself ready for the operation.
Sam was over excited. Everything was ready and he was in awe of his own lab! It was perfect. Chip was perfect. He had to calm himself. He was grateful Reg didn't want to watch this procedure. He needed to be calm. He turned on some calming music, took a few deep breaths and began. It was like a dream. He was in the zone and everything was going quite well. He removed the cataracts and was ready to inject his serum. He continued with his procedure and within just under three hours he and Chip were done. Chip was recovering nicely, all his vitals were perfect. Sam took his time cleaning up the surgical area – he found the chore calming. Relief washed over him that his first live subject had successfully completed the first procedure. He finished cleaning up and went to see Reg.
"Hey Reg! We're through with Chip's procedure. That dog is a champ!" Reg replied "Great! While you two were having fun I was out here working my tail off!" Sam looked at Reg's work station and noted, "really? You were working your tail off? Hmmm. Working on what may I ask? I only ask because your main server isn't even on! How are you doing your thing without your computer station running?" Reg blushed and said, "OK. I've been working on that pot of coffee over there which by the way is the second pot! I was too nervous to concentrate! I was wishing I was in there with you and Chip and wondering what was happening! I'm a wreck out here! So there. That's what I was working on – my nerves!" Sam chuckled at that. He understood Reg's anxiety – he suffered it too but he was lucky to be in the middle of it forcing him to keep his anxieties at bay. Sam said, "Well. I can see you were working hard out here. What do you say to a couple of beers at Privett's while Chip recovers? My treat, no matter who gets there first." Reg stood up, turned off whatever of his equipment was on and said, "Sam, you're on. Privett's it is. I just want to look in on the old boy before we go." Sam said, "Great! You do that and I'll meet you there!" Sam said this as he was walking out of the lab. Now he knew he would get to Privett's before Reg and he was going to revel in that! Sam darted to his car.
When Sam pulled up to Privett's he was exhilarated. What a day! His first procedure with Chip went flawlessly. He was enjoying his partnership with Reg and now, and now he was going to beat Reg to Privett's! He parked his car and practically ran to the door. He wanted to be seated at their table with a pitcher of beer before Reg could get there. He darted straight to the bar to order the pitcher and the bartender laughed and shook his head. Sam was out of breath and said, "What's so funny? I ran in here cuz I wanted a nice cold beer all day! What's so funny?" The bartender just kept laughing and pointed in the direction of Sam and Reg's table where Reg was sitting with a pitcher of beer and two frosty mugs. Sam just stood there gawking at Reg. Reg just looked at Sam and couldn't contain himself, he was laughing so hard the beer was swishing back and forth in his mug. Sam had to smile and join him. He doesn't know how he does it but he does it every time!
Reg said, "So, what took you so long buddy?" He was still laughing. Sam said, "You have got to have a twin or something! Either that or you have some direct route here from wherever you are! No worries – pour my beer and let's celebrate! Did you check in on Chip before transporting yourself here?" Reg's laughter was finally dying down and he said, "Of course I did! And I tucked in his favorite toy with him and turned on the music for him so he doesn't feel alone." Sam said, "How nurturing of you Reg. Didn't know you had it in ya!" Reg replied, "well there are a few things about me you'll find out now that we work together but you'll never know how I chronically beat you to wherever you're going!" He chuckled. Sam hadn't felt this good in a long time and for that matter, neither had Reg. They discussed the procedure over a pitcher of beer and Nachos Grande and plotted out the next phase of their research. Reg said his prototypes would be ready in a few days and Sam let him know that Chip would need about a week anyway before they could move on. Sam wanted to give Chip another dose of the serum before making the transplant so Reg will have ample time to perfect his transplants. Sam paid the bill and they decided Reg would call it a day and Sam would check on Chip before going home. On the ride home, Sam called Rita and told her the wonderful news. They made plans for lunch on Friday and Sam promised after lunch Rita could visit with Chip. Sam went to bed that night with his head reeling. He didn't think he was going to sleep but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
