Super

Chapter 84: Reconstruction

"It's going to take some time for you to recuperate, and I expect that you won't argue with me about any of it," Lily said, and as Lex sneaked a look at her, she could see the woman's severe expression.

With a strong sense of gratitude, Lex flexed the fingers of her left hand, glad that everything seemed to be working fine, but keeping in mind Lily's demand for her not to over strain anything for the next few weeks, or she'd be back in a cast again for most of the day. After a deep breath, she went back to what she needed to be doing, taking pictures.

She heard Fernandina laugh then. "Yes, of course. If I'm going to be paying for your advice, it would just be a waste of money not to follow it. You will tell me what I need to do, and you will make sure that my new arm works just as you say."

Lily sighed in reply. "Like I told you, it will work. I can't guarantee there won't be issues we have to work through, though."

"Fair enough," Fernandina replied, and Lex smiled at the boundless confidence in the woman's voice. She snapped another picture then, this time of the back of Fernandina's arm.

"Could you turn your arm to the side for me?" she asked in a quiet voice and Fernandina did so.

Lex took another photo then, trying to highlight the different shades of Fernandina's skin between the front and back of her arm. Lily and Victor had talked about it, and had set up bright lighting in the area so that they could take the photos, and had arranged it for a minimum of shadows; Lex just had to make sure she didn't block any light from where she stood.

"As we get closer to the date, you'll need to let me know about how long, though," Fernandina said. "I need to be able to tell my underlings how long I'll be out of contact, and how long I'll only be in minimal contact, that sort of thing."

Lex moved to get Fernandina's arm from another angle and saw Lily nod. "Yes, of course. We're working on something right now, though, that might cut your recovery time. I'll let you know for sure in several days, I think. We'll need to see your other arm for this next set of pictures, however."

Fernandina said nothing, but took off the jacket she'd slung over that side of her. Underneath, she wore a short-sleeved black shirt, so Lex could see where her arm had been cut off, between elbow and shoulder. She took a few photos, shooting a number from front to back, then stepped out of the way when Lily came forward to look.

After several seconds, she said, "I think we'll need to cut your arm back a few more millimeters to get a flat surface to marry the implant to. I'm sure you realized that might be necessary, but I just wanted to get that on the table. We won't take anything more than is absolutely required for the operation."

She looked over at Fernandina, who nodded, and to Lex's mind, looked grave but not upset.

"Other than that, it looks like everything healed well. All right, Lex, please step back. Fernandina, please stand and put both arms out, maybe a foot or so from your sides. We're going to go through some measurements now."

To Lex's surprise, Lily moved away as well, then tapped some commands into a laptop. After a moment, crosshatched lines in red from the lighting overhead striped a grid over Fernandina.

"As much as possible, please don't move for the next couple of seconds. Take a deep breath now and please hold it."

After several seconds, the grid began to move, and seemed to focus on Fernandina's arms, the crosshatched lines moving and shrinking together until it looked like a red lamp on her skin. Then, the lines reappeared and after another second, faded out.

"Thank you," Lily said while still looking into the laptop screen. "Breathe as much as you like now."

Fernandina raised an eyebrow at Lily as she shrugged back into her jacket. "Lex, you can leave the camera with me," Lily added.