The Portal

Chapter 18

     "You are supposed to be far away from here," he told her.

     "We stayed in the turbo lift bay," Ousla informed him, "With all the cars and people around, it was by far the safest place for us."

     "Alright," David said, not in the mood to argue.

     "He's got second, possibly third degree burns all over his body!" Ricky told Ousla, "Get the pod ready!"

     Ousla got the pod ready, while Ricky stripped his brother down to his boxers, and then slipped those off before lying him down on the gurney and then closing the door. David was wincing in pain as his back and legs were hurting as the pod moved him into that high tech thing that looked like a large MRI machine.

     "You'll be alright," Ousla told him, "I'm going to give you a sedative so you'll sleep through the entire treatment."

     "I could use a good nap," David concurred, "I prefer not to be awake while my skin is feeling like this anyway."

     "What happened to him?" Gail asked, looking at how red his skin was.

     "He was at ground zero in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped." Ricky replied, "His projection was vaporized in less than a second."

     "It actually didn't hurt as much as I thought it would," David confessed, "This burn is hurting a lot more than the actual blast did."

     "I should treat him for extreme radiation poisoning as well," Ousla told Ricky, "Just as a precaution."

     "Do it," Ricky agreed, "Give him anything he needs."

     "It's a good thing he gave you the shield," Ousla said, looking back at Ricky, "If he was wearing that during the blast, the shield would have stalled his death only by a few seconds but that would have caused it to be horrifically worse than it was at the beginning. He could have suffered a lot more and maybe even died of shock before the Portal brought him back."

     "In other words," Ricky replied, "Don't ever do that again."

     "No Ricky," Gail disagreed, slapping his husband's arm. "Those are the exact fucking words!"

     "Yes dear," Ricky said, as he could sense her hostility.

     That was the last thing David remembered hearing and he couldn't help but smile as he could feel the pod getting cooler as a light gas started to seep into the pod. David trusted Ousla completely so he took a few deep breaths and just relaxed as the sedative did its thing and knocked him out. David was still asleep several hours later when Ousla took him out of the pod, and dressed him in a gown before taking him back to the old house. They considered letting him sleep in the guest room but Ricky insisted on using the couch in the old living room since David seemed to prefer lying there. Ousla was unaware how much longer David would be out, so she hooked up some IVs to keep him hydrated as he rested. It wasn't until a few hours later that David opened his eyes, and was once again looking back at the steely gaze that visited him earlier.

     "Harv," David whispered, "Keep visiting like this and Gail is going to make up a bed for you in the guest room."

     "No worries," The old man replied, "I've been crashing at your place. Gail didn't think you'd mind letting me have the keys. Very nice condo you have there, Marshal."

     "Thanks, and I don't mind." David said, taking a deep breath, and he realized the old man was staring at him. "What is it?"

     "You are definitely my grandkid," Harv said, beaming with pride. "Ground zero of an atomic blast... that is some set of balls you got there, kid."