Lone Justice

Pain spread throughout my chest and shoulders. I was so dizzy that I fell back in the chair when I tried to check on Breann. Ava's long, straight blonde hair fell around me as I was straddled while she checked my eyes with a pen light. Her smell was more sophisticated than when we were together.

"Caleb, I need to lay you down on the exam table. You have 40 on me so hold my arms as tightly as you can. The dizziness will subside in a few minutes. Breann's already improving."

The table was cold and hard. My vision cleared. Ava sat next to me and texted.

"Oliver is looking over Breann in a room down the hall. You both kind of blacked out. Probably a reaction to the magnet. It's centralizing the metal poisoning and acting for or against the other metals parts inside of you. Once you get more balanced we'll go to the hotel and rest."

I thought about Shane, the girls, my job. Tomorrow was Friday, I could get off, but Juliet had volleyball practice and Esme had something at school.

"Ava, I have to get back home. I haven't even spoken to my wife today. She's probably furious."

Ava looked away and stared at her phone. I looked down and caught the name "Gavin...something".

"Who is that Ava, One of Anson Cluber's people?"

She tossed her hair to the left and smiled.

"Kind of, Caleb. It's the doctor in Dallas we've lined up for Lena Cosburn and Clare Bunsen. I'm telling him how to implant the magnet and what to expect from his patients. They'll be worked on tomorrow.

I rolled my head back and the lights caught me, doubling my vision again.

"What about the other two Ava; Lucas Bonner and Bruce Nolans. There were six of us? Are you taking care of them?"

Ava finished her text, got up, ran her right head over my fore head and frowned.

"Your fever is still high. We need to try and break it before you go back to Georgia. I don't know about those guys. I asked Oliver and Gavin Todd, the doctor in Dallas. They're clueless. I want to stay focused on you. If we can improve your condition, we can get you a new heart before any of the others."

I rolled over onto my stomach. It seemed to help the dizziness. Ava moved her chair to the end of the table so she could see my face.

"Why do you care so much, Ava? I mean, I don't believe Breann's conspiracy theory that you, Wicks and this other guy want to glom robot glory for medical fame. You aren't patient enough to wait for that to play out."

Ava moved her face within a couple of inches on mine and ran her left hand over the three day scruff. She seemed resigned.

"I care about you. I always have. You were the one.....  Caleb, we're friends. You need a doctor you can trust. I know you trust me. It's why you always call when you need me. You're different and I know why. Most of all, I like why you are different. I know who and what you are. You let me know that. I feel like the least I can do is return that trust."

The pain was starting to lose intensity. I sat up without losing balance. I knew I would regret engaging in nostalgia, but the song in my head was from a memory we shared and I had an idea

"Remember that Maria McKee concert we went to right after we started dating?"

Ava smiled and started murmring the lyrics to Sweet Sweet Baby. It was the Lone Justice song in my head. Maria McKee was their singer in the 1980s.

"Yeah, well, I tried to convince you for two days before the concert that the song was from when Maria was in Lone Justice. You argued that it was a new song from Maria. We had a huge fight. At the end of the concert, she played Sweet Sweet Baby as an encore, introducing the song as 'something I wrote when I was with Lone Justice a few years ago'. You looked at me and said 'Justice. Forgiveness'. I gained a lot of respect for you because you dropped your always have to right personality and showed some vulnerability. I need for you to do that now."

Ava smiled and mouthed the word "okay".

"I'd like to see Breann, call home, then we can go to the hotel."

Ava smiled, bit her lip and held my hands as I dropped to the ground and gained my bearings.

'Av, what am I; really?"

She didn't respond right away, We walked through the exam room area and took a right turn. Inside a small room with yellow walls and a bed in the middle, Breann stood on her own while Wicks looked at a laptop. Ava closed the door.

"Caleb, Breann, you two are robotic. But when Oliver and I and hopefully Doctors Cluber and Bulas are through with you in a  few months, you'll be full robot-human hybrids with long, beyond normal lives."

*blogger's note* - This is another story episode from something I have been writing. The other ones are here:
1) Synchronicity
2) Personality Crisis
3) Serendipity 6
4) Hot Dog Harbinger
5) Goodbye Stranger
6) The House of Irony
7) Connection
8) Dead Man's Party
9) Hope Springs A Turtle
10) Drown
11)  Toyed
12) Fever
13) The Girlfriend Experience
14) Sympathy for the Devil
15) Tomorrow, The Green Grass
16) Possession
17) Numb
18) Cage
19) Bullet Hits The Bone
20) Shut Your Eyes

Today's episode is inspired by the prompt; Justice. Forgiveness. by @studio30plus aka http://www.studiothirtyplus.com/ .

Thanks for reading.

Today's song is the one references in the story by Caleb. I was a huge Lone Justice fan in college. They were very underrated. Maria McKee should be making records today. Here's Sweet Sweet Baby....