Nano Contestant - Episode 1: Whatever It Takes (5 page)

“Dis not good.”

“What isn’t good? What’s wrong?”

Roland grunted and forcefully regulated his breathing.

“Optic nerve should be straight back from pupil, but Roland’s is raised up.”

“What does that mean, Ivan?”

Ivan got back in position. “Means Ivan have to bend needle. Needle have to curve from current position to hit target. Roland, Ivan tell you about three pain levels, da?”

Roland grunted.

“To curve the needle inside the eyeball jelly, you are going to level four.”

Skylar whipped around towards Ivan. “What? Can he even survive that? Has anybody ever been to level four?”

Ivan’s fingers danced over the ball as he input the new coordinates and course corrections. “Only one, Pretty Girl. Me. I do it with no pain meds and no vodka. I remove tumor in my eyeball by myself.”

Roland groaned.

“Roland can do it. He very strong. You help him. Help him breathe deep and slow.”

Skylar steadied her voice. She knew Roland needed to hear strength and be reminded why he was doing this. She turned back to him. “Roland. Listen to me. You can do this. You are strong. I will help you. You said you were willing to do whatever it takes. Well,
this
is what it takes.”

Roland took in some deep breaths. He cleared his mind briefly of all the pain and focused on his dad.

Skylar wanted to give as much strength as she could to Roland. “Deep breath in now.”

Roland filled his lungs.

Ivan began rolling the ball sideways. The wall screen showed the needle actually bending up towards the optic nerve.

“Breathe out now, slowly.”

Roland began to slowly exhale. His nerves were already raw from the earlier pain. Waves of pain jackhammered through his skull, radiating outwards from his eye sockets down to his toes.

“Don’t think about the pain, Roland. Just listen to my voice. Remember why you are here!”

Still exhaling slowly, Roland extended two of his fingers.

“Ivan, he’s at pain level two.”

Ivan paused. “Catch your breath, Roland. Then we have to keep going.”

Skylar’s words were slow to reach Roland’s brain, but he finally heard her. He forced himself to remember. Remembering shifted the pain out of focus and brought him the distraction he needed. He focused to take two short breaths and then grunted to go on. He started to exhale again.

Ivan rolled the ball forward again, rotating it as he went.

Roland thought about Pinnacle and his blood began to boil. He began sweating all over again. With each turn of Ivan’s ball, Roland could feel the needle curving like a rat’s tail. His stomach churned as it fought against the tidal wave of pain rushing throughout his body. He extended a third finger.

“Level three, Ivan.”

Ivan stopped rolling the ball. “Rest for a second, Roland. We are almost there. I’m about to hit the optic nerve.

Roland wheezed through his nose. The pain was making the room spin. He drew in a couple of sharp breaths and then forced himself to take a slow deep one. The air in his lungs felt good. His body greedily devoured the oxygen. An image of his father being led out of the courtroom flashed through his mind. Roland knew he couldn’t let his father die. He grunted to let them know he was ready. He steeled himself and began to exhale.

Ivan began rolling his ball forward again. “I reach optic nerve in 3.. 2.. 1.. Target reached!”

Nothing Roland could have done would have prepared him for the absolute shock of the needle lodging into his optic nerve. He yelled through clenched teeth. Every muscle in his face wrenched itself tight in an involuntary reflex reaction to the pain. Roland strained against all his restraints. His peripheral vision went dark as tunnel vision set in. The darkness edged its way in to offer Roland a sweet release from the pain. Roland squeezed every last ounce of strength he had to fight it.

Skylar watched Roland as the excruciating pain began to overwhelm him. She could see every muscle in his body pulled tight. Skylar heard a loud popping noise. She looked in disbelief at Roland’s right hand. He had snapped the wooden block in half!

Ivan stopped rolling his ball. “He is at level four now. Get him to breathe now, or he will pass out!”

Skylar got her face as close as she dared to Roland’s and began shouting his name and yelling for him to breathe.

“Pretty Girl, give him oxygen now! O2 mask on back of chair!”

Roland’s left eye began to twitch. He felt himself going towards the darkness and release. Then he heard a sound from far off. Someone was calling his name. It was Skylar! She was telling him to breathe deep. He forced himself to focus on the sound and then he felt something touch his nose. He began to inhale. The air was different. It was cold and crisp. The darkness began to recede. It was gone after a few more breaths. He could see a blurry outline of Skylar’s face with his left eye. Roland grunted.

Ivan lifted the helmet briefly. “Roland is ok, da? Good. I hope you not pass out. Ivan not want to start over. Ivan is tired.”

Roland managed a growl in response.

“Ok, we make delivery now, da?” Ivan pulled his helmet back down.

Roland took in a deep breath, not sure what to expect after his last experience.

Skylar watched as the plunger on the syringe began to slowly move forward.

Ivan pushed his hands inside his holographic ball again and began moving his fingers around to configure the delivery. The hologram lit up from the inside wherever he touched it. “Ok, delivery has begun. Breathe slow and deep, Roland.”

Roland could feel the thick liquid begin to ooze into his eye ball and onto the optic nerve. At first it felt cold, which was a welcome change after the fiery hell he had just been through. He could feel goosebumps on his arms and legs. Roland concentrated on his breathing. The cold flow of the delivery agent made the nerves in his head tingle down to his spinal column. He listened to Skylar as she coached him along.

“You’re doing good, Roland. Nice, deep breaths.”

But the more of the agent that was delivered, the worse it began to feel. Roland’s nerves were already ragged from the needle being inserted. He could hear the machine making tiny pumping noises every second or two. It seemed that a swarm of bees had been released inside his head. With each pumping noise, it seemed that a few more bees were stinging his optic nerve. Each one leaving its harpoon behind to fester and intensify the pain of the next one. Roland held out one finger.

Ivan slowly rolled the green ball forward. “We have reached one minute mark. You only have three minutes left!”

Skylar watched Roland’s face. His eye was not focusing on her. He seemed less responsive. “He’s back at pain level one, Ivan.”

“You must keep talking to him. Do not let him pass out!”

Skylar moved her face right in front of Roland’s. She talked louder to him, hoping to drown out the machine noises and the pain he was in.
 

Roland pulled in a deep breath of air. It even hurt to breathe now. He fought off the blackness that began to set in around the edges of his vision again. He stared back at Skylar.
Had she moved closer?
he thought. He knew he must stay ahead of the pain; he must not lose control. Roland focused on Skylar’s face. She was smiling, but she looked worried.

Ivan pressed a section on the inside of the holographic ball and barked out some Russian commands to his system. “I have engaged autopilot for rest of delivery.” He pulled his hands out of the ball and raised his helmet. The ball continued to move forward on its own and the arm kept pumping away. Ivan walked over to Roland. “You are halfway done!”

Roland managed a grunt in response.

“Keep breathing slow and deep. You listen to Pretty Girl here.”

The pain in Roland’s head began to feel different. The bees and their stingers were still present, but he also began to feel pressure building up inside his head. Each pump no longer brought more bees, but instead felt as though his head was completely full and more of the delivery agent was being forced in. The pressure made his head feel like it was going to explode. The pain shot up exponentially. Roland held out three fingers.

“Ivan, he’s at pain level three! How much longer?”

Ivan looked over at the big wall screen. “Forty-five more seconds!”

Skylar put the oxygen mask over Roland’s nose again. “Deep breath, Roland. You are almost there! Stay with me.”

Roland was fighting the blackness that now covered more than half of his vision. The oxygen helped a little. He was able to get a clear view for at least a breath or two and then the blackness returned with a vengeance. Roland’s eye was open, but he couldn’t see anything. The pain clouded over everything. He listened to the voices.

Ivan’s deep gravelly voice was counting down. “Ten, nine, eight…”

It was Skylar’s voice, though, that pulled him through. He could hear her pleading tone as she coached him through another breath. “Last breath in…”

Roland began to exhale as Ivan finished the countdown.
Three, two, one! I made it!
Roland thought as he heard the pumping noises stop.

Ivan had pushed his helmet up. “Roland, you done now! I give you rest and then we pull the needle out, da?”

Roland grunted and breathed heavily through his nose.

Skylar looked at Roland and let out a sigh.

Roland’s vision cleared. The pressure in his head began to ease once the pumping stopped.
 

Ivan pulled his helmet back down. “Now for last part. This not be so bad. Only take about thirty seconds to retract needle, da? Hurt maybe level one, but that easy for you now.”

Skylar glanced at Ivan and then turned back to Roland. “You got this, Roland. Think about your dad. You just have a little bit more to go.”

Roland thought about his dad. He had to get him out, and this process was going to get him there. He steeled his mind and then gave as confident a grunt as he could muster.

Ivan’s fingers began lighting up the inside of the green ball again. “Here we go!” He began rolling the ball back towards himself. The mechanical arm responded in kind.

Roland was completely unprepared for the feeling of the retracting needle. He could feel every millimeter of movement. It almost seemed as though it were pulling the inside of him with it.

Ivan stopped moving his holographic ball. “We are at turn now. You might feel little pain now.” He started rolling his ball backwards without waiting for a response.

Skylar tried to offer encouraging words, but it didn’t look like Roland could hear her.

Roland was instantly put right back into his nightmarish world of pain. He grunted loudly. Every nerve in him screamed to make it stop. Every muscle in his body was pulled completely taut. He held out three fingers again.

“Ivan, he’s at a three!”

Ivan continued rolling the ball backwards. “Almost past curve, Roland. Pretty Girl, you must get him to relax.”

Roland moaned through gritted teeth.

Ivan paused and looked over at the wall screen. “That’s it. We are past curve now. Only ten seconds and the needle will be out.”

The excruciating pain left Roland almost as suddenly as it had arrived. He took in a deep breath and tried to focus. He could feel the last bit of the needle being retracted.

Ivan stopped rolling the ball and lifted his helmet. “Ok, needle is out.” He reached inside the holographic ball and hit a few of the buttons, which lit up. The robotic arm repositioned itself back to its original starting position. It was followed by a whoosh sound as the pneumatics let out their stored air pressure. “Pretty Girl, you get equipment ready to read Roland’s signal. I will help him lie down on table. Time for ‘fibrillator, da?”

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN
:

J
UMP

SKYLAR BEGAN LOOSENING the restraints on Roland’s head. “I’ll set that up after Roland is out of all this.”

Ivan hung his immersion reality helmet on a peg on the wall and walked over to help Roland. “Roland, you did good. See, Ivan always take care of paying customers.”

Roland felt the pressure release from his head as the restraints were taken off. Blood began to flow back through all parts of his body again. His pale color began to fade. His fingers and toes tingled.

Ivan pulled a black eye patch from a supply drawer. “You wear eye patch for at least two days, da? And keep eye closed.” He carefully fitted the patch over Roland’s right eye.

Roland tried to stand. “Ok.” He wasn’t able to get up.

Ivan easily hoisted Roland up and helped him to the patient table.

Skylar brought the oxygen mask over to him. “I think he should breathe in some straight oxygen while I get set up.”

Ivan helped Roland swing his legs up on the table and lay down. “Da. O2 help him recover quicker.”

Skylar pulled her computer from her pocket and set it on the metal table on the side of the room. She pushed a button on the top and a three dimensional hologram of a radio tower projected up from it. Skylar waved her hand in front of the projection and a holographic keyboard appeared under her fingers. She typed in a few commands and watched as the script that Matthew had written jumped to life. After a few seconds of code flying by her holographic terminal, it finally stopped. The command prompt read, “Searching signals…” followed by a blinking cursor. “My equipment is ready, Ivan.”

Ivan set the old defibrillator up next to the table. He had a paddle in each hand. “Roland, remove shirt.”

Roland pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor. He groaned as he moved his arms above his head. “Everything hurts!”

Skylar looked over at Roland. The restraints had left imprints on his arms and head. “Roland, your arms… Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be ok. Let’s get this over with.”

Ivan picked up the defibrillator paddles. “Ok, we are ready for ‘fibrillator, da?” He positioned the paddles on either side of Roland’s chest.

Skylar nodded.

Roland closed both eyes and exhaled. “Ready.”

Ivan smiled wide. “Ivan always want to use ‘fibrillator.”