Henry Blinked.

“Henry? Henry?” The soft voice of a nurse awoke Henry from the anaesthetic. “Hello Henry, how are you feeling?” Henry thought about this for a moment.

“Indifferent,” Henry answered as he lifted up his hand so that he could see it. “I'm still in the same body,” He said, surprised.

“Yes,” The nurse answered, expecting that response. “There was a bit of a, malfunction with the husk,” Henry turned to see the nurse and was taken aback. The nurse was smiling however he had a large bruise over his left cheek that spread down to his neck. The bruise was purple and had clearly been caused by a large blow to the area. Henry wanted to ask about it, however something told him that it would be better if he did not know. The nurse was also standing crooked as though one side of his body was more painful than the other. The nurse finished doing Henry’s observations and Henry quickly realised that he had been staring at this nurse for much longer than he had meant to.

“Is everything ok?” Henry asked the nurse abruptly, his words sounding harsh and rushed.

“Everything is fine,” The nurse answered calmly. “You're alright Henry, no harm came to you and we will ensure that the issue with the husk is dealt with properly and that you will fast tracked on the waiting list for another one,” This reassured Henry, even though he knew that he was alright. He was undoubtedly pleased to hear that he would be fast tracked for a new husk.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Are you ok?” Henry asked the nurse, as he felt that he had to ask the question. The nurse turned to him and smiled once more,

“I'm good Henry, thank you for asking. The bruise, I assume is why you’re asking, is because of the husk. It had some unexpected muscle issues that caused it to move in unexpected ways. This is why you're still in this body.”

“Goodness!” Henry said, “It’s a good thing that I'm not in that body then. The nerves are going in this body but they’re not that bad.”

“I'm glad to see that you're feeling like yourself again,” The nurse said smiling before walking off.

Henry sat on the edge of the bed putting his leather jacket on, which made him look like a punk rocker from the 1980’s. Henry didn’t know what a punk rocker was, or what the 1980’s were like, all he knew was that it was the current style of fashion.

“Thank you doctor,” Henry said loudly to a nearby nurse as he stood up. The nurse glared at him from above the rim of her glasses. “I was ready for a new body but somehow I still feel new again.”

“Indeed,” The nurse said sternly and without emotion. “The paperwork is all completed and we're ready to discharge you Mr Farshaw.”

“I’m glad to hear it, I have a lot of work to do in the city. Needless to say however that they might be surprised to see me like this,” The nurse gave a small nod of understanding before leading him to the teleport room. Henry got into a pod before blinking, allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight that was lighting up Barbeths park of light.