Ren woke up the next morning when someone shook his shoulder.

“Wake up, sweetie. It's time for breakfast.” A feminite voice said.

“Muhhh... wha? What?” Ren said groggily.

“It's time to get up and eat!”

“Lu...Lucy?” Ren said as he untucked himself from the blanket.

“Lucy's off today, Ren.” Denise said.

“Oh... sorry.” Ren said after wiping the sleep out of his eyes. “Hi, Denise.”

Denise smiled and put a tray in front of Ren. Eggs, toast and orange juice were arranged on the tray... but no bacon. Ren didn't comment, since Denise isn't usually the one that makes him breakfast. Lucy always sneaked in a couple pieces of bacon, but he couldn't expect it every time. Ren ate it and Denise took the tray.

“Therapy in 20 minutes.” Denise said and left the room.

Ren got out of bed and used the bathroom. It took a bit longer this time since he had to go number 2. With only a few minutes to spare, he got changed into his workout clothes and Denise was waiting with his wheelchair. Ren didn't think he needed it, but it was better to not push himself too hard. Ren got in the chair and Denise took him down the hall to the therapy room. The exercises didn't take too long, but Ren was still out of breath when he finished the 100 meter walk. The therapist tried desperately to get Ren to jog after that; but when he started to move faster, one of his knees gave out. Ren fell flat on his face.

“Ow.” Ren said and rolled over onto his back. “That felt the same as it did in the game.” Ren rubbed his hands over his face to see if he was bleeding. That would be bad.

“What was that?” The therapist said as she rushed over to help Ren stand.

“Nothing.” Ren said. “Can you get the chair for me, please?” Ren examined his hands. Nope, no blood. Whew.

“Oh! Right. Just a second.” The therapist said and turned around to retrieve the chair that was beside the balance bar near the door. She came back with the chair a moment later and helped Ren into it.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Ren nodded and dusted off his clothes. That didn't quite work, so the clothes would have to be washed again. It's a good thing he had multiple sets of the same outfit.

“You did really well today, Ren.” The therapist said.

Ren looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“...until the end.” She unwillingly added.

Ren sighed. It's not her fault that I let her push me into trying to jog. I should have just said I wasn't ready, even though I thought I was.

“I'm sure I'll be able to do it someday.” Ren said, but he didn't really believe it. What he knew was that he was going to be trapped in this frail little body for the rest of his life.

The therapist must have heard a defeated tone in his voice because she sighed as well. “We can only do as much as your body will allow us, Ren. I had hoped since you've been doing so well the last few days that it was time to try something a bit harder. I shouldn't have pushed you before you were ready.” She said and handed him his vitamin enhanced mineral water. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay. I'd hoped I could do it, too... and I didn't say no, either.” Ren said and took a drink.

They sat there for a few minutes and then Ren said he was ready to go back to his room. The therapist agreed and went to get a nurse.

When she left the room, Ren punched himself in the leg. Stupid, stupid knee!  Ren thought and punched his leg again. Why won't you work right?  Another punch and tears came to his eyes. Why?

The therapist came back with Denise, but neither of them said anything about the tears on Ren's face. They assumed that Ren had hurt himself but wasn't saying anything about it, but that wasn't it at all. Ren was just disappointed with himself and his body. Denise pushed the wheelchair out of the room, down the hallway, and into Ren's room.

“I'm not taking a shower today.” Ren said as Denise helped him get into bed. “I can't stand on this leg.” He said and punched the offending leg.

“REN!” Denise said and grabbed his arm before he could punch his leg again. “Stop that! It's not the leg's fault.” Denise said and sat down on the bed. “It's not your fault, either.”

“It... it feels like it is.” Ren said in a low whisper. “If it wasn't for me, my... my parents... wouldn't have had anyone to experiment on. If I'd never been born... I wouldn't have had to go through all of that... or all of this.” Ren said and waved his arms around the room.

“Why did I have to go through all of that then?” Ren said. “It doesn't make sense.”

The tears flowed again. “Why did they do this to me?” Ren started to sob. “I was just a child!”

Denise took Ren into her arms and hugged him to her chest. Ren grabbed a hold of her fiercely and cried. Denise was surprised at how strong Ren was, but hugged him back just as fiercely. Ren needed someone to hold on to just then, and Denise was only too glad to be that someone. Lucy got to do things like this with Ren every day. It was the first time that Denise actually felt a little jealous of Lucy... and she wasn't sure how she should feel about that. Ren was a nice kid, but the emotional baggage he carried was a huge weight for anyone to bear, let alone for someone so frail and vulnerable. Denise's jealous feeling slowly turned to sadness. Lucy also had to deal with all of Ren's emotional baggage.

How did she do that, day in and day out?  Denise thought. Just this little bit is tearing my heart out!

Denise held Ren for several minutes until his sobs came to a stop. She let him out of the hug and he let her go at the same time.

“I'm sorry... I got your outfit all wet.” Ren said and tried to wipe off the damp stain with his hand.

Normally, Denise would have worn a full bra, but she forgot to do the laundry on the weekend and didn't have any clean ones. She had to dig in her underwear drawer for something and all she could find was a bustier. It was an underwire, so it had lots of support, but it left the tops of her breasts pushed up a little bit higher than a normal bra would. Denise felt a distinct tingle in her lower regions when Ren grazed her breast several times through the thin fabric of her uniform. A flush crept into the cheeks on her face as Ren continued to try and wipe away the wetness.

“It...it's okay. I got it.” Denise said and turned away before Ren could see how much she was blushing. That's not normal, is it?  Denise thought to herself. To get turned on just from that little bit of touching?

“I'll just go and dry it in the break room.” Denise said and left the room without looking at Ren.

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The break room? Do they have a dryer or something in there?  Ren thought, bewildered.

Denise quickly walked to the break room and shut the door. She leaned on the door and tried to catch her breath. Why is my heart beating so fast?  Denise thought and put her hand on her chest. Does Lucy feel something like this every day?  Denise walked over to the table and grabbed several napkins to dab at the wet spots on her chest. I need to calm down. I can't go back there looking flustered.  Denise thought and sat down.

It took several minutes for the wet spots to be absorbed and you could hardly tell where they were. Okay, Denise. Calm yourself. You are a professional! He's just a kid.  Denise thought and took a deep breath. Yes, he's just a kid... that will be 18 in less than 3 weeks.  Denise slapped herself lightly on the face. No! Don't think that! That doesn't mean anything! He's a patient.  Denise tried to convince herself. Well, I'm only filling in for today... he's not normally my patient.  Denise slapped herself lightly on the other cheek. No! No, I can't think that. Plus, if anyone was going to cross that line, it would be Lucy. She's the one that's been there for him every day!

Just then, two nurses came in to the break room for coffee. They took a cup each from the pot there and sat at the table next to Denise.

“Did you hear? Lucy's dating someone.” Stella said.

“No way!” Bonnie exclaimed. “I didn't think she even liked guys!”

The nurses laughed at the joke while the blood in Denise's face drained away. She was slowly losing all of her arguments.

Denise calmed herself again and decided that no matter what, she would never, ever do anything to compromise her job. Her conflict resolved, she went back down to Ren's room and went inside. Ren sat in the middle of a towel on the bed, with a smile on his face and not a stitch of clothing on. Ren had asked one of the other nurses to get him a water basin, sponge, soap, and cleaning cloths. He couldn't take a shower, so a sponge bath would have to do.

“I need a helping hand.” Ren said and held out the sponge to Denise... who promptly turned around and shut the door.

“Denise?” Ren said as he sat there with the sponge in his outstretched hand. “I need to take a bath!”

Denise didn't come back, but Stella and Bonnie came in a minute later. It took some re-positioning and more than a few fumbles with dropped cloths and sponges, but they eventually got it down to a system. Wash, tickle, laugh, scrub, tickle, laugh, lather, wash, tickle, laugh, and dry. Ren wasn't sure who was doing what most of the time; but by the end he was as clean as he was going to be, and in a fresh set of clothes. The three of them had laughed pretty hard during the whole thing.

“Thanks a lot!” Ren said.

Stella and Bonnie ruffled his hair and gave Ren a kiss on each cheek.

“Let us know if you need another bath tomorrow!” Stella said.

“I think you should skip it, because I'm off tomorrow and I don't want to miss it!” Bonnie said and winked.

Ren rolled his eyes and smiled. “Get out of here before I call the decency police!” Ren said threw a wash cloth at Bonnie, who caught it easily and tossed it into the water basin. Stella gathered up the other cloths and sponges and put them in the water basin, too.

“Bye, Ren!” Stella and Bonnie said at the same time, blew him another kiss, and chuckled as they left the room with the water basin.

Ren shook his head and settled down into bed. He reached over to the rolling tray that had a laptop on it and pulled it over the bed and across his lap. His email hadn't been checked in a while and he figured now was a good time. It was mostly spam, but there was a couple from the company that he won the VR headset from, Sid Tec. Ren opened the first one and was surprised by it's contents.

Dear Mr. Haddon:

Due to an error in the system, it was deemed necessary for your avatar to be forcibly removed from the VR experience before any more damage could occur. We can only hope that this event did not sour you on the whole VR system, as it is normally quite an enjoyable experience.

As a result of your necessary expulsion, a conditional event triggered by your presence (namely the party in your honor) was delayed by the system so you wouldn't miss out on any potential experiences that may have occured if you'd been present the entire time.

We can only hope that you will continue to use our product and that any footage you may have captured will be disposed of in a timely manner.

Thank you for your time.

The IT Department.

Ho ho! So they want me to delete any video I may have. Hm... I wonder why.  Ren thought and then opened the second message.

Dear Mr. Haddon:

Please ignore any and all previous communications from the IT Department, or any representative thereof. Their opinions and actions do not reflect those of the management, nor that of the company as a whole.

Actions have been taken to remove any possibility that something like the incident you went through will never happen in the future.

An update has been installed and you can log out manually, no matter where you may be, or what your situation is. There is even an option for an external voice command to log you out, should it ever be needed again.

Please follow this link for the specific details: hxxps://gowiththeflow.go/updates/no-logout/

We apologize for any and all events that (may) have transpired in regards to you or your account.

Sincerely,

Edward Sid Torren

CEO Sid Tec, Inc.

“Ha.” Ren said. “I've been going back in a lot since then, and I didn't even know about the external voice logout.” Ren shook his head and set up the proper links to the VR headset. Ren was glad Barbara had put it next to the computer, otherwise he would have had to wait for someone to come in and hand it to him. Ren looked down at his knee and sighed. It was swollen a little and he could feel an occasional throb of pain.

I won't be walking anywhere for a while.  Ren thought and logged out of his email. There were a couple of personal emails from someone named Elise Stanford, but he didn't know who that was so he just ignored them for now, and put on the VR headset.

“Flow Login Start.”

********