Unbelievable Pt. 10

A five-minute ride saw the three of them standing in front of the clinic that would be performing the operation. Katherine hoped her own nervousness wasn't showing. Noting how Annie was sticking to her brother's side like glue. "It's okay, Johnny, just take a breath," she whispered into his ear as she noted how his chest was rising as his anxiety grew the further they went into the building. "You are not alone in this. If you need support, you just lean on us. That is why we are here, so that we can be your rock when you need it," Katherine stated in a motherly tone as she gently placed a kiss on John's right temple.

"Please, if you would have a seat, and I'll tell the doctors you're here," the man said, gesturing to the rows of chairs that littered the area of the room.

"See, this is like all the other times you had to go visit your doctor," Katherine spoke, trying to ease her son's mind.

"Yeah, only you aren't having your skull cracked open," Johnny retorted.

"Johnny, I know you're scared," reaching over the armrests and taking hold of his left hand, "I get that, I would be to, and I am scared for you as well," Annie said, her soft blue-green eyes tried to ease his discomfort as she gazed at him. "It doesn't do you or us any good with you taking your fear out on us. We'll get through this together, I promise you." Glancing to her left as the door that led to the deeper parts of the clinic began to open. Knowing they were just a few more steps to go before John underwent his operation.

"Mr. Masters?" the smartly dressed man in a white lab coat called out to the three of them as he stood in the open doorway. "Umm... this is between..."

"Either we are in there with my son, or this whole thing is off, understand?" Katherine uttered, getting into mama bear mode. "I told you, honey, I'm going to be at your side the whole way through," she said when John just gave her a very odd look. "I'm not about to let you be abused again."

"This way," the man said, waving them through.

"So, will you be performing the surgery?" Annie asked as they followed the man down the hall.

"No, I normally just do research; we just happen to be shorthanded today, so they asked me to bring Mr. Masters back," the man stated in an indifferent tone. "If you would please wait in here and put that gown on, I'll tell the doctor that you're here," he directed, gesturing for them to enter the room.

"Do these things only come in one color?" Johnny asked as Annie tied the back of the gown closed after he had undressed.

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked, confused by his question.

"I mean don't I look fat in this?" Johnny inquired in a joking tone, trying to bring some levity to the situation they were in.

"No, baby, the only thing 'fat' on you is your cock," Annie whispered heatedly into his ear.

"Mmmhmm," Katherine hummed as she nodded along while her eyes dipped low, willing his cock to harden with her mind. What could she say? She loved having it in her mouth, her hand, her pussy. She just would never take him in the ass like she did with his father.

"Once you're better, I'm going to make sure he's all nice and taken care of," Annie purred as she reached around his body and lightly patted his groin. She and her mother turned their heads towards the door when they heard heels on the tile floor approaching the room they were in. Patting John's ass, telling him to get on the examining table before joining her mother's side.

"Hello?" The doctor greeted them as she knocked on the door as she pushed it open.

"Hello," Katherine and Annie replied, glaring at John, who failed to offer a greeting. "Don't be rude, Johnny, say hi," she whispered as she poked John's bare knee with her fingernail.

"It's quite alright," she said, closing the door behind her. "I'm fully aware of what Mr. Masters has experienced, so I'm not offended that he wishes to remain silent." Standing a few feet away from John, so he didn't think she was pushing herself onto him, holding his medical file in her hands as it rested against her stomach. "I'm Dr. Shaw," she greeted, holding out her hand to John. Hearing the crinkling of the gown as John leaned to his left and took her hand.

"Johnny," he said with a gentle shake.

"Well, Johnny, that is the name you wished to be called, isn't it?" Dr. Shaw asked with a smile on her face, seeing John nod that was true. "I'll be the one conducting the surgery. I have gone over everything your primary doctor sent to us. I must say from the bottom of my heart how sorry I am for what that man did to you in the name of medicine. This is why I wanted you to be the first human subject to under go this treatment, and please, don't misconstrue the word 'subject' as any derogatory term for you." Seeing John nod, knowing from his doctor how hard it was for him to open up to strange people, so she continued. "Now," placing his file on the corner of the examination table, "I'm going to touch you, okay?" she stated; again, she was met with a nod. "While you're under, we'll be shaving this part of your head before we operate," Dr. Shaw stated, touching the two areas in proximity to where the damage portion of John's brain was. "Just so when you wake up, you won't be too shocked that your hair is missing, although you will be bandaged after surgery," she said, smiling down at him as those eyes of his studied her face. "Still, I don't want you to be too shocked."

"And how are you going to..."

"Open up his skull?" Dr. Shaw asked, finishing Katherine's sentence as she nodded. "Once the site is shaved, and your skin peeled back, I'll drill out to small holes in your skull..."

"You will be putting it back in, right?" Johnny asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Of course," Dr. Shaw nodded, "then once the bone is removed, we'll insert the needle through those openings..."

"How are you going to not make me a drooling vegetable?" Johnny asked, thinking that was a very important question to ask.

"With ultrasound," Dr. Shaw stated truthfully. "Ever since the Canadians invented the procedure, it has led to a vast improvement in this type of surgery. Then once we have the needle in the area of your damaged grey matter, we will inject the drug. Afterwards, we'll patch you up after we insured the drug has permeated your damaged grey matter since that was what it was designed to do, where you will be wheeled into a room for the day for observation just to ensure there are no complications. Once I'm sure you're stable enough, we'll transport you over to the hotel. While I would like to keep you here for the duration, this clinic isn't set up for long stays, given how most of this building is for research and surgery. But I assure you, Johnny, we've taken extra precautions to ensure that... at least the wing we rented out is very sanitized so that you won't develop an infection while there. While you're in recovery, I will go over your post-op care with these two so they know how to properly treat your incisions while you're in recovery. Now, don't expect to be able to just up and run around the moment you come out of surgery. It will take time for your body to return to normal after such an operation. So just take it slow and let your body tell you when its time to let loose and when its time to relax and let your body heal. Are there any questions you might have before I do my own evaluation?"

"When this is all said and done, will I still be me?" Johnny asked in all seriousness.

Dr. Shaw thought that was an odd question to ask. Opening up his file, remembering she had seen something about his mental disorder in it. "If you're asking if it will cure you of your mental illness, I'm..."

"No, that's not what I'm asking," Johnny cut her off. "I'm asking if I will still be me?" he asked once again, poking himself in the chest. Seeing the perplexed look in the doctor's eyes when he repeated his question.

"Johnny wants to know if he's going to be himself or if he's going to walk up as the boy he was before all of this," Annie spoke up, with John vehemently nodding along.

"Oh?! No, we have not detected any change in behavior in the prior trails that would indicate a drastic swing like that," Dr. Shaw stated, seeing the uncertainty in John's eyes when she spoke those words.

"Well, rats can't talk, can they?" Johnny countered.

"True, they can't, but I assure you, there isn't even a remote possibility of that happening. You will still be you, just with the ability to access this part of your brain," Dr. Shaw said, reaching up and lightly touching the top of John's head over the area of the brain that stores long-term memories.

"But you can't be really sure, can you?"

"Johnny," stepping closer, lightly caressing his upper left arm, "I understand how you feel. I know you must be scared right now, especially with another doctor about to fiddle with your brain. Yet, I promise you, you will still be you; the only thing that will hopefully change is that your seizures will lessen..."

"Is that possible?" Katherine asked, hoping against hope while feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket.

"There is a possibility of that; the results of the previous trails have hinted that the drug has a positive side-effect on the brain. Also, it will help you access the memories that have been barred from you," Dr. Shaw said with a smile.

"But will it be permanent?" Annie asked with her phone in her hand, who she's been texting Janus about everything the doctor had said.

"That... I can't say. While the brain of a rat is very, very similar to a human brain, yet the human brain is roughly a hundred times the size of a rat's, so I cannot give a clear answer to that question. It's my hope it does, yet we are in untested waters here, and the human mind is a very strange creature. It might not take at all, or it might interfere with how Johnny's brain had to adapt to continue to function due to the damage that man did to him," Dr. Shaw stated, peering over at Annie, who was typing away.

"Is there no way to introduce this drug into him without opening up his skull?" Katherine asked for John's sake.

"Afraid not, the drug has to be administered into the dead brain cells in order for this to work. Otherwise, the barrier that separates the two halves of his brain will just block the drug, and it would just be absorbed into your son's system," Dr. Shaw stated while Katherine hadn't told her she was John's mother, yet the similarities were just too much not to put the pieces together.

"And how long do you expect Johnny to remain here?" Annie asked, repeating the question that Janus had texted her.

"No more than a week unless there is a complication; then I see no need for him to stay with us longer than that. However, I would advise forgoing planes for at least three months," Dr. Shaw stated, knowing that it would be easy for John to develop a blood clot while in the air.

"We had planned on driving back," Katherine informed her.

"Good," Dr. Shaw nodded in approval.

"Say if the drug does work, how long would it take for us to know it did?" Annie asked, hoping that John could indeed remember all those times in their youth, especially their first kiss, without having a seizure to bring it out.

"Hmm... that I can't say since, as Johnny so elegantly stated, rats can't talk."

"Hear that I'm elegant," Johnny teased his sister, who just rolled her eyes yet couldn't stop her smile from forming.

"This is just a rough estimate. I say no more than a few days to a week. Your primary doctor will keep a weekly log of how you're healing and if there's any change to how your mind functions after the operation," Dr. Shaw said, peering back over at Johnny. "But I think if you show him things from his past, that might help to induce the neurons to form the path that will act as a bridge between the two."

"I should have brought your baby album; just think of the fond trip down memory lane," Katherine teased, getting a groan out of John in the process and a chuckle from the doctor.

"I bet he was a handful growing up," Dr. Shaw uttered, flashing Katherine a smile.

"Oddly, no, he wasn't, other than what happened when he was thirteen, Johnny was a relatively easy child to raise, now his brother Ray, on the other hand, he was a handful," Katherine stated. "Do you have any of your own?"

"A little girl; she just turned five two weeks ago," Dr. Shaw said in that fond motherly sigh.

"I just hope your husband takes it better than my own did when boys grow interested in your daughter."

"I take it he didn't handle it all that well?" Dr. Shaw asked with an arched eyebrow.

"As you can see, my daughter developed rather early, and you know how boys are at that age," Katherine said, waving over to Annie.

"I do," Dr. Shaw nodded. "I'll have to keep an eye out then," she spoke with a friendly smile. "Now, are there any other questions you all would like to ask before I begin my examination?"

"The memories I have now, you're not taking those away, are you?" Johnny asked in all seriousness. He was not going to forget Julia. He would walk right out that door butt naked if they were.

"No, the memories you have now will not be affected by the procedure," Dr. Shaw stated firmly.

"Do we need to keep the site shaved until the wounds are healed?" Annie asked; she was going to ensure that John recovered quickly and healthy so they could make up for lost time.

"No, as long as you keep it clean, you don't have to worry about that. Again, your primary doctor will check to ensure that it is and run weekly blood tests to ensure that Johnny, here, hasn't contracted an infection. Given how we are drilling into his skull, we'll be breaking the blood-brain barrier, so it would be easy for an infection to slip in through the incisions."

"Will the medications he's on interfere with the drug?" Katherine asked, noticing how Johnny squirmed a bit at the mention of blood.

"No," shaking her head, "you're doctor sent me the list of medications you are on when he emailed me your chart. Although after my examination, we will need to do an MRA scan to have an up-to-date scan of your brain before we do the operation. I hope you're okay with that?" Dr. Shaw spoke in a caring tone. It wasn't hard to see how uneasy John had become. She wasn't about to stress him on the eve of the procedure.

"As long as I'm not in it too long," Johnny answered as his grip tightened on the edge of the examining table.

"A few minutes at the most, then we'll get you shuttled back to the hotel; however, you mustn't eat anything for the rest of the day. You may drink water only up till you go to bed since I have scheduled your surgery for early in the morning."

"Why?" Johnny asked, confused by the request.

"It's so when you're under anesthesia that what food you have in your stomach doesn't aspirate into your lungs when you're under. You see, when you're awake, your body has natural defenses to keep this from happening, yet while you're under the anesthesia tends to block the body's reactions to the event. So in order to decrease the risk of that happening, we tell all patients no matter the operation, it's a standard rule for the patient's safety," Dr. Shaw answered in her best medical voice. "Now, I'm going to start my examination, okay?" she stated, bringing her stethoscope up to her ears as John nodded. She noted how he was glancing at the two of them as she went about making sure that John was healthy enough to undergo the operation. Seeing how they were keeping him calm as she went about her task. She tried to be as quick as she could; she understood his phobia about strangers touching him, given what his primary doctor had written in his chart. She couldn't blame him; she, too, would probably be weary of strangers, given what he had gone through. While she was sure when the news broke about what was happening at Raven Dale was big news in his home state, nevertheless, outside of it, it was just a thirty-second blip on the news. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Dr. Shaw asked with a friendly smile on her lips as she hung her stethoscope around her neck. "So, how about we get that MRA out of the way?" Noticing how he looked to her left at the two women standing a few feet behind her. "One can come with us, but you'll have to remove any metal on you since it's a very powerful magnet."

Katherine just smiled as Annie was hurriedly removing every item she had on her that was metal. However, she was very reluctant to remove her wedding band. "Here," holding out her hand to Annie, "I promise I'll keep them safe," Katherine spoke as John and Annie placed their wedding rings onto the palm of her left hand.

"Now, if you'll just follow me," Dr. Shaw directed, hearing John sliding off the examining table. "Remain as still as you can while the scan is in progress," her voice came over the speakers as she peered through the glass as. Annie held John's right hand as she stood at his side as the table slowly moved John into the machine. It did touch her heart to see how much Annie loved John as she bent down and placed a kiss on the back of John's hand. She ignored the soft whispers Annie was speaking to him in as the machine did its magic. She wasn't about to be nosy, yet she couldn't help but equate what she saw when she and her husband first got together. It did warm her heart to know that even after everything that had happened to John that he had someone like her to be there for him. As the scans began to come in, her eyes absorbed the 3D image that the MRI was building of his brain. Chewing on her lip as she saw the true extent of the damage the man had done to John's brain that a simple 2D scan couldn't give her. Elbowing the technician in the arm when she caught him steering at Annie's very endowed chest. She was sure that John wouldn't take too kindly to that if he had seen it. Turning her attention back to the scans, knowing she was going to have to up the dosage to cover the amount of damage that was done to his brain to cover the area where John's ECT treatments had killed off his brain cells. "Just a few more minutes Johnny, we're almost done," Dr. Shaw spoke into the microphone as she watched how Annie had a calming effect on John as he began to grow agitated. Once the scans were complete, and they had a full 3D model of his brain where she and her team would go over and suss out an attack plan after she had seen them off. Seeing how John quickly crawled out of the machine as the table slid out. Her heart did go out to him as he buried his face into Annie's chest. Cutting the microphone off so they wouldn't eavesdrop on what appeared to be a very private moment as Annie caressed the back of John's head as she held him close. She was glad John had someone like Annie in his life. She had no idea how she would deal with what she had read in his file if it was her in that room and not John. Leading the two of them back to the examination room, closing the door to allow John time to get dressed before they were escorted back over to the hotel.

"Your surgery will be at six in the morning tomorrow, so get a good night's rest," Dr. Shaw stated, escorting them out as the clinic's van waited at the front of the building for them.

Once they were back in their hotel room, they set out to unfold the cots that the hotel management had placed within the room. Then calls, upon calls, were made back home to inform everyone what had transpired during John's examination. Brandan was asking question after question to his wife as Katherine paced the room. Ignoring how Annie was displaying her body lewdly to John on the hospital bed. Trying not to allow the sight to arouse her while on the phone, yet the movement in her son's shorts just wouldn't let her. Walking into the bathroom just so Annie's sinful words wouldn't be carried over the line as Annie had pushed John's hand into her pants.