Shaking Off the Dust (9 page)

“And I missed it?” Tom chided.

“No comment from the peanut gallery.” I gave Tom a baleful look.

“My research is on alternate neural pathways after brain injury. I think we’ll be able to see that in your brain while you converse with Tom. I have my research associate preparing to give you a battery of tests tomorrow, which with Tom’s help, should be impressive. I need as much data as possible. I’m betting you will light up the scanner.”

“I can see why you were in no hurry to tell me about this plan of yours.” I decided in that moment he

could buy my dinner and every other meal I ate during my stay. It was the least he could do for a full-time guinea pig.

“You’re mad at me?” He had the gall to sound hurt.

“Damn right I’m mad at you,” I fisted my hand. “Put it down to the mood swings.” I turned to Tom.

“You might as well share the rest of your news.”

Shimodo cleared his throat. “I asked Tom to wait to talk to you during the scans. I’ll have a recording device for the session and you can repeat Tom’s story back. That way if there’s some kind of chemical change taking place during your contact with Tom, it might show up.”

“Thanks for making sure I got in the loop for this.”

I sulked until the food arrived, then I put my anger into stabbing at my lasagna. I made it a point not to look over at Shimodo.

Tom delivered a running commentary on my lack of social skills and bad temper. It was obvious he was enjoying himself, so I chose to ignore him.

When the waitress cleared the plates, I ordered coffee. Shimodo finally broke the silence. “Oh no you don’t. The caffeine will affect the test. And your heart and head don’t need the stress.”

“I have to have something if you expect me to stay up most the night.”

“I brought this just in case.” He pulled a bag of tea from his pocket. “It’s very good and the herbs will keep you clear headed.”

“You are so getting on my nerves, Shimodo,” I muttered under my breath.

“Yes, this will help that too.”

The waitress brought hot water and the tea was duly plunged in the small metal pot. I refused to drink any of it out of sheer spite.

“Let’s go.” I started to stand up.

“I’m not leaving until you at least try the tea. Why does this have to be a contest of wills, Hannah? I’m watching out for your health.” Shimodo spoke softly, but his face was set, he wasn’t moving.

“Drink the damn tea,” Tom shouted. “You’re both so stubborn we could be here all night. And he’s right, he’s only thinking of you. He went to three organic food stores hunting it down.”

“Did he really?” I was surprised.

He nodded and winked. I peeked up at Shimodo. He was all patience and calm. He must practice in the mirror to get that whole Zen thing down.

I took a sip of the tea. It wasn’t awful, so I took another swallow. The waitress came up. She looked back and forth between us and put down two checks. I went to grab mine, but he was faster.

“Nice try, Hannah, but all of our expenses are on Tom for this trip,” Shimodo gently chided.

“Is that right?” I looked over at Tom. “There’s a little dress shop on the way out of town that’s specializes in Goth wear. Won’t take me but a minute to run up your credit card.”

“Yeah, that’s going to happen,” Tom said.

“Maybe on our way back into town.” Shimodo smiled.

I sat back and enjoyed the moon, the night and the company wasn’t so bad either. Even if I was mad at him. It was nine o’clock by the time we got there. He headed straight to the university hospital for the scans.

I followed the boys through a maze of corridors to the PET scanner. One of Shimodo’s research associates arrived, an earnest, red-haired young man in his late twenties.

“We borrow the PET scanner and MRI two nights a week for our research. Our grant pays the hospital for its use. Our research subjects are scheduled after ten p.m., although we can be bumped for an emergency.” Shimodo kept a polite conversation going. He’d introduced me to Carl after he’d finished setting up the equipment. I gave Shimodo a minute to get in the room that held the controls.

“How long have you known Shimodo?” I quizzed.

Carl gave me a reproachful look. “I’ve worked with
Professor
Shimodo for six years.”

“So, is he mean? Always has to have his way or what?” I asked to see his reaction and because I knew Shimodo could hear every word.

The speaker in the room clicked on and Shimodo spoke, “Hannah, behave. Carl, ignore her, she’s mad at me. She’s a caffeine addict and she’s going cold turkey.”

Carl grinned at me. “It’s a bitch, isn’t it? He doesn’t know I still sneak a cup once in a while.”

“I heard that and we will discuss it very soon,” Shimodo added.

That got an even bigger grin out of Carl. He hooked me up to a monitor hanging from my chest. “Okay, Professor, we’re ready.”

Shimodo asked, “Are you comfortable?”

“You’re kidding, right?” I snapped back.

“Okay, Hannah, we’re ready to go here. You can call him.”

“Tom, come out, come out wherever you are.” He appeared bending over my face. “Dammit, Tom, I asked you not to do that.”

“Are you all right, ma’am?” Carl was in the room with me.

“I’m peachy, Carl.”

“Hannah has the ability to communicate with the dead, Carl. We are going to be recording her so please refrain from talking until we’re done,” Shimodo said.

For the next hour, Tom told me names and details about half-a-dozen plane crash victims. It was all he could remember clearly. I repeated each word and every so often the scanner would go on and off. I didn’t cry this time, so I was making strides in my mood surges. I waited patiently for them to unhook me, but Tom decided to have a seat at my feet. I should say on my feet.

“Get off me, Tom. It’s already cold in here.” I kicked, trying to shake him loose.

Carl watched like he’d inadvertently walked into a psych ward.

Shimodo came over. “Tom,” he said in a low rumble. “You’re going to make her mad enough that she won’t let us finish the tests. Be nice to Hannah.”

Tom jumped off the scanner and pushed a hand through Shimodo’s arm.

Shimodo was worried about his project,
me
. I love being objectified by a scientist. “Hey, Carl, ever been touched by a ghost?” I asked. “Go on, Tom, show him what he’s missing.”

“You’re just mean,” Tom accused.

“Seriously. Tom’s going to touch you, well actually, pass his hand through some part of you. You’ll know when he does. Would that be okay?”

Carl looked at me, then at Shimodo who nodded his head.

“Yeah, I guess.” He expected to be the butt of a joke.

“Tom, it’s your chance to be tested,” I said. “And I am not mean. Bitchy yes, mean no.”

All three men smiled.

Tom stepped over to Carl and passed a hand through his shoulder. The young man jumped, surprise and shock in his eyes. “He touched my shoulder, didn’t he?”

I nodded. “He likes to sit on feet too. So when your toes freeze up, it’s usually him.”

“He only likes to sit on your feet, Hannah.” Shimodo glanced at me, his face solemn, then he winked.

“The MRI is available now. I need to map your brain to assess what damage is residual from your surgery and your electrical shock this week.”

Carl looked at me like I was an alien. An extraterrestrial he was prepared to vivisect on the spot. I could see the excitement in his eyes. He walked beside me as we headed to the MRI, trying to get up enough nerve to ask questions.

“Spit it out, Carl. You’re going to choke on your tongue if you don’t.”

Shimodo looked back at me, shaking his head. He did that a lot.

“You’re the one in all the news reports. I saw you on CNN. You just went down like… How did he find you?” He pointed at Shimodo.

I stopped. Tom and Shimodo moved up the hall.

“Tom is Shimodo's best friend. Tom took me to him. Actually I drove.”

“All those people you were talking about in the scanner?”

“Plane crash victims with Tom. We’re trying to help them.” I started walking again. The boys had turned a corner and were out of sight now. “What’s Shimodo like to work with?”

“The best. I’m lucky to be in this research program. He’s a nice guy. Every woman in the research program and some of the men have been throwing themselves at him for years. He could have the pick of the students, but he’s never been interested. Always a gentleman though.” His voice was conspiratorial.

“Is he gay?”
The really beautiful ones usually were. At least that was my excuse why they were
never attracted to me.
“I heard he had a fiancée for a while.” I was pretty convinced he wasn’t gay, but I hoped Carl would elaborate on the other woman. I couldn’t ask Tom for details. He’d give me crap about it all. He already lectured me.

“I don’t think he is gay. He dates women. He never dates students.” Carl's expressive face said I was transparent in my questions. “He was engaged once that I know of, they were in med school together.

She’s got a huge neurology group in town and wanted him to go into practice with her. He opted to do research. I guess she didn’t like the idea of being the primary moneymaker. I heard that he was the one who broke it off, not her.”

Tom appeared in my face again. “Gossiping, Hannah?”

“That’s none of your business, what this young man and I discuss. Now go away, Tom.”

Shimodo reappeared at the end of the hall, tapping his finger on his watch. “We should hurry, Hannah.

You’ll have to put a gown on, you’ve got a zipper and metal in your bra.”

“How silly of me to think I might escape with some dignity intact…dammit! I can’t even think of an end to that sentence. I told you I’d be too tired for this.”

“You should have drunk all the tea at the restaurant. It helps with the memory.” He kept a straight face.

I jerked the gown from his hand. “Piss off, Shimodo.”

“Mood swings, Carl. Tom has determined she has a lot of mood swings.” He laughed.

I slammed the dressing-room door and changed.

By the time we reached Shimodo’s house, it was after midnight. Carl and I were new best friends and

Tom was taking me to task for flirting with younger men. I closed my eyes during the drive. His words were like a TV playing in the background, a second-rate sitcom. I didn’t realize the car had stopped until my door opened.

“You’re dead on your feet.” Shimodo touched my shoulder.

“No, that would be Tom,” I joked.

“Come on, I’ll get you tucked into bed.” Shimodo pulled me out of the car by the hands.

I yawned. “Sounds like a plan to me. Are you sure I can’t stay in the car? That looks like a long walk to me.” It was maybe twenty feet to the house.

“I can carry you.” He started to pull me up to him, but I pushed away.

“Much better now, I can walk fine. I was half asleep. You forget I work day shift. It’s past my bedtime, has been all week long.”

“I can call and postpone tomorrow’s test. They are scheduled for ten, but I might be able to schedule for the afternoon. Keep in mind that tomorrow will be a late night too.” We reached the porch and he pulled out his house key.

“No, that’s fine. Let me get my suitcase and point me to where I’m sleeping.” I headed to the car.

He turned me back around and pushed me forward. “I’ll get the luggage in a moment. Come inside.”

He flipped on the lights and I entered into another world. From the outside, it looked like any other brick ranch-style house. Inside it was a Japanese home. There was muted lighting and pale white sliding doors.

The tables were set close to the floor with pillows instead of chairs. Modern high-tech elements added to the design, a micro stereo system with tall flat speakers stood in corners and a flat large-screen LCD TV

hung flush against the wall. Dominating the space was an aquarium taking up one side of the room.

I walked through the house like I’d gotten to Disney World. I pulled back screen doors and explored each room. The first bedroom I found had a futon low to the floor with a laptop computer of a Japanese design I’d never heard of. It was attached to a long sliding closet and bathroom. The kitchen was small but modern. It held a glass restaurant-style refrigerator with everything neatly lined up, and the stove had a wok and built-in microwave.

I went in the opposite direction of the living room and found another bedroom, although this one had a regular door and a king-sized bed. I walked into the bath and found a large, round sunken tub with water jets.

Shimodo came in with my suitcase and hanging bag. “I see you found your bedroom.”

“No, I won’t take the master bedroom.”

“This isn’t my room, this is the guest room. Tom took it upon himself to design this bedroom and bath in what he calls the modern American style.”

“That’s right.” Tom came in. “Takeshi is an American and he forgets that sometimes. This room is here to remind him.”

“Mecurio, get over yourself.”

“I’ve been telling him that for years,” Shimodo said wistfully. “Do you need anything else, Hannah? I’ll be in my room if you can think of anything. Carl is sending your scan findings to my computer, so I’ll be up for quite some time reading them and dictating your test results.”

“Goodnight, Professor Shimodo.”

“I keep waiting for you to call me by my first name. Carl has had a bad influence on you, but not as bad as your power over him. He followed you around like a puppy.”

“No, Shimodo, he’s like you. I’m just a guinea pig to him.” I closed the door in his face, rummaged through my suitcase, threw on a tee shirt but didn’t even bother with pants. I crawled under the covers, and that’s all she wrote.

The next morning, I decided to take a long hot bath. I didn’t have the water jets in my tub at home. It was a little like staying in a hotel. The water was warm and I switched on the jets, enjoying the sensation.

I soaped my hair dunking my head under the water to rinse. When I came up, Shimodo stood over the bathtub. He immediately turned round, but he’d gotten an eyeful. I glanced down at myself, thankful the soap from the shampoo had pooled over my bottom half, but my breasts were quite evident and the coolness of the air had made them stand at attention.