In and out of consciousness for several weeks…Flashes of pain…Distorted memories blurred by strange drugs…Moments of pure rage and hatred…Smiles as the artificial “buzz” brought euphoria through the tiny tube that was plugged into his vein…A glimpse of the doctor…Moments of pure agony as officer Reedy tugged at the stitches and I.V. tubing, poked his surgery sites, and did things like squeeze George’s testicles until they were ready to burst under the pressure, put out a cigarette on his skin, and pulled on his ears so hard they felt as though they will simply pop right off. 

  George tried to wake up from this horrible nightmare, but the drugs kept him in a state where his consciousness was like a gnat buzzing in his ear to remind him that it was still there, but had no substantial effect upon his day to day existence.  He couldn’t tell what had been done to him from day to day other than to feel a new wound, a new pain, sometimes he thought maybe even a whole new body part.  He was sore and drugged at all moments, barely alive at points.  He woke up hungry, for there had been no food in his stomach for who knows how long.  He couldn’t tell how long he’d even been in the bricked-in room any more.  It felt like an eternity.  He was losing his strength and will to live.  He was sure that he would never get out of this torture chamber 

  One day, he awoke to severe pain.  Not like the pain that he had experienced since his captivity.  This was real.  He could feel, focus.  He looked around the room, but saw nothing new, except for the scars that covered his body.  He felt awake and alive.  Was he dreaming?  He couldn’t pinch himself to find out.  He was restrained tightly to the stainless steel table which had become his prison. He squealed in pain as he tried to free himself.
  “Georgy boy!  You’re awake.”  Dr. Mann rang in George’s ears. 

  “Am I?”  He replied, confused and skeptical.
  “Why, yes you are, my good man.  I have been waiting for nearly an hour for you to come around.”
  “Oh?”
  “Yes.  You had me worried there for a minute.”  Dr. Mann snapped a glove as he prepared to put it on.
  “Why?  Was I dead?”  George replied with his strange sense of humor, attempting to make light of his situation.
  “No.  Well…  Close.  We nearly lost you there for a minute. Hehe…”  The doctor replied with a worried tone in his voice.
  “Just go on and kill me, will you?  That’s what you are going to do anyway.”
  “On the contrary, my good man.  I intend on making you a better man.  A stronger man.  You are going to make history!  But first we need to get you fixed up.  Now that I have gotten you to come around, I am going to have to put you back under, okay?”
  “What?”
  “Well, I was in the middle of something very important when you gave us a scare.  Now that you are stable, I need to finish what I started.”  The doctor finished putting his gloves on and smiled.
  “You really are going to kill me, aren’t you?”  George was no longer being his usual sarcastic self, but someone terrified of what was about to happen to him.
  “No, George, I told you…history, you and I are going to make history!  Now don’t worry about a thing.  You and I had an agreement and I am going to honor that agreement.  One year.  I need you for one year.  I gave you your legs back.  See.”  Dr. Mann grabbed at George’s legs to show him that they were intact and functioning.  “You have to own up to your end of the bargain now.”
  “Like I have a choice!”  He tugged at the restraints that bound him.
  “Hehe, yea…Well we’re nearly half way there, my man.  You’ll see.”  The doctor pulled out a syringe and stabbed it into George’s I.V.  “Trust me.”
  “Trust you?”  George tried to free himself once more, but only made himself yelp in pain yet again.  “Damn you!”
  “Calm down, Georgy boy.  You’ll be fine.  Just think of this as a really worthwhile face-lift.”  He smiled as George slipped quietly into a coma.