“Even though they are alright, I think it is best if we keep both overnight for observation!” says Fionna, then looking at the Watsons adds, “Don’t worry; if nothing happens during the night and their vitals improve, or at least remain this way, they may go back home.”

  Sue and Kenji nod; just then, Raxen, who had left Lee leaning against the chair for support, returns with a hover-chair to help carry Lee back to the room as Kenji is holding Sakura on his lap.

  As they are about to exit, Bexy speaks. “I just don’t understand what happened in the first test.” Bexy then disconnects the helmets from the chair. “From what I’ve read in the reports, the helmet was in good working condition; in fact, it was a new one. So why did it malfunction?”

  Sue looks at Bexy. “So even though it was a good, new helmet, it broke? So having this helmet inspection was for nothing?”

  Bexy shakes his head. “Not really. The helmet used before could have been new, but I don’t know if it had been used before, or even if it had been damaged while in the box.” Bexy says, then after a sigh, he adds. ”After all, everything was done exactly as before.”

  Lee thinks for a second. “Not everything!” Everyone looks at Lee, so he continues. “The first time I did the test, there was no audio at the start, only after the image with different languages.”

  “What do you mean?” inquires Bexy. “Can you tell me exactly what happened when you did the test?”

  Lee nods. “First the nurse told me to sit on the chair, then she went behind the glass wall and got the helmet. I put it on and she connected it. After a bit, I saw the loading bar, then the different text; as I read, the text changed to different letters then back to Japanese. That is when I looked for the nurse and the screen turned transparent. She said it was normal, then I felt her connect something in the helmet and I had sound when I read the text…” Before Lee can continue, Bexy starts to make sounds of beeps and screeches.

  Bexy then composes himself and asks, “I didn’t happen to be speaking in Japanese?” The nurses shake their heads. “Good. I just lost control of my tongue and, let's just say that the words I spoke are not friendly to be heard by children.”

  “But what happened? What did Lee say that made you this angry?” questions Fionna. “I personally only understood one word you spoke, and you are right; it was a very colourful language you used.”

  Bexy runs a hand over his face, trying to calm down even more, but the lights on his head are pulsing in a dark, almost grey and black colour. “Let’s just say that Lee is a very lucky boy.” He then looks at each of the three nurses, then at Sue and Kenji. “Lee could have died on the first test, even before the helmet malfunctioned.”

  The phrase is so simple and straightforward that it leaves everyone speechless from shock; even Lee, with his five-year-old brain and tired, nearly asleep, becomes more alert.

  “Master Bexy, what do you mean?” comes the trembling voice of Doctor Jaborian from the entranceway.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Bexy looks at the doctor and asks, “What is the exact process to initiate this test?” He finishes by lifting one of the helmets.

  The doctor looks at the helmet and says, “Plug it in, place the helmet on the patient, then start the program.” He says the three simplified main steps, then adds, “I don’t know exactly why, but I was always told to do these exact steps… and in the hospital I normally work, I always teach these steps. I did try to find out why this is, but no one is capable of telling me.”

  Bexy nods. “Those are the three correct steps, but from the way you spoke, you don’t usually work here?”

  The doctor shakes his head. “No. Normally I work in Tokyo on Mother Earth, but I was requested to come here for this particular case of Lee’s coma; but I only arrived yesterday morning.”

  Bexy nods, then turns to Fionna and Raxen. “What about you two? Did you learn how to set up the test?”

  Raxen and Fionna nod, then Fionna speaks. “Yes, we have learned the same way, but we have been told that if this process is not followed, something can happen to the patient. We never got told exactly what.”

  “Well, looks like some staff members will need to be re-evaluated on their medical training!” says Bexy. Then, taking a deep breath, he says, “Not setting up the test like that is fatal to the patient; that is why you must always check the connections even before placing the helmet on the patient.” At this, Lee remembers that the nurse that brought him to this test did check the connections before placing the helmet, even giving a slight tug to be sure.

  “So why did you say that our son could have died?” asks Sue.

  “Because the nurse, from what Lee mentioned, did it completely backwards!” says Bexy, then looks at Lee. “The way the nurse did it could have melted Lee’s brain and consciousness; he wouldn’t be brain dead; his actual brain would implode, leaving a hardened shell. His organs, not having any brain to tell them what to do, would stop working in minutes.” Bexy finishes the last explanation in Galactones, so as not to petrify Lee with fear and give him nightmares with the grotesque reality of what could have happened to him.

  The colour drains from everyone's skin; the nurse that got Lee from the room looks even paler. “So what did, luckily, happen for him to be alive?” she manages to say in Japanese.

  Bexy chuckles. “Sorry for laughing, but the fact that the helmet short-circuited is what saved his life. When the nurse connected the last plug that gave audio, it must have damaged something that started sending electricity elsewhere. That, and the fact that you ran more tests, due to his imagination.”

  The doctor, starting to regain a bit of colour, says, “So if we had gone straight to the deep scan after the robot…” The doctor is unable to finish the sentence, nor does he need to.

  Bexy nods. “So make sure you find that nurse and take care of her. No one like that deserves to be alone with a patient. Even if she had placed the helmet then the connections, only then ran the program, things wouldn’t be so bad. But that is why you have to do the steps in the right way: plug, place, run!”

  Doctor Jaborian nods. “I think the best thing is to have everyone dealing with this test be retrained on how to set it up, and if anyone is incapable of performing it correctly, they will be sent out to the planet RX-seven-five-TC to be retrained, including that nurse.” At this, the nurses become even paler; Raxen’s skin turns so pale it starts to look like paper. Even Bexy's antennae, that have remained unmoved all this time, lean back flat on his scalp. The only exception is the third nurse; even though she is pale, there is a hidden smile at the corner of her lips, and to Lee, it seems like she is biting her lower lip.

  Then the doctor coughs and looks at the nurse. “Nurse Thornberry, can you please escort Lee and his parents to collect his belongings?” He then looks at the Watsons and adds, “As the two children are going to be under observation, there is no need to be in separate rooms; I will arrange for a family room. That way, there will be a bed for the two of you too.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Sue and Kenji say before leaving with the nurse pushing Lee's hover-chair.