Chapter 20 #2
“I mean—the chip is super close to her brain. I would hope they would take their time.” Gavin dryly stated.
Once Jemmy was wheeled back to the surgical bay, I let Gavin and Sierra know while Remy went to get the rest of my guys.
Mercedes decided to accompany Gavin and Sierra, and I commended her for it.
Even if Jemmy had excused herself out of the equation, they were still acting like a family unit and supporting each other.
Gavin kissed Sierra’s temple before pulling her into the cradle of his arms. For the late hour Sierra looked too cute with her fresh face—free of makeup and long dark curly hair piled high on her head in a messy bun.
She wore a pink fitted tank top and grey boyfriend sweats.
A sliver of her belly was showing off her casual but adorable look.
Jaxson gave him a rueful look. “You’re right—” His voice trailed off as his eyes widened.
I realized then that they must be starting the procedure.
I leaned forward and Troy ran his hands up and down my back while Remy grasped my thighs.
It was then I realized I was shaking my legs up and down while gnawing on the side of my thumb.
I tried to take a deep calming breath in to ease my frayed nerves.
I watched Aiko wipe the back of Jemmy’s neck.
Then her voice came over the speaker. “My gift gives me the ability to not only hone in on the foreign object but to remove it. I can’t promise if there will be lasting effects or damage caused by the chip.”
Drake cleared his throat. He was dressed in scrubs complete with a surgical hat. He shifted before he said. “We understand.”
“So, is that chip like a tumor?” Sierra asked. “Is that why Jemmy was having volatile mood swings?”
“Our hope is once it’s removed the ‘voices’ will disappear.
Right now, we don’t have enough information on the chip until it’s out.
Darren is going to be on standby. He has another laptop not connected to any of our current networks.
He’ll be examining it and seeing if he can extract anything off it in hopes to help us in the future. Should we need it,” Jace said.
Aiko prepped us some more. “The anesthesia and numbing agent should work as it normally would on her. She may experience any of the typical side effects like dry mouth, confusion, muscle aches, itching, nausea. I’m sure you’re familiar with monitoring for the severe ones.” She turned to Noah.
Noah nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her as well as the staff.”
Aiko concisely nodded. “Are we ready?” At their answering nods she said. “Okay, let’s do this.”
She closed her eyes and hovered over Jemmy head for a minute before she took a deep inhale, then exhale.
“Holy Schinke’s Batman,” Troy muttered as we watched Aiko’s fingers disappear into the back of Jemmy’s neck.
“Does anyone else have the heebie jeebies?” Mercedes shuddered before rubbing the back of her neck.
Mercedes, Jace, Pops, and Jaxson seemed too anxious to sit and were standing by the window peering down.
Megan was standing behind Pops soothingly running a hand over his back.
She placed her chin on his shoulder, and he absent-mindedly reached out to her in appreciation.
I noticed Sierra was tightly grasping Gavin’s hand now.
It was a tense moment, and I knew I wasn’t the only one praying that this procedure would work.
I slowly breathed in and exhaled approximately three times anticipating the removal of the chip.
Two things happened simultaneously, Aiko let out a startled yelp then Jemmy’s back bowed, and she let out a blood curdling scream.
The lights began to flicker on and off until we were plunged into total darkness.
“What the—”
“She shouldn’t have felt that!”
“What did she do?”
“What did you do?”
Remy immediately drew me into his arms and cradled me as if he was worried about my safety. My heart was racing so hard I didn’t even attempt to break free from his hold. Jemmy’s screams abruptly stopped, and the lights came back on.
I unburied my face from Remy’s chest and saw Aiko looking up at us. She held up her hands and in between her thumb and pointer she held something up. Her fingers had blood coating them. Noah was already healing Jemmy.
He was the first to speak. “The damage was minimal. It was a clean extraction.”
Aiko attempted to say something, but it came out as a croak.
She tried again, clearing her throat. “I’ve removed and explored the human body several times.
I’ve never felt any resistance when removing foreign or damaged objects/organs.
The moment I touched the chip it shocked me, and it was as if it wanted to remain in her.
It began to attempt to burrow deeper in.
I had to fight it to remove it. If I didn’t know this was just an object, I would assume it—had a mind of its own. ”
Pops went over to the intercom and pressed the button to speak to Aiko. “We’ll have to look into it. Thank you so much for your assistance.”
Aiko merely nodded before placing the chip in the metal pan Dr. Wyatt held out to her. He spoke reassuring words to her that I was unable to hear. Even from a distance I could see she was still shaken up. She nodded again before walking over to the trash receptacle and removing her gloves.
As the doors shut behind her, I found myself praying that the chip hadn’t done irrevocable damages to Jemmy in the long run.