✅ Project SETI Trilogy

Chapter One - Part V: Recovery

          The next time Nova woke up, he was alone in the room. The first thing he noticed was the cool stream of oxygen flowing up his nostrils, and then, as he opened his eyes, he noticed the digital clock mounted on the wall near the ceiling. In large neon blue lettering, it told him it was 21:34:07. He watched the seconds count up as his consciousness returned to him fully, and he noticed that the soft beeping of the heart monitor was almost perfectly in-time with the seconds counter. He looked around, found the source of it, and observed his own vitals. Everything was normal, and as he suspected, his heart rate fluctuated between fifty-eight and sixty-two beats per minute.

          He pressed his fingers into his abdomen to see if he could feel any substantial changes. As he felt around and discovered the hard mass firmly lodged inside his uterus, he also noticed that the pulse oximeter was on his thumb and found it odd. He took it off, pulled it out from beneath the blanket to get a good look at it, and then promptly stuck it back on his index finger. When the asystole alarm continued to blare, he panicked a bit and stuck it back on his thumb, but it must have been just off, because the fussy monitor didn't pick up his pulse or body temperature.

          Gabriel flew through the door with an urgent look on his face that immediately softened upon seeing Nova conscious and trying to figure out the pulse oximeter.

          "I'm sorry, it's just, this thing—"

          "Don't worry about it," Gabriel said as he turned off the alarm and took the small device from him. "Fucking thing is broken."

          Nova giggled helplessly as he forcefully threw it across the room and into the small metal disposal bin in the corner. It bounced off the wall, and then clanged around in the bin for a second before the device whirred to life and incinerated it. In that particular moment, it was just the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen.

          "That's funny, huh?" He looked amused as Nova gathered himself. "And I have to ask, did you take the pulse ox off on purpose, so I'd come running?"

          His cheeks flushed. "No... I just thought... aren't you not supposed to take the pulse from the thumb...?"

          Gabriel opened a small supply closet nearby. "You've got it a bit mixed up," he said as he quickly opened and closed various drawers and tiny doors in search of another pulse oximeter, "you're not supposed to use your thumb to measure someone else's pulse, because it has its own pulse. Might not be able to tell the difference between your pulse and the other person's."

          "Oh..." He committed the information to memory. "Right."

          Gabriel returned to his side and slipped a functional pulse ox onto his index finger. This time, the monitor picked up his pulse and body temperature right away.

          "You don't actually need this anymore," he tapped the small device on his finger, then turned off the oxygen supply and put the nasal cannula away. "You did great."

          "Did I?" Nova squinted at him; he hoped that there was a little more to it than that.

          "Overall? Definitely," he smiled as he lowered the guard rail of the bed so he could sit on it. He tapped Nova's leg and rested his hand on his thigh. "Although you had what I'm gonna call an allergic reaction at first. The other two times this happened, it actually ended in a very, very messy 'time called'..." Gabriel cleared his throat and broke eye contact for a few moments as he willed the gory images from his mind. "But I figured out a way to prevent this reaction from becoming fatal in your case."

          Nova had looked concerned as he continued to explain, but then he looked a little smug. "I knew you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me."

          "Hmph," he raised his brows and grinned, as if to say, alright, alright! Ya got me, and gently moved his hand to-and-fro down the length of Nova's thigh. "Well... you did need to be defibrillated. Twice. After the egg stabilized, you had a brief episode of supraventricular tachycardia," he trailed his hand up to cup one of his breasts, "but then... I shocked your fat tits again, just for my own pleasure."

          His blood rushed and his hair stood on end as Gabriel explained further and squeezed his chest. His pulse spiked, but in his altered state, he wasn't quite sure what to say to him.

          "Then," he continued after a beat and moved his hand so it rested over his pubic bone, "I fucked you 'til you could breathe on your own again."

          Nova sucked air in through his teeth as he applied sudden pressure to his pussy through the gown and blanket. He squeezed his thighs together and trapped Gabriel's hand in response.

          "Heh," he chuffed as he wriggled free of Nova's grip, "and... I came aaallll over your lovely belly," he paused to run his hand up his distinct treasure trail and looked up at him. He was afflicted; he looked a little tortured, but immensely turned on. "You also stopped breathing for a minute after you were extubated. But you came back with little intervention, because you're such a good, strong boy..."

          Nova leaned into his touch as he affirmatively pet his face. "I wish I could have seen it."

          "I'm not stupid," Gabriel said incredulously. "There's webcams in all those overhead lights. For educational and security purposes, mostly, but... well, y'know."

          Nova's face lit up at the realization. He'd not seen any security cameras anywhere in the room, nor had he noticed the overhead-light-cameras when he laid down, but he reasoned that they must have been impossibly tiny and hard to see while blinded by the light. "You thought of everything, huh?"

          "You know it, babe," he winked and flashed a confident smirk as he placed his hand on the stethoscope in his pocket. He noticed Nova's gaze following his movement and the hint of a hopeful look when he closed his fingers around the tubing. "How are you feeling? Any pain or nausea?"

          "Not in any pain," he said. "Still feeling a bit weird from the anesthetic..."

          "Weird how?"

          "Kinda dizzy... definitely still feel high," he pushed the blanket down to his waist, then pulled the gown off of his shoulders and pushed that down, too. He looked up at him expectantly when he was done, "but... maybe you can just make sure it's not affecting my heart...?"

          "Alright," Gabriel sounded conclusive and yielding as he put the stethoscope in his ears. "But I've got some 'end of shift' stuff to attend to. I'm off in—" he glanced at the clock as he rubbed the diaphragm against his palm to warm it, "about forty-five minutes."

          "Would you—?"

          "Shu-shush," Gabriel pressed his finger against his lips as he positioned the stethoscope on his chest. "You know I can't hear your lovely little pump properly if you talk."

          Nova submitted and laid quietly while he listened to and studied his chest. Gabriel took his time and listened for at least twenty seconds at each auscultation landmark. When he moved the bell from the aortic valve over to the pulmonic valve, he pressed his fingers into his carotid pulse and smiled at him. Nova smiled back, but then had to look away when a wave of vulnerability came over him.

          "Your heart is perfect," he announced when he was done. "No skips, no murmurs, no splitting... you're fine and unaffected," he paused to put his stethoscope away and shift mood, "but anyway, if you stick around, I'll blaze you when I'm done here."

          "That sounds ideal, to be honest."

          "Alright. I'll see ya in a bit then," he turned to leave, but then turned around to tap on a closet door, "oh yeah, your clothes and stuff are in here."