Stairway to Somewhere

Secret Plans

Phoebe laid down on the table while the others surrounded her. Lloyd, now holding the magnetic stood beside her head.

"What are the odds the magnet is strong enough to rip the implant out my head?"

Lloyd looked at Tony, who looked at Bethany, who looked at all the tools next to Lucy's feet.

"I'm going to say...not likely. But in the event it does, we clearly have a doctor on standby."

Lloyd patted Tony's back, who had his arms crossed, looking worried.

"I'm a nurse, actually. But I know what I'm doing. Nobody out there has a giant scar on their temples."

Bethany looked a bit squeamish about the situation.

"Since we have to wait for you all to get back to confirm this, I'm going to take the other girls back to the party. Cold operating rooms are bad for my nerves."

She gave Lloyd a gentle touch on his arm and she walked past him to the other girls. Lloyd bent down and slowly raised the cube to Phoebe's temple.
"You should do a countdown." Lucero suggested.

"I'm not cutting or inserting anything." Lloyd told him. "She shouldn't feel any pain."

Phoebe's head suddenly jerked to the side, slamming into the cube. She let out a small gasp and Lloyd let go of the cube, who's weight was now tilting her head to the side.

"Shit!" Lloyd panicked. "That didn't hurt that much...right?"

"I..I guess not, but is it now stuck to me?" she asked as she tried to pull it.
"Guys, I think it's stuck."

"Ok, this is not a major problem." Tony said as he sprinted over to a box of tools. Pulling out a meat mallet, he walked back over with a devilish grin.

"I know a couple ways of demagnetizing objects. You might want to cover your ears."

Lloyd backed up as Tony descended upon Phoebe. He still had his earplugs from the party, but judging the way Tony raised the mallet, this was going to be loud. Lloyd covered his ears.

WHAM!

The table shook and Phoebe flinched, but Tony held up the magnet triumphantly.

"That was easy. Luce, give me one of those screwdrivers."

The younger brother acquiesced to this request and Tony promptly touched it to the magnet and let go, watching it fall to the floor.

"Easy as pie. I have a way to remagnetize it, I also have other magnets somewhere that won't try to break the patient's neck. I'll explore both options until you two return."

Phoebe sat up and Lloyd took a closer look at her temple. The light on the implant looked dimmed, maybe. He had no clue.

"You ready to go?" Lloyd whipped out his phone to hail a car. Phoebe looked at Lucero, who was rushing over to her with a white box.

"Every patient gets a treat before they leave. You did a good job." He told her as opened the box, revealing a wide assortment of candy. She pulled out a mini chocolate bar and gave him a fist bump.

"Thank you Lucy. We'll be back a little bit later, but you might be asleep by then."

"Asleep? I can't sleep yet, I'm on the job."

Behind him, Tony was shaking his head. He put his palms together to feign sleep and then mouthed the words: five minutes. Phoebe smiled at the two of them.

"I kinda wish I had a brother."
Just then, Bethany opened door, only sticking her head into the room.

"Are we leaving or what? I should've said it earlier but I'm coming with. We need to be able to confirm your theory, after all."