Having Fun with Dyce and Payne

Chapter 4

22. Operation Day

It was a little after 5:00 o'clock in the morning and the lights went on in Payne Temple's room. She neither saw nor heard anything because she was sound asleep, at least for the moment. The nurses went about their business, setting up the intravenous bags, injectable medications, razors, and sterilization items and then, they woke Payne up.

Payne looked around the room, with a mixture of anxiety, apprehension, and outright fear. She had waited her entire life for this moment and all she wanted to do now was 'run away.'

The lead nurse saw the look in Payne's face and went over to comfort her. She had seen that look so many times before, from patients, old and young alike, and she understood how the thought of undergoing a procedure, of this magnitude, could cause such alarm. She talked with Payne for a time and assured her that today; she was in the hands of the best team of doctors, nurses, and operating room specialist in the world. This team knew Payne had waited her entire life for this day. They would move heaven and earth to give her the absolute best result possible. This was her team. They were assembled downstairs going over her procedure, step-by-step, for probably the fifteenth time. The nurse hugged Payne. She asked her to try to stay calm and in a short time, she was going to give her medication that would help her relax.

Payne thanked the nurse for her kindness and tried to do as she asked. She closed her eyes and thought of Dycke. She believed she had fallen asleep and started smiling because she heard his favorite greeting: "Good morning, gorgeous." She moaned with delight while her eyes were still closed, not wanting to interrupt her dream. When he repeated her favorite greeting "Good Morning, Gorgeous" and added a kiss to her dream, she opened her eyes wide and kissed the mirage back. The phantom was flesh and blood and Dycke's blue eyes were stared back at her. Payne said, "You can't be here. Visiting hours are not until ten o'clock and I will be in surgery until tonight."

Dycke smiled and replied, "Isn't it amazing what a large donation to a research hospital can get you."

Payne said, "Dycke, this money is going to your head."

He whispered into her ear "Which one?

Payne hit him, instantly.

Dycke said to her "Babe, if I cannot spend our money to be together with you, on the most important day of your life, I might as well just burn it."

"I love you so much, Dycke," she said.

He backed away from her and said, "I know and I deserve it."

Payne looked at him and growled, "You're lucky you are out of reach, otherwise, the little head would be detached from the big head."

Both nurses, in the room, could not help but laugh and told Dycke that he was upsetting their patient. One nurse said, "If you want to stay with our patient, you had better treat her nicely or you will be out on your rear."

Payne laughed at Dycke's discomfort. Three women were threatening him and he was just getting used to dealing with one. She called the nurses over to her bedside, introduced them to her fiancé, and showed them her ring. They both gasped.

The nurses asked "What is he, a drug dealer?"

Payne said "No. He owns a diamond mine."

The nurses looked at Dycke, turned back towards Payne, and said, "You're kidding, right?"

Payne chirped back "Nope!"

The nurses looked at Dycke again, shook their heads in disbelief, and just went back to their preparations for Payne's surgery, talking with each other.

A doctor, of Native American ancestry, walked into the room carrying, what looked like, a glass head. He said good morning to everyone and walked over to his patient. He introduced himself as Doctor Samuel Sage Wolf. He told Payne that he was her plastic surgeon." He showed Payne the baby picture taken on the day of her birth. He explained that they used advanced computer logarithms to age her picture to show what she might have looked like today. He took out a picture, 'showing an ugly witch's face, covered warts, and a long hooked nose.

Payne screamed "No!"

The doctor laughed and said, "Just kidding."

Payne screamed "No," turned toward Dycke, and said, "Did that bastard put you up to this?"

"Will it get me out of trouble, if I say yes?" he said?

Payne said, "Only if you want to testify at my murder trial."

"In that case, no he didn't." I do that to all my patients that have to undergo such a radical procedure, as yours. It lessens their expectations. Most patients feel they will come out of surgery looking like supermodels. It does not happen that way. I do the best I can with what there is for me to work with. I will not know that until my colleagues are finished with their portions of the operation. This model is what I will be aiming for. I hope I can do better than this but I won't know until later today." The doctor displayed the model to Payne and Dycke and discussed the technical challenges he would face to get that far.

Payne looked at the glass face. Is this what I was supposed to look like? She looked at the head from every angle. Finally, she said to Dycke, "I look like Steve."

Dycke said, "You are twins. We could say that Steve looks like you and we could call him a 'fairy."

Payne chuckled and said "Not after what I saw going on in his bedroom last month."

"Oh, really! Was it so good that we should film it and use it as training material?"

Payne replied "No. Your reading material seems to have given you skills that have you as advanced as I can take right now."

Doctor Sage Wolf intervened, saying he was going home to get some sleep. He would be back at the hospital by two o'clock this afternoon. His procedure should start between 3:30 and 4:30 this afternoon, if everything else was moving along on schedule. He picked up 'his head', said goodbye and departed.

As he started to sit down, the nurses told Dycke to 'get lost,' so they could prepare Payne for the operating room. They would page him when he could return to the room. Dycke was not happy but he complied with the order.

When the nurses paged him back to the room, Payne was already on the gurney, hooked up to the IV drips. The nurses had covered Payne's left hand with gauze and sealed in a plastic bag. Dycke did not understand the reason for this, so he asked a nurse about it.

She told him that Payne refused to take off her engagement ring. Therefore, they had to cover it and seal it off to prevent any possible infection, in the operating room.

Payne had already received her sedative and was very drowsy. Dycke told her that he was going to be at her side until they dragged him away. He kissed her as they started wheeling her toward the elevators and down to the operating room. When they reached the sign that said "Authorized Personnel Only, Dycke pulled the gurney to a stop. He looked Payne in the eye and said, "You are my love. Whatever happens in there today, we are one and always will be one. I love you Payne Temple and I always will." He kissed her and the attendants moved Payne beyond the doors and out of Dycke's sight. It would be twelve or more hours before the doctors would complete this miracle of medical science, technology, and luck. Dycke went to the hospital's chapel to ask for help from a higher authority. He asked for 'his God's' help for everyone involved with Payne's care. Dycke asked for help, so the people in the operating room could do their best work and that Payne would come through this operation 'healthy.' Nothing else mattered to him: 'Nothing!'

23. The Longest Day

It was 6:45a.m when the clock in the operating room began counting. The surgeons started by making incisions from the crown of Payne's head, along her hairline to a point just behind her ears. They came forward and then down in front of both ears and stopped just below her mandible. The doctors assisting this procedure sealed the bleeding blood vessels, immediately, limiting the amount of blood loss. The doctors pulled Payne's skin down, very carefully, to expose her badly damaged bone structure. Doctor Summitt, the cranial surgeon, got his first real view of the problems his patients face presented. He had studied all the X-rays, MRI's, and Bone Scans and thought to himself, "until you look at your patient like this. How could you have any idea where to begin?" Now he could start to work, putting together a face that was destroyed eighteen years before.

The surgical nurses changed their tables. Now, those tables looked like a high tech mechanics tool chest: electric chisels, hammers, grinders, probes, sanders, saws, a hole saws, knives, screws, and wires. They were all there and more were in the wings; waiting to be picked up by their master's. Every eventuality had been thought of, plus NASA's famous "What If" list had been used, as a just in case scenario.

By noon, Dycke was going crazy with worry. Piker Temple tried to calm him down with no success. Piker tried to explain to him that his behavior was making Alletta so nervous that she was going to be sick.

Dycke said "Dad, I don't know what to do with myself. I need to help her and I cannot. I want to see her and I cannot. I need to be with her and I cannot. I'm falling apart."

Piker replied saying, "Why don't you go back to your hotel and get some sleep? I'll call you, as soon as the operation is over."

Dycke said, "The police could not get me out of here, today."

Piker said "Fine. Would it be okay if I took Alletta to see your plane? Maybe that would distract her for a little while."

"Sure dad. Let me call and see who is available to show you two around the aircraft. I'll have a limo pick all of you up and take you to the hangar," Dycke said."

Piker replied, "Just put in the number and let me speak to anyone who answers. If they hear your voice the way it is, they will think you are under duress and start calling in the police, FBI, and the army to try to rescue you.

Dycke laughed and said, "You're probably right. Here dad, just hit one seven and Fiona should answer. She will tell you who is available."

"Well, dad, Fiona is a lot more than a hostess. She is former British Secret Service or as she put it 'MI 6.' She can handle weapons of all sorts. She is my bodyguard and escort, when I am going to be out of town, alone on business."

Mr. Temple laughed and said, "I want to be there, when you try to explain that to my daughter!"

Dycke said, "I already have that figured out, dad. Fiona is going to teach both of us 'martial arts.' I am going to tell Payne that Fiona is a lesbian. After a very tiring and sweaty workout at a gym, I will have Fiona make a casual pass at Payne, to solidify that allusion. That way, she will never have to worry about my fidelity. I will never cheat on her, dad, never. I love her too much. I would kill myself before I hurt her."

Piker told Dycke "In that case Dycke, tell her the truth, upfront. You will always get caught in a lie."

Dycke thought about this advice for a moment and asked, "Is this advice coming from Payne's father or from my lawyer?"

"Both" Piker said. "It's a great way to begin a solid relationship."

"Thanks, Dad. I will do it your way. I wasn't looking forward to Payne killing me if she ever found out the truth" Dycke replied.

Piker laughed and signaled for Dycke to be quiet as the phone started to ring. He started to walk away from the group so he could be alone for his conversation.

Fiona answered the call immediately because the ring was linked to only one caller, her new boss. She said, "Good morning, boss. How may I help you?"

"Fiona, this is Piker Temple, the guy you so gently accosted at the base of Dycke's aircraft the other morning. How are you today?" he asked?

Fiona said "Fine sir, but what are you doing with the Mister Schneider's phone?"

"Fiona, he has a problem that I was looking for some help with. They are operating on Payne, as we speak. Dycke has been upset since it started six hours ago and there may be another six or more to go, before the doctors are done. He will never make it that long. Do you guy's think that you could kidnap him and fly him around for a while so he can calm down?" Piker asked.

Fiona said, "Tell me exactly where you are and I will be there in short order." After he told her, she was out the door in five minutes. In her bag, she placed two marked syringes, one red, and one blue. She, also, had a small amount of a little green powder. Dycke would never know what hit him.

Fiona arrived at the hospital and went to the surgical waiting room. Dycke was pacing the floor. She said to him "Sir, I will have to tie you up if you don't calm down."

Not amused, Dycke said, "You're fired."

"Thank you, sir," Fiona said. "Now I can beat the shit out of you and still receive unemployment."

Dycke looked at Fiona as she put her bag down and took off her jacket. He said "Okay! You're not fired; I'll try to calm down."

Fiona said to him "That's the spirit boss. May I get you something to eat or drink?"

"Yes, I would like a bottle of soda, if you can find one." He said.

"Milk" Fiona said. "With the acid in your stomach now, if you were to drink anything like soda, orange juice, or coffee, you would be doubled over in pain in thirty minutes or less. So, it's milk or tea?"

Dycke said, "Do you see Mister Temple, All the things I told you, plus another mother hen." He then asked Fiona for milk.

"Good choice, boss, because that was what you were getting anyhow" Fiona replied.

Dycke said, "You know dad, somehow I don't feel like I'm the boss."

Piker Temple laughed at Dycke, while his wife elbowed him and asked, "What did he tell you?"

Piker said to her "In a little while dear, just wait and see."

Fiona went to a vending machine and selected a bottle of chocolate milk. She removed the green power from her purse, and put it in the bottle of milk. She made sure the top was on extremely tight. She shook it vigorously, walked back, and gave it to Dycke.

Dycke struggled to open the bottle and everyone laughed.

Fiona asked "Boss, are you so nervous that you have lost all of your strength?"

Dycke glared at her and put everything he had into opening the bottle until it finally gave in and opened.

"Way to go, Dycke," Piker said. "I can see that my daughter is in 'good hands!"

Alletta and Fiona laughed, while Dycke fumed and drank his milk to the very last drop.

Fiona said to Dycke, "Sir, you still look extremely nervous. Try this. It is an old trick of mine. Try counting backwards from ten."

Dycke said "Okay," not believing it would do anything." Ten-nine-eight-seven-six-five-four..." Dycke mumbled before he was asleep.

Piker laughed, again. Alletta looked at him, stunned. Fiona reached into her bag and removed the red syringe. She asked Piker for his assistance.

She said, "Mr. Temple, if you would hold Dycke's head like this, I will inject him with a sedative that will keep him asleep for six to ten hours. If needed, I can wake him up earlier by using an antidote but at least he will rest and cause himself and no one else any undue stress."

"Now, may I get you or your wife and food or drink because I will not leave while he is asleep."

Alletta looked at Fiona as if she were too good to be true. She asked her to explain her relationship with Dycke.

Fiona said, "Dycke and I have a very 'intimate' relationship!

Alletta gasped and said "What" as Piker laughed aloud. Alletta hit him and said, "What's so amusing, he's bedding our daughter. That woman may have some disease and Dycke may transfer it to Payne.

Fiona and Piker both laughed this time.

Alletta was furious now, and said, "Will someone let me in on this joke, please?"

Piker said "Okay dear. Do not laugh dear. Fiona is Dycke's bodyguard. She is a former British agent, the equivalent to our CIA. She is trained in all the martial arts. Soon, she will be teaching Payne and Dycke how to protect themselves. She will be getting other agents, soon, because she cannot be at both schools at the same time. If Dycke has to go out of town on business and Payne stays home, she becomes his 'escort' as a cover story. Do you understand, now?"

"Can she prove she was all the things she said she was" Alletta asked?

Fiona responded saying, "Spies don't get a report card when they leave the service. What they get is word of mouth accreditation from a colleague or a higher up when asked for by a trusted source. That is how I was recruited by Mr. Turnquest Schneider and Dycke inherited me from him."

Piker told Alletta that Fiona was very good when it came to protecting Dycke.

Alletta asked, "How would you know?"

Piker said, "You should have seen how thoroughly she frisked me." He grinned at wife as he said this.

Alletta said to him "You are going to pay, dearly, for that smile."

Fiona smiled and told Alletta that it was just her way of saying "Hello!"

Alletta asked "Do you say 'Hello' to everyone that way: Male and female?"

Fiona replied, "If a female has a certain, receptive look, absolutely. Moreover, if she is wearing a skirt, I can get her to cum in under a minute.

Alletta asked, "Did they teach you that in 'Spy School?"

"Some talents you are just born with, Alletta," Fiona said.

Three hours later, Fiona told the Temples to get something to eat or they would wind up like Dycke, who was lying across three chairs, breathing peacefully.

They left the room without incident.

Fiona went over to Dycke, put an oxygen sensor on his right index finger, and opened his left eye to check his pupil's reaction to light. His sensor reading was 98% and his pupil was reactive. Her 'boss' was doing just fine. She moved across the room from him. No one who came in would think she was with Dycke but she had a clear field of fire from this vantage point to protect him.

When the Temple's came back over an hour later, Alletta said "Some bodyguard! She's asleep on the job."

Fiona said, with her eyes still closed, "if you were anyone who looked threatening to Dycke, the gun that I have pointed at you, would have fired, and both of you would be dead.

Alletta snarked "Yeah, right. You have a gun in there, like I have a Popsicle in my panties."

Fiona said, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours?"

Alletta did not know what to say so she grabbed Piker and said, "Show me your gun."

Fiona took her left hand out of her bag. In it, she was holding a .40 caliber H & K pistol that was pointed directly at them. Fiona said "I've shown you mine; let me see the Popsicle that's in your panties."

Alletta grabbed Piker's zipper as he tried to pull away. He said to his wife "How did I get involved in your bet?"

She said to him "This is the only Popsicle that has ever been in my panties, so I have to show it to her."

Piker replied, "Just so you remember, Popsicle's are short, thin and ice cold. What you are grabbing is none of those three."

Alletta told him she knew that but she had no other Popsicle to show Fiona.

Fiona whistled and said to Alletta "You must be a very happily married woman. With the size of that 'Popsicle,' I would say he is larger than ninety percent of the guys out there."

Alletta looked at Fiona, then at her husband and back to Fiona, again. She said "Really?"

Fiona said "Absolutely!" I cannot tell you about what countries I was involved with when I was with the service, but I did a great deal of financial analysis in the field. The best way to learn what a foreign government is doing illegally is by following the money. The best way to do that is through a minister or his adjutant. While they are away from home, they see a pretty woman alone at a bar speaking German with an eastern accent. They relax because she is from the eastern side of Germany and she is not a threat to them or their country's interests. After a little, satisfying sex and a little spiked champagne, they will either tell you everything or tell you who knows what you need to know and how to get it. Then your friends place him back, over your naked body, in as close a coupling position as two people can be and inject him with a slow acting antidote. He or she will awaken in a few moments on top of the woman having no memory anything else occurred.