2. The Ash-Blonde Woman
Edgar and Delia lay side by side and naked. Again and again, Delia found her gaze running up and down Edgar's nearly hairless body, admiring those youthful muscles. Her hand brushed his cock, limp now but not small. "You are a pretty good fuck" she said.
"Thanks," Edgar said. "I think that I really needed... That was a great way to start back over."
"So what happens next?" Delia asked. "I mean -- I'm happy for this to be a one-off, if you like.
I
must seem quite weird to
you
, after all."
"Is that what you want?"
"No! Well, not really. I'm not pretending that this was
love
or anything, that's all. You have a great ass, and I wanted you, and the rest of you turned out not to be so bad either. I'd love to do this again. But you were right, I don't know much about being Restarted. I mean, what do you think about us youngsters? What's the normal way things go between you and people like me?"
"There is no
normal way
." Edgar sighed. "This is all very new for everyone, you know. And I'm still putting my mind back together. I'm making this us as I go along!"
"So we just carry on for now?" Delia smiled.
"Perhaps. But there are -- other things I've learned."
"How do you mean?"
Edgar sighed, and then reached for his clothes. "Come on," he said, "there's someone I want you to meet."
Delia quickly showered and dressed in casual clothes, then followed Edgar willingly, although he had turned silent now. He led her through the relatively quiet Sunday-midday streets to the plain building that she'd barely previously registered when she'd passed it, although a sign on the gate made its function as a specialist hospital quite plain. He waved a pass at the receptionist, and then signed Delia in as a guest; the receptionist was too briskly efficient to show any signs of curiosity as to the young woman's interest there. Then Edgar took Delia along plain, well-let corridors to a side room, entering after knocking on the door briefly.
The room had one occupant, a slim, young-looking woman with ash-blonde hair and brown eyes, clad in a plain tunic and a long skirt, sitting in an armchair next to the hospital bed. The woman looked up when they entered, and smiled politely.
"Oh, hello," she said "it's Edgar, isn't it? Who's this, a new friend?"
"Hello Ann" said Edgar. "Yes, this is Delia. Delia, this is Ann."
Ann stood up, and Delia shook her hand, and looked as carefully as seemed polite at her smooth, flawless skin. Feminine curves aside, and she had some, Ann had a little more body fat than Edgar, but not much.
"Forgive me," Delia said, "but I gather that you're Restored too."
"Yes -- isn't it marvelous what they can do these days? A whole new life! I've been reading about the world, and deciding what I want to do." She gestured at a heap of magazines and books.
"Excuse us a moment," Edgar said, and drew Delia out of the room.
"She seems nice," said Delia. "A bit vague, though. Did they have to wipe a lot of her memory?"
"In a way. Most of it was already gone, I'm afraid. She was an early case -- a bit of an experiment, really; they risked it with her because she had so little to lose. You're right; she doesn't remember much. For example..." he paused
"What?" Delia stared at him.
"She doesn't remember me. Which does feel weird, as you put it, because we were married for sixty years."
Delia gasped. "God!" she said, then drew breath.
Edgar smiled wryly. "Yes. Actually, legally speaking, we're still married. The law hasn't caught up with this sort of thing, I suppose." He paused. "And now, I'm afraid that I have shocked you."
"Wow. I don't know. It is weird, isn't it?"
"Weird is barely the word. I don't know how to talk to her. Our family has been scared witless by the whole thing, and don't come to see either of us -- I can't blame them, our own kids are nice retired people who look too old to be our parents -- so I'm stuck here trying to work out what to do. You helped me a lot this morning, but I won't blame you if you leave things here. This sort of thing isn't your problem."
Delia shook her head. "It
is
weird," she said, "but I guess it's fascinating too, and I like helping people." She smirked a little at that, then pushed that chain of thought aside. "Now. Can we talk to her some more?"
"Of course. She likes visitors. She's very bright, I should say -- she always was. She's just still collecting stuff to be bright
about
. Come on." He reopened the door to the room.
Delia and Edgar sat on upright chairs opposite Ann as she talked about the books she'd been reading -- travelogues and popular science stuff, as it turned out, and she did indeed seem bright enough to understand everything -- and then as she asked about Delia, who talked a little about her job. Then Delia decided to risk a question of her own.
"Do you get out of here much?" she asked.
"Oh yes, sometimes." Ann laughed. "They couldn't stop me -- I'm a legal adult, you know, and perfectly healthy -- but I'm still learning enough to get around safely on my own. I like going for walks when one of the therapists or nurses has got time to go with me."
Delia nodded. "Perhaps you'd like to go out this afternoon, with us? We could have lunch somewhere, together." Out of the corner of her eye, Delia saw Edgar tense a little at that. She guessed that he found dealing with Ann confusing and a little distressing, naturally enough, but lacking his emotional baggage, she liked the woman, and did feel an urge to help her.
"I'd love that!" Ann almost sprang to her feet, and Delia smiled.