Chapter Twenty-Six: The Patient Duck

Several days passed and they had been the most normal days Chris remembered in a long time. Sam and Chris spent the days doing nothing in particular. One afternoon was spent downtown in the casinos. Although the blinking lights and noise did little help them relax, it made them forget many of the problems they would be forced to face eventually.

Between the two of them, they didn't have to worry about money. The university was paying for Chris's stay in Reno. A small cost considering what Chris offered them. Sam, although not wealthy, had received enough from her father's inheritance that she had no need to work. The diner provided enough to provide for her needs.

Little time was spent obsessing over the many things that troubled Chris. He had explained everything to Sam – the fusion and then sudden disappearance of the artificial arm. Sam didn't necessarily believe or disbelieve Chris on this topic, but Chris didn't expect her to believe him at all. He had long since dismissed the whole thing as a fabrication of his degenerating mind. Yet here he was in Reno – certainly his delusion didn't bring him here. Sam listened as he went through these thought processes. She didn't judge him, because she knew that the demons that haunted him now were beyond his control.

This day brought Sam and Chris to the river walk. Ducks floated in the water, slowly working their way upstream as the current fought to sweep them under the bridge. Content, they sat down on a bench to continue watching the ducks struggle. One particular duck seemed caught in a strong down-current, but continued to push forward upstream. The duck moved in almost a zig-zag pattern - not necessarily due to a devised strategy, but rather because this was where the current took him. The persistence and patience impressed Chris. It reminded him of how patient Sam had been with him. He knew how she felt and he felt the same way toward her. Yet, he continued to resist. Why?

"Samantha?" Chris said to get her attention. Sam felt chills when he said her name - he never used her full name. Not waiting for a response, he reached up to put his arm around her. With all the thoughts flooding his mind he didn't realize right away that Sam was sitting on his right – not the side of his good arm. And yet as he reached up he came to the stark realization that his arm had returned. The fully functioning arm that had been fused to him and then disappeared. “What the...!!” Chris fought back saying what he was thinking and immediately grabbed the arm with his other hand and struggled to pull it off. “I'll kill you!!”

The nonsensical threats alarmed Sam until she saw the mysterious limb once again attached to Chris. Her astonishment was short-lived and then she started laughing. She knew the implications and she knew Chris's frustration, but the sight of Chris attacking himself was more than she could contain.

“Chris! Calm down! There has to be an explanation. Just calm down,” she gently urged him.