He passed her a heavy power instrument with a large drill bit at the end. Using both hands, she somehow knew what to do with it. Holding the bone perforator tightly in one hand, she tested the tool by pressing the button with her other thumb. It quickly spun to life, working smooth and fast.
She pressed the drill bit onto the clean, shiny skull at just the right spot. Giving the button a squeeze, the bit spun fast, digging into the bone. The surgeon rinsed warm irrigation fluid over the area until there was a slight plunge. Wiggling the device a bit, she pulled it back out, took a breath, and repeated the procedure. She followed the same routine four times. Once she had pushed completely through, she was ready to wash the area with warm irrigating fluid of her own. She felt with her fingertip the firm, healthy tissue that was waiting for her.
“Doctor Kato? Are you ready?” someone asked her again. A different voice. Familiar.
“Huh?” she said back, trying to open her eyes. “I’ve already started.”
“I think you dozed off for a few minutes.” It was Jerome. He was standing over her at the side of the bed, casting a shadow.
She balled her hands into fists. “What do you want?”
“Mister Melendez would like to see you.”
Once reality settled in, June relaxed her hands and sat up on the edge of the bed. “Crap. I think I was dreaming.”
She rubbed her face, and then remembered she was wearing only a robe. It might’ve been okay to run down the hall in her robe if there were no men around, but not with the current arrangements. Closing herself in the bathroom, she washed her face, pinched her cheeks, put on a bit of lipstick, ignored replacing the eyeliner, fluffed her hair, and put a tiny dot of gardenia perfume on her chest. She found clean clothes, not so classy but comfortable.
While she dressed, she rethought her assessment of Jerome’s duties. Maybe he got the assignment of transporting someone from one place to another, rather than just being the bigger and brawnier of the team. But she didn’t care about the answer right then. She had naptime cobwebs to push aside and a date to finish. She didn’t bother with shoes when she went to the door, Jerome right behind.
“Why do I feel like I’m being fed to the lion?” June said, reaching for the door latch.
Just as she got her hand on it, Jerome stopped her.
“Wait,” whispered Jerome.
June stepped aside and let Jerome go to the door. He peeked out the peephole before turning to face her. “Leopold was supposed to have this talk with you earlier but he never had the chance. If anything should happen, we’ll need to use code names in case our communications channels are compromised.”
“What, like nicknames for each other?”
He nodded. “Leopold would be known as Whistles, and I would be called Happiness. But if something should happen, do exactly as you are told by either me or Leopold. Understand?”
“You choose those?”
“Understand?” he repeated.
“Yeah, fine. But I seriously doubt…”
“Let me clue you in on something, Doctor. Just between you and me, if shit hits the fan, Mister Melendez is our client, not you. Mostly, you’d be on your own.”
In the hallway walking toward another suite, June asked, “If the two of you are Whistles and Happiness, what name have you given Jack?”
“You don’t need to know,” Jerome said. “It changes every day.”
“Okay, so who am I today?”
“Chickadee.”
June looked at him after she got the answer. “Oh really?”
“Nothing personal,” he told her, straight-faced.
Jerome opened Suite Three’s door to find Jack standing there. Leopold stood next to him. While June lingered at the door waiting for a prompt on what to do, Jerome went into the room to stand at the end of a short hallway. Jack smiled and stepped back into the middle of the room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I had some work to finish,” Jack said to June.
June went in right past Jerome and Leopold. At first glance, she could tell it was a mirror image of her suite. “Where are all the busy people in uniforms with computers and headsets talking on satellite link-ups solving Earth’s crises?” she asked.
“Soon enough, if everything goes well in the next few months.”
“I can’t talk to the Russian President?”
Jack smiled. “Maybe later.”
They looked at each other from a full step apart.
“Thanks, guys,” Jack said to Jerome and Leopold. He shook Leopold’s hand. “I really appreciate you doing this.”
Leopold grunted. “A pleasure, Jack. As always.”
Jack went to his room door and opened it. “We’ll be fine.”