Ben’s heart attack was no surprise. Morbid obesity and a sedentary lifestyle have always put him at risk. He knew this. Doctors reminded him every time his neglected body necessitated a trip to the local clinic. It still surprised him.

It started feeling like heartburn. Ben cursed himself for indulging his love for hot sauce. The heartburn persisted for three days. Ben woke up from a nightmare on the third day. He dreamt that a circus elephant grabbed him from the audience with its trunk, and threw him down in the circus ring before stepping on his chest. There was no elephant, just this elephantine pressure in his chest as his heart struggled due to blood starvation.

Ben’s watch called 911 when he lost consciousness, and his heart rate fluctuated wildly. Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes, keeping him alive on the 30-minute trip to the nearest hospital.

***

For a second time that night, Ben experienced a nightmare. In this dream, he was abducted by aliens. They had him strapped down and floating with the aliens guiding him, probably to their ship. He could not see them clearly, but one was straddling him and appeared to be digging into his chest. Bright lights appeared and disappeared. For a moment Ben felt curious about what the alien was looking for in his chest, then he blacked out again.

Ben drifted in and out of consciousness, and suddenly woke when he remembered the aliens. ‘Welcome back to the land of the living!’, a face appeared in Ben’s line of sight, and it took a second for his eyes to focus. It was a pretty young woman with beautiful blue-green eyes. Her hair was pulled back and pinned under a white cap. The cap had a big red cross pinned to it. She smiled prettily with dimples forming in her cheeks. A nurse. A pretty nurse!

Ben again was overcome with panic when he was unable to speak. There was a pipe in his mouth delivering oxygen down his throat into his lungs.

Another head appears. ‘Ben, I am Doctor Adams. You are intubated and connected to a ventilator. You suffered cardiac arrest and are unable to breathe on your own. Nurse Watts is giving you something that will help you sleep. We will talk again when you wake up.’ Nurse Watts flashes another dimpled smile while she injects something into the IV line.

Ben sleeps, dreaming of dark-haired angels with radiant smiles and white caps wearing cartoonish nurse outfits.

***

When Ben wakes up later his throat hurts. He remembers the doctor and the pretty nurse, and something in his throat, a pipe. That is now gone. ‘Good morning Mr. Brown! ‘. It was nurse dimples. She holds a glass of water with a straw near his mouth. ‘Drink some water if you can. It helps with the soreness.’ Ben takes a tentative sip and carefully swallows the cold water. It feels great and he grabs the straw between his lips and greedily sucks down the soothing water.

‘I’ll help you drink more water after the doctor sees you. I’ll also bring a cup of crushed ice.’ Nurse Watts steps away and Doctor Adams takes her place. Ben tries to look at Nurse Watts as she walks away. He is curious to see if her ass is as cute as her smile. He cannot turn his head.

‘Ben, the clot that caused the heart attack also caused a stroke. The stroke damaged the part of your brain that controls motor function. You can breathe on your own, and since your spine is intact you still have all sensation in your body. You are unable to move your muscles from your neck down.’ Doctor Adams manages to look sorry.

‘I am very sorry Ben. Nothing on this earth can be done to reverse this condition.’ The doctor smiles and displays the same dimples as Nurse Watts. Ben wonders if they could be related. An oversized stethoscope hangs around the doctor’s neck, and he has an elastic strap around his head that holds an old-fashioned light. Ben thought he looked like someone trying to look like a doctor, but a doctor from an old movie or comic book.

The doctor has striking teal-colored eyes, and he blinks twice. The first blink sweeps his eyes from the corners with a semi-transparent membrane. Then he blinked normally. Watching the blinks in reverse was even more creepy. Ben is unable to look away or exclaim his surprise.

‘Nothing on this earth Ben! There is another way to restore your body, for a small price.’ Doctor Adams blinks excitedly, and Ben closes his own eyes. That sideways blink is disturbing! ‘My people can make your body whole again! In return, we ask that you share your body with one of our young ones. You will not even know that it is there!’

‘Think about it. You can refuse and stay here where you cannot be helped, or agree to our terms and be made better!’ Doctor Adams touches Ben’s arm, ‘Nurse Watts will care for you. She will explain what we require from you in exchange for healing your body.’ With another dimpled smile, the doctor turns away and leaves the room.

***

‘My name is Megan’, nurse Watts is feeding Ben small ice chips. ‘Ben, if you agree to be healed by my people we will introduce one of our young into your body. It will share your energy, and in return keep you healthy. It will remain with you for 12 earth years, after which it will return to us. The alternative is to remain in your current condition. We need each other Ben, you want to be healthy, and we need a host.’

Megan performs a double blink and notices the look in Ben’s eyes. ‘I forget myself! The inside blink freaks people out! We only do it around people we trust. On our planet, we only blink with the inside lids, and use the outside ones for sleeping. We will blink both sets in unison around earthlings, but it requires much effort. It is such a relief to blink normally.’

***

Ben could not sleep. He met aliens! Bona fide beings from another world. Obviously far more advanced than humans in many ways. They can heal him if he agrees to take a passenger. Or is it a parasite? They don’t have to ask for permission. Ben feels sure any human in the same position would not have asked.

The prospect of living in his current condition is terrifying. He will forever need care. Basically, he is in a coma, but awake! He is guaranteed to suffer mentally. He might literally lose his mind!

Ben decides to take the aliens’ offer.

***

For the second time that week Ben is strapped to a gurney. This time however he is surrounded by actual aliens, and he actually floats in the air. Bright lights appear and disappear as the troupe of aliens walk their patient down various hallways. Ben could not tell if he was in a building or a spaceship. Judging by the length of these hallways it has to be a building.

They finally stop and enter a room filled with strange machines and objects with unknown purposes. Metal arms unfold from overhead to guide Ben’s floating gurney into a tube-shaped container. The tube seals and the gurney is pulled down with what must be a magnetic field.

The tube immediately fills with a greenish liquid and Ben instinctively holds his breath. A smaller metal arm unfolds from the end of the tube and delivers an electric charge to his feet. He gasps and breathes in the liquid, his brain protesting the strange sensation, before relaxing when his body fills with oxygenated blood. That was the best breath he had ever had, Ben thought.

Another compartment opened and a small squid-like creature entered the tube. It swam to Ben’s head and softly explored his face with its tentacles. It had two large eyes, and blinked using two sets of eyelids before releasing a red cloud over Ben’s mouth and nose. Ben blacked out.

***

Ben woke with a start. He had a nightmare. In his dream, he was swimming in the ocean. A large octopus wrapped itself around his chest and attempted to enter his mouth, choking him. The choking woke him up. He was wide awake. He felt fantastic. He had no back pain, and his neck and shoulders did not hurt.

Ben got up to use the toilet. Out of habit he sat to urinate. His prostate made this bodily function a long and slow process. This morning he emptied his bladder with such force that he peed over the toilet seat onto the floor before he used his hand to direct the stream into the bowl. God that felt good!

Ben finished, grabbed a handful of toilet paper, mopped up the floor and seat, and then flushed everything away. He was hungry. Very hungry. He could hear and feel his gut ask for food. Ben washed his hands, yawned, stretched and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He blinked. Twice. The first blink sweeps his eyes from the corners with a semi-transparent membrane. Then he blinked normally. Ben grins at his reflection and reminds himself how to blink in public. Shit, even his hair looked thicker!

Time to shower, then time to eat! It’s good to feel good!