"Right now, I guess," replied the nurse. "Just a few minutes ago his
stomach was as flat as the way it was when you saw it."
"We'd better give him a shot of morphine to put him out of his pain,"
said the first doctor, "and then we'll X-ray him."
Ollie was in a semi-coma as they lifted him off his bed and wheeled him
into the X-ray room. He didn't hear a word of the ensuing discussion
about the photographs, although the doctors talked freely in front of
him--freely and profanely.
It was Dr. Manson who demanded, "What in God's name are those things,
anyway?"
"They look like pineapples and grapefruit," replied the bewildered
X-ray specialist.
"Square-edged pineapples? Grapefruit with one end pointed?"
"I didn't say that's what they are," returned the other defensively. "I
said that's what they look like. The grapefruit could be eggplant," he
added in confusion.
"Eggplant, my foot. How the devil did they get into his stomach,
anyway? He's been eating like a pig, but even a pig couldn't have
gotten those things down its throat."
"Wake him up and ask him."
"He doesn't know any more than we do," said the nurse. "He told me that
it felt as if somebody was hitting him in the stomach. That's all he'd
be able to tell us."
"He's got the damnedest stomach I ever heard of," marveled Dr. Manson.
"Let's open it up and take a look at it from the inside."
"We'll have to get his consent," said the specialist nervously. "I know
it would be interesting, but we can't cut into him unless he's willing."
"It would be for his own good. We'd get that unsliced fruit salad out
of him." Dr. Manson stared at the X-ray plates again. "Pineapples,
grapefruit, something that looks like a banana with a small bush on
top. Assorted large round objects. And what looks like a nut. A small
nut."
If Ollie had been aware, he might have told Dr. Manson that the nut
was the kernel of the trouble. As it was, all he could do was groan.
"He's coming to," said the nurse.
"Good," asserted Dr. Manson. "Get a release, Nurse, and the minute he's
capable of following directions, have him sign it."
* * * * *
In the corridor outside, two white-clad interns stopped at the door of
Ollie's room and listened. They could not properly have been described
as man and woman, but at any rate one was male and the other female. If
you didn't look at them too closely, they seemed to be human, which, of
course, was what they wanted you to think.
"Just as I said," observed Zolto. "They intend to operate. And their
attention has already been drawn to the nut."
"We can stop them by violence, if necessary. But I abhor violence."
"I know, dear," Zolto said thoughtfully. "What has happened is clear
enough. He kept sending all that food through, and our people analyzed
it and discovered what it was. They must have been surprised to
discover no message from us, but after a while they arrived at the
conclusion that we needed some of our own food and they sent it to us.
It's a good thing that they didn't send more of it at one time."
"The poor man must be in agony as it is."
"Never mind the poor man. Think of our own situation."
"But don't you see, Zolto? His digestive juices can't dissolve such
unfamiliar chemical constituents, and his stomach must be greatly
irritated."
She broke off for a moment as the nurse came past them, giving them
only a casual glance. The X-ray specialist followed shortly, his face
reflecting the bewilderment he felt as a result of studying the plate
he was holding.
"That leaves only Dr. Manson with him," said Zolto. "Pojim, I have a
plan. Do you have any of those pandigestive tablets with you?"
"I always carry them. I never know when in this world I'll run into
something my stomach can't handle."
"Fine." Zolto stepped back from the doorway, cleared his throat, and
began to yell, "Calling Dr. Manson! Dr. Manson, report to surgery!"
"You've been seeing too many of their movies," said Pojim.
But Zolto's trick worked. They heard Dr. Manson mutter, "Damn!" and saw
him rush into the corridor. He passed them without even noticing that
they were there.
"We have him to ourselves," said Zolto. "Quick, the tablets."
They stepped into the room, where Zolto passed a small inhalator back
and forth under Ollie's nose. Ollie jerked away from it, and his eyes
opened.
"Take this," said Pojim, with a persuasive smile. "It will ease your
pain." And she put two tablets into Ollie's surprised mouth.
Automatically, Ollie swallowed and the tablets sped down to meet the
collection in his stomach. Pojim gave him another smile, and then she
and Zolto were out of the room.
To Ollie, things seemed to be happening in more and more bewildering
fashion. No sooner had these strange doctors left than Dr. Manson came
rushing back, cursing, in a way that would have shocked Hippocrates,
the unknown idiot who had summoned him to surgery. Then the nurse
came in, with a paper. Ollie gathered that he was being asked to sign
something.