I, Robot: To Obey by Mickey Zucker Reichert

Author:Mickey Zucker Reichert [Reichert, Mickey Zucker]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780451464828
Publisher: Roc Hardcover
Published: 2013-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Although Susan had missed only a day and a half of work, Winter Wine Dementia Facility already seemed strange and she had to adjust to the odor of it again. The first hour dragged. Loath to bother Susan, the nurses took most of their concerns directly to Kendall, and she found herself shadowing him to keep the entire staff, including Kendall, from tiptoeing around her. Chuck Tripler was gone, recovering in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit, and Thomas Heaton had gotten transferred to a therapy facility with specialists assigned to help him relearn written language by equating it with musical notes. Barbara Callahan remained on Unit 1 as the cannabis slowly left her system. The drug normally had a long half-life, and her age further delayed its secretion. Discharge planning was already in the works, and Susan doubted the frequent bounce-back patient would ever return to the facility.

Left mostly to her own devices, Susan focused on discovering other patients with treatable forms of dementia. After several false leads, she finally discovered Kado Matsuo. His age attracted her attention first. At forty-three, he fell into the early-onset category, although Susan quickly noted he did not carry the diagnosis of actual dementia but of post-traumatic psychosis, which fit his symptoms of sudden-onset delusions and hallucinations after a divorce. Reading through his chart, Susan noted other clues: night terrors in which he would wake up screaming and agitated, then return to sleep with no memory of the event, insomnia, and generalized odd behavior, including extreme hyperactivity, irritability, and even aggression. The latter symptom had kept him in Winter Wine Dementia Facility for about two months.

Kado was a thin, disheveled man of Japanese descent who fought Susan, forcing her to do a quick and abbreviated examination. She noted no obvious abnormalities. His senses seemed acute, he moved all his limbs fully, and his heart and lung sounds were normal. His only abnormal finding was hyperactive bowel sounds, which led her to check on his eating and toilet habits.

Over the months, the nurses had noted persistent vomiting, though not in excessive amounts. He also had bouts of diarrhea. He drank water and refused juice. When offered a veritable smorgasbord, he demonstrated a strong preference for fatty meats. He appeared unnaturally slender but not skeletal, and Susan noted no signs of dehydration. Anorexia was not an uncommon finding in confused individuals; they sometimes forgot to eat or whether they had eaten, which could result in under- or overnourishment. However, Susan did not think she would see anyone malnourished in a fully staffed facility like Winter Wine.

Susan looked over Kado’s chart more critically. Previous physical examinations had noted nothing abnormal, no signs to indicate anything other than an internal brain disorder. Still, the persistent vomiting and dietary oddities stuck in her mind, sending Susan to her palm-pross for research.

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