The Bloodless by Andrew Gibson Page A

feel?”
                  Justice moved his arms, stretched his hands, wiggled his toes, and rolled his head on his shoulders. “I feel fine,” he said.
                  The doctor smiled, “We thought you would. You’re free to go anytime.”
                  With that, Justice was discharged from the hospital and from there he traveled up the elevator straight to his office. GoD Labs had a couple floors of the main building designated as an infirmary that ended up becoming one of the best hospitals in the region and it made sense since a lot of the experiments happening within the building had the potential to cause bodily harm to the scientists performing them. This was not the first time someone was injured during a demonstration and it certainly would not be the last. As he walked across the floor to his office, the other workers greeted and welcomed him back. Some people stared in wonder at him but Justice could not quite figure out why. Had they never seen someone who had been in a medically induced coma before?
                  Inside of his office there were all kinds of presents and gifts wishing him a speedy recovery. It was the traditional thing to do still even though almost all recoveries those days, especially in that hospital, were speedy ones. Justice walked around his office and stood in front of his windows taking everything in. He felt quite different. He seemed to have a greater sense of appreciation for all things, which was odd but he assumed that’s what happens when someone is put into a coma, even a medically induced one. He did not know any better, it was his first coma after all. But he felt almost healthier than he had before the accident, perhaps even a bit stronger.
                  After some time passed, Jack walked in and cleared his throat to catch Justice’s attention. “You still here?” Jack asked politely.
                  Justice turned around and smiled at Jack as he walked towards him. “I noticed there’s nothing here from Mr. Jefferson,” he said, skirting Jack’s question.
                  “Naw, but that’s what I am here to deliver,” Jack responded, smiling back. Justice looked quizzically at him because Jack was not carrying anything. “He said to give you as much time off as you need and not to hurry back if you don’t want to.”
                  Justice couldn’t keep a note of disdain out of his laugh, “That’s quite generous of him.”
                  “Whaddya expect,” Jack said, the smile faltering on his face.
                  “A little something extra for starters,” Justice said, slightly annoyed, “I’m about to make that guy richer than any man needs to be. I suffer a major head wound in the process of breaking ground science has only ever dreamed of before and his gift to me is extra time off that I was entitled to anyway?” Justice walked over and stood behind his desk and examined a few of the gifts that adorned it. “I mean, I know the guy’s a complete sociopath, hell bent on hording all the money in the known universe, but for fuck’s sake I’m a human bei- you know what,” Justice said, trying to calm himself down, “forget it, I don’t need the extra days. Let’s get back to work.”
                  “Justice,” Jack said, “take some time off, you need it.”
                  “I feel fine, I don’t need any extra time. Let’s get back to work like obedient little sycophants,” Justice seethed. “It’s what our glorious leader would want, right?”
                  “Are you sure?” Jack asked tentatively.
                  “Yeah, it’s fine,” Justice responded, attempting to scale his anger back. “I feel fine.”
                  “Okay man,” Jack said softly, “we’ll pick up where we left off.”
                  “Still