Noreen and I watched as the body was taken away, and the cleanup drones cleared the rails of the Tube car. The AI tested the junction connection and it worked perfectly, and a commendation was added to my work file. I added a note and gave credit to Noreen, despite her protest.

“Jack, you didn't have to do that.” Noreen said and wiped away her tears.

“Yes, I did.” I said. “I am not going to take credit for your idea.”

“But...”

I received a notification that said Noreen received a commendation as well, and she gasped.

“You see?” I enlarged the notification so she could see it properly. “The System cares that it was your idea, just as much as I did.”

“But... that poor person...”

“You are not going to be associated with the death.” I said. “That's not how this works.” I opened up the commendation I had received and showed it to her. “Nowhere on there does it say 'discovery of a body', okay? It's just complimenting our contribution to the solving of a problem.”

Noreen nodded and relaxed as she snuggled in close, and started to rub my back again. I got back to work, now that the drama was over, and I spent several more hours cleaning and repairing the more difficult and intricate programs that couldn't be solved with simple fixes. The admittance chime sounded, and I chose the outside camera to see that it was the nurse.

“Noreen?”

“Mm, what?” Noreen moaned and opened her eyes. She had drifted off to sleep at some point; but, she was still cuddled in just as tightly as if she were still conscious.

“The nurse is here for my maintenance check.”

“Oh!” Noreen let me go and sat up. “I'm sorry! I fell asleep on you!”

I chuckled. “It's okay.” I said. “You looked very comfortable.”

“I... I really was.” Noreen said and got up off the bed. “Um... I'll be next door if you need me.”

“This shouldn't take long.” I said and hit the button for the front door. It opened and the nurse came in.

“I think I'm going to like this arrangement.” Nurse Deloris said. “Thanks for choosing me for this.”

I smiled at her. “Considering I coerced... ah, co-opted you into it... I'm glad you're starting to see the benefits.”

Nurse Deloris laughed and went into the bathroom to get a portable maintenance kit, and Noreen went through the connecting door to her own apartment. The nurse came out of the bathroom and walked over to the bed, and I set aside my display and laid back so she could get to work. It took less than an hour to check the physical welfare of my synthetic parts, and she saved the diagnostic for the research team. Once she covered the parts with the lubrication oil again, she packed everything up.

“There we go.” Nurse Deloris said and grinned. “You're the best patient ever.”

I laughed. “I told you.”

“I'll just grab you a new unitard to replace the hospital one to keep that oil off the bed sheets, and then I'll be out of your way.”

“Thanks.” I said and remained sitting up on the bed. I picked up the display and used my real hand to send Noreen a quick message. The nurse brought over the unitard and I slipped it onto just the synthetic parts of my body and left the normal side exposed.

“It's not going to be comfortable sleeping like that.” Nurse Deloris said.

“You're kidding, right?” I asked. “Half of my body is a dead weight unless I'm actively moving it.”

The nurse glanced at her own arm, and after a moment, reluctantly nodded. It was the same way for her as well.

“Thanks for coming over.” I said. “Have a good night.”

“Oh, I will.” Nurse Deloris said. “I've got a hot date lined up for the first time in months!”

I chuckled. “Don't stay out too late. You've got work in the morning.”

“Only for half an hour.” Nurse Deloris chuckled. “ I could bathe you even if I was unconscious!”

“Please don't test that theory.” I said, and she laughed as she left the apartment.

“J-Jack?” Noreen said from the connecting doorway.

“Hey, come on in.” I said and pat the bed.

“I... Jack, I don't want to abuse your hospitality...”

“Hey, Nathan!” I nearly yelled.

Nathan poked his head through the doorway and stood behind his wife.

“Do you mind if I borrow Noreen to cuddle for tonight?” I asked, and I could swear the man's face looked so relieved I almost laughed. I kept up the charade for him, however. “I know it's inconvenient for you, but... I don't want to be alone tonight.”

Nathan put a hand on his wife's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Well, it is for a good cause.” He said and looked at the back of his wife's head. “Noreen, can you do this for Jack?”

Noreen nodded without looking back at him.

“I guess that means I'm sleeping alone tonight.” Nathan said. His voice was sad; but, I could clearly see a smile on his face as he nodded to me.

“Thanks a lot, Nathan.” I said.

“Jack, you love our daughter.” Nathan said. “She can't be here to comfort you until tomorrow.” He let his wife's shoulder go. “The least one of us can do is keep you company.”

“I really appreciate it.” I said.

So do I, Jack. Nathan thought as he gave me a knowing wave.

“Goodnight, Nathan.” Noreen said as she slowly walked over to my bed.

“Goodnight.” Nathan responded and closed the door that connected our apartments.

I pat the bed beside me again, and Noreen looked at it and then down at herself.

“You can take off your clothes if you want.” I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes.

“J-Jack, is... is this really... I mean, I know we've cuddled at the hospital, but we were both dressed...”

“Noreen, look at me.” I said and motioned at the exposed half of my body. “I specifically did this just for you.”

“B-but...”

“I had to cover the synthetic parts because of the oil.” I explained. “Not that you could cuddle them anyway; but, you can still cuddle up to everything else.”

“Oh, Jack.” Noreen said and started to strip. I couldn't help but stare as she exposed her very vulnerable skin, and her entire body shook slightly as she removed everything she wore except for her panties. “D-don't stare at me like t-that.”

“I can't help it.” I said and smiled. “I'm getting to see what Sandra is going to look like in a few years.”

“She might be my daughter, but she's not exactly like me.” Noreen said.

“Of course she isn't.” I said and moved over on the bed. “You have hair on your head.”

Noreen snorted a laugh. “That's not what I meant.”

“I know.” I said and laid down and pulled the blanket up to my waist. “Now get your almost completely naked body on my bed and cuddle with me.”

Noreen laughed and climbed up onto the bed. “I can't believe you're letting me do this.”

“Am I supposed to say, 'me, either'?” I asked as she laid down next to me and put her lower body under the blanket. “I'm not going to say that.” I said. “This might not be happening at all if I hadn't been hurt like this.” I pat the covered synthetic part of my chest.

“Jack...”

“But, it did happen.” I said and put my arm around her and pulled her in close. “I broke down and you didn't laugh, or tell me I was acting silly.”

Noreen snuggled in and pressed her bare breasts against the side of my body, and I felt how much she liked having so much of her skin being touched at the same time. I hugged her tightly, and she laid her head on my chest as I pulled the blanket up to her shoulder.

“You even held me tenderly and let me cry on you.” I said. “God, I needed that so badly.”

“Jack...”

“It gave me some idea of what it must be like for you.” I said, and kissed the top of her head. “If I can repay you for what you did for me, even just a little bit, then I'll do it gladly.”

“Jack, I... I didn't do it so you could repay me like this.” Noreen shook her head. “This... this is...”

“I know you didn't do it for selfish reasons.” I said and gave her a squeeze. “You're not that kind of person.”

Noreen lifted her head and looked at me.

“I needed you, and you helped me.” I said and gave her a kiss on the lips. “Let me help you back with what you need.”

Noreen opened her mouth to say I was doing too much for what little she did, then she changed her mind and put her head down and kissed my chest a couple of times. She rubbed her cheek on me like a cat that was scent marking something it really liked, then sighed as she relaxed.

“You are too good to be true.” Noreen said.

“I really am.” I said and laughed, and it shook her slightly.

“Don't make me start using my tongue, mister.” Noreen joked as she caressed my skin. “You know it tickles mercilessly.”

“That's not really a deterrent.” I said as I moved my arm from her shoulder and dragged my hand down her back, then rested my hand on her hip. It let my arm rest along her spine and she wiggled a little from the sensations; so, I splayed out my fingers to touch as much of her as possible, then held onto her firmly.

Noreen took a deep breath and let it out. “Jack.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“I'm holding a beautiful almost-naked woman in bed, who's not my girlfriend, and you're thanking me.”

Noreen laughed. “Go to sleep.”

“Yes, ma'am.” I said and took a deep breath and let it out as I used specific eye movements to manipulate my Heads Up Display, or HUD, and locked my synthetic limbs to stop them from moving.

“Goodnight.” Noreen breathed against me.

“Goodnight.” I whispered back.

With Noreen's warm presence pressed against me, and the feeling of comfort she instilled me with, sleep was too hard to deny any longer. Despite my misgivings about being unconscious with my synthetic parts, even on lock down, I drifted off to slumber land for the first time in a while.

For some reason, I didn't dream at all.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

“Ugh.” I said. “Alarm off!” I nearly yelled and the piercing sound stopped.

“Dammit, Jack!” Noreen said and rubbed her ear. “What was that?”

“That sound means it's time to get up.” I said.

“I meant why does it sound like a bullhorn?” Noreen said and propped herself up on an elbow. “I think I'm deaf in this ear.” She said and rubbed the ear that hadn't been against my chest.

“I'm sorry about that.” I said and looked at the vidwall. “Someone apparently decided to increase the volume by about two hundred percent, if I had to take a guess.”

The door that connected our apartments sprung open, and a very dishevelled Nathan ran through it.

“What is it? What happened?” Nathan said frantically, and I held a hand up.

“Amanda was playing a joke on me.” I said, and Nathan relaxed.

“Oh, thank god.” Nathan said. “I thought something bad had happened.”

“This wasn't bad?” Noreen asked. “Is my ear bleeding?”

Nathan leaned down and looked at it, then blew in it a little. Noreen giggled, and he smiled. “No, you're fine.” He said, and then yawned loudly. “I'm sure any hearing loss will fade in a little while.”

“I hope so.” Noreen said. “How can Jack whisper sweet nothings to me if I can't hear him?”

Nathan stretched and then scratched his head. “If they're sweet nothings, you don't have to hear them.” He said and walked back to the connecting door. “I'm going back to bed.”

Noreen looked at the time on the vidwall. “We have to go and get Sandra in two hours!”

“I'll be... (yawn)... up.” Nathan said and the door shut behind him.

“The poor guy has been exhausted ever since the accident.” Noreen said sadly.

“I think Sandra getting hurt bothered him a lot more than he's letting on.” I said, wisely. “Amanda? Put in another two week stress leave for Nathan, please.” I said. “He needs the rest.”

Done.

“Thank you.” I said, and ran the activation protocols for my limbs. “Noreen? Can you grab breakfast?” I asked her. “I might as well eat while I'm awake.”

“You want me to get you breakfast in bed?” Noreen asked and smiled.

“We did just sleep together.” I joked and my arm and leg came online.

“Don't you dare tell people that and confuse them with ambiguity!” Noreen said and poked me in the belly. I laughed, and she pushed the blanket out of the way and stood up. “I love my husband very much.”

“I know you do.” I said as I sat up and held a hand out. She took the offered hand and squeezed it. “I would never imply anything of the sort.”

Noreen nodded and let my hand go, then walked across the apartment to the dispenser. I watched her go, because she really did look like a slightly older version of Sandra, and I liked what Sandra was going to become. Noreen brought back two algenate discs, one brown and one green; and I had watched her breasts and hips sway the entire time.

“Are you having impure thoughts, young man?” Noreen asked as she handed me both food discs.

“Only if you're flattered by them.” I said as she climbed back into bed and pulled the blanket back up to our waists. “Otherwise my erection is completely the fault of the male anatomy waking up in the morning.”

Noreen shook her head and took the green algenate disc. “Was doing this with you a mistake?”

“Noreen.” I put my disc down and put a hand on her face. “I'm just teasing you with the truth.” I said. “You are a beautiful and desirable woman, and your husband must love and trust you very much to allow you to spend so much time with me.”

“He's a good man.”

“No, he's a great man.” I said and caressed her cheek. “You can walk around here as much as you want, with as little clothing on as you want.” I moved my hand down her neck and gripped her shoulder. “I am going to look, because it is a wonderful sight and I won't insult you by trying to avoid it; but, I will never do anything beyond looking at you or holding you.”

“Jack...”

“Unlike some of my contemporaries, I don't need to have sex with every interesting woman I meet.” I said and then smiled. “Can you imagine the mess my life would be in if I did?”

Noreen gave me that same odd look she had given me last night after I had licked her hands. “Are you really telling me that you haven't been sleeping with every woman that you meet?”

I chuckled. “Noreen, I really love your daughter, and I want to build a life with her.”

“But, Jack...” Noreen reached up and took my hand from her shoulder, and clasped it in both of her hands. “...that goes against every propagation mandate the government has.”

“I'll do my duty.” I said. “I'll do my best to pass my genes on to the next generation; but, I want to do that with Sandra.”

“Oh, Jack.” Noreen said, and a tear came to her eye. “Can you forgive me?”

“For what?”

“I thought... I mean, you're so handsome, and there's so many women...”

“To be honest, I've slept with a few of them before I met Sandra.” I said. “After I met her, though... I've gone on one date with someone else, cuddled with another because she had a slight case of skin starvation, and I've fulfilled a single mandatory contract.”

Noreen's mouth fell open in shock. “Th-that's all?” She asked, and her hands gripped my hand even tighter. “That's all you've done while you've been seeing Sandra the last few years?”

I nodded, and tears ran down her face.

“I'm sorry, I... I thought...” Noreen sobbed.

“Hey, it's okay.” I said as I used my thumb to rub some of the tears away. “It's not like I've ever dissuaded the notion that I'm not like everyone else, and have strong feelings of monogamy.”

“B-but I... I j-just assumed...”

“...and rightly so.” I said. “Please don't be sad about it, Noreen.” I smiled and wiped off the other side of her face with the back of my hand. “It's not like I'd come right out and say stuff like this to just anyone.”

“D-does Sandra k-know?” Noreen asked.

“That I wanted to be exclusive?” I asked, and she nodded. “I told her the first time we had sex.”

“B-but... she... she's been...”

“I said it's all right.” I moved my hand back to the other side of her face. “I couldn't very well expect her to feel the same way.”

“Oh, Jack.” Noreen said and turned her head and kissed the palm of my hand several times. “I never suspected that you were just as devoted to her as Nathan is to me.”

“Noreen.”

“Y-yes?” Noreen stopped kissing my hand and looked at me.

“Our breakfast is getting cold.” I said, and she barked a laugh. She picked up my brown algenate disc and opened the package for me, and the smell hit her.

“Wh-what is that?” Noreen asked and held the disc to her nose and took a huge breath in through her nose. “It smells delicious!”

“I promised myself to change the mud flavor of those damn anti-rejection supplements.” I said. “After I did a pile of work for the System yesterday, I kept that promise.”

“I want to try it.” Noreen said and then sighed. “I'll get sick if I take a bite, though.”

I took the brown algenate disc from her and took a small and messy bite to spread the crumbs over my lips, and Noreen looked at me with wide eyes.

“I seem to recall someone doing this for me.” I said and kissed her.