Bionics and Ghosts

Bionics and Ghosts- Chapter 1

It was a warm fall morning for Dr. Erin Gilbert as she got out of a taxi at Columbia. The fall semester was starting in a week and today was Orientation Day for the faculty. She greeted various colleagues as she entered the lecture hall. From the corner of her eye, she saw Dr. Rebecca Gorin chatting with the dean. Gorin was an eccentric engineering professor. Erin admired the woman because she was involved in different disciplines of engineering.

Erin was chatting with a biology professor when she felt a tap on her shoulder it was Gorin.

"Hello Dr. Gilbert, it's great to see you. Could I speak to you?" Gorin said with a smile.

"Sure you can." Erin said as she turned away from the biology professor.

Gorin looked at her as they walked into a hallway and said, "I understand you are on the peer welcome committee."

"I am. Would you like to join?" Erin asked.

"Oh no. One of the new faculty members is someone close to me. I was wondering if you could help me in getting her introduced to Columbia."

"I see. Is she new to academia?"

Gorin stopped walking and said, "She is. Her name is Dr. Jillian Holtzmann, she is a former student of mine. Her specialties are nuclear and weapons engineering. She joined the Army several years back. She was deployed overseas to Iraq to test out new weapons. She and her unit hit roadside bomb in their Humvee. Jillian was severely injured."

Erin gapsed, "How was she exactly hurt?"

"She lost her left arm and leg.  Luckily, biomedical engineering is one of my other expertise areas. I went to Iraq right away and worked with the prosthetists to create the best prosthetic limbs for Jillian. That was three years ago. Since then, she has been doing some odd jobs while living in an apartment that I used to rent out in Brooklyn. It took me awhile but I convinced her to apply for a teaching position her. I'm going to keep doing my best to help her, but I feel it would be a good for another professor to help her in this transition period. So, what do you think Dr. Gilbert?

Erin paused for a few moments and then said, "Yes. I can try to help your friend."

Gorin smiled and said, "Thank you. She has been hanging out in my lab. Would you like to meet her now?"

Erin just nodded.

Twenty minutes later, the two were entering Gorin's lab and office in the engineering department. An 80s song was playing at a low volume on the radio. As Gorin opened the door, Erin saw the back figure of a woman spinning in Gorin's office chair. She saw curly blonde hair in a up hair do. The blonde wore a leather jacket, with khakis and boots.

"Jillian, I have someone I would like you to meet."

The woman turned around and Erin saw her face. She noticed the woman's slight smile which showed dimples. Then she saw the pretty blue eyes.

Gorin said, "This is Dr. Erin Gilbert. She is part of the welcome committee here at Columbia.

Jillian said in a shy manner, "Hi."

She then held out her left hand to Erin.

Erin glanced down and saw her left hand and then her eyes moved to the prosthetic right hand. She shook Jillian's left hand and stared a bit at the prosthetic on the right hand.

"Welcome to Columbia Dr. Holtzmann."

"Thank you. I'm a bit nervous as this is my first teaching job.  What do you teach? The blonde asked.

"Physics courses."

Erin, Gorin, and Holtzmann chatted for awhile before heading over to the Orientation lunch.

It was the end of the day, when Erin received a call from her landlord while talking with Rebecca. The landlord informed Erin that pipes had burst in several apartments and water was everywhere and that water system was going to be shut off for a few days for repairs. Erin was upset by the news as she didn't want to impose on friends nor did she want to stay in a hotel.

Gorin then suggested, "The apartment in Brooklyn has two bedrooms. You're welcome to stay there if it's ok with Holtzmann."

Erin was unsure about the suggestion, but she was also grateful for the offer.

The two women went and talked to Holtzmann who agreed to let Gilbert stay with her.

Erin headed to her apartment and packed a couple of suitcases and got her laptop.

She found the address in Brooklyn later that evening and knocked on the door.

Holtzmann answered and said, "Welcome, house guest."

Erin smiled and said, "Thank you again for this."

"It's no problem. I'm paying it forward. Rebecca has helped me out a lot in the past few years and I'm also thankful for the help you are giving me as I start this new job."

The apartment was medium sized and a few bookcases held various books related to engineering and nuclear subjects. Later that night, Erin ordered out for Chinese food. She watched as Holtzmann used her very advanced prosthetic hand to use chopsticks.

Holtzmann said, "It's pretty rad huh"

"It is. I really didn't know that prosthetics have advanced quite a bit." Erin said.

Holtzmann's prosthetic arm and hand were a silver metallic color. The fingers moved and hand opened up due to the electrodes implanted in the unit which communicated with Holtzmann's muscle movements in the residual limb."

"Rebecca and the team at the Army hospital really came through for me." Holtzmann said.

A few hours later, Erin went to bed. She heard the TV on in the living room before she fell asleep.

It was six am when she awoke. She was thirsty and got out of bed and was heading into the kitchen when she saw Holtzmann asleep on the couch. But, she was taken back by what she saw. Holtzmann's prosthetic arm and leg were off and were set aside by the couch. The blonde's leg stump and arm stump showed ugly scars on the ends. Erin was saddened to see the damages of Holtzmann's war injuries.