The nurse returned to the room with another doctor, who I presumed was Dr. Glint. He was short, clean-cut, and a bit rotund in his white coat. We locked eyes and he smiled. “You must be Mr. Roland?” he asked, extending a hand.

            “Beck is fine,” I said, reaching out with my own.

            “Oh, I wouldn’t-” the nurse from earlier started, but we completed the handshake without issue. Dr. Glint side-eyed his partner confused. “Oh,” she said blankly, “Never mind then?”

            “It went away,” I explained. “I don’t know what happened, but all of sudden I just felt a weird pressure. It was like I absorbed the weird static field around me into my body…”

            “Static field?” Dr. Glint murmured. “Was that the strange static condition you were mentioning to me Dr. Robbins?”

            The nurse, who must’ve been Dr. Robbins nodded. “He was giving off what seemed to be an endless supply of static shocks to anyone in contact. Nothing too hurtful, but never-ending, nonetheless. A static field is frankly a good way to describe it, shocking anyone that got in its vicinity.”

            “It felt weird,” I added. “Like there was a little bit of energy just kinda hovering near me. But it’s gone now, and I don’t know why…”

            Dr. Glint frowned, before turning around and sitting on a rolling chair next to a computer. “Would you both mind describing the symptom in more detail?” he asked.

            So, we went over the event again, with Dr. Robbins explaining the sudden emergence the field during an examination of my vitals, and my corresponding groan while unconscious. I gave my account of how I felt waking up, the buzzing, and the baffling way the weird static field around me dissolved into my body. I mentioned that I hadn’t been touching or doing anything when it happened, only leaving out the part where I mentally commanded the field to vanish. Dr. Glint typed the entire time, pausing for occasional clarifications, and general “hmms” and “ahs”. When we finished, he continued typing for a while and eventually sighed with hand to the head. “Well doctor, you’re right that this bizarre condition has never been recorded in any medical records that I have access to. It best seems to match that feeling when someone has generated static electricity and aims to release it, but certainly not for the length of time you both described, and it doesn’t explain the undetermined emergence and disappearance of the symptom. So unless I am being tricked into some kind of hoax…”

            “No no no,” Dr. Robbins cut in. “I swear it happened. Dr. Gibson was there, she can vouch for me.”

            “I felt it too,” I added. “My girlfriend was there too; she can vouch for all of us.”

            Dr. Glint held his hands up. “Don’t worry, I believe you, I was just being facetious. But again, this would be a first as far as I’m aware. I’m no scientist, and physics isn’t my field, but I agree with your assessment Dr. Robbins, this whole condition feels fictional. And you said it just went away? Absorbed into your body?”

            “Into my heart, yes,” I nodded.

            Dr. Glint gave a nod to Dr. Robbins who held out a stethoscope. “I’m just going to get a quick listen then,” she said. I sat still as she placed it on my chest and listened closely while staring at the clock toward the top of the room.

            For a while, there was silence, no one moving much. I tried to focus on my heartbeat as well, wondering if everything was ok down there, if there was any damage to the heartbeat pattern. Robbins furrowed her eyebrows as she listened, looking unsure if she was hearing anything. She then removed it from my chest and asked me to loosen the hospital gown to expose my chest and try again. I parted my mouth in confusion but complied.

            As she put the stethoscope back, I again wondered if she heard anything. I wondered if I felt anything. I closed my eyes, trying to feel if I had any pressure, remembering the kind of feeling I got with the occasional heartburn. And as I focused, I noticed something. It was very slight, and it took a lot of focus… but there was a slight bit of pressure. It felt condensed, like something inside my heart was lying dormant. Not trying to burst, but just taking up space. I tried to focus more, but it was so faint that part of me wondered if I was just imagining things and being paranoid. I opened my eyes to watch the nurse work the stethoscope. Her concentration was even more determined than me; her eyes were alternating between my chest to reposition the stethoscope and off into space to listen carefully. The silence was deafening. Then finally she sighed and pulled back. “Your heartbeat is very strong and pacing incredibly smoothly. As far as I can tell, nothing about your heart is out of the ordinary.”

            My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I… was healthy? Dr. Glint, meanwhile, eyed his partner. “You don’t seem entirely convinced Dr. Robbins.”

            She sighed. “I wasn’t entirely confident, but I’ll mention it anyways. I thought I heard the tiniest buzzing sound while listening. It was so faint that I believe I was imagining it, so to be sure I had him take off his shirt so that the polyester and cotton didn’t rub against the stethoscope. I still thought I heard buzzing, but again it was so faint that I have to think I’m just imagining things…”

            I bit my tongue, wondering if I should pipe up about my own faint observation. I held back, unsure if it would help anything.

            Dr. Glint typed up some more on his computer before turning to me and Dr. Robbins. “I think to be on the safe side we’ll have to run a couple of tests with your consent. I want to run an NCV to check for nerve damage, an ECG to check for irregular heartbeats, a blood test, and an X-Ray. Outside of the blood test, each should be painless, and most are very quick.”

            I nodded. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

            Dr. Glint smiled. “You’re in good hands Beck. And should those tests all come back with good results, you might be out of here sooner than any of us could have ever expected. Doctor, you’re absolutely sure that he’s not burned anywhere?”

            Dr. Robbins nodded. “Nothing from head to toe. Just like everything else, he’s completely clean.” I grimaced at realizing how much she must’ve examined my body while I was unconscious.

            Dr. Glint shook his head in bewilderment. “I’m still in shock—pardon the pun—that you’re alive Beck, much less without any sign of any kind of damage. Somehow, you’re about to walk away after getting hit by an electrical bolt over ten times and walk away with absolutely no problems. I’ve heard of Roy Sullivan, a man who allegedly was struck by lightning a record seven times. This blows that case out of the water considering your proximity and number. I’m sure the electricity was far less powerful than lightning, but still… It truly is a miracle. I mean I’ve seen the video…”

            “The video?” I asked. “What video?”

            Dr. Glint frowned. “The video of what happened at the Museum of Science. I believe your girlfriend was the one to record it?”

            I gasped. That’s right! Lizzie did record the video of the whole thing! I began to pale as I realized just how horrifying the video must have been to rewatch from her perspective. “I totally forgot!”

            Dr. Glint sympathetically shook his head. “It’s not a pleasant sight, I’ll admit.”

            We eventually moved on to my health insurance and did a couple of other routine check-ups. They did a lot of muscle tests to see if I was in any pain, but nothing hurt. We were all astounded by just how healthy I felt, practically healthier than before I went into the cage. They seemed to be expecting some grogginess from the unvoluntary nap I had succumbed to, but my energy was high, and I wasn’t tired in the slightest.