"How many days? They are days, aren't they?" JS asked. "A week." Eve's answer. "But you, are you OK?" "Aside a dodecaphonic orchestra in my head, I'm OK. Vickie, what about you?" "As sound as a bell. I'm hungry!" Vickie moaned. "I'm hungry, too!" JS grinned a flashing smile to Eve. "I wonder which hunger you want to appease first!" she giggled. "Hum, I'm afraid doc wants to visit me first. Let's go." While visiting, Jay asked Lee how many people the epidemic killed. "Thirty people. The very old or debilitated. Some were newborn babies. You did a great job!" Lee looked at him almost in awe. "Thirty too many!" JS sighed. He had not even completely put his clothes on, when Vasquez and Ishikawa called on him. Eve snorted, but made the best of it. "Let's take two more days." JS decided. "I think we can afford them. The situation has changed, I must ponder on. Vickie?" "If you hear a roar, it isn't an earthquake but my stomach! However it's fine to me, to stay here, I mean!" Vickie grinned accepted that a battleship can grin. Then Flotsam catapulted himself into the surgery shouting: "Jay, come to see Hodgepodge!" "Eve and I, we have to visit those in mourning," JS sighed. "We'll spend some time with you later." It was evening when Eve and JS managed to call on the scamps. The S-Marines had been captivated by the little family and had started spoiling Hodgepodge even by building a miniature mountain chalet for It. JS pretended to look for Hodgepodge for a while, telling the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf then blew and raised the chalet roof but everyone was laughing and the effect was ruined. "Uncle Jay!" Hodgepodge cried. "Uncle?" JS frowned. "Hodgepodge is here thanks to you." chuckled Jetsam. "My fault? It was your job! Folks, you cannot be left alone for a moment!" JS laughed heartily putting his arm round Eve. They went on laughing and joking for a while. Back to their quarters, JS ate a gargantuan meal, then, in a fit of hyperactivity, he began to observe the star charts. Eve watched him without saying a word. JS stood up, ran his eyes over her, and led her to the couch, making her sit on his lap. He hugged and kissed her. "I'm scared, Eve. I fear that if I'm not on guard, I may be dragged away by the starry melody again. I'm afraid even to talk about it, or fall asleep, or make love to you. It's still there, in my mind." "Then let's fight it together. Create a barrier in your mind, I'll help." Eve kissed him. "I'll stand guard with you!" She felt JS's mind fully open to her. She saw the glittering forms of the songs of the stars unfold and change. Colors and sounds of all the nuances of the chromatic scale gave rise to stunning, incredible shapes opening up onto other worlds in a fractal endless succession of universes created by the harmony of the spheres. "It's like a garden full of flowers made of music!" Eve exclaimed. "A garden, that we'll make!" JS built a wall, an endless wall in all the directions of his mind, with French doors overlooking the phantasmagoria of that heavenly harmony. "Help me to close the doors of perception, so we can enjoy our chromatic garden out of harm's way!" They closed the doors. Eve straddled his lap rubbing against him. He grinned at her and she answered in pure joy. She felt him parting her folds, sliding into her, filling her. Kisses and squeezes, thrusts and clutches in tune with the rhythmic celestial melody. "You were like a god yet you came back!" Eve said, cuddled in his arms. "LIKE, this little operative word makes all the difference. I wasn't a god, just a lazy, indifferent spectator. I'm human, Eve. I've human needs and desires. I wish to make love, sunbathe, eat cheese, drink wine, and fight if necessary. The stars didn't give me this," JS pointed to their intertwined bodies. "To be quite honest, the stars were rather chilly!" -- Thanks!! ZOOM IN, please!