21 F4F - You feel everything I feel, and I feel everything you feel.

This may be a better post for r/dirtyflashfiction or /r/dirtywritingprompts, but here's a starting chapter. I'll leave "my name" up to the responder, hopefully OP, but whomever since OP's often ignore responses in these parts.

---Begin---

I love my friend Jane, I think more than I would love my own sister if I had one. We'd grown up together since grade school and shared all of our secrets. She knew all of my affairs. She knew, often before I did, when I was stressed, or in love, or getting upset. She knew when I needed someone to talk to. She was always there for me. A true BFF if there ever was one. So, it was no surprise that I trusted her completely.

And so here I was, with her, at a corporate clinic and about to be injected with nanites that would link us together in ways we couldn't begin to prepare for. She was in the next room and I wondered if she felt as nervous as me?

They said that when this was over we'd be linked at a sensory level, in tune with our feelings, sensations, touch mostly, but possibly emotions and potentially other nervous system responses too. They told us the current technology was still in a trial phase and they had bigger plans for the future, but that future was still years of testing away . We were the next wave in a series of tests and our participation would shape the future.

So here I was, very apprehensive about taking part in this nano-technology trial. Jane talked me into it. She convinced me, like only she could, that this was a perfect chance for us to get a jump on our life. It would be something we could handle since we were so close. She reminded me that having the extra money to repay my student loans and credit card debt was going to be a life saver. It was all too tempting, and I'll admit the geek in me was intrigued as well. And so we agreed.

So there I sat on the end of the examination table waiting for the doctor to come in and inject me with billions of tiny machines that would connect us to the core. They told us the procedure was safe and reversible, they showed us the official looking documentation. They'd advised how we'd be paid well for being part of the trial, it wouldn't take much of our time after the initial visit, and the only catch was we had to keep a diary of our experiences and keep a device with us 7x24 to record the nanites activity.

I thought about all this information over and over again until the doctor came in. He smiled and asked if I was ready. I nodded, said yes, and adjusted the IV. I watched him opening the valve that was connected to the machine that was going to make us semi-cyborgs and I started to panic, I wanted to leave. I watched the tube attached to my arm waiting for the change to happen and felt... nothing. Nothing unusual. I guess the doctor noticed my concern and spoke, "You won't feel anything. We have to activate them once they are finished being circulated. It'll be a little while, the machine will take care of it automatically, you can relax.”

I nodded again. I knew the rest of the procedure. They'd gone over it a bunch of times now. They'd keep us both there under observation for the next 24 hours to make sure we didn't have any adverse effects and then we could go. So, before I knew it the procedure was finished and the doctor left me alone in the room. They unhooked me and we went to another room where they hooked us up to some equipment and an IV. It was a long and boring day. We were limited in activity because our sensory input had to be kept minimal.

The nurses checked in every so often but it was again an otherwise uneventful and boring experience. The only annoyance was the constant blips and beeps of the monitoring equipment which made it difficult to rest, well, that and my nervousness about what was to come when it all inevitably kicked in.

I stared at the walls and waited impatiently for something to happen, I tried to read but I couldn't concentrate. I kept telling myself this would be OK and that it wasn't a bad idea, and I really wanted to talk to Jane. I was desperate to get out of my bed and check on her, when something weird happened, I felt my anxiety get washed away and covered with a warmth that I'd never felt before.

It was incredible, it flowed from my head to my toes and I basked in the glorious feeling. I wondered if this was a side effect of the nanites, and if so, wow, awesome, like a hug inside and out. I felt myself smiling and I closed my eyes to take it all in.

The next thing I knew it was morning, there was sunlight coming in through the windows and a nurse was poking at my arm. I looked over towards them but when I opened my eyes there was nobody there. Then I felt the bed moving beneath me but I wasn't moving, I was lying still. Was this it, I wondered? Is it Jane? Am I feeling Jane's feelings?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I suddenly felt tape pulling at my arm and then my IV's being removed from my arm, and I opened my eyes and they were still there. There and gone. How odd. I squeezed the bedrails and stretched my muscles trying to get a sense of this new reality. I could feel my fingers and toes as I wiggled them. And then I laughed, a reflexive laugh? From what. Something had made me giggle but it wasn't funny. I laughed again, realizing it was Jane. Then she laughed again and this time I knew it was her laugh I was feeling and was able to hold myself from doing the same again. I definitely wasn't prepared for this.

And then I felt pressure on my feet, and then legs, and I was standing. Walking. One foot then the other. And my bum, I felt a coldness on it, and pressure.

“Oh god, I'm peeing, I'm going to wet the bed!” I panicked but there was no wetness. It was Jane again, she was peeing. And I felt my bladder, it was full and empty. And I really needed to pee. But not. And it was too much feeling and felt cold and I blacked out.

The next thing I know I heard footsteps at the door way and turned my head, there was a nurse, and Jane, she was there. There were other nurses already around me, checking me out.

Jane smiled at me and as she did I felt that warmth again rush through me. It was her. She was the warmth from last night. Oh god that felt so good. I looked at her and she smiled and looked into my eyes. We both felt the relief of seeing each other again.

"You're OK," Jane said. "I felt you black out. And I could feel how nervous you were last night. I could FEEL it. It hurt to feel it." She said, "I wanted to come tell you it'll be OK, to give you a big hug and tell you it'd be fine."

"I... I know." I said, realizing just then that I felt that hug from the other room. "I felt it. I should have known it was you. Thank you! This is crazy."

"Alright you two," the nurse spoke up, "Jane insisted we make sure you are OK, I told her she could take a peek but no more interaction until the doctors clear you. Jane, back to your room."

"I'll see you later," she said, "I'm right here with you," she said pointing to her head and heart.

I almost cried. And Jane, as she was walking away, I saw her pause then and the warmth covered me again. And then I did cry and felt happiness like I'd never felt before. The nurse was at my side now and told me she was going to remove the IV's and I could get up. And the first thing I should do was go use the bathroom. I went, and I have to say it was the most intense relief I had ever felt. I wiped and washed and walked back out. And the rest of the morning was pretty boring, the doctors came in and checked us over, and cleared us to go. I finally got to see Jane in the wheelchair at the front of the building again and I don't know if was our physically being close, or the sight of her, but the feeling of relief that this was over and we were free to go washed over me and her together and we both cried with joy.

----To Be Continued?---

/r/dirtypenpals Thread