A messenger from the family

It was their nice come to get Akiko to meet up for lunch with the rest of the family before they headed back for the airport to head home. The kids had to get back to school and the adults back to work thus the visit had to end. Lunch with the family passed with conversations of school, business and work plans of the rest of the family. Everyone knew that Andrea would be leaving the medical research facility in a couple week but seemed to avoid the topic of what she was planning for her future. Andrea realized that while they were comfortable enough with her new self, they weren't sure how to handle it beyond the current social interactions as yet. They would need time just like she would for figuring out where she fit in their world and the world in general. During this lunch Akiko's agent called about a short-term job that would have her gone for about a week allowing her to be back in time for Andrea to get out.

Andrea followed them all back up to the rooms and helped the family with packing and loading the luggage carts for check out. She followed them to the airport where goodbyes were said all around. Akiko's flight wouldn't be until late that evening, so Andrea loaded her luggage into the Mustang when they turned her rental car in. They spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging around in the downtown area of the city while they waited for her flight. During this time Andrea told Akiko that she would be coming to New York with her and would be getting an apartment or purchasing a home there that she would be more than welcome to share. She hadn't yet made a decision on trying a modeling career or what else she was going to do, but getting an updated degree was an option and there were several universities to choose from.

After dropping Akiko off at the airport and saying their goodbyes, Andrea called Deena to ask about contacting a realtor related to the firm in order to do some property searches. Over the following weeks the Research lab ran every possible test they thought would give them more information on the results of the surgery. She was feeling like little more than a lab rat by the end, however that she was able to still feel anything offset the negative aspects of that. Every evening she would go out of the facility for a few hours. Some nights with Terry or Klaudia and others with Kelly. There weren't any repeats of the previous evening with Kelly, but they did settle into a comfortable friendship that had room for benefits in the future if Andrea came back to the resorts.

Akiko had been delayed from coming back after the first week due a tropical storm at the job site. Thus, Akiko arrived just days before Andrea was to leave instead of a week. They spent her first evening back by dressing up nicely and going to dinner. After the meal they met up with Kelly who introduced Akiko to the small club she'd taken Andrea to. They all had a pleasant evening before each going their separate way at the end of it. The next day was spent packing up both Akiko's luggage at the hotel and all of Andrea's luggage and assorted belongings from the clinic. They each packed some items into the luggage for the road trip and the rest they took to the UPS store and shipped it to Akiko's apartment. Yes, they could have shipped the car via train but where was the fun in that? On the last day at the research facility, Andrea said her goodbyes to the friends and rest of the staff. She got recommendations from Klaudia for a primary care physician and psychologist to maintain testing and general healthcare.

They spent that night in Akiko's hotel room to make an early start on the road the next morning. The watched a couple of movies and slept the night comfortably. They woke up at four in the morning, jumped in the Mustang and headed out of town. They stopped for gas, grabbed road trip snacks, coffee, some donuts and hit the open road....