The Inventor- Chapter 4

The Inventor- Chapter 4

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October 19, 1871
David was in an uncharacteristically cheerful mood as he walked to Cooper's house the next day. He smiled and tipped his hat to a few passersby. He couldn't wait to start to learn whatever the doctor would have to teach him. The man wasn't just intelligent, he was downright brilliant. Brilliant and just a bit mad. But then, brilliance required a little madness.

David knocked on the door to Dr. Cooper's home and waited at the door. It opened. Lilian greeted David with a grin. "Good morning, David," she said, shaking his hand happily. "The doctor is waiting for you in his study."

David smiled and nodded, tipping his beret and hanging it up on the coat rack. "And a good morning to you too, Miss Lilian," he said cheerfully. "And what does the doctor have planned for today?"

Lilian shrugged. "Go and see," she urged, smiling almost playfully.

David grinned and headed up the stairs. He entered the study to find Cooper bent over his desk with a feather pen, a paper stretched out before him. He was wearing his monoggle. Without even turning around, the doctor spoke. "Good morning, David," he said. "Sit down; I'll be with you in a minute."

David obeyed, finding a seat on a sofa next to a small table which had a tray of food on it. The food was a couple of pieces of cold toast and a glass of orange juice, a meager portion which David assumed was Cooper's breakfast. Several papers lay crumpled beside the doctor's desk, and his red hair was a great mess. David could hear Cooper muttering to himself as he flusteredly dug his big, calloused hand through his hair. David, still put on edge by Cooper's unpredictable presence, remained silent as the doctor finished his work, whatever it was.

Finally, the doctor got up from his seat and turned around. "So, can I get you anything, David?" asked Cooper, his tone suddenly chipper.

"Nothing, thank you," David declined politely.

Cooper grunted and hobbled canelessly over to the couch where David sat, giving his breakfast an uninterested glance. "Hm. Never did eat that toast," he stated glumly, taking a seat next to his apprentice. "I'm not hungry anyway."

David noticed the dark circles beneath the inventor's eyes and determined that he hadn't gotten much (if any) sleep the night before. Furthermore, he was wearing the same clothes as he had that previous day, though the vest and shirt were rumpled and his bow tie was lopsided. The unkempt appearance paired with Cooper's thin frame made him look a bit like a beggar.

The doctor sighed, tilting his head back. "I was up all night trying to redesign the monoggle," he said casually. "I was getting sick of fixing all those straps." He smiled tiredly, removing the mentioned device from his face. "No rest for the inventor, I suppose."

"I could tell you didn't sleep," said David. "You just look it."

Cooper grunted. "I suppose I should make myself presentable," he said. "The last thing I need is to look as paranoid as I feel." That sentence was stated more as an afterthought, so David let it sit in the air.

After a few seconds, Dr. Cooper grunted and hauled himself to his feet once more. "All right, David! I'm going to change and wash up a bit." He picked up his cane, which had been leaning against his desk, and started to head toward the study door. "Help yourself to a book and find something you'd like to learn more about. I should be back in about..." The doctor reached for a golden pocketwatch at his side and flipped it open. "Anywhere between fifteen and twenty minutes. You'll have plenty of time to look." He closed the lid over the watch face and proceeded out of the room.

David was still in a remarkably happy mood, so he rose and trotted over to the bookshelf lightfootedly. He chose a book on anatomy and brought it back to the blue sofa he had been sitting on. The book, David noticed, had been completely ravaged by Dr. Cooper's frequent notes and observations. Tattered sketches were stuck between pages. They were limitly detailed and fairly scratchy, but they were impressive to David all the same. Cooper seemed to be quite the artist.

One such drawing that struck David's interest in particular was a page covered in arms drawn in multiple poses. The arms held traits of both the physical and the mechanical. Some looked almost completely mechanical while others were only partially so. David kept the page marked with his thumb and continued to browse through the book.

"Find anything you're interested in yet?" Dr. Cooper's voice clipped from behind.

David turned his head to see the doctor once again entering his study. He looked better now that he had changed his clothes and fixed himself up a bit, but the shadowy tone beneath his eyes hadn't disappeared. A tired but pleasant smile was on his face. He approached David and peeked at the book the young man had, his eyes glowing with genuine interest.

"Yes; concerning this drawing of yours," said David, flipping back to the page he'd marked. He lifted up the piece of paper covered in arm sketches.

Cooper took the paper and looped around the sofa to the front, looking thoughtfully at the drawings even as he sat down next to David. "I drew this when I was fourteen years old," the doctor said. "I fancied I'd draw something of an arm replacement. I never did build a prototype." He smiled and looked back up at his apprentice, a certain madness and liveliness sparkling in his eyes. "Would you like to help me make one?" he asked.

David had not expected such a question on only his second official day, but the prospect of creating a prototype arm replacement was quite tempting. The younger man shrugged. "Sounds good to me," he said.

Dr. Cooper's tiredness had vanished, replaced now with a vivacious energy. The doctor practically leaped to his feet and clanked swiftly over to his desk. Stacking up numerous sheets of paper to clear some space, he said, "Come over, David! Bring the book with you, too! We've a prototype to design!"

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The hours were spent designing and figuring out how the arm worked. "The first thing we must consider," Cooper explained, "is how the arm moves. The elbow is like the hinge on a door, but the wrist and shoulders are different matters altogether. The elbow is a one-way open-and-close, but the shoulder is capable of moving in virtually any direction. The wrist can flip the hand and forearm because of a shorter bone in the arm called the radius. How do you suppose mechanics could imitate these joints?"

Cooper pointed to diagrams in his book and gestured using his own arms frequently during his explanations and teachings, excitedly questioning his apprentice when he could. David always gave well thought-through answers.

"Well, the shoulder's attachment to the upper arm... the humerus, that is... could easily be imitated using a ball-shaped joint. The wrist-to-elbow could be a bit tricky... I suppose it's all in crafting something to imitate each type of joint."

Cooper laughed joyously and patted his apprentice on the back. "It is indeed!" he declared. "Too simple a question for you, that one. Just wait until we get to the nervous system!" Dr. Cooper cackled madly but good-naturedly. "I love the nervous system."

David privately thought that Cooper was a bit high on his nervous system, but he kept it just as it was--- as a thought.

At about noontide, Lilian entered the study. She was carrying a tray of tea for three and a plate full of hot, buttery crumpets. "Oh... Henry, you didn't eat your breakfast," said the young lady, moving away the breakfast tray and replacing it with the tea tray.

Lilian's use of the doctor's first name did not go unnoticed by David. Perhaps...? No. Since Lilian went by her first name, mayhaps Cooper didn't mind her occasionally using his first name. After all, both called David by his first name.

"Tea time already?" asked the high-strung Cooper, turning his wild gaze toward Lilian. "Time sure does fly."

Lilian approached the desk out of curiosity. "What are the two of you doing?" she asked.

"We're designing a prototype arm replacement," said Dr. Cooper, smiling. "David is a real thinker, Lilian." He rose to his feet and said to his housekeeper, "I think we definitely made the right choice with this one." The doctor grinned widely and patted the young lady on the shoulder. Yet another strange way an employer would act toward his employee, David noted.

"Well, nothing like hot tea and crumpets to get the brain up and working again," said Lilian, smiling at David. "Come on, Thinker."

David cleared his throat and stood up, attempting to ignore the slight heat he felt in his cheeks. He stretched his arms up over his head and tilted his head back in a stretch. He didn't know how Cooper managed to stay hunched over a desk for hours on end.

The three sat on the sofa and on the green dining chair David had been sitting on (Lilian sat in the chair). Cooper was suddenly as quiet as a stone, occupied with sipping his tea. He sat nearest to the crumpets and would often pick one up to dip in his tea and eat. Therefore, Lilian and David were the ones left talking.

"So, Lilian, what sorts of things do you enjoy doing?" asked David. "Any... hobbies?"

"What do I do for fun, you mean?" asked Lilian. David nodded confirmation as he took a deep sip of his tea. "Well... I enjoy reading, and writing... I do a bit of drawing, but Dr. Cooper here can easily devalue any of my artwork," said Lilian.

"More practice, Lilian," said Cooper, waggling one long index finger at his young housekeeper.

Lilian grinned. "What about you, David? What do you do for fun?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call what I do every day 'fun'," answered David, fiddling with his tie. "I study, do schoolin'... I don't find too much fun in that anymore. Not since I came here, that is. Why, working with Cooper to make this prototype is the most excitement I've ever had!"

"Well that's good to hear," said Lilian, beaming. Quietly, she added, "The doctor, he... doesn't always come off to people as fun."

David glanced at Cooper, searching for some sort of offense on the doctor's face, but he saw none. Instead, Dr. Cooper seemed to have nodded off, a half-empty teacup still in one hand. "Lilian... I think he's asleep," David whispered. "Guess that tea really relaxed him."

"He pulled an all-nighter last night," said Lilian. "He may have seemed wide awake, but it was really just him trying to resist sleep." More sympathetically, she added, "We'd best let him sleep, the poor man."

David watched Cooper's sleeping form. The doctor's narrow chest rose and fell with each peaceful breath he took. David wondered if he should leave now or stay and talk to Lilian for a while. His heart chose for him.

"So, Lilian... do you have a favorite animal?"

,.~*~.,

The two young adults talked as they finished their tea. They didn't talk much of Cooper (it was odd to talk about a person when he was sitting right there), but it was soon brought up that it didn't look like the doctor would stir from his slumber any time soon.

"It doesn't look like we'll be finishing that lesson today," sighed David.

"Not really, no," said Lilian. "You might consider going home soon. I'm sure he'll understand."

David swallowed, ignoring the pang of disappointment in his chest. "Yes, I suppose he will," he said. "And... I know my dad will be waiting." He stood up.

Lilian stood up as well. "I'll take you to the door. Dr. Cooper wanted at least one of us to show you out each day, so... I guess that's my job," she said, smiling lightly.

"I suppose it would be," said David. The two young adults made their way down to the door, where Lilian took down David's coat and hat. "Oh--- Lilian, you didn't have to do that," said David as Lilian handed him his beret.

"Sorry," laughed Lilian, giving the young man his coat back. "Habit. Heh... the... the doctor likes me to do this. I really don't mind it."

David simply hummed in acceptance, slipping on his coat. He set his beret on his head and tipped it to Lilian as he went out the door. She smiled and waved good-bye.

Another good day at Dr. Cooper's, David mused as he headed back.

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