Food Truck in Space

The sound of a heart rate monitor rang in my ear, as consciousness began returning to me. A familiar, but unusually nauseating smell of cooked beef filled my nostrils. Slowly, I lifted my eyelids, turning my head to the side to avoid the bright lights on the ceiling. As things came into focus, I noticed one of my brother's burgers sitting beside me on a side table. Something about the sight of it made me want to throw up.

"Patient 00000000000074562198764332, you are finally awake. I will notify the robo-doctor. Beep bop." A robot dressed in a white nurse outfit immediately took notice of me and left.

I was alone in a plain white and slightly chilly room, laying on a hospital bed. Every square inch of my body itched, unbearably. Looking first at my arm, I noticed a layer of greasy ointment covering my skin from head to toe. It was in every crevasse, including some very personal ones.

"LITTLE BRO!" Randy screamed excitedly on the top of his lungs as he ran into the room. "I thought you were done for!" Teary eyed, he began obnoxiously hugging me, but immediately let go. "Ew, what the heck are you covered in?"

"That is ointment to treat his tick bites. Beep bop." A robot wearing a doctor's coat explained as he entered behind my brother.

"What happened?" I spoke, weakly.

The robot responded, "You were swarmed by thousands of ticks and lost an excessive amount of blood. Lucky for you, your brother lent his blood without hesitation for an emergency transfusion. You pulled through, thanks to him. Beep bop."

I noticed a bandage with little smiley faces on Randy’s arm. "You did that for me?"

He smiled and let out a chuckle. "Of course, what kind of brother would I be if I let my little bro bleed out?"

I grinned back at him. "I truly am grateful, Randy. I don't know how I can ever repay you.

He shook his head. "It should be me thanking you. If it wasn't for you buying our truck in the first place or taking out those loans in your name, there's no way I could have started this business myself."

The door to the room suddenly opened again and Mindy entered holding an armful of canned drinks. "I thought you might be thirsty after being in a coma for two days. I wasn't sure what flavor you liked so I just got one of everything from the vending machine."

"I really appreciate that. How was the Worgan Mallen concert?" I casually asked.

"Oh that..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I ended up missing it."

I hung my head apologetically. "I'm sorry. I know you were really looking forward to that."

"Don't worry about it. Your well-being is more important. I'm sure there will be other concerts." She shot me a sympathetic smile.

My cheeks became red, as my heart beated slightly faster. "I-I s-see." I awkwardly stammered.

Randy contained himself from laughing out loud as he mockingly nudged my arm with his elbow.

Loudly, I cleared my throat and quickly changed the subject. "What ended up happening to Donald MarkDonald?"

Randy sighed. "That ducker managed to get away." He held his fist up in the air. "I swear, that gas turd better hope he never crosses paths with me again."

"If you are all done with your greetings, there are two matters at hand that need to be addressed. Beep bop." The robo-doctor interjected, killing the mood. It paused for a moment then flashed a trash can icon onto its face screen. "You should probably throw out that sandwich beside your bed."

Randy immediately got defensive. "Woah there robo-bro! What are you trying to say about my food?"

"Nothing, it is just in Patient 00000000000074562198764332's best interest that he avoids red meat. Beep bop."

"What are you saying, doctor?" I nervously chimed in.

The robot pulled up an image of a tick on his screen. "Those were lone star ticks that attacked you. A side effect of their bites in humans is developing an allergy to red meat. Beep bop."

Randy became white in the face. "Th-that can't be right. A-are you trying to tell me that my little bro is allergic to burgers?"

"I'm afraid so. Beep bop." The robo-doctor tried to show as much sympathy as it could for a robot.

My brother's eyes began to tear up as he picked up the burger beside me in his hand. "N-no that has to be a mistake. My b-burgers are different..." He attempted to push the burger toward my mouth, just managing to touch my lips before the robo-doctor restrained him.

"Please refrain from that. You are going to trigger a reaction. Beep bop."

The robot spoke too late because my entire face turned purple and swelled up. My arms broke out in hives. Quickly, the robo doctor transformed his hand into a syringe and injected me. Within seconds my symptoms subsided.

"No, maybe we can try-."

"Just stop it , Randy! You already heard what the doctor said." Mindy shouted at him to shut him up.

"But-."

This time I cut Randy off. "I thought you told me that butts were for crapping." I shot him a smirk. "Just because I'm allergic to burgers, doesn't mean we have to stop selling them."

He looked at me, surprised. "What about you, though?”

I began laughing. "Come on, why would we stop after all we've been through? I never thought you'd be one to just give up."

He paused for a moment and wiped his tears. Without warning, he jumped on top of me and wrapped his arms around me, squeezing so hard that it felt like my ribs were going to crack. "You're right... And don't worry, little bro, one day we're going to find a cure!"

"Now onto the second matter… Beep bop." The robot killed the mood once again. "The hospital bill. Beep bop." Out of the slot on its chest, it printed out a very long sheet of paper.

My eyes became wide with shock as I took one look at it. "That's a lot of zeros...It was how much for an ambulance?... And you're charging that much for this room!"

"Let me take a look." Mindy grabbed it from my hands. "Oh... Earlier, I tabulated that you managed to break even from the sales during the competition..., but this is definitely going to put you guys back in the red."

Honestly, hearing that was more painful than finding out I was allergic to beef.

🍔🍔🍔

Later that afternoon, I was discharged from the hospital. Randy and I returned to our ship, while Mindy parted with us to return to her office. As I entered into the cargo hold, I couldn't help but feel at home.

"So, what’s next, Randy?" I wondered, partially already knowing what he was going to say.

Excitedly, he jumped into the driver's seat and cranked the ignition. "First we're going to Space-Mart to get you a hazmat suit. I can't have you swelling up around our customers." He grinned. "But then we're back to selling the best burgers in the universe!"

He might be impulsive, stubborn, bad with money, addicted to gambling... I could go on, but I had to admit, when he was around, things were never dull. At the beginning, when he said life was meaningless without adventure, he was right. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably be sitting at home right now scrolling through my phone.

I put on my bicycle helmet, knowing inevitably what was about to happen next. "I'm ready when you are."

"You know something, little bro? I think I'm feeling a song coming on..." He took a deep breath. "Ocean ma-."

"Stop! You're going to get us sued." I shouted over him.

He let out a sigh. "Fine, but I'm still going to hum it."

As he hummed the beat to a certain song, he slammed his foot on the gas pedal, launching our ship into orbit. As I was thrusted around the back, smacking into every piece of equipment we owned, I smiled to myself. There was nothing I'd rather be doing right now than traveling the galaxy with my brother and selling burgers from our food truck in space!

🍔🍔🍔THE END... Of Part I🍔🍔🍔