The Astronaut

You're awake.

Totally normal.

- Where's the, uh, costume party?

- It's just precautionary measures until you're discharged.

- Oh, I don't know, I think I might bar this for Halloween.

What do you think?

Congratulations

on your first successful mission, Sam.

- Thank you. - Happy to be back?

No.

No, I could have stayed up there forever.

Though, when I feel better, I would love a cheeseburger.

I think we can arrange that.

Hm.

- Sam, can you describe to me how you're feeling?

Um.

Heavy.

Dizzy.

I saw that pen float.

Anti-gravity, hallucination.

All to be expected.

What's going on here?

- Scan show deep swelling, but no fracture,

you probably slammed it on impact.

- We lost communication with you on reentry, Sam.

What happened up there?

- I got the splashdown coordinates from mission control.

Everything seemed to be on track, and,

and then I hit something maybe.

- Do you know when you lost consciousness?

I guess in pre-fall.

Is everything okay?

- Something punctured your capsule

and shattered your helmet.

What do you think it was?

- Could have been meteor debris.

We're testing the particles we found on your space suit.

You're lucky you survived.

There she is.

Mommy.

Busy Izzy, hi.

I miss you so much.

I miss you more.

Are you okay?

I'm okay.

They just, they're making me stay

in this funny chair for a while.

But look, I'm okay.

- Daddy, you miss mommy too, right?

- Look who's here. - Grandpa.

Hey, pumpkin.

Mark.

Good to see you, Will.

You too.

How you doing, kiddo?

I'm okay.

You did not have to come here.

- My daughter just returned from her first mission in space,

I'm not supposed to come.

No.

- The team just filled me in on what happened.

Sounds like a very close call.

- We're all very glad that you're okay.

Yeah, me too.

- Actually, uh, the Pentagon's gonna join NASA on this one.

Really?

- We're working on decoding electrical frequencies

that we picked up during your reentry,

so there's mutual interest.

- There's been a media frenzy about your landing.

- The department has secured a beautiful house nearby

for your recovery, outta the spotlight.

You and Izzy won't have to deal with any of that stuff.

- Hey, will you come visit Mommy, huh?

Yeah, yes, of course.

Come in.

- Sorry to interrupt. We need to run a few more tests

before you're cleared and prepped for transpo,

but then you'll be all done with quarantine.

Okay, time to go.

We'll see you soon.

Say bye to mommy, sweetheart.

Hey.

When I see you next,

I'm gonna give you the biggest hug in the whole world, okay?

- Remember what we talked about, okay?

Who do I love?

Hmm?

Me.

Can't hear you, who do I love?

- Me. - Yeah.

See you soon.

I'll see you soon.

- You want this for a bit?

Captain, I'm okay.

Are you sure?

Yeah, thank you.

Okay.

Welcome.

Body's reacclimating the gravity,

careful pushing yourself too hard.

Don't want you passing out on us.

- This really is something.

Your dad's very proud of you.

- To an embarrassing degree.

I'm gonna give you the tour.

Are you okay? - Mm-hm.

- 10 acres of Virginia wilderness,

only 30 minutes from DC.

- It's a bit nicer than my place.

- Apparently, the government bought this land in the '50s

for weapons testing.

General Harris tells us

it's just mostly housing for diplomats now.

Next house is miles away.

Oh.

Sounds like a horror movie.

The house is two stories.

Up here, we have the bathroom, library,

fully stocked kitchen, dining, and living room.

In the nook back there

is where we'll do some of your medical tests.

This is amazing.

- Downstairs, there's three bedrooms,

three bathrooms, a den, and a home gym,

which is about to be your new best friend

because as you know, atrophy is.

A bitch.

Yes, ma'am.

I'm sure you miss space.

- I used to have one just like this.

Are you okay?

What's wrong?

Just so ringing.

- It's tinnitus, stay super calm,

and just weighty that, it'll pass.

Feeling better?

Yeah.

Thank you.

- I know you were briefed pre-flight,

but just as a reminder, expect everything from nausea

to dizziness, fever, nosebleeds, hallucinations.

The human body takes time to remember

how to function on earth.

Right.

- The more you report back to us,

the better we'll be able to determine

if we need to consider delaying future missions.

Delaying future missions?

- If you exhibit any unusual symptoms

or severe side effects,

we can't just send you back to training.

All right.

Um.

So, sorry, I'm just, it's, I'm supposed to go out

to the ISS in, um, two months.

- Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it.

Obviously, I'd rather have you monitored at base,

but I don't wanna step on any toes.

We'll be here every morning at 7:30 on the dot,

so make sure you're up and ready.

Get plenty of rest.

Copy that.

- These next few days will be over before you know it.

If you need anything, just call us.

See you tomorrow.

Holy shit, you're alive.

Val.

- I've never held my breath for so long.

Don't ever do that to me again, please.

- I know, they're still trying to figure out

what happened to me.

- That's all everybody's talking about.

I'm sure.

But hey, look.

Look where I'm staying.

Oh.

Hearing like a nice swanky chic oasis.

And I didn't get an invite.

Sam.

Hello?