Chapter 18 #2
She led me to her suite. Bigger than Riley’s it had two bedrooms, a sitting room, small kitchen and a washroom.
I peeled the jumpsuit down and showed her the cut.
In the brutal glare of the daylights, the bruises appeared purple and black thread held together a swollen and angry red line. I swayed and rested against the wall.
“Healing nicely despite your adventures.”
I gave her a dubious look.
“Trust the doctor.” She sniffed and eyed my jumpsuit. “Shower. I’ll bring you a bowl of hot soup and a change of clothes.”
I removed all the devices and decoder and hid them under a towel. The warm water sluiced wonderfully along my body despite the sting of the soap. When I finished, a steaming cup and a clean jumpsuit waited for me as promised. I could get use to this attention.
Perhaps I could let Trella die in the air shafts so Ella could remain here.
“Better?” Doctor Lamont asked.
“Much.”
“Your room’s on the right. Get some sleep.”
My room, I repeated in my mind. My room.
With a narrow bed and single table with a lamp, it wasn’t elaborate or even special.
But it was a rich luxury compared to sleeping in the barracks.
The mattress’ springs creaked when I sat on the bed.
Fun. I bounced, enjoying the sensation. The bunks in the lower levels were cushioned with thin mats.
Not that it mattered to me, I could sleep in an air shaft.
But this was the first time I found a real difference between the uppers and lowers.
If my parents hadn’t abandoned me, would I be living in a similar room? Would I be happy? I imagined my life before the whole mess with Domotor. Would I trade that life for this? Yes. But trade my life now? No way.
As I stretched out on the bed, I worried I would be spoiled and unable to sleep in the vents after spending time here. For once, I decided to enjoy the moment.
Riley’s insistent voice roused me from a dreamless slumber.
“…need to speak with her.”
I stepped from the room. The short rest had revived me. I followed the voices to the doctor’s office. Riley sat on the edge of one of the armchairs, leaning forward as if ready to launch himself across the desk. He sprang to his feet as soon as he spotted me in the doorway.
“You are better. When I saw your note…” Riley glanced at the doctor.
“He thought your condition had worsened and you sought medical help.” A glint shone in her eyes. “He didn’t believe me.”
“Do you know how long it took her to trust me?” he asked the doctor. “I couldn’t imagine Ella risking so much for a shower.”
He had a point. Normally, I would be very suspicious of the doctor’s motives. But my regular instincts no longer applied. What I thought I knew had been wrong.
“Not just a shower,” Doctor Lamont said, “but a bowl of my famous soup. Which, I’m sure she’s ready for another serving.” She winked at me as she left the room.
An awkward silence descended.
“I’m sorry you worried,” I said.
He smiled. “It’s not all bad. At least, now I know to offer you a shower and soup If I need you to trust me again.”
With the tension broken, I settled into the other armchair. “You were talking about others when I first came in. Do you have any news?”
“They’re being difficult. The near miss before has convinced most of them it won’t work, but they’re willing to at least listen to you.
” He paused in thought. “If the doctor is agreeable, I can have the others come to the infirmary at different times, complaining of a headache or something. You can talk to them here. It wouldn’t draw as much suspicion and we can still keep our room a secret. ”
His plan made sense.
“And it avoids having the group members find out about each other, making it safer,” Riley added.
Domotor had done the same thing, yet four people had been recycled.
Keeping the others ignorant sounded logical, and my initial reaction was to agree.
But the notion clanged. The atmosphere of the upper levels mirrored what the Pop Cops tried to do to the lower levels.
Keep to yourself. Trust no one. Report your fellow to gain favor.
I fell for it. From my ease in traveling in plain sight, I knew the uppers had fallen for it, too.
And so had the scrubs. Before.
Before what?
My thoughts raced over the last four weeks.
They had kept my secret despite enticements and threats from Lieutenant Commander Karla.
The kitchen scrubs worked together to stow the food for Domotor in the air shaft.
Jacy and his buddies. Logan and Anne-Jade.
They never would have risked themselves before.
Before… Broken Man and the promise of Gateway. He gave them a reason to join together and risk themselves for another.
“No,” I said. “It will fail.”
“What do you mean?” Riley asked.
The doctor came in carrying a bowl of soup, but I had her full attention. I wondered how much she had heard or what she suspected.
I answered his question regardless of the doctor.
“Keeping everyone separate won’t work. They all need to know who is in the group.
They need to talk and make a connection.
” I looked at the doctor. “Hear each other’s heart-beat, and know they’re all risking themselves for the same reason.
It’s too easy to report a name. Or to give up when you don’t know who you’re letting down.
” I glanced between Riley and Doctor Lamont, willing them to understand.
“She’s right,” the doctor said. “If you don’t hear a heartbeat, it’s easy to send the body to be recycled.”
“Full disclosure?” Riley asked, struggling with my complete reversal.
“Yes. And we can start with the doctor.” I turned to her. “You saved my life and performed surgery in a storeroom because Riley asked you to. Why?”
Taken aback, she frowned. “He’s the son of a friend.”
“You know him.”
“Right.” She relaxed a bit.
“But you don’t know me. You suspect I’m the missing scrub, so why not report me?”
“Again, for Riley.”
“But you offered me a shower and a bed.”
“Don’t forget the soup,” Riley said.
I shot him a look.
“What? I’m trying to help.” He feigned innocence.
“Yes, and soup. Why?” I asked her.
“Curiosity mostly. Your strength is remarkable. The fact that you’re up here instead of at the wrong end of a kill-zapper is impressive. I want to know why you’re here. And, I wanted to get to know the person Riley would risk his life for.”
“You wanted to hear my heart-beat?”
She smiled. “You’re going to overuse that analogy, aren’t you?”
“It works, though.”
“Yes it does and yes, you’re right.”
I drew in a breath. “If I ask you for more help, would you be willing?”
She considered. “It depends on what you need.”
“We need a meeting place and we think the infirmary would be ideal.”
The doctor stiffened as a guarded expression blanketed her face. “What for?”
Time to slide down the chute. The scrubs needed Broken Man to rally around, and in order to be successful, the uppers would need someone, too.
Locking gazes with her, I said, “So we can coordinate our efforts in opening Gateway.”
She gasped as all color flew from her face.
Riley elbowed me. “The whole heart beating thing—does it work in reverse? Cause I think the doctor’s heart has stopped.”
“You…found it?” The doctor gripped the edge of her desk.
“I know where it is, but opening it is going to be difficult hence the help. Are you willing?”
“Of course,” she said without hesitating.
A meeting time was set and Riley planned to contact the uppers with the details. Before he left the infirmary, he gave me a narrow metal box as long as my hand. The number ninety-eight was on the digital readout.
“So you can listen to the bug in Karla’s office,” he explained.
Then he paused as if struck by a notion.
“It works the same as the receiver Anne-Jade made. With the batteries, that’s the smallest space I could cram everything in.
” He touched my earring. “That’s some serious tech.
We have nothing like that up here. The Travas don’t encourage invention”
“Then we have an advantage.” I hoped it would be enough.
I kept Riley’s device close by, but no sound emanated. Karla must be off-shift or elsewhere. Feeling stronger, I paced around the infirmary.
Finally, Doctor Lamont said, “If you’re going to be in the way, you might as well help me.” She showed me the supply cabinet behind the high counter, and asked me to organize the contents. “In an emergency, it saves precious time.”
The shelves bulged with various sizes of bandages, packages of sutures, tape, splints, and packs of gauze all heaped together.
As I worked to put order to chaos, uppers stopped in seeking medical treatment or advice.
Most ignored me. But on occasion, Doctor Lamont would ask me to help with a patient.
If they asked, she introduced me as her new intern, Ella.
At one point, Lamont placed a bin full of clean bandages next to me. “Can you roll those when you have time?”
“Sure. With such exciting tasks as these, I’m surprised you don’t have a ton of students volunteering to be your intern.” I teased.
“Watch it or I’ll have you scrubbing bed pans.”
“Rolling bandages right now, Doctor.” I saluted her, and exaggerated my enthusiasm for the task.
She laughed. I liked the sound of her laughter. Light and carefree and warm. She wasn’t quick to laugh; grief clung to her skin like perfume but hadn’t doused her empathy for others.
Around hour forty-five, my energy level dropped. A nap was more appealing than the last three shelves. I sat on the floor, resting my back when a shrill voice broke through my drowsiness.
“Doctor?” A woman’s panicked voice.
I stood as Lamont rushed past. A very pregnant woman clung to the door. Her face ashen, she swayed on swollen feet. Bright blood stained her pants.
“My water broke,” she said.
Lamont held her elbow and half carried her. I rushed to support the patient’s other side.