Touchless by Russell Davis

Author:Russell Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC.
Published: 2011-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

As Drake opened the door to Riana’s room, he saw that Ms. Pless was waiting for him. She was sitting in the extra chair and stood when he came in. “Drake,” she said, “I hope you don’t mind my waiting for you.”

“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head. “What can I do for you?”

“You said to stop by, and I thought I would. My schedule is fairly light today.”

“All right.” He motioned to the chairs and they sat down together. Briefly, the oddities of the last few days flashed through his mind, and for the first time in seven long years, he wondered if sitting here wasn’t a bit hypocritical. How had things changed so much in such a short amount of time?

Ms. Pless folded her hands in her lap. “How was your physical?” she asked.

“I guess it was fine. Dr. Sanders said he’d be down later to discuss the results of the bio-scan and the blood work.”

“It’s funny how they do that,” she said. “Get you all worked up about taking a physical, and then make you wait for the results.”

Drake laughed. “I just commented on that very thing to Dr. Sanders. Of course, as I told him, it’s not like it was when I was a kid.”

She smiled. “I suppose not,” she said, then added, “I suspect you’ve seen a great many changes over the years.”

“Quite a few,” Drake said. “But I’m beginning to think that the last seven have been wasted time.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because in a lot of ways, you are right. I haven’t been living, I’ve been dying. I was telling Bond about some of the trips I took with Riana, even about teaching after she died, and it occurred to me that…”

“That what?” she prompted.

“That I’ve been selfish. Sitting in here, praying for her to come back to me, putting my life into a rhythm that’s been nothing but one long holding pattern. There’s a kind of selfishness in all that that Riana would never have approved of.”

Ms. Pless nodded. “Maybe,” she said, “but it’s the kind of loyalty that most women can only dream of.”

“Loyalty can be a wasted, tragic thing, I think. I’m beginning to realize that I could have gone on, rebuilt my life, and still loved her with all my heart.”

“You do love her very much, don’t you?”

“More than you can imagine.” More than even I knew.

“So, are you going to go through with it? Bring her back virtually?”

“I don’t know yet,” Drake said. “I don’t know if it would be fair, really. Sanders —I mean, Dr. Sanders, says that it’s permanent. They can’t re-freeze her. And we did agree to the cryo-freeze. It would be like killing her.”

“I know,” she said. “I’ve read over the files.”

“So,” Drake said, blowing out a long sigh. “What do you think?”

She laughed, and Drake saw that if she were to relax, drop her usually stiff attitude, then she would be quite beautiful.

“I don’t know, Drake,” she said. “I honestly don’t. I’ve thought a lot about your case over the last few days.

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