Cosmic Storm by Dom Testa

Author:Dom Testa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

14

A small knot of crew members huddled together in the outer offices of Sick House, talking in hushed voices. Every few minutes one would peek into the hospital ward, curious about the proceedings, but they all knew to stay out until summoned.

After finishing the most difficult part of the procedure, Lita stepped back and addressed Manu. “Can you get started on the cast? I’m going to update his friends so they can get out of here for now. I’ll be right back to help.”

She stepped out into the office and looked around at the five faces that stared back at her, all draped with concern. She greeted them with a smile.

“Yes,” she said, “it’s definitely broken. In two places, to be exact. I guess when Rico does it, he does it big.”

This brought a nervous chuckle from the group. One of the girls, Vonya, said to Lita, “But he’s okay, right?”

“Oh, sure. He’ll be a celebrity of sorts when he walks out of here with that cast. I guess you guys can be the first to sign it.”

Lita’s casual and confident tone seemed to reassure them. They exchanged relieved glances.

“By the way,” Lita said, “I’ll need to file a full report. So let me get this straight: Rico was at the Airboard track, but he wasn’t riding? Micah, you said something about the bleachers, is that right?”

“Uh, yeah. He was up in the stands with some of us, just watching and … well, heckling, I guess you could say. Rico’s the best Airboarder, you know? But he has more fun than anyone in the stands, too. Anyway, it was almost his turn, so he started to walk down the steps, and when he went to put his helmet on, I guess he misjudged one of the steps, and … well, here we are.”

Lita shook her head. “Hmm. Maybe he won’t be a celebrity after all. If he’d busted his arm on the track it would be one thing. But tripping on the bleachers?”

“Oh, he’s still a celebrity on this ship,” Vonya said. “No one will ever break his record on the track.”

“Don’t let Gap hear you say—”

Lita was interrupted by the whoosh of the door. Gap came flying into the room with a body slung over his shoulders. He made quick eye contact with Lita and, without hesitating, bolted for the hospital ward. As he went past, Lita saw that it was Bon who hung limply, with small spatters of blood on his face and Gap’s shirt. She told the assembled group that it would be best for them to leave, that Rico would be out in a while, then she turned and ran into the ward.

“Over here,” she said to Gap, pointing to a bed against the far wall. Manu, Rico, and two other Sick House workers stared in disbelief. Lita glanced at Manu and said, “Can you finish up without me?”

“No problem,” he said.

Gap, covered in sweat, deposited Bon onto the bed. Lita hurried over beside him. “What happened?” she said, bending to look into Bon’s face.

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