Dirge (FHC02) by Alan Dean Foster

Dirge (FHC02) by Alan Dean Foster

Author:Alan Dean Foster
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Interplanetary Voyages, Fiction, Science Fiction, Humanx Commonwealth (Imaginary Organization), Adventure, Life on Other Planets, General
ISBN: 9780345418630
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2001-05-29T23:02:48+00:00


Chapter 12

Having heard only one word in the course of one month, Tse did not expect tirades to spill from the mouth of the afflicted. But she was surprised when, upon awakening on the morning of the fourth day after being moved into the room, she sat up rubbing sleep from her eyes to find Alwyn Mallory staring at her.

Nothing else had changed; nothing in the room had been disturbed, though she knew that down in Central doctors and other important people must by now be glued to viewscreens in response to the patient's action. It must be demanding a tremendous effort on their part, she reflected as she turned and slid her legs off the inflatable bed, for them to stay out of the room.

Not only was he staring at her, he had raised his head slightly to get a better look. Now it fell back, the inches it had inclined forward proving too much for the man's weakened muscles to sustain.

"Don't stress yourself," she heard herself saying to him. "I'll come over there." Aware that monitors were everywhere, including the bathroom, she simply slipped out of the sleeping gauze and into her uniform.

By the time she sat down in the chair that had been placed by the right side of the bed, he had ignored her advice to remain still and had turned his head to face her. Then he smiled. So brightly unexpected was it, so warm and full of thanks, of the simple joy of being alive, that this time it was her own eye she found herself daubing at.

"Well, that's better." It was all she could think of to say. 163

"Who are you? Where am I?" His lips moved slowly, with careful deliberation, as if each syllable had to be constructed and approved by a separate portion of his brain before he attempted its actual verbalization.

"You're in Golman Memorial Hospital, South Pacific Region. I am your duty nurse, Irene Tse."

"I'd shake your hand, Irene, but you told me not to stress myself." A different sort of smile this time, more calculating, reflective of looming uncertainties. "I don't like taking orders, but you I think I'll listen to. Not because I have to, but because it pleases me." Defying her admonition, he raised his head again, holding it up longer this tune. With each movement, each word, he seemed to grow stronger, not weaker. "You said 'South Pacific Region.' I'm on Earth?"

As she glanced over at his readouts in what she hoped was an inconspicuous manner, she did not comment on the obvious. He looked around, inspecting the room.

"How long have I been asleep?" His eyebrows tried to knot. "They must have knocked me out for the jump here."

"No one knocked you out. You traveled to Earth and arrived here in a cataleptic state." Reflexively, she put a hand on his lower arm. "As of this morning, you've been here in hospital thirty-four days."

"Thirty-four…?" Leaning back against the pillow, he gazed pensively at the ceiling. "Not asleep.



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