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“You’ve never seen anyone come back?” Cassia asks.
“No,” I say. “Not from the mutation. ”
We both stand there for a moment longer, watching the liquid drip into Ky’s line. We avoid each other’s eyes.
Cassia draws in a deep breath and I wonder if she’s going to cry. But then she smiles. “Xander,” she says.
I don’t even try to stop myself. I reach out and pull her close and she lets me. It feels good and for a moment I don’t say anything. Her arms go around me and I can feel her breathing.
“Are you all right?” she asks.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“Xander,” Cassia asks. “Where have you been? While I was in the canyons and in Central, what happened to you?”
I’m not really sure how to tell her. Well, I didn’t go through any canyons, but I gave tablets to babies on their Welcoming Days. And, I took tissue samples from old people at their Final Banquets. I did make one real friend, but I couldn’t keep her from going still. No one I took care of came back.
“We need to go,” Leyna says. “Colin’s gathering together people to question you. I don’t want to keep them waiting. ”
“I’ll tell you later,” I say, smiling at Cassia. “Right now, we have to find a cure. ”
She nods. I don’t mean to seem like I’m trying to get even with her for all the times she left me in the dark about what was happening. But it’s strange to realize that she knows as little about me right now as I did about her for all these months. She’s the one who has to wonder.
I don’t want us to have to wonder about the other anymore. I’d like us to know what’s going on because we’ve been together. I’m hoping that finding this cure can be the beginning of that.
“Can you,” one of the villagers asks me, “give us any specific numbers regarding the way you were treating the still?”
The room is filled with people. I couldn’t tell right away from looking at them which of them might be people like us, brought here by the Pilot to help with the cure, or who might be the Anomalies from the village. But after a few minutes, I think I can tell who has lived in the Society at one point or another.
Oker sits on a chair near the window, his arms folded, listening to me. Some of the village’s sorters are here to take down the information. Oker’s the only person in attendance without a datapod, except for me.
Leyna sees me n
oticing the datapods. “The Pilot brought them for us,” she explains. “They’re very useful, but not as dangerous as miniports. We don’t allow any miniports in the village. ” I nod. Datapods can record information but they don’t transmit location the way a miniport can.
“I have treatment and patient data for the regular Plague and for the mutation,” I tell the group. “I’ve been working inside the medical center since the night the Pilot came over the ports to announce the Plague. ”
“And when did you leave?” someone else asks.
“Early this morning,” I say.
They all lean forward at once. “Really,” one says. “You’ve been working on the mutation that recently?”
I nod.
“Perfect,” says another, and Leyna smiles.
The medics want to know everything I can remember about each patient: the way they looked, their ages, the rate of infection, how long it took until they went still, which people’s illnesses progressed more rapidly than others.
I’m careful to tell them when I’m not certain.
But for the most part, I remember. So, I talk and they listen, but I wish it were Lei here working with me on the cure. She always knew the right questions to ask.
I talk for hours. They all take notes, except for Oker, and I realize that he can’t manage the datapod with his hands the way they are. I expect him to interrupt like he did when he came into the infirmary, but he remains perfectly quiet. At one point, he leans his head back against the wall and appears to fall asleep. My voice starts to wear out right when I’m explaining about the mutation and the small red mark.
“Now this,” Leyna says, “we already know. The Pilot told us. ” She stands up. “Let’s give Xander a rest for a few minutes. ”
The room clears out. Some of the people look back over their shoulders like they’re worried I’m going to vanish. “Don’t worry,” Leyna says. “He’s not going anywhere. Will one of you bring back something for him to eat? And more water. ” I finished the pitcher they’d brought in for me long ago.
Oker is still asleep at the back of the room. “It’s hard for him to rest,” Leyna says. “He catches a catnap when he can. So we’ll leave him alone. ”
“Are you a medic?” I ask Leyna.
“Oh no,” Leyna says. “I can’t take care of sick people. But I’m good at managing the live ones. That’s why I’m in charge of finding the cure. ” She pushes her chair back a little and then leans closer to me. I’m reminded again of an opponent at one of the game tables back in the Society. She’s drawing me in, getting ready to make some kind of move. “I have to admit,” she says, smiling, “that this is all rather humorous. ”
“What is?” I ask, leaning forward so that there’s not much space between us.
