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"I’ with him," the mother demanded

It was just as well--she needed stitches, and iodine wouldn’t hurt "Hey--" I reached out and grabbed the last medic in line "She’s his mom, and she’s cut her hand" No need to announce in the hall that her own boy bit her

It was Marius, the AfrikaansHis haircut said ex-," he said to her, and then "Make way! Make way!" to the still-growing crowd outside, with a booether, Asher and I watched the with the boy down the hall, his mother in tow The husband stayed behind with his terrified daughter clinging to his leg, her glasses er than they were The crowd slowly started to disperse now that the shoas over Asher looked to thehappens to either of you, fever, seizure, dizziness, anything strange--call theht next door" He pointed at our door

"You think it’s contagious?" the father asked, his face pale

Asher gave lance "I don’t know"

CHAPTER TWELVE

We were quiet on the short way back to our roo and showering ritual When I finishedfor me outside "You’re on room arrest"

I wanted to fight him Two patients were hardly a data set And yet--

"He’s behind this somehow"

Fro coree "Okay But behind what, precisely?"

"I don’t know Yet"

"If there is an outbreak of itis or whatever this is"--I pointed behind me toward next door--"don’t you think they’ll turn the ship around?"

"Possibly Or helicopter people off I don’t know" He started pacing, and I sat down on the edge of the bed in our last towel

"Should arn other people about it?" Not that I had any clue how to even begin warning people without causing a riot on board

Asher disht with a shake of his head "Everyone with a paper cut would rush downstairs They’d be swa would help with transmission"

"If there even are any more cases"

"If" His lips thinned in conte kids seizures is sad and all, but it’s hardly aerosolized bird flu" I leaned forward, conte the worried face of the man I loved "Is the answer inside you anywhere?"

"No I’ve spent h his rave, and I wondered if going through other people’s pasts was like putting on dead people’s clothing "He always thought big and courted danger, but nothing about anything like this Not back then I’ll have to go down to the sick bay to on"

Nurse-to-nurse, I’d been conned onto this boat believing there was a vacation inside I couldn’t fault Asher’s hu noas hoping everything would turn out to be some sort of dreadful coincidence, even as that see child I bit s were easier when I could just touch people and get answers," he said, mostly to himself

"You miss it, don’t you?" I said, and he startled, like he’d been caught "You hide it, but--" I shrugged

"Sorry," he apologized