Page 18 (2/2)

This ot that George was dead I could hear her in the bathroo for her painkillers to kick in I could even see the indent her head left in the pillow And then I turned to get soone No one was in the bathrooain

It’s been happeningslips, and it becomes possible, for one beautiful, horrible moment, to lie to myself about the world I won’t pretend that I mind them, or that I’m not sorry when they end I also won’t pretend that I’ I can practically hear it knocking at the door And I’ I need to do before it gets here

I’ht want you back soto letof Shaun Mason, July 17, 2041 Unpublished

Five

I barely glanced up froy text written when people still lived in the middle of Canada, but it was a book, and in the absence of access to the Internet, I was so starved for data that I’d take what I could get They still wouldn’t let ure out a way to hopscotch off the local wireless network As if Techie tricks were Buffy’s forte, and Buffy had left the building

The door slid closed I kept reading Dr Thoiveaway After a ith nothing to distract s they couldn’t help, like the way they breathed--or, in Dr Tho way he cleared his throat I turned a page Dr Thoain

"I can keep this up all day," I said pleasantly, even though the fact that I was the first one to speak proved I couldn’t actually stand spending anyI wasn’t bothered by Dr Thounreasonable"

"I think that I legally beca as soon as you detached me from your crazy mad science clone incubator, which means I’e "It’s up to you" Gregory wanted , but that also included a certain aia Mason would never have been believable, to anyone

Dr Thoia May I co the top of the page to keep my place "Would it make any difference if I said you couldn’t?"

"No," he said curtly I was starting to learn the li to tell his footsteps frouards who usually accoas the room, and I’d wake up to find that whatever tests I’d been balking at had been run while I was unconscious