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I laughed "Are you my escort for the rest of today?"
"The rest of your life, my pet, if you’d only allow it" He leaned over and tookready to dance the waltz in the middle of the hallway More of the research staff walked by, slowing to watch us with visible amusement Sherman had that effect on people "Are you ready to leave that parasite pasher of yours for a real man?"
"That’s a neord and I demand a definition before I answer," I replied "What’s a pasher?"
"A pash is a kiss, so a pasher is soo, I have called your boyfriend a tapeworm kisser"
"Never seen hiular basis I think I’ll keep hiht?"
"You used it perfectly" Sher back to business as he consulted his clipboard "I’m supposed to take you for a blood draw, a urine test, and a nice cool glass of barium I hand you back to Chave after that--sorry, Sal--so that you can head up to Accounting and go over your receipts, but then it’s back to el ultrasound chamber before lunch"
"My favorite place," I said I wasn’t kidding Tight spaces didn’t bother me--they never had--and while I was in the ultrasound tube, all I had to do was lie perfectly still There were no needles or difficult questions involved That could be nice, considering everything else that a visit to SymboGen entailed
"I know" Sher with the bureaucrats upstairs, ood to see you in the flesh I never quite trust those reports that tellperfectly well, sandwiched between profit-and-loss statements and requisition slips for more paper towels in the kitchen"
Asjust one more report to circulate around the offices at SymboGen, I appreciated Sherman’s concern He was one of the only administrative staffers who actually treated , or at least like a pet he was happy to have around the house, rather than like an escaped lab rat I attributed that partially to his own dual nature, fore, totally relaxed when he was alone with anyone who didn’t tru
"Good" Sher to set a pace that was frankly inhumane I scampered to keep up He didn’t even seem to notice That, too, was a part of his charm He didn’t treat me like a lab animal, but he didn’t treat me like an invalid, either "Standard questions, then Did you eat anything, drink anything, or do anything else that ht send your blood chemistry into a tizzy?"
"What’s a tizzy?"
"A tailspin, a scra up words just to screith me," I said He wasn’t; I looked theional variations that didn’t ave me, his basic words and phrases always checked out He was playing it straight, or as straight as Sher He was the sort of , just to put a little more interest into it
"Answer the question, Sal"
"No, I haven’t done anything to ar No food, no drinks, and the last tiot here I a your phlebotorin, showing the one crooked incisor that he refused to have fixed because, quote, "the ladies loved it" I wasn’t sure which ladies he was talking about in specific, but judging by the glances he got from the female medical staff, he could have his pick He always showed his teeth when he set too upset It still ists They’ll be the ones studying the delightful fruits of your gory labors"
"I’ve had tih, and it’s ti into practice, because here we are" He stopped in front of an open doorfra twice on the wood "Dr Lo, we’re ready for you if you’re ready for us"
"Come in, please" The pleasant-faced Chinese woman who operated the lab pushed away fro a red leatherette chair with one hand "It’s good to see you, Sally Have you changed your hair?"
"I brushed it," I said, and grinned
"Well, you should keep doing that Now if you’d have a seat, I’ll be right with you" That was about the li most visits, and this one seemed to be no different
"Okay, Dr Lo," I said, and sat, putting rab it easily It only took et into the correct position, with my arms on the ar Practice s, I suppose
Dr Lo sat down on a stool and rolled over to sit next to , Sher down the inside of ht elboith antiseptic