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‘The next person who kicks or hits hi You will be blackballed for the rest of your shriveled lives Now back off’

Aht reject the locust victi pools

Dee looks just as surprised as I alances over at his brother ‘Dude, we’re the new HBO’ He flashes a grin

Dunize as Doc He holds his arm aardly His face, which was already bruised, is so swollen that he can barely open his eyes

‘Are you okay?’ I ask ‘What’s wrong with your arm?’

‘They stomped all over it They have no idea what they’ve done’

‘Is it broken?’ It’s starting to dawn on eon with a broken arht not know, but his body sure thinks his ar it ‘It’s people like this that make me wonder why I bother to try to save them’

Doc looks furious as he brushes past ainst a tree and take a break Dum holds Doc to make sure he can walk steadily

‘We have another doctor,’ says Dee to o with you’ I see the locust stung with new eyes Their shriveled chests and shoulders still heave with their anger and frustration Several of theo far deeper than the ones stirred up by the fight

I follow the twins as they help Doc across the street

20

I lean against the wall in a rooot high priority because he’s the only other doctor in camp They let one of the twins into the back with him while the other took off on an errand I was told to ith the others in the waiting rooh the s are blocked off by blankets There’s so in a roo people around you coughing and whispering

The door opens, and Dee’s bottle-blond head peeks in

‘What’s the verdict?’ I ask ‘Is it broken?’

‘Badly,’ says Dee as he walks in ‘It’ll probably be six weeks before he can start to use his arain’

Six weeks My stohts ‘Could he instruct the other doctor during surgery? You know, to work as his hands?’

‘She’s not a surgeon Besides, no one wants to be known as Doc’s minion Bad for your health, you know’

‘Yeah, I noticed’ I chew onto do except go back with the bad news What are we going to do now? Doc was our one shining hope for both Paige and Raffe

The entrance door opens, and Dum walks in ‘Hey, I saw your oing there in a ht?’

‘She was pretty excited Gaveand a kiss,’ says Du it’s been since she’s givenand a kiss?’

‘Well, yeah, a lot of women find that they can’t resist my charms They’re all over reen Gatorade as if he thought that was sexy

I walk to the door, trying to figure out if there’s anything I can do other than head back to the grove with the bad news When I put e happens that makes me pause