only Dr. Mendel had picked up on it, but Dr. Beth examined me after every serious fight.
Jacky looked at me. “Hope?”
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The cabin? But I feel fine.” I laughed, giddy. “Better than fine—like I used to feel after a tough field hockey match.”
Dr. Beth nodded. “PTSD is caused when an overactive adrenal response triggers deep neurological changes in the brain. I’d not be surprised if the biological ‘reset’ you both seem to have experienced has erased its effects on your neuro -anatomy. You may even find your post-combat shakes gone completely.”
I stared, stunned as his words sank in, and then proved my new emotional health by bursting into tears. Blackstone had waited quietly throughout the examination, and now he produced a handkerchief from nowhere with a flamboyant magician’s wave. I laughed again, wiping my eyes.
“Thank you, doctor,” he said. “So you can certify them both for active duty?”
“Oh my, yes. They couldn’t possibly be healthier. Bottle whatever it was, and I’m out of a job.” Completely untroubled by the possibility, he reached into the pocket of his doctor’s coat and handed each of us a lollypop.
----
Blackstone disappeared to speak to Fisher and get Mr. Jones and Orb back to the Dome, but the first thing Artemis did was head for the dining room. Willis, having heard the news through Dispatch, had set out cold-cuts sandwiches for us. Both of us. I was fading fast, but Artemis sat and ate with me before following after Blackstone; if he was the team’s intelligence wizard, she was the wizard’s apprentice.
Just watching my friend eat was wonderful, though she took it in her usual undramatic , detached way. I fell asleep full of gleeful thoughts of all the places I could take her, how surprised the Bees would be, and slept like the dead till a ghost woke me up.
“Hope,” Shelly whispered, tickling my ear. I swatted at her virtual finger and rolled over, then almost hit the ceiling when she started on my feet.
“ Aahh ! What the hell, Shell?”
“Jacky wants you, but didn’t want to wake you up.”
“And good thinking, too! Why?” I landed and untangled from my sheets.
“She’s going out to watch the sunrise.”
I never dressed so fast in all my life.
----
“Are you sure about this?”
We stood just inside the east doors, looking out over Grant Park toward Lake Michigan in the blue pre-dawn light. Jacky wore her daysuit , but had her left glove off, dangling from her right fist. She turned, and I couldn’t see her eyes behind her protective mask.
“Dr. Beth said I’m alive, and if I—if I’m really alive…” The no-drama girl of last night was long gone.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t need Level 5,000 sunscreen anymore,” I said desperately.
“But it might,” she whispered, naked longing in her voice.
The sky lightened as I watched, trying to think of anything to say. I could have dragged her back inside. Instead I took her hand as the light turned gold and the sun topped the trees.
And she didn’t burn. Her hand squeezed mine, warm and pale, and I breathed again.
“Jacky—”
She nodded, and suddenly she was tearing at her hood. Pulling it off, she unsnapped her sealed facemask and threw it to the ground, taking deep gasping breaths of morning air.
“Oh God. Oh God .” She couldn’t look away from the sun, even when she turned and grabbed me. And then my tough-as-nails friend was crying so hard she couldn’t stand up. But that was okay; I wouldn’t let her fall.
Chapter Thirteen
When I dreamed of being a superhero, I imagined epic fights and daring rescues. But do you know how superheroes spend most of their time? Paperwork and meetings. Public-relations meetings, Sentinels business meetings, city-liaison meetings, coordination meetings, certification and compliance
Jacky looked at me. “Hope?”
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The cabin? But I feel fine.” I laughed, giddy. “Better than fine—like I used to feel after a tough field hockey match.”
Dr. Beth nodded. “PTSD is caused when an overactive adrenal response triggers deep neurological changes in the brain. I’d not be surprised if the biological ‘reset’ you both seem to have experienced has erased its effects on your neuro -anatomy. You may even find your post-combat shakes gone completely.”
I stared, stunned as his words sank in, and then proved my new emotional health by bursting into tears. Blackstone had waited quietly throughout the examination, and now he produced a handkerchief from nowhere with a flamboyant magician’s wave. I laughed again, wiping my eyes.
“Thank you, doctor,” he said. “So you can certify them both for active duty?”
“Oh my, yes. They couldn’t possibly be healthier. Bottle whatever it was, and I’m out of a job.” Completely untroubled by the possibility, he reached into the pocket of his doctor’s coat and handed each of us a lollypop.
----
Blackstone disappeared to speak to Fisher and get Mr. Jones and Orb back to the Dome, but the first thing Artemis did was head for the dining room. Willis, having heard the news through Dispatch, had set out cold-cuts sandwiches for us. Both of us. I was fading fast, but Artemis sat and ate with me before following after Blackstone; if he was the team’s intelligence wizard, she was the wizard’s apprentice.
Just watching my friend eat was wonderful, though she took it in her usual undramatic , detached way. I fell asleep full of gleeful thoughts of all the places I could take her, how surprised the Bees would be, and slept like the dead till a ghost woke me up.
“Hope,” Shelly whispered, tickling my ear. I swatted at her virtual finger and rolled over, then almost hit the ceiling when she started on my feet.
“ Aahh ! What the hell, Shell?”
“Jacky wants you, but didn’t want to wake you up.”
“And good thinking, too! Why?” I landed and untangled from my sheets.
“She’s going out to watch the sunrise.”
I never dressed so fast in all my life.
----
“Are you sure about this?”
We stood just inside the east doors, looking out over Grant Park toward Lake Michigan in the blue pre-dawn light. Jacky wore her daysuit , but had her left glove off, dangling from her right fist. She turned, and I couldn’t see her eyes behind her protective mask.
“Dr. Beth said I’m alive, and if I—if I’m really alive…” The no-drama girl of last night was long gone.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t need Level 5,000 sunscreen anymore,” I said desperately.
“But it might,” she whispered, naked longing in her voice.
The sky lightened as I watched, trying to think of anything to say. I could have dragged her back inside. Instead I took her hand as the light turned gold and the sun topped the trees.
And she didn’t burn. Her hand squeezed mine, warm and pale, and I breathed again.
“Jacky—”
She nodded, and suddenly she was tearing at her hood. Pulling it off, she unsnapped her sealed facemask and threw it to the ground, taking deep gasping breaths of morning air.
“Oh God. Oh God .” She couldn’t look away from the sun, even when she turned and grabbed me. And then my tough-as-nails friend was crying so hard she couldn’t stand up. But that was okay; I wouldn’t let her fall.
Chapter Thirteen
When I dreamed of being a superhero, I imagined epic fights and daring rescues. But do you know how superheroes spend most of their time? Paperwork and meetings. Public-relations meetings, Sentinels business meetings, city-liaison meetings, coordination meetings, certification and compliance
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