Machine Man - Max Barry [42]
“A great deal of steel. Please ask her about that, when she wakes up.”
I wasn’t talking to Cassandra Cautery. I had decided this in the wheelchair, while Carl pushed me through corridors that smelled of fresh paint. I wasn’t talking to anyone until Lola was okay.
“Fortunately, we have a replacement. A little custom model of our own. And the facilities to install it.” She looked at me. “This room didn’t exist until two weeks ago. We just finished construction. Do you believe in luck, Charlie?”
I kept my mouth shut.
“Me neither. Someone’s looking out for your girl, I think. Someone upstairs.”
At first I thought she meant God. Then I realized she meant management.
“We built this place for you. For your project.”
“I’m not continuing the project.” It broke my vow of silence. But I couldn’t let her keep talking.
Cassandra Cautery looked sympathetic. “All right, Charlie. Whatever you want.” She didn’t believe me.
We watched the surgery. After a while, the surgeon with his back to us moved aside. Lola’s chest was a red, wet pit.
“As long as we’ve got her open,” Cassandra Cautery said, “I wonder if we could do anything else in there.” I looked at her, furious, but also embarrassed, because I had been thinking the same thing.
I WAS by Lola’s side when she woke. It took me by surprise, even though I’d been waiting for it: her eyelids fluttered and two dozen tiny muscles contracted and suddenly her face looked different. It was a little disconcerting. I hadn’t seen this before, this sudden infusion of consciousness.
“Hi,” I said. Lola reached for the tubes in her nose and I guided her hand away. “You’ve had surgery. They had to replace your heart.”
Her eyes widened. Her fingers moved down to her chest. “Bah.”
“It’s okay. Try to relax.”
“Bah.”
I leaned closer. “What?”
“Bah.” Her fingers closed around my shirt. “Bah.”
“Don’t exert yourself. You’re not supposed to raise your blood pressure.”
She pulled. I went with it, because I feared that if I resisted she would pop a stitch. Her lips brushed my ear. “Back,” she said. “Put … it … back.”
“WHY AREN’T you getting her to talk about the heart?” said Cassandra Cautery. This was later, in the hallway. Lola had turned unresponsive. She stared at the wall and didn’t answer questions. I had started thinking, I don’t really know her that well. We had shared some intense experiences, but when I added up the time we’d spent in each other’s company, it was like four hours. When a person you’ve just met completely changes personality, you start to wonder which one they are. Why did Lola seem to like me? I had never analyzed that. I had put it in the same category as magic.
“She won’t talk about anything. She’s comatose.”
“You’re not trying. You’re just saying her name over and over.”
Now I understood why one wall in Lola’s recovery room was a big mirror. “You’re watching?”
“Charlie,” said Cassandra Cautery. “I do not want to put any pressure on you, but what we’ve done here, this little in-house surgery, that’s not entirely legal. Do you know how that feels to a manager?” She put a hand on her chest. “It feels like I’m kicking over the baptismal font.”
“What?”
“A sustainable business works within the confines of the law. This …” She gestured at Lola’s door. “Goes against everything I stand for.”
“Then why did you do it?”
Cassandra Cautery stared at me. “I thought you’d be glad we could provide such immediate, quality medical care.”
“But—”
“We’re cleaning up the mess. That’s what I’m doing, Charlie. Cleaning up the mess. Are you on board or not?”
I didn’t answer.
“Charlie,” she said. “I’m trying to help you. I really am. Now get back in there and ask about the heart.”
I wheeled into Lola’s room. No change: she was on her side, staring out the window. Or at least that’s what I thought. When I got closer I saw she was staring at the wall near the window. “Lola?” I reached out and touched her shoulder. “Lola, it’s okay. Everything’s okay.” I stroked her hair for a while. Sometimes I repeated: “Everything