Up Against It - M. J. Locke [184]
Sal did not respond, but his breathing was harsh in her ears. She said, “He sure has been in the middle of a lot of drama over the past few days. It’s almost like he’s seeking out dangerous situations to play the hero in.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Sal demanded. “Why do you think I’ve been coming down on him so hard? But he won’t listen—he just keeps getting worse.” He made claws with his gloved hands. “I want to strangle the little shit.”
Jane frowned. “Sal, Geoff is not Carl. And he never will be. If you keep on the way you are going, he’ll kill himself trying to be the hero he thinks you want him to be. Or you’ll have the sad consolation that he wises up and cuts you out of his life instead.”
Sal’s shoulders slumped. “That’s what Dee said.”
“Well, she’s right.”
“Dee left me, Jane. She left last night. She’s filing for divorce.” Sal’s voice was flat, but she heard the knot of pain twisting beneath. He went on, “I don’t want him to make the same mistakes I did. I thought life was all a big joke, too, at his age. I farted around for so many years—never made up my mind what I wanted, never finished my degree, kept leaving jobs behind, argued with my bosses, moved around a lot. Now I’m stuck working fourteen-hour days at the assembly plant, knee-deep in chemicals and crap, go home smelling like a chemical sewer every day. And it’ll never be any better for me.
“I just wanted more for him. He could be so much more, but he’s so damned stubborn, so unfocused…” His voice trailed away and his arms hung at his sides.
You’re a damned fool, she thought. But he had clearly figured that out for himself. Jane thought about Hugh and Dominica, back on Earth. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she might get a call someday about them, like the ones she had made after the warehouse disaster last week.
I’ll go call them both, she thought. As soon as I see Xuan. They’ll hear about all that’s happened and they’ll be worried sick.
Jane looked up at the shuttle, whose landing lights were now shining onto the pad. “You know what having kids is like? It’s like scooping out a chunk of your soul and giving it legs.”
He sighed. “And praying it doesn’t run right off a cliff.”
The shuttle fired its brakes and settled onto the pad. Jane and Sal hurried forward with the city medics.
Sean and his pilot debarked first. They stood aside with Jane and Sal and the medics while the security team marched the mobsters, who looked quite a bit the worse for wear, down the ramp and away. Then the medics entered and brought Geoff out on a stretcher. His two friends came behind.
The medics paused and Sal bent over his son. Jane caught a glimpse of Geoff’s pallid face. His eyes were closed behind a clouded visor. His face was beaded in liquid. Sal said, “I’m here, son,” and “I’m proud of you.” His voice sounded choked. Geoff didn’t respond. Sal held on to Geoff’s stretcher and they moved off.
Sean came over to Jane. “Hell of a week, Commissioner.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Sean said, “I’m going to radio Aaron that I’m taking the day off, and head home to my lovely wife to practice space-sex. And after that I’m going to sleep for twelve hours straight,”
Jane grinned at him. “You’ll qualify as an Upsider yet. Oh, and Xuan and I have a hotel room now, so your privacy is assured.”
“Damn good thing. Because I plan to make plenty of noise tonight. This morning. Whatever the hell time it is.” He bounded away.
Now Xuan hobbled down the ramp, shuffling like a Downsider. Jane went to him, and he took hold of her arm. They pressed their faces helmet to helmet and held on as tightly as they ever had.
The medics came then. They put Xuan on a stretcher and escorted him to a waiting land speeder. Jane entered the car last and locked the pressure seal.
“I’m fine,” he told them, while they stripped off his pressure suit and prepped an IV and took his vitals.
“Let us be the judge of that,” the young man said.