Summer stood in front of the door to Morse’s quarters with stiff knees and a lump in her throat. Liz was there, too, looking somber and strong, holding her medical bag.
Neither of them had said a word since they’d left the medical bay. The silent walk wasn’t planned, nor was it customary, but sometimes no words at all is the better response.
Summer had often wondered why people felt compelled to say something during times like this. In truth, it rarely helps having to endure an earful of forced rhetoric or stale platitudes when your heart is breaking for another.
True strength comes from within and not from meaningless words. Strength requires experience, meditation, and sheer will, none of which can happen when someone is flapping their gums simply for the sake of not being silent. It’s even worse when all you want to do is be left alone, so you can curl up in a ball and cry.
Summer wiped the tears from her eyes, hoping she would make it through the next few minutes without breaking down. When she looked down at the wetness on her fingers, she realized that if she’d been wearing eyeliner like the normal girls before The Event, the black would have been smeared across her cheeks, making her look like an emotional racoon.
Who knew one of the few benefits of life in the Frozen World would be a complete lack of makeup?
“You ready?” Liz asked.
Summer sent her a thin smile before sucking in a deep breath and letting it out in a slow, controlled manner.
Liz continued, her tone gentle. “Remember what I said, sweetheart. He doesn’t want sympathy. Let’s keep it positive, for his sake.”
Summer nodded, then looked down at her hands, both of them wobbling like an out of balance front tire. “Okay, I’ll try. I just can’t seem to stop my hands.”
Liz put her medical bag on the floor, then wrapped her fingers around Summer’s. “It’ll be okay. We’ll do this together.”
The warmth felt amazing, taking some of the nervousness away. “Thanks.”
Liz let go, picked up her bag, and opened the door with a twist of the knob, allowing Summer to walk in first.
A dark-haired family of three sat in chairs next to Morse’s bed—a mother and father, both slender and in their 40s, plus a teenage boy with curly black hair and a wide nose.
Morse’s bunk was pushed up against the wall to the right in an understated room of plain cement. His desk and dresser stood together on the left, with a free-standing bookcase beyond them, each of its shelves stuffed with reading material and journals—each of them spiral bound and worn.
Most of the books were thick hardbacks, but there were a few paperbacks mixed in. Three of them carried the title SILO, which Summer found interesting, given where they were at the moment.
She wasn’t sure if the SILO books were fiction novels or textbooks, but their matching blue and white color schemes made it obvious they were a set. He’d kept them together on the middle shelf for a reason, she figured, since Morse never did anything without a plan.
“How’s he doing?” Liz asked the mom upon arrival, putting two fingers on Morse’s wrist. She looked down at her watch, her lips moving in one-second increments.
“Been asleep for hours, but he doesn’t seem to be in any more pain,” the woman answered. “That last dose really helped.”
“It’s time to turn him again,” the father said, leaning forward and motioning to the boy to help. The kid followed his father’s lead and the two of them turned Morse from his back onto his side, facing the middle of the room.
“Can we have a minute?” Liz asked the family, motioning with her eyes at the door.
“Right, no problem,” the father said, standing up and corralling the other two in his hands before escorting them to the door.
“God, I thought they’d never leave,” Summer said after the door closed behind them. She sat in one of the open seats, then picked up Morse’s hand and held it.
There was a faint pulse across his cold skin, running at a pace much slower than Summer expected. She adjusted the blanket covering his body, pulling it up to cover his shoulders.
“Go ahead. Talk to him,” Liz said, “while I take the rest of his vitals.”
“Will he be able to hear me?”
“Does it really matter? If you have something to say, say it. Might not be another chance.”
“I’m not sure what to say.”
“Just speak from your heart, dear. That’s all that matters. Just keep it positive, like we said.”
Summer nodded, then leaned in to his ear. It took a few seconds for the words to line up. “Hey Alex, it’s me, Summer. Liz is with me, too. Just wanted to let you know that we are both here and everyone is taking really good care of you. Hope you get better soon. We have a lot of catching up to do. A lot happened at the monthly meet. There’s so much to tell you, I don’t know where to start.”
Liz motioned with her hand for Summer to continue.
Summer continued after another breath. “We found this ugly dog named Sergeant Barkley. He tried to protect me from Frost, but got hurt in the process. He’s down in medical right now, resting. Liz is taking good care of him, just like she is for you.”
Liz continued checking more of the man’s vitals with instruments from her medical bag as Summer continued to fill Morse in on the happenings of the day. Since she wasn’t allowed to tell Morse anything that wasn’t positive, she decided not to mention Edison or what happened to him.
When Liz was done with her tests, she wrote a few sentences on a notepad, then put it away in the medical bag.
Summer leaned close to Liz, whispering in her ear. “How long does he have?”
“Not long. His heart is very weak.”
When those words landed on her ears, Summer took in a huge gulp of air all at once. Tears started to well again, only this time she found the strength to stop them from overflowing down her cheeks. She sniffed hard and turned her head away to collect herself, jamming her lips together and pushing her jaw out in defiance.
When she brought her eyes back to Morse, she saw that his eyes were open and his lips were moving ever so slightly.
Summer smacked Liz on the shoulder and pointed. “Look! He’s trying to say something.”
Liz leaned in close to his mouth and turned her head, holding that pose for what seemed like an hour. When she sat back in the seat again, Morse’s eyes were closed and his lips were no longer moving.
Liz brought her attention to Summer with eyes thin and forehead creased. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“What did he say?”
Liz paused for a beat. “Red radio thirty-five.”
“What?”
“He kept saying the same thing over and over. Red radio thirty-five.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. Probably just random gibberish,” Liz said.
“But his eyes were open and he looked right at me. He knew I was there.”
“I don’t think that’s the case, Summer. He’s heavily sedated. It’s more likely his mind and body are just reacting involuntarily.”
Summer shot Liz a confused look. “And speaking real words?”
“It does happen on occasion.”
“No, that can’t be. He was trying to tell us something. Something important.”
Liz shook her head but didn’t respond.
Summer couldn’t let it go. “He has a radio in his lab. Maybe that’s what he meant?”
“Is it red?”
“No.”
“Then I’m afraid it’s just—” Liz said, stopping in mid-sentence when Morse suddenly turned over onto his back with his eyes open once again.
Summer grabbed his hand. “Alex!”
A second later, his entire body tensed in a straight line like a pencil, right before his chest took in one massive breath and held it for a three-count. Then, just as quickly as it came in, the air escaped from his lungs and so did the stiffness from his body. His arms and legs fell limp and so did his head, turning to the side with his mouth and eyes still open.