Howard
September 2193
Vulcan
I texted Stéphane for the third ti in the last hour. I couldn’t call him anymore, as he’d blocked voice calls from after my last attempt.
His reply ca back within a minute. “Still in surgery. Calm down. Aren’t you supposed to be a computer?”
Okay, that stung. Well, not really, but point taken. I took a deep breath and attempted to relax.
Bridget’s surgery was already running overti. There was no scenario in which that was a good thing. I’d tried distracting myself with a few of the many projects I had on the go, but I couldn’t maintain concentration.
In desperation I checked in on Bill. Guppy indicated that he was running Bullwinkle, so wouldn’t be responding except in an ergency. I doubted that freaking out really qualified, so I didn’t bother leaving a ssage. I had a quick peek at his terraforming blog, but there was nothing new.
I was seriously considering just fra-jacking down, when Stéphane called .
“Hi Howard. You can stop with the worrying now. She’s out of surgery, and the doctors say it looks positive. The tumor was a little more spread than they expected, so it took longer to excise. But all good.”
I thanked Stéphane, traded so aningless comnts, then hung up. I sat back, took several deep breaths, until I thought that I had it under control. And without so much as a by-the-way, I leaned forward and started to sob.
Just friends.
* * *
There had been a lot of improvents in dicine since the days of Original Bob, but so things hadn’t changed all that much. Cancer could be nipped in the bud if caught early, but there was no vaccination yet. And the knife was still often the only effective treatnt.
This was unacceptable. What the hell had they been doing for a hundred years? I resolved to look into it when I had a chance.
anwhile, Stéphane sat at her bedside. He’d dialed in through the room phone. While I waited, I sent a quick email to Bill to hurry the hell up with the androids. I knew it wouldn’t help, but it was action of a sort.
Stéphane and I traded an occasional desultory comnt, but neither of us was in the mood for more. Finally, he turned to . “I’m going to stretch and refuel. So of us still have to eat. I’ll tell them not to co in and hang up the phone on you.” With a nod, he got up, leaving to watch over Bridget.
If you’ve ever watched soone co out of anesthesia, it’s not like waking up. That can be sexy, under the right circumstances. Bridget looked more like a drowned rat that had just been given CPR. I made a note to myself to keep that observation private.
She finally opened one eye, looked around, and spotted peering at her from the phone. She squinted, grimaced at , and said, “Jeez, what do I need to do to get a day off?”
I laughed, then had to override the video image to keep from embarrassing myself. My image froze for a couple of milliseconds—not nearly long enough for her to notice. When I’d recovered control, I grinned at her. “Not to worry, sales are good. This year you can take Christmas off, and even use up so extra coal.”
I was considering what I would say next, when Stéphane walked back in, coffee in hand. Bridget’s face lit up, and Stéphane smiled when he saw she was awake. He exclaid, “Ma minette!” and pulled up a chair as close to the bed as he could manage. He took her hand, and I ceased to exist for any practical purpose.
How did I miss this?
We made small talk. I don’t rember it. I’m sure I could play back my logs, but why? I made my excuses as soon as I could without appearing to be acting odd, then retreated to my VR.
Right, well, what did I expect? Bridget was a human. An epheral. Her plans would include a ho, a family, a place in society. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I’d been very carefully avoiding thinking about certain issues.
And one of the issues that had just co into focus was that I was an outsider. I saw the world through video calls and chat windows and drone caras. I really shouldn’t have been surprised that sothing could develop right under my nose.
I materialized a bucket and kicked it as hard as I could. Strangely, it helped.
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