Tears streaked his face. His jaw moved, but no sound came out. Suddenly I saw how we had blundered. This grotesquely oversized child meant no harm to anyone. Stella was the only person he'd ever known who treated him like a human being, and he wanted to see her again. For some reason he couldn't understand, the police were trying to prevent that. Suddenly the entire universe was against him, even Stella, and he was frightened.

And dangerous.

He lunged at me like a pile driver, and forced me back towards the open window. I got my gun out, and he just casually knocked it out of my hand. He had me on the window ledge, forcing me back and all I could see were the stars out in space.

Then the apartment door opened and closed and Gregory glanced back over his shoulder.

I screamed. "Run, Stella! Run—"

Then the night air was whistling past me. I bounced off an awning, crashed into the branches of a tree, struggled frantically for a hold, and fell through. From the window above came a piercing scream....

The Doctor had a face like an owl, and he bent over me, making funny clucking noises with his tongue. "There we are," he said, when he saw my eyes open. "Not bad at all."

"What's good about it?" I said.

"Young man, you fell six stories, and all you have is a broken leg and assorted bruises. You ask me what's good about it?"

"You wouldn't understand," I said. "Beat it." Stella's scream still rang in my ears. I twisted, and felt the heavy cast on my left leg. My mood merged and blended with the dull grey of the hospital room.

A nurse came tiptoing in, and smiled blandly when she saw I was awake. "You have some visitors," she said. "Do you want to see them?"

I knew it was the Captain. I hated to face him, but I said, "Let's get it over with."

The Captain loomed in the doorway, backed away, and came in again. And ahead of him walked Stella.

A different Stella—face pale and distorted, eyes registering shock and grief, but alive. But very much alive.

I started to get up, and the nurse placed a firm hand on each shoulder and held me to the bed. "Not so fast, sonny boy," she said.

 Prev. P 15/17 next