Page 25 of Time Stops With You

“Did it help?” Sullivan asks.

“Actually, it did.” I refill my wine glass with mineral water and take a sip.

“Great! So that means the hospital will stop calling me and you’ll finally go hear your results?”

I remain silent. This is all my fault for making Richard Sullivan my emergency contact.

Given that I have no friends and my assistant is virtual, I wasn’t sure who I should write as my guardian. At the time, Richard Sullivan seemed like the best bet as he appeared somewhat trustworthy and I thought that he’d do what needed to be done if I was ever on life support.

Unfortunately, naming him as my emergency contact gave Sullivan deep feelings of responsibility for my welfarewhile I’m alive.Which was not my initial intent.

“Cullen,” Sullivan calls my name in warning, “youwillgo back to the hospital and hear those results, right?”

“I’m very busy.”

“Your team can handle without you.”

“Not at this point. The simulation still isn’t ready and the board?—”

“Don’t worry about the board. I’ll cover for you there. Whatever you need, Moseley and I will handle it.”

Sullivan can say that easily, but I’ve been burned at the stake during his board meetings. Most of the members don’t agree with Cullen Tech’s vision. I feel a direct responsibility to prove that Sullivan’s investment in me was the right call.

“I’ll get in touch with the hospital.” I assure him.Someday.But I leave that part unsaid. Sullivan might release another therapist on me, one who isn’t as hands-off and even-keeled as Darrel Hastings.

“I’m really glad to hear that, Cullen. My wife pointed out that I probably shouldn’t have sprung Darrel on you. That you might have gotten offended. I hope you know this all comes from a good place.”

“Of course.”

“Alright then. If there’s nothing else…”

“Thereissomething I’d like to discuss with you.” I pause. “I think I might have found someone who can finish the human-less flight project if I can’t.”

“Really? Is it someone on your team?”

“Not exactly. He’s eleven.”

There’s a beat of shocked silence. “Eleven? As in… he’s in middle school?”

“That’s right.”

“Cullen, if I didn’t know you, I’d say you were joking. But since I do, you gotta give me more information.”

“His name is Josiah Davis.” I smile as I think about the short conversation Josiah and I had before his sister stormed in. “He’s been playing around with Python and Java Script for about two years now, but he was getting bored in his classes. He studied further and further on his own until he was doing his own thing during class. It was during a lesson at school today that he broke into our simulation.”

Sullivan goes very, very quiet. I don’t have to see him to know that I’ve shocked him speechless again.

“I want to clarify that I’m determined to see this project through before I die. I will throw everything I can at it. However, if Ican’tmake this a reality, handing it over to someone else in my generation is the wrong thing to do. We need someone from a new generation. Someone with a completely different approach. And this kid,” I blow out a breath, “he’s incredibly sharp. If anyone can do this, he can.”

“O-okay. Well, I guess…” Sullivan stutters. “I mean, if that’s how you want to play it.” Sullivan pauses again and seems to work through my announcement. “So you’ll be a mentor, of sorts.”

“Yes, but I also plan to make that mentorship a little more… legally binding.”

“How?”

“By getting married.”

Dare sounds uneasy. “To who?”

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