Page 53 of Supernova

Well, Adrian was hidden.

Max was invisible.

Turbo was back in his little carrier, which Max held as to keep it invisible, too.

There were two nurses: a man standing at the desk flipping through a file; and a woman sitting in front of a computer, mindlessly stabbing a plastic fork into a plastic container containing a garden salad. The man would occasionally try to involve the woman in some gossip about one of the doctors on staff, but she seemed utterly uninterested.

Finally, checking something off on a clipboard, the man tucked thefile under his arm and wandered down the corridor. Adrian pressed his back against the wall, holding his breath, until he had gone.

“Okay. Remember what to say?”

“This is never going to work” came Max’s reply.

“That’s the spirit.” Adjusting his collar, Adrian approached the desk. “Hi,” he said, flashing a brilliant smile.

The woman glanced up. Her eyes widened. “Hi?” she stammered. “Aren’t you…?”

“Adrian Everhart.” He thrust out a hand, which she took with some surprise.

“Yes!” she said. “I’ve been helping to care for Max. It’s so nice to meet you. Wow, you look just like you do in the magazines.”

“I guess I would,” he said, with an awkward chuckle.

“I’m so sorry you can’t visit Max, given his”—she stumbled over the word—“condition. But I can assure you he’s been responding great to the treatment and—”

“Actually, I was hoping I could talk with you a bit about Max and his treatment.” He leaned over the counter and lowered his voice. “Privately, if that’s all right?”

“Oh. Um.” She frowned at the computer, uncertain. “There’s always supposed to be someone—”

“Just for a second. It’s… you know… Renegade stuff. And it’s important.”

A touch of curiosity entered her face. “Of course. Let me just close this out…” She logged off the computer, then tucked the fork into the bed of lettuce and stood. Adrian led the way, passing by the alcove where he knew Max was waiting. Adrian flashed a discreet thumbs-up, then paused, facing the nurse. He thought he heard the quiet shuffle of a hospital gown a few feet away from them, but itwas hard to tell with the constant thrum and beeps of machinery in the hospital wing.

“So…,” Adrian started. “First, I want you to know how impressed my family has been with the care Max has gotten here. It’s been apparent how top-notch the staff is, and we just… we really appreciate how attentive all you nurses and doctors have been, and the physical therapists and everyone, really. It’s clear how much you guys really care for your patients.”

The woman flushed. “Well, we do our best.”

Adrian smiled at her. “It shows.”

He spied movement at the nurses’ station. The microphone being lifted from the intercom system.

“And we know how unconventional Max’s treatment has been,” Adrian continued, trying to keep his attention on the nurse. “I know the prodigy healers who work here shoulder a lot of the responsibility, but your civilian staff has really stepped up to help Max recover, and to ensure he received… just… the best care possible, even without a prodigy healer.”

“Thank you,” said the nurse, even as hesitation entered her tone. “But was there something you needed to discuss…?” She started to glance toward the desk.

“Medicine!” said Adrian.

She jumped, startled.

“We, uh… we know there’s been some shortage of certain pharmaceuticals lately, especially after the theft that was all over the news a while back, and we wanted to check if… you’re well supplied. With everything that—”

A speaker crackled overhead, followed by a voice erupting through the hall. Max’s voice, but lowered in an attempt to soundolder, repeating the words that Adrian had coached him on, having heard them a couple of times during his visits.

“Three-two-one! Three-two-one! All available emergency personnel, report to room one-sixteen immediately! We needallprodigy healers to report immediately. Repeat, this is a three-two-one alert!”

The nurse cocked her head. “I wonder who that was,” she mused. “Must be a new intern.”

“That sounded really important,” said Adrian, as out of the corner of his eye he saw the microphone replace itself on the intercom. “I’d better let you go. We can discuss this later.”

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