Page 54 of Supernova

“Oh, that alert only applies to prodigy hea—”

“Keep up the good work!” Adrian clapped her on the arm, then walked past her, past the desk. “See?” he whispered, hoping Max was beside him as he swung into the next corridor. “No healers, no prodigies, no worries. Come on, this way.” He headed toward the southern elevator bank.

“Okay, this is sort of fun,” Max whispered. “I feel like a spy in one of those old action flicks.”

Amusement twitched at Adrian’s cheeks, and he wondered if it was cooler to be a spy or a superhero. Maybe they were a little bit of both.

“You would make a pretty awesome spy.”

“I know. No one ever suspects the kid.”

Adrian chuckled. “That and the whole invisibility thing.”

“That goes without saying.”

Adrian started at the sound of footsteps barreling toward them. He stepped closer to the wall, holding out his arm to tuck Max behind him—which probably looked like an odd thing todo—but neither of the men in blue scrubs was paying him any attention.

But when they were twenty steps away, the shorter of the two men stumbled unexpectedly, nearly collapsing on top of a cart stacked with near-empty cafeteria trays and paper cups.

His companion froze. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just feel… weird, all of a sudden,” said the doctor, pressing a hand over his chest. “Not like a… heart attack, exactly, but…”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Max whispered. “It’s me. He’s a prodigy. I’m—”

Adrian reached for the air and found Max’s upper arm. He dragged Max forward, though the boy struggled weakly, trying to pull Adrian the other direction, away from the doctors. Adrian held firm. Realizing it was useless, Max stopped objecting and they hurried down the hall.

The doctors ignored Adrian, as the taller of the two tried to help his friend to a chair in a small computer alcove.

Before they turned the next corner, Adrian glanced back. The prodigy healer was sitting a bit taller already, nodding at something his peer was telling him.

“Allthe healers will head straight for the first floor!” cried Max, flickering into visibility, presumably so Adrian could see his death glare. “That’s what you told me. A three-two-one alert will make sure there arenoprodigies—”

“Okay, okay,” said Adrian, holding up his hands. “So that one was taking his time.”

“This is exactly why I shouldn’t have let you talk me into this. That guy has lives to save! Patients! Responsibilities! And now—”

“He’s fine,” said Adrian, heading for the elevator. Max followedafter him, still carrying Turbo’s cage in both hands. “You were hardly in his vicinity. I’m sure you only got a tiny bit of his power.”

“But what if that tiny bit is the difference between a successful heart surgery and a nicked aorta?”

Adrian feigned a confused look. “What’s an aorta?”

“It’s the big artery that—” Max paused. “You’re avoiding the question.”

Turbo shrieked angrily.

With a laugh, Adrian jammed his thumb into the up button. “He’s fine. And so are you. We shouldn’t pass any more prodigy healers.”

Max scoffed. “What about prodigy patients? Nurses? Visiting family members? And also—why are we going up? I thought the idea was to leave the hospital.”

“I have a plan. And look, I know you’ve been surrounded by prodigies your whole life, but they aren’t all that common outside of headquarters. The chances of us running into any more is really low. Trust me, okay?”

Max scowled, but didn’t argue as the elevator arrived and the doors parted.

A nurse started to step out, and Max froze, standing straighter.

“Mr. Everhart? What are you doing here? What’s—” She noticed the cage in Max’s hands, but Turbo had fallen asleep again and maybe she assumed it was one of those plastic dinosaurs from the machine. Without waiting for an answer, she narrowed her eyes and reached forward, taking Max by the elbow and steering him back toward the hall. “I know you’re probably getting restless lying in that bed all day, but we can’t just have you wandering around the halls without supervision. You understand that, right?” She cast a disapprovingfrown at Adrian. “I’m sure your friend will understand. Now, come on, I’ll walk you… both…”

---