Page 38 of The Care of Broken Things
He liked him. Maybe more than liked him. It was ridiculous, but it was also the truth. The man was becoming too important, too fast, and those feelings were far more dangerous than anything else in the prison.Just go to sleephe begged of himself.Stop thinking and go to sleep.
He did go to sleep, a dreamless sleep of the dead, and he must have slept a really long time, eight hours at least, because the next thing he knew the door was being pulled open.
“Morning, Fuller. Sleep well?”
It was The Android.
Samuel swung his legs off the pallet and stood. He didn’t like being alone with The Android and wanted to minimize that time as much as possible. He headed for the door. “Fine, thanks. And yourself?”
“No sleeping for me. I was on duty last night. Down here.”
“Oh?”
He didn’t care, but he found it best to keep people talking when he was nervous.
“Yup. Quiet night. Just you and Pepper. But you like the quiet, don’t you?”
He wasn’t sure what the right answer to that was. They were walking down the hall. All he had to do was make it up the steps and down another hall and he’d be back in the cafeteria. Eli was probably making breakfast. He knew it was too much to hope for the pancake sandwiches again, but anything would have tasted good just then. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed eating meals with someone. “I like it all right.”
“Of course you do. You’re not like the others here. You appreciate the important things.”
The conversation was starting to feel weird. He tried to steer it in another direction. “You should tell that to the Warden. She thinks I’m the source of all trouble.”
They’d reached the door to the stairwell. He pushed it open and held it, waiting for The Android to follow, but the man paused in the doorway.
“I heard you’re a married man now.”
His pulse stumbled. “Oh, that’s just—”
“Is he who you were thinking about?”
“What?”
The Android reached out and traced his hand down the dried mess of his jumpsuit. “Last night.”
Samuel flinched back, his heart racing, his blood screaming.He saw. The words were raw, branded across the surface of his mind.He watched me. The whole time. He was there.
The Android followed him into the stairwell before the door could shut. Samuel’s back hit the handrail, but The Android kept coming, stepping into his space, looking up into his face. Inescapable. “You’re best when you’re alone. Pristine, you know? Like a white sand beach. Don’t you want to keep it that way?”
He couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. His mind was screaming.PREDATOR. He needed help. He needed to run. But he was frozen, and The Android was leaning closer. He could feel warm breath on his mouth. “Quiet is what you need. An endless quiet.”
When The Android’s chest touched his, he finally came to life, cracking free from whatever chrysalis was caging him in. He pushed and suddenly he was free, the fear everywhere, but free. He crashed up the stairs, the adrenaline giving him speed he didn’t normally possess, faster and faster, running, sprinting—
He was caught, slammed to a halt, and fear whited out his vision. He wouldn’t freeze again. He would fight, scream,whatever he had to—
“It’s me! Puppy, it’s me.”
He didn’t hear the words. Not individually. But he heard the voice. Knew that voice. And the arms—it wasn’t a cage, but arms, the safe ones, that held him.
“What happened? You’re about to—”
His legs gave out. They lurched forward, but Eli had him, was already shoring him up, taking his weight like it was nothing. Good. They needed to go. They needed torun.
“Quick. We have to—dangerous. We have to—”
“Did someone touch you?” Eli seemed suddenly bigger than before. Bigger and stronger than anyone in the world. But he was no match for The Android. Samuel was sure of it. His senses had never screamed at him like that. Never. Not even the worst of them had put such fear into him. He still couldn’t catch his breath.
“I’ve got you, puppy. Shh. I’ve got you. No one’s going to touch you.”
