Page 111 of Private Exhibit
Crawford nodded back, then turned to a nurse who stood ready, watching the monitors. “Hang a bag of saline,” he said, “plus a vitamin blend and a protein pack. Bring two of each. No, three. Just to be safe.”
“Yes, Doctor Crawford.” The nurse rushed off and came back within moments, the fluid bags clutched in her arms. She hung the bags and fed them into Devon's IV drip, then set the spares aside.
“Three of each?” Andy asked.
“He'll probably run through at least that many before we're done,” Crawford said. “Forcing the body to reproduce cells atthe rate we're going to demand is going to absolutely drain him. And since he's not capable of eating, we're going to have to feed him like this.” Crawford turned back to the nurse. “He's to be monitored at all times,” Crawford ordered. “Set the bypass machine to test blood samples at one-hour intervals. Full panel. I want everything kept within normal range and supplemented as needed without fail. Understood?”
The nurse nodded. “Yes, Doctor.”
Crawford resumed his position, framing Devon's head with both hands. “Alright. Here goes.” He closed his eyes.
Andy followed suit, closing his eyes and focusing on Devon. He tumbled down again, falling into the boy's consciousness. They paused there long enough to assure Devon they had a plan, then Andy followed Crawford back through Devon's brain and into his spinal cord.
Watch closely, Crawford ordered.
Andy stared intently, tuning his entire existence into what Crawford was doing. Somehow, he not only saw butfeltwhat was going on as Crawford dug into the very cellular makeup of Devon's nerves, traveled to the frayed ends, and forced intact cells to replicate.
Slowly but surely, the nerve was repaired. Andy sat there watching, feeling like he was holding his breath, waiting for it to fall apart again.
But it held.
Now you try, Crawford said.
Andy braced himself, then reached out and felt around for Devon's cells. He grabbed the next frayed section, sensed the body's own ability to replicate cells, and sent out a mental order.
He watched in awe as the repair began to take shape, little by little, one cell at a time.
Good!Crawford said.Very good. Just like that. Keep going.
Andy felt himself almost grinning with determination as he redoubled his efforts, working side-by-side with Crawford as they slowly but steadily made their way down Devon's spinal cord. The work was tedious and exhausting, but with every clean, intact section they left behind, Andy felt more and more hope.
It seemed like both seconds and days later when they finally reached the place where the nerves branched off and made their way towards Devon's heart. Crawford scouted ahead, then pulled back and rejoined Andy.
That's enough for one day, Crawford announced.Let's go up.
What? No. We're nowhere near done!
Gerard, trust me. We need a break. And Devon is going to need a rest from this, too. His body can only handle so much at once.
But–
You'll understand when you see what time it is.
Andy felt himself frowning.What time it is?Yet he followed Crawford anyway, suddenly certain that he'd get lost if he fell behind.
He slowly resurfaced. It was easier to recover that time, knowing what to expect. Andy slowly opened his eyes and blinked dumbly at the change in the room.
A different nurse stood by the monitors, watching closely. The light in the room had completely changed. And when Andy glanced at the clock on the wall, he saw it was past dinnertime.
They'd been at it all day.
Holy shit. “How–”
“It's easy to get lost in there,” Crawford explained, looking slightly drawn and pale. “Luckily, I've had enough practice at this point that I can keep one eye on the outside withoutlosing my focus on the inside. Otherwise, we might have worked straight through the night without knowing it.”
“Gods,” Andy breathed. He scrubbed a hand over his face and yawned as exhaustion began to take over.
Crawford leaned back and studied him. “When was the last time you slept?”
