Machine Man (serial)

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CHAPTER SIX

I woke from dreams of being crushed to the sound of a baby crying. This wasn’t unusual, because there was some kind ofa intensive care wardfacility for newborns down the hall from my room.hall. I had glanced in one day, while cruising the hallways in my hospital-issue wheelchair, to see rows of glowing pink- and brown- skinned babies, littletiny limbs clutching and flailing withinat the air inside yellow plastic incubators. Sometimes couples filled the chairs outside, clutching each other. I stopped going that way, though, when one man looked at me like: Well, that puts things into perspective.

The

This baby this morning sounded frightened. Another joinedI heard another join it, then another. Each crying baby seemed louder than the last, until I realized they were just closer.

Cassandra Cautery appeared in my doorway. She was wearing a snug gray jacket over a pinstripe shirt with a big collar, and a little skirt. It was a schoolgirl-meets-Wall-Street look. Her eyes were huge and glistened, as if she was on the verge of tears. Her lips trembled with sympathy.as if she couldn’t keep the sympathy in.

“Oh, Charlie!”Charlie,” she said. “You poor thing.” I could hardlybarely hear her over the wailingscreaming of the babies.

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