"Steven Gould - Jumper 02 - Reflex" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gould Stephen Jay)

loosen the chains enough for that."

The man exchanged glances with woman, who shrugged, then they both looked at the mirrored
window.

The distorted voice came on, still sounding like a cross between Hal and machinery, but,
somehow sounding different than before. "We'll see what can be arranged. Do you need the bedpan
now?"

Different shift, Davy thought. "No. Not now." He wondered if they'd loosen his hands enough
to wipe himself or if someone else would be doing it. He shuddered and rolled his neck, trying to
relieve a kink. His chest itched and he lifted his hand to scratch it but when he touched the area, just
under his left collarbone, it hurt.

He pulled the gown's neck up. There was a light dressing taped to the skin, a three by two
square of gauze. A line of inflammation came up from the dressing to his neck. He traced it with his
fingers, a ridge of discomfort that crossed his collarbone and moved up the right side of his neck. It
terminated in another dressing, a large Band-Aid really, to the right of his trachea. He poked it and
winced.

"Don't do that," the voice from the loudspeaker said. The male attendant pulled his hand gently
away.

"What did you do to me?" Davy asked. Did they shoot me when Brian dropped me on the
sidewalk?

No, they cut you open and they put something inside you. He couldn't help it. He knew he
shouldn't jump, that his restraints would keep him from succeeding, but he tried anyway, an almost
flinching reaction.

It was bad, but, luckily, there was more slack in the catheter than the cuffs for he only had the
mildest discomfort from his crotch, but his shoulders felt like they'd been pulled from their sockets.

Stop it! he told himself. You're just giving them more data.

As much as possible he curled in on himself, groaning.

The computer-distorted voice from the loudspeaker said, "I feel safe in saying that that activity is
contraindicated, eh?"




FIVE
"Do you mean: am I crazy again?"



She reached the breaking point nine days after Davy disappeared.