"Nancy Kress - The Mountain to Mohammed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

were resentful that he'd gone away for five days. He should be here; they needed
him. He was the doctor.


###


The first day of his trial, Jesse saw Kenny standing on the courthouse steps.
Kenny wore a cheap blue suit with loafers and white socks. Jesse stood very still,
then walked over to the other man. Kenny tensed.
"I'm not going to hit you," Jesse said.
Kenny watched him, chin lowered, slight body balanced on the balls of his feet.
A fighter's stance.
"I want to ask something," Jesse said. "It won't affect the trial. I just want to
know. Why'd you do it? Why did they? I know the little girl's true genescan
showed 98% risk of leukemia death within three years, but even soтАФhow could
you?"
Kenny scrutinized him carefully. Jesse saw that Kenny thought Jesse might be
wired. Even before Kenny answered, Jesse knew what he'd hear. "I don't know
what you're talking about, man."
"You couldn't get inside the system. Any of you. So you brought me out. If
Mohammed won't go to the mountainтАФ"
"You don't make no sense," Kenny said.
"Was it worth it? To you? To them? Was it?"
Kenny walked away, up the courthouse steps. At the top waited the Goceks,
who were suing Jesse for $2,000,000 he didn't have and wasn't insured for, and that
they knew damn well they wouldn't collect. On the wall of their house, wherever it
was, probably hung Rosamund's deathbed picture, a little girl with a plain, sallow
face and beautiful hair.
 Jesse saw his lawyer trudge up the courthouse steps, carrying his briefcase.
Another lawyer, with an equally shabby briefcase, climbed in parallel several feet
away. Between the two men the courthouse steps made a white empty space.
Jesse climbed, too, hoping to hell this wouldn't take too long. He had an
infected compound femoral fracture, a birth with potential erythroblastosis fetalis,
and an elderly phlebitis, all waiting. He was especially concerned about the infected
fracture, which needed careful monitoring because the man's genescan showed a
tendency towards weak T-cell production. The guy was a day laborer,
foul-mouthed and ignorant and brave, with a wife and two kids. He'd broken his leg
working illegal construction. Jesse was determined to give him at least a fighting
chance.
End