بخش 02 - فصل 26

26

In Room 217, orderlies Norm Richard and Kelly Pelham lift Brady back into bed while Mavis Rainier supervises. Norm picks up the Zappit console from the floor and stares at the swimming fish on the screen.

“Why doesn’t he just catch pneumonia and die, like the rest of the gorks?” Kelly asks.

“This one’s too ornery to die,” Mavis says, then notices Norm staring down at the swimming fish. His eyes are wide and his mouth is hung ajar.

“Wake up, splendor in the grass,” she says, and snatches the gadget away. She pushes the power button and tosses it into the top drawer of Brady’s nightstand. “We’ve got miles to go before we sleep.”

“Huh?” Norm looks down at his hands, as if expecting to see the Zappit still in them.

Kelly asks Nurse Rainier if maybe she wants to take Hartsfield’s blood pressure. “O2 looks a little low,” he says.

Mavis considers this, then says, “Fuck him.”

They leave.