Hilda announced in her serious doctor’s tone that we only had fifteen minutes to distract ourselves a little and that after that they had to leave me to rest. Despite the protests and complaints, Hilda left and promised to come back to take Rex for a walk around the floor. Nika and Chris sat on my cot and Richie leaned on Rex’s, asking him all kinds of questions about his condition. Toshi came closer to me from the other side and gave me a little tap on the healthy arm, a gesture meant to call my attention. When I turned to look at him with my only good eye, he slipped a folded piece of paper between my knuckles and closed my fingers around it.
My heart gave a jump, but since I was no longer connected to the machine, nobody noticed.
For a second, I was very struck by the size my claw-han
