Page 107 of Across the Universe (Across the Universe 1)

“Mother,” Steela’s daughter says pleasantly. “We should get you to the Hospital now. ”

Steela looks defeated and defiant at the same time.

“Mother. ” The woman’s voice is needling, but pleasant. Perfectly pleasant. Perfectly creepy.

“I’m coming!” Steela sounds like an angry child, but she just looks like a sad old woman who is too aged to make decisions for herself.

“I’ll take her,” I say before I really think of what I’m saying. “I mean, I was going there anyway, no problem. ”

The daughter blinks. “If it is amenable to you, Moth—”

“Yes, yes, it’s amenable. Now go. ” Steela watches her daughter leave. “Frexing shame, watching your daughter become one of them. ” I open my mouth to ask who they are, but Steela’s a step ahead of me. “One of them brainless twits. They labeled me crazy when I was twelve, trained me up to be an agriculturalist. ” She gazes at the garden behind the Hospital as I lead her to the steps. “I made that garden. Weren’t nothing but shrubs and weeds till I came. I’ve been takin’ them little blue-’n’-white pills ever since. But I don’t mind. Rather be crazy taking drugs than empty like that. Kind of wish me daughter was crazy, too. Might like her more then. ”

Empty. What a good way to describe them.

“Heard about you on the wi-com,” Steela says, taking my arm. Her grip on my elbow is strong, belying her gnarled fingers. “Don’t reckon you’re what they said you were. ”

“I reckon you’re one of the smartest people on this ship. ”

Steela snorts. “Not smart. ” She looks up as we reach the doors. “Not smart at all. I’m just scared, is all. ” She grips my elbow tighter, somehow finding the thinnest skin to dig her fingernails into. I want to pry her fingers from my arm, but when I look down at her, I can tell that she’s using me as a lifeline, and I’m not going to be the one to let her drown.

“What do you have to be scared of?”

Steela stares blankly ahead. “I’m one of the last. ” She glances up at me and sees my confused face. “One of the last of me generation. ” The doors slide open and we step inside, but Steela is going slowly, slowly, until she actually stops just a few feet inside the lobby. “No one’s ever come back from here. ”

“Don’t be silly. ” I laugh. “I left here this morning. ”

Steela gazes down at my smooth arm. “I don’t forget. I’ve never forgotten any of them: Sunestra, Everard, me Albie . . . all of them dropped off here by their loving, brainless families, and none of them ever came back. ”

I bite my lip in worry. “I’ve never seen them,” I say, but I remember not too long ago, the woman who was being checked in. The nurse took her away. But where?

I lead Steela up to the front desk and clear my throat to get the heavyset woman’s attention.

“What?” she asks, staring at Steela with cold, hard eyes.

“Her daughter came to drop her off,” I say.

The nurse nods and starts to come around her desk. “I’ll take her up to the fourth floor. ”

“But you haven’t even asked what’s wrong. ”

The nurse rolls her eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asks Steela.

“Nothing,” Steela says.

“Did your daughter say you were having delusions?”

“She said I was . . . ” Steela starts, a worried look on her face.

“That’s not so bad,” I say, patting Steela’s hand. “Old people don’t always think straight. It’s nothing to worry about. ” I glance at the nurse. “It’s nothing to go to a hospital over. I can take her back home. ”

“What kind of delusions?” the nurse asks, bored.

Steela’s face grows dark. I can tell that she is really worried, really scared. “I . . . I remember . . . ” she mutters.

“What do you think you remember?” The nurse doesn’t look up from the floppy she’s typing on.

“The stars,” Steela whispers. My hold on her hand tightens. “Earlier, when Eldest said . . . ”