Harvey had wandered closer to the observing Banker, crossing his arms over his chest and cinching his eyebrows as he stared at the static scene. The Mem hiccupped a smile every now and again, her head pulling back a bit and her shoulders hopping. The Source failed to notice her spawn, eventually drifting into a light sleep that was interrupted by the slightest sound. Even a layperson could see the futility of this pairing, and still Harvey looked on, engrossed.

I rose without scratching the floor with my chair—so as not to wake the fractured woman—and en route to my dormitory, I heard a familiar radio show before I arrived at the nurses’ station. I hesitated in the hall. The station wasn’t visible from where I stood; I could not see the nurse but I knew it was the one I’d upset. In the weeks since my arrival, she’d feigned obliviousness each time we crossed paths. And then, before I knew what I was doing, I approached her again. She could hardly pretend not to see me when I folded my arms on the countertop and leaned forward to look at the radio, but even when her mouth fell open, she said nothing.

“Hello,” I said anyway. “How are you?”

“I’m well.” She leaned all the way back in her chair but didn’t appear any more relaxed.

“I don’t particularly like the way you seem to recoil from me, being so thoroughly convinced as I am that I’ve never done you any harm. But, if you don’t object, I’d like to forgive you your insensitivity. I forgive everyone else’s, after all.”

For a moment the radio program filled in the space between us. Having not planned out the confrontation ahead of time, I decided I would simply remain with my arms folded on the countertop, enjoying the rest of the broadcast, should she refuse to talk to me. But she didn’t.

“I suppose I do owe you an apology,” she admitted quietly. “My awe should have worn off by now, shouldn’t it?”

“What is it about me that has you so perplexed?” I asked.

“I’m not sure exactly. Mostly the way you carry yourself. The same thing that fascinates everyone else, I guess. But it was silly of me not to get past it.”

“Curious. As far as I can tell, I’ve been walking on eggshells for the last couple of weeks. I don’t feel fascinating; I feel as though I might never regain my bearings.”

“Well now,” she said, leaning forward to fold her own arms on the desk below the countertop, the starch in her posture gone. “That makes two of us.”

NO. 5

  NO. 5