“Jesus Christ,” I breathed, shivering.

Because though I hadn’t been in on the original attack on Mab’s tower, and when I did attack it I had been unwittingly serving Mab’s interests, the fact remained that I had indeed offered her the same insult as Thorned Namshiel. The lacerating fury that turned her voice into razor blades could very well be directed at me in the near future.

I hurried out of the chapel and went down to the cafeteria.

Being bullied into eating dinner sounded a lot more pleasant than it had a few minutes ago.

The doctor came into the waiting room at ten seventeen that night.

Charity came to her feet. She’d spent much of the day with her head bowed, praying quietly. She was beyond tears, at least for the moment, and she put a sheltering arm around her daughter, pulling Molly in close to her side.

“He’s in recovery,” the doctor said. “The procedures went…” The doctor sighed. He looked at least as tired as either of the Carpenter women. “As well as could be expected. Better, really. I hesitate to make any claims at this point, but he seems to be stable, and assuming there are no complications in the next hour or two, I think he’ll pull through.”

Charity bit her lip hard. Molly threw her arms around her mother.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Charity whispered.

The doctor smiled wearily. “You should realize that…the injuries were quite extensive. It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to fully recover from them. Brain damage is a possibility—we won’t know until he wakes up. Even if that isn’t an issue, the other trauma was severe. He may need assistance, possibly for the rest of his life.”

Charity nodded calmly. “He’ll have it.”

“That’s right,” Molly said.

“When can I see him?” Charity asked.

“We’ll bring him up in an hour or two,” the doctor said.

I cleared my throat. “Excuse me, Doc. Is he going to be on a respirator?”

“For the time being,” the doctor said. “Yes.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

The doctor nodded to us, and Charity thanked him again. He left.

“Okay, grasshopper,” I said. “Time for us to clear out.”

“But they’re going to bring hi— Oh,” Molly said, crestfallen. “The respirator.”

“Better not to take any chances, huh?” I asked her.

“It’s all right, baby,” Charity said quietly. “I’ll call home as soon as he wakes up.”

They hugged tightly. Molly and I started walking out.

“Oh,” Molly said, her voice very tired. “I did that homework.”

I felt pretty tired, too. “Yeah?”

She nodded and smiled wearily up at me. “Charlemagne.”

I called Thomas, and he gave me and Molly a ride to Murphy’s place.

The night was clear. The cloud cover had blown off, and the moon and the stars got together with the snow to turn Chicago into a winter wonderland months ahead of schedule. The snow had stopped falling, though. I suppose that meant Mab had turned her attention elsewhere. Thomas dropped me off a short distance away, and then left to drive the grasshopper back to her home. I covered the last hundred yards or so on foot.