CHAPTER TWELVE

"DG! DG!"

Cain came bursting into the living room, where she was feeding Gale one drop at a time, using an eyedropper.

She jumped violently. "What?"

"I know how to cure it! I've found it!" He was carrying the book. "Look…look at this. Swap." Cain held out an arm to take Gale. DG transferred her and took the book from him. Cain turned the pages over with his free hand until he reached the hemispherectomy page. Horror registered on DG's face, as he knew it would.

"WHAT? Take out half her brain?"

"It's the only way to cure her."

"Some cure that is! To get rid of the fits we mutilate her?" She turned angry eyes on Cain. "This isn't a cure! It's just trading one set of problems for another! Have you read about the effects?"

"It can get her to – "

"Have you read about the effects?"

Cain was silent, then eventually shook his head. She held out her arms for Gale, and he obliged, taking the book and distractedly scanning the effects. "Some permanent paralysis of the opposite side…possible vision problems…possible cognitive impairment. But the goods outweigh the bads. Most of the effects are temporary and without it she'll die…"

"Cain, this is a major operation. She's not a machine. I'm not putting her through it without a lot of consideration." Crushing disappointment registered on Cain's face, giving way to mounting panic.

"But I can't lose her." He fixed her with a gaze that was weighty with significance. "I can't lose her," he repeated.

For a time, nobody spoke. "What is it, Cain?" DG finally asked.

Cain turned his face to the side, to look at Gale. "She's got hair like Jeb's and eyes like yours," he said, and his mouth began to shake. "But the rest of her face…it's Adora's." He drew breath and struggled to maintain his composure. "I can't lose her twice," he managed at last.

DG put Gale down on the floor, placed a cushion under her head and took Cain's hands. "Cain," she said, "I wish I'd known Adora. I wish she was still alive, because you loved her so much and she must have been the most incredible person."

"The best."

"I can't imagine how that feels for you now. But Gale is not Adora, and we have to do what will honour her."

Neither of them spoke. Then DG crossed to the window and peered out. She did a double take. "Glitch…?"

-/-/-/-/-

Cain kept an eye on Gale while DG made her way down to the lakeside, where she could see Glitch sitting. He had his back to her. As she got closer she noticed his shoulders jerking intermittently. "Glitch?"

"Don't look at me," she heard him say, and his voice seemed oddly thick and strained. She took his face in her hands, gently turned it towards her…and caught her breath. Glitch, who always managed to put a positive spin on things despite everything that was thrown at him; Glitch, who would kick back at others' jibes, yet cheerfully acknowledge his own shortcomings; Glitch who had walked with her, shared his thoughts with her and sat with her and Gale through all the medical treatments and uncertainty; had tears running down his face. She had never seen him cry before, and it was a deeply disturbing sight. "Oh, Glitch," DG heard herself say, but she could think of nothing else to follow it up with. She knelt by him. "Please don't," she came out with, knowing it was a pitifully inadequate attempt at comfort.

After a short time he mopped his face on his coat sleeve, and tried for a watery smile. "You must think I'm an idiot to get like this now after everything else."

"I could never think that," she reassured him. "What was it?"

"It would be head-casing her." He ground his fingers. "That's what a criminal gets – got – in the O.Z. How can she be a criminal? She's a baby!" His devastation was morphing into quiet anger. "She'll be a zipperhead. They're second-class citizens – remember how Cain treated me initially. We're not welcome anywhere, very few people will buy from us or employ us and that's only the start. Worst of all she'll be a nut like me. And don't say I'm smart, DG, 'cause I'm not. I've got no sense of direction, I can't remember most of my life, I make stupid jokes, half the time I say and do the wrong thing…" his voice trailed away and he gestured hopelessly. "And it's permanent – I found that out the hard way. No child deserves that."

"Hey," DG took both his hands in hers. "First off, most of the criminals who were head-cased were heroes – they were treated as criminals because they stood up to the witch. And you're the most famous zipperhead now, and look at you – you mingle with royalty!" They stood up and started walking slowly along the river bank. "Second, you're not a nut. You're one of the wisest people I know, and that's different from being smart. Smartness comes from here…" she tapped her head, "But it's useless without wisdom, and that comes from in here." She briefly placed a hand on Glitch's chest. "Back when you had a whole brain you designed things without ever thinking they might be used for evil. Now you'd be more careful, right?" He nodded. "Then you're wiser than you were when you had a whole brain." Glitch considered this. "And Glitch…" she finished, "If Gale grows up to be half as kind, gentle, funny and courageous as you are, I'll be a very proud parent."

He nodded, before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight – a simple expression of his affection and gratitude towards her, for which he had long ago run out of words.