Chapter 20
Epilogue
Declan spent the next few weeks in the hospital, until all signs of the infection were gone and the break in his arm was stable enough to be taken out of traction and reset. It would be several more weeks after that before he could return to school, just in time for finals. Greg spent most of his days during the rest of the break at Declan's bedside, telling stories that would have Declan trying hard not to laugh without hurting himself while Declan's parents returned to their duties at the Embassy. He made time to return to the base of the cliff to begin the process of collecting their bikes and their gear.
On his first trip back to Sebun kawa since the accident, Greg spent hours pacing and staring at the rock face, his brain replaying Declan's fall on an endless loop. He found smudges of dried blood on some of the rocks, which affected him more than he was willing to admit. Try as he might, there was nothing he could think of that he could have done differently to prevent what had happened.
Eventually all signs that they had ever been there were gone. Greg took one last look around at the area where everything changed in an instant. He had done a lot of thinking during that time, trying to find a deeper meaning in the experience. On an emotional level there was none aside from the knowledge that he had been unable to get it right, to do the right thing. Logically he knew better. It would be a very long time before he could reconcile the two.
When Greg was younger, he had buried himself in books about the universe. As he got older he thought he would get his PhD in Physics and study Dark Matter. But memories of the janitor were never far away, and by the time he was ready to start college Greg had changed his mind completely and decided to study medicine. He knew he didn't want to spend his days dealing with runny noses and crotch rot. He wanted to be like the janitor, the one other doctors had to bring in when they ran out of options.
And that is what he became.