Link sat alone in the room he was supposed to be sharing with Walker, staring at the wall, the scene in the car park playing and replaying in his head.
He knew. He knew the thing in Allen's chest was a defibrillator, and he knew that defibrillators were supposed to correct heart problems. He'd just never seen any evidence that Allen's heart was all that bad. He didn't dance like his heart was bad, keeping up with the others with no difficulty at all. The defibrillator had been presented as a precautionary measure, not a corrective one. The kid had named it, for God's sake, and he didn't act like it was a big deal.
Link closed his eyes and blew out a long breath, thinking of how dark Allen's blood had been against his white hair.
It was the end of the day. Malcolm Rouvellier was waiting for an update.
Up until then, Link had been thinking of Allen mostly as his ticket out of the Godawful mess that would happen if he was expelled. He'd also been thinking of Allen as Cross's protege, a raw talent so astounding that Cross considered it worth developing. Link had not thought of Allen as anything so fragile as human.
Link's phone buzzed, and he grabbed for it.
It was Allen, returning Link's text from hours earlier. Hey, I'm fine, thanks for asking.
What did they say? Link asked.
Appropriate shock, Allen said. Just Tim doing his job. Nothing to worry about.
How did one not worry about a shock to the heart? Link wondered. Did they give you anything for it?
Nothing to give, Allen answered. Don't worry. This has happened before.
Link did not find this especially reassuring. You coming back tonight?
Nah, I'm stuck here. They think I need observing. Allen added an animated eye roll. Enjoy the room!
The air in the room was too dry and too empty. Thanks.
Link poked at his phone, and tinny sound filled the air, Rhoda Campbell's theatrical whine at being told to let go of Allen. Initially, Link had been thrilled with it, even though he had no idea what it meant. Rhoda was well known to be volatile, but for the most part, the Campbells and the Order avoided each other. This was bizarre even for her, which meant that Rouvellier might get some use out of it.
No one with a heart condition should have to deal with Rouvellier, especially if a scare could put them in the hospital.
And that was the problem. If Link sent this video plus an account of what he saw in the car park, Rouvellier might get some use out of it, which meant that he might get some real ammunition. Those browbeatings were enough to send people with healthy hearts into palpitations. For someone with a heart condition…
What did it feel like when that thing went off? In the movies, a defibrillator was powerful enough to knock the entire body upward, so powerful that no one could touch the person it was being administered to. How did it feel when the shock was inside the heart itself? Apparently, it was enough to take Allen's legs out from under him. No one would willingly hit their head on that surface.
The video stopped.
Maybe it was nothing. Rhoda was a little insane, and Allen was her only real competition.
Link was running out of time. If Rouvellier heard about this from someone else, he was fucked.
He went to his pictures folder and pulled up a series of shots of Tewak he'd pulled from her Instagram, mostly selfies taken in and around Berlin. She was happy, carefree, complaining about her schoolwork and showing off the bits and baubles she bought when she went shopping with her friends. It was such a rare and precious thing, a happy childhood, and he wanted her to have that. He wanted her to have every good thing in the world.
He composed a hasty e-mail, pasted the video to it, and hit the send button.