Page 31 of Paradise

But he wasn’t some delicate little child any longer, and he was doing fine. Wasn’t he doing fine? He had known enough to bring his problems to Miles, that wasn’t the mark of an off-balance person. “I might have forgotten yesterday,” he added, seeing that his dad wasn’t buying it. The frown line stayed, but Miles looked a little more relaxed.

“You should go and take care of that, Gare. It’s important to stay up-to-date.”

“I know,” he said and tried not to fidget as Miles kept staring at him. He opened his mouth, probably in preparation for inserting his foot, but a high, thin cry interrupted the moment. Miles pushed off the couch and disappeared into the master bedroom, and Garrett took a second to school his expression back into imperturbability. When Miles came back with a fussy Renee in his arms, Garrett stood up.

“I should go. I’ll talk to Robbie and bring him in after we go see Cody. He’ll be a good resource for you when it comes to dealing with Drifters.”

“Go and get yourself checked out first.”

Garrett rolled his eyes. “Yes, sir.” He put their empty coffee cups in the kitchen and watched his father cradle his sister, rocking her gently in his arms and not minding when her chubby fists smacked his chest or chin. “Can I get you something for her?”

“There’s a bottle of juice for her in the preservator.”

Garrett opened it up and saw the bright-purple bottle. “Oh god, Claudia has her drinking bissap already?”

“Apparently, it’s the first thing they wean babies with on Kalmia. It’s full of essential nutrients or something like that.” Miles took the bottle that Garrett passed him and offered it toRenee, who latched onto it and started drinking voraciously. Miles smiled down at his baby, and Garrett felt a pang of … not jealousy … maybe nostalgia? Could he be nostalgic for something that had never happened? He knew enough about his own childhood to know that Miles had been deployed when he’d been born and hadn’t actually seen him until he was six months old, and his mother had been way too much of a diva to bother with feeding her own child. Anyone who had cared for Garrett as a baby had been an employee.

Garrett came over and kissed his little sister’s fluffy black head, then squeezed his father’s shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Sounds good.” He left the two of them bonding over juice and headed for the infirmary.

Garrett bypassed the nurse at the front desk by telling her he was just going in to check on Cody but stopped one room short and ducked into the automated medical suite. There was a med gauntlet there that had his specs loaded into it, and after turning it on, he gingerly placed his hand inside. There was a tiny prick, and then …

“Doctor Caractacus,” the holographic doctor began seriously as he appeared. Garrett immediately turned the volume down to low. “Your blood work shows pronounced signs of hormonal instability. I recommend a full dose of your normal medications as well as a time-release dose over a period of two to four days. I recommend that you place yourself in stasis for the duration of the transition.”

The program wanted him tosleepfor four days? Hell with that, Garrett didn’t have time. “Can you give me a stabilizing dose now in order to delay the need for stasis?”

“A stabilizing dose would still merit stasis at this point,” the doctor said, sounding rather chiding. “You’ve gone too long without any medication whatsoever.”

“Then I refuse treatment for now.”

The doctor looked unhappy. “Sir—”

“As soon as my current affairs are put in order, I’ll submit to treatment.” And oh, wouldn’t knocking himself unconscious for a while irritate Claudia, with him not able to help plan his own wedding. “No more than a day or two.”

“Sir, the longer you wait, the more imbalanced your mental state will become. The need for stasis will only become more vital with every passing hour.”

“I’ll take it under advisement. Seal this record unless specifically asked by my medical proxy.”

“Yes, sir,” the doctor said unhappily. Garrett shut the program off and withdrew his hand.

Well, shit. How could he have forgotten for so long? He needed the meds, Garrettknewhe needed them, but really, he was handling things fine so far. He could handle them a little longer, long enough to take care of the Jack situation and not leave Jonah alone to deal with it. Then he’d be able to afford going into stasis until his blood work was back to normal.

Garrett left the automed suite and went on to Cody’s room. The boy had kicked his blanket onto the floor and was now curled up in a ball at the very bottom of the bed. Garrett bent down and grabbed the blanket, then slid his arms under Cody and shifted him up the bed until his head was back on his pillow. Cody stirred as Garrett was tucking the blanket in around him.

“Garrett?”

“Yes?”

“’m too hot,” he said with a sniffle.

“I’m sorry, buddy. You’ll feel better soon.”

Cody reached up and patted his face in a strange echo of Miles. “You feel good.”

How nice that cold and clammy translated as “good” to Cody. “Do you want me to stay with you for a while?”

“Yeah.”

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