Simon cleared the rubble off himself as best he could until he’d moved out enough that he could drag his legs out the rest of the way. Then he brushed himself off until he was able to shakily stand. The tinny quality was even more evident as he asked, “Is Tilly all right?”
Nora reached under his arm to prop him up, bracing his weight over her shoulder. “Yes. She’s fine. Just gotta get us out of here. No more is falling now.”
“I’m sorry, Simon.” Tilly had tears running down her face, making two clean lines down her dirty cheeks. “I was bad. I didn’t listen.”
Simon shook his head. “No Tilly. None of that matters. Just as long as you’re not hurt.”
They stumbled together to the edge of the building and sat him down in the spot he had marked for both Nora and Tilly to sit before.
Simon spoke, still calm and measured, but softly. “The building was stable up until the very end. Water had eroded metal that snapped when weight was added, and the bit of rubble falling had a domino effect. This place was so out of the way it had not been tested and compressed before.”
The popcorn sign from earlier lay forgotten on the ruined concrete. Nora had no desire to go back to pick it or any other useful items up.
Instead, she leaned forward and looked at Simon carefully, telling Tilly to back up as she kept trying to give Simon a hug. Nora examined the large gash across his side. “Oh no. Oh no. We need to get you back. You’re leaking . . . I think that’s battery acid. And your arm . . .”
Tilly began to cry harder. “I’m sorry.”
Simon reached a hand out and touched her head. “Everything is fixable, Tilly. And it’s all more easily fixable on me than on you. It’s okay.”
The drone itself hovered near, but Nora saw it as a distraction instead of a help now. She glanced up at it in irritation.What can they do, being so removed?
“C’mon, we need to get back home.” Nora braced Simon again, her body back under his shoulder, reminding her of when he first woke up and rejected her help. Simon didn’t reject her now. He leaned on her heavily as they walked to the hover and Nora put him in the bench seat in the back, next to Tilly, not trusting he would be able to balance on the container next to her.
She took a deep breath as she watched Simon trying to sit straight on the seat, battery acid and fluid pouring out from his midsection where he was pierced. “Let’s get back fast. Just don’t move, Simon. It will be okay.”
His voice was tinny and a bit quiet in return. “Yes, Nora.”
Chapter forty-two
Nora
Nora didn’t even bother putting the hover away when they got home; instead she brought it right up to the front door.
She yanked futilely on the jammed doors, permanently rusted shut. “Damn these doors that don’t open right.” She looked over Simon in concern. “Can you get out? I can get in to try to lift you.”
Simon tried. Slowly, he hefted himself over the side of the hover. Nora realized how injured he was when he would have fallen had she not been there to grab him. She brought him into the kitchen, half dragging, and put him down on the exact spot in the kitchen where she had initially spent weeks repairing him.
Nora leaned forward and pulled his hand aside to assess him closer. “Is it only this battery area?”
Simon moved his hands back to cover his chest. “Yes, and some wiring was severed, that is why there is leaking.”
She watched him with concern. “Every time you move . . . it gets worse. I need to take it, the battery, out completely. Maybe turn you off really fast to get it done quicker.”
“Nora, no.” Simon’s eyes were open and wild.
A surge of protectiveness came over Nora. “Yes, Simon. You got hurt protecting Tilly. Of course I’m going to fix you. We will get you fixed. I just gotta take this and do it.”
His voice was rushed. “Nora. I am functional enough. I can stem it . . . I have backup reserves from the real food I’ve consumed.”
Concern for Simon clouded everything. She shook her head.No. It would be faster if I just do this myself. I can go get the parts really fast. The battery is leaking all over while he is awake like this.“Simon. Your battery compartment is all smashed. You can’t move from the solar array. And every move is making it worse. It’s leaking acid.”
“Nora . . .” His face drained of color.
Her eyes flashed with determination, overriding his concerns. “I’ll fix you like before, right before you woke up. I can do it. You don’t have to suffer through this, and if I take the battery out the acid will stop leaking.”
Before Simon could say anything more, Nora leaned forward and kissed him passionately while reaching behind and firmly turning him off, using one of the ways that the manual taught her long ago.
Shock and hurt shone in Simon’s eyes as he powered down, the expression tearing at her heart. She cupped his cheek as his face went slack.You don’t need to be in pain. I’ll get it fixed.Nora whispered as his eyes lost their spark, “I’ll get the parts and come back. I don’t want you moving and making it worse.”
