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"Self-determination," he decrees "I will make decisions for myself now"

"Of course, of course," Roberta says "And I’ll be here to advise you"

"Advise, not order Not control I will choose what I do, and when I do it And I will choose reed"

"Good I’me lobster"

"Whatever makes you happy, Ca

18 - Risa

Risa is woken up in theup AcMac’s raht visitor isn’t for her, but it always is No one coht unless there’s so her attention

Kiana pulls back the curtain and barges in "Risa, a couple of kids just got brought in It’s bad, real bad"

Kiana’s a sixteen-year-old orks the infirht shift, lives for dra been purged from a family of doctors, she has a chip on her shoulder when it coerations are usually just to ency The fact that Kiana has colory herself means the situation must truly be serious

"A couple of kids were ine turbine," Kiana tells her, "and the whole engine came down"

Risa pulls herself out of bed and into her chair "What were they doing ht?"

"I think it was some sort of dare"

"Incredible" Half the injuries Risa sees are either self-destructive or just plain stupid She often wonders whether it’s just the nature of Whollies, or if it’s the same in the outside world

When she arrives at the infirmary jet, every medic, both on and off duty, is already there While a couple are older teens who stayed behind when they reached seventeen, the rest are just kids who have been trained to treat ht of blood doesn’t scare Risa anymore What scares her are her own limitations--and from the moment she rolls in, she knows she’s way out of her depth

In the corner one kid griroans with an obviously dislocated shoulder--but he’s getting only minimal attention, because the kid on the table is h which Risa can see at least one protruding rib He quivers and , applying pressure to key arteries, and one kid with shaking hands tries to fill a syringe

"Lidocaine or epinephrine?" Risa asks

"Lidocaine?" he says, like it’s a question

"I’ll administer There are epinephrine injectors already prepared"

He looks at her like he got caught in the school hallithout a pass

"Adrenaline!" she says "It’s the saht! I knohere those are!"

Risa tries to focus in, not allowing herself to be overwhelives the injured boy the first shot, which will ease the pain

"Did anyone call the doctor?" Risa asks

"Like three times," says Kiana

There’s a doctor who co on their hands they can’t handle He does it free of charge, no questions asked, since he’s sympathetic to the resistance; however, he takes their calls only when he wants to Even if they’re able to reach him, however, Risa knohat he’ll say

"We have to get him to a hospital"

Once she says it, all the kids there are visibly relieved, because now this boy’s life will not be in their hands With all the injuries at the Graveyard, only twice before have they had to send a kid to a hospital Both times the injured kid died Risa is deterain

"Hurts bad," the kid says, between gasps and grimaces

"Shh," says Risa, and she sees his eyeballs begin to roll "Stay focused on ives hi and hopefully keep hi into shock "Tell me your name"

"Dylan," he says "Dylan Ward"

"Really? I was a ward too Ohio State Honolia Florida state hoot nuures"

Dylan Ward is thirteen,at it ry, because like her, he was a ward of the state--and while parents won’t unwind a kid on his looks alone, the state ho kids they don’t want to look at For Risa, saving hiet the ambulance

"It has a flat," Kiana tells her

Risa growls in frustration "Fix it!"

"Don’t leave," Dylan says, putting all his trust in her