“What were you doing in the city center?”Dad tutted.“You missed your graduation.”
“Oh?”Parsons asked.
“Yes, our daughter’s a doctor now.”Pride filled Mom’s voice.
“I still have to do my residency,” Tiny hurried to remind them.
“Good, you are here, Mr.and Mrs.Bryant,” Dr.Murray said, his gravelly voice recognizable.“I’m sorry to have to tell your this, but the damage is severe.”He cleared his throat.“I want to run some more tests, which is why Tiny’s been admitted for overnight care.”
Severe?Chills sent a shiver across her shoulders and down her spine.No.She was fine.Dr.Murray was just being cautious.She refused to consider what the worst-case scenario could be, but her mind went there anyway.
Permanent blindness.
“Hey, sister,” Jamie said, striding into the stunned silence.
Her thoughts went blank.Fury exploded in her.She hadn’t planned to slide off the bed, but she did, stumbling toward her brother’s voice.Tears inflamed her eyes and cheeks, matching the blaze of anger inside her.She threw a punch, missed, spun on the spot, and fell, collapsing to the floor amid shuddering sobs.Everything ached: her knees, heart, eyes.The cold registered from the tiles and the gap in her hospital gown.None of that mattered.All her hopes and dreams had shattered.
“Jamie Bryant?”Officer Parsons asked.He gripped Tiny’s waist, the warmth of his hands making her shiver.Without warning, he hoisted her into his arms and carried her to bed like she weighed nothing.Then his touch and presence were gone.
“If I ever see you again,brother, I’ll kill you,” she spat at the room while someone tucked the blanket around her.
“Is it the medication?”Mom asked from a way off.“I’m so sorry.She’s never acted like this.”
Tiny screamed, cursed, gestured with her arms, demanded a gun, some weapon, poison.Whatever she spewed was beyond her control as if the connection between her brain and her tongue had been severed.
“Pumpkin,” Dad said, his steadfastness breaking through the blinding haze of fury and sorrow.
“Let me explain, Mr.Bryant,” Officer Parsons said.“But first, your son is under arrest.”
“What?Why?”Mom squeaked, her footsteps tapping in a flurry of activity.
Right then, that said it all.How much Tiny truly mattered to her parents.Not that she’d ever wanted them to choose between their two children.But for farg’s sake, she could beblindbecause of Jamie.
Fargen blind.
Bitterness coated her tongue, and she struggled to swallow.Throughout Officer Parsons’s explanation, her parents’ shock, and her brother’s whining, she sat, listened, and let the hatred fester.
Chapter Five
Year: 2218
Three Years Later
Earth
Carne Corp.Augmentations
Headquarters
Ground Floor
“C.C.A.complaints,howmayI help?”Tiny tried not to wince when she said that, but it was unavoidable.She was far too miserable to care.
“Yes,” a woman wailed.
Tiny held her headset away from her ear, her tight grip almost cracking the plastic.
“This is the fourth time I’ve called about my leg.It swivels randomly and pitches me forward or slams me into the closest object.It’s defective, but every time I call, I’m shunted to the nearest fitment center.”The woman sucked in a sharp breath.“And they’re useless, no doubt exchanging my ankle with the same shitty part.I want a full refund.”
