should have let go sooner."
55 "You'd be dead if I had! " Morn argued.
56 "You're right!" North agreed. "I owe you my life. That was some
accident!"
57 Morn told North the truth of what had happened and his reaction was
almost the same as his mother's. He couldn't believe that someone had
died trying to kill him.
58 "I fear it is so," assured Morn, "but here's your breakfast. And you
need the nourishment, so I'll leave you for now, so you can eat in
peace. Don't worry about this. I'll see to it the investigation is
properly carried out, though little will come of it. Anyone bold enough
to attempt something like this usually cover their tracks well."
59 Morn left the room as the young nurse came timidly with the tray.
"Your breakfast, sir!" she smiled.
60 "Thank you," North chuckled, "but I'm far from a sir. I have only
two bars beneath my picture. There must be several more before I
deserve a man's title!"
61 The girl's smile told Morn, as he looked back in the window's
reflection, that she had more than normal interest in her young
patient. He listened to the rest of the exchange with a smile, then
headed down the hall.
62 North's recovery was slow. Weeks in the hospital wore on him. His
mother and father's visits and Morn's help with his studies kept his
spirits up. His only complaint was his lack of clothes in the med com.
63 "I know no one can see me with the privacy shield on," he
complained, "but it's still damned embarrassing floating in this
thing naked, while everyone's walking around you!"
64 Morn laughed, and they continued with their studies. North was out
of the hospital in time for The Games, and cheered loudly as Morn swept
through them, virtually without challenge.
65 In the months that followed Morn worked with him daily, slowly,
surely getting the strength back in his legs