Hollowpox The Hunt for Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend Page 0,151
wanted to be here when you wake up to ask you some questions, and then Elder Wong says let’s bring in one of them lot from the Public Distraction Department to prepare a statement for the press about something-or-other, and that sent the mouthy ginger off on one. “None of you lot cares about what’s best for Morrigan,” he says. “You would have thrown her to the wolves if I hadn’t fought you every step of the way!” I thought Elder Quinn might smack him in the jaw, but he’s not half stirring when he gets on a roll, is he? He should join an amateur theatrical society.’
He is an amateur theatrical society, Morrigan thought, taking another big breath in and out.
‘I’ll admit it did liven up my dinner break, but once I’d finished my cheesy lentil pie I had to kick them all out, I’m afraid. Poor old Mrs Purkiss can’t take that sort of excitement, not with her blood pressure,’ he said with a nod to the lady in the corner bed.
Morrigan felt dread settle in her bones. The thought of raking over the night’s events, of carefully concealing certain incriminating details and crafting a repeatable lie that the Elders would believe and accept, was positively exhausting.
‘Here, hold this under your tongue for three minutes.’ Nurse Tim popped a glass thermometer in her mouth and went to fetch the clipboard from the end of the bed. ‘What happened this time?’
‘Oh, you know,’ she said around a mouthful of glass. ‘Jumped off a building, got chased by Wunimals, set Courage Square on fire.’
‘Oh, aye, what are you like?’ Nurse Tim said absently as he checked his wristwatch and made a note on the clipboard. ‘And Mr Schultz is back with his ingrown toenail again— I’M JUST TELLIN’ ’ER ABOUT YER TOENAIL, MR SCHULTZ,’ he added in a raised voice. The gentleman waved his crochet hooks from the other end of the ward, smiling. ‘You’re all in the wars, you lot. Cup of tea?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘And I suppose I’d best let the shouty one know you’re awake.’
‘Yes, please.’
Despite her fatigue, Morrigan couldn’t help smiling a little at the thought of Jupiter telling off the Elders. Captain Dramatic always had her back.
‘More water? More juice? Doesn’t look very nice, this juice. Shall I bring you some fresh juice from home? Now we’re ready for the grand re-opening and the kitchen’s running again, I can bring you just about anything! What would you like – pineapple juice? Grapefruit? Dragonfruit? Winterberry? Lemonberry? Rippleberry? Tripleberry? Peachy sunset? Unicorn surprise? Whimsical springtime slush?’
‘No, thank you.’ Morrigan sighed. ‘And I know you made at least three of those up.’
Jupiter had rushed into the teaching hospital mere minutes after Tim had sent for him, and he’d been fussing around her like a nervous butterfly ever since. One minute he was checking her forehead for fever, the next fetching extra blankets she didn’t need. He’d asked her three times if she wanted to move to a better bed (‘The beds are all identical,’ she’d told him), and twice if he should find her a spot with a nicer view (‘There are no nicer views,’ she’d said. ‘There are no windows. We’re three floors underground’). It had moved beyond amusing into tiresome, and finally graduated to maddening.
The only time he wasn’t fretting was when they’d discussed the Courage Square events – a brief, serious, whispered conversation.
As expected, Jupiter had already heard most of the story from Fen, but Morrigan filled in the blank spaces. He’d listened to her version carefully – twice – interrupting only occasionally to clarify a detail here and there, then had her repeat the story to him a third time, erasing all mention of Ezra Squall and stitching the gaps together with mild untruths. Together they concocted a believable enough reason for her having been in Courage Square that night (cabin fever – she’d been cooped up in the Deucalion so long, she decided to hop on the Brolly Rail for a quick zip around the city before safely returning home – only she fell off in Courage Square), and a believably patchy memory of having somehow used the Wundrous Arts in ways she hadn’t realised she was able, to destroy the Hollowpox by means she didn’t fully understand. It was all mostly true, which of course made it an excellent lie. After a couple of practice runs, Morrigan felt confident she could convince the Elders.
Now if only she could convince Jupiter to chill out.