15
“What is this place?” I asked.
Karen glanced at me over her shoulder. “You'll see.” She led me up to the door of what looked like a large… hospital.
Bemused, I followed her up the steps.
Karen had contacted me early this morning, asking me to meet her at the Palace Avenue gravrail station. The bitter dregs from my losses hung over me like years of heavy drinking. Karen had seen it the moment she stepped off the gravrail.
“Things not going so well at home?” she'd asked. “It wouldn't be out of the ordinary to find relations a bit strained with all that's happened.”
I'd smiled at her understatement, and we'd begun walking. Her peace and composure had helped me find my own equilibrium.
The double doors to the facility were made from heavy wooden plank. Must've been imported from off-
