The next morning, Lyra was already able to sit up on her own and finish nearly an entire small bowl of soup. After checking all her readings, Hayes said that if her recovery continued smoothly, she could leave the special treatment ward in a few days. Only then did Elena feel somewhat reassured, though she still spent most of her time in front of her computer studying information about Northstar. All three companies that had entered the negotiation stage were larger than Ashbourne, and one of them even owned its own hospital network. The more she read, the more clearly she understood just how difficult the condition Diana had set yesterday truly was.
Zeyan sat on the other side of the bed, letting Lyra lean against him while she watched cartoons. After looking at Elena’s computer screen f
