Sora's POV
"He asked again."
Bobby's voice from behind me. I don't turn around. I'm laying out the lunarium forceps for the morning's first surgery — three rows, longest to shortest, the way I've arranged them for three months.
"Which one?"
"Alpha Blackwood. He woke up earlier than expected. Asked me to bring Doc Lunaris to his bedside."
"What did you say?"
"That you were in the field. That Doc Lunaris doesn't take visitors. That there's a three-to-six-month application window if he wants to formally request anything."
"Good."
I check the second-row clamp under the lamp. The tip is clean. I set it back.
"He'll ask again," Bobby says.
"I know."
I move to the third forceps. Bobby waits.
"He asked three times last night. Once out of anesthesia, once at midnight, once at four. The
