by Ann Christy
Sela watched the interaction and the look she gave her mother seemed a mix of embarrassment at their situation as well as simply feeling sorry for her pain. She knelt on the other side of her mother and whispered, "What do we do? She's supposed to be at Level 34 soon."
Marina gave a tentative flex in her feet and felt the sharp pulling pain in her arch respond immediately. She let the flex go and stuck with rubbing her sore thighs gently. She looked at Joseph, who was in turn watching her. "My feet, too. But that feels different. It’s mostly my left foot."
Joseph gently removed her left boot. Sela looked around, red faced with embarrassment, as he did so. He shifted to a better position and lifted her foot to his knee. "I'm going to press on it to see if I can figure out what it is. It might hurt so get ready. Okay?"
She nodded and set her jaw, hoping that whatever he did didn't bring back that sharp pain. In this matter, she wasn't going to get what she wanted. His fingers seemed to find the exact spot to press to bring it on. She lifted a hand to stifle the yelp she could hear bubbling out of her.
Her husband gently lowered her foot again and shook his head. He gave a deep sigh and said, "It's Stair Foot."
Marina looked alarmed but Sela merely sunk to a sitting position and groaned. "What is that? It sounds terrible."
Joseph gave her a sideways smile and said, "No, it's not serious but it is painful and the only real treatment is to stay off your feet. I should have checked to be sure your boots had enough support in them." He motioned toward her feet and continued, "It's basically overstretching that gets out of hand. I'm hoping yours isn't the kind that lasts for long. For the moment, you're not going anywhere."
He stood and looked around. He found the directory for this level and walked away to consult it, Marina following him with her eyes. Sela shifted from her kneeling position to sit next to her mother but the silence between them was awkward. Marina felt awful about the situation and understood all too well that staying off of her feet equaled ruining their vacation. For a teenager like Sela, it must seem terribly unfair.
She turned her head to look at her daughter and saw that she was trying hard not to show her disappointment. "We'll figure this out. I promise not to ruin your vacation."
Sela dropped her head and Marina realized she was about to cry. That particular catch in her breath and the defeated slump of her shoulders was familiar from her younger days but Sela had grown into a pragmatic and strong young woman. It had been a long time since Marina had last seen her cry. She was unsure how exactly she should approach it. The methods that worked on a ten year old probably weren't the right ones for a young deputy shadow.
"If I put you on my lap and tickle you to make you happy, I think that might cause a scene," Marina said, trying to put a cheery note in her voice.
Sela looked at her in alarm, her eyelashes dark and wet but her cheeks unmarked by tears, "Please, please don't even try that. I'll die of humiliation." Her eyes darted about, as if trying to gauge exactly how many of the people on this level would notice such a fiasco occurring in their midst.
Marina laughed and said, "Okay, I won't do that. But it seems to have worked just to say it."
"Hmph," Sela grunted as she wiped roughly at her eyes. "I wasn't crying."
"Of course not."
Joseph returned just then and squatted next to Marina, his knees popping loudly. He gave her an encouraging smile and said, "I think everything is going to be fine. There's an office with a couple of couches just inside where people often rest so I can take you there. Also, I got them to send up for a medical tech who will meet us there. They’ll know what your problem is and will bring what you need. We'll be okay and then we'll figure out the rest."
"This is a zero floor. Shouldn't there be a med station here?" Marina asked, checking for herself that the large numbers four and zero were, in fact, painted on the landing wall.
"Yeah, but only every other one is manned. Personnel shortages still," he patted her arm to reassure her. "It's getting better though. More shadows coming up every year. Oh, and I wired up to IT about your meeting."
"I actually feel a little better now..."
Joseph interrupted her. "Until you stand up, you probably will. First things first. Let's get you in there and onto a couch for a proper rest. This landing can't be comfortable."
With each of them supporting one of her arms she stood up carefully. The pain in her foot those first few steps was so bad that she shuffled along like an old woman. She didn't want to but couldn't stop herself. They slowly crossed the landing and by the time they had entered the main doors, they were bearing almost all of her weight. She dropped to the couch like a sack.
Sela let out a puff of air with the release of her weight and said, "Mom, I'm sorry. I guess you really are hurting." For the first time, she looked concerned and she turned to her father, "Is she really going to be okay? You're sure this isn't serious?"
He shook his head, poured a cup of water from a pitcher considerately left for them and passed it to his wife. He helped her lift her legs onto the couch since the groans that came from her trying to lift them on her own were pitiful. When she sighed in relief at being still and lying down he answered his daughter.
"No, not serious as in permanent or crippling, but it really is painful. Anyway, they can do some things that will get her back on her feet if we're careful and she limits herself. You're just lucky you're young."
"Why? I don't remember you ever having anything like this."
"No, not yet." He looked at her, grinned a little and said, "But you're looking at your future if you stay a deputy long enough. It happens to us all eventually. Some sooner than others. Porters too, now that I think about it. That's how they know it's getting time to look at when they'll transfer to Maintenance."
Sela blanched and looked at her mother again. "You're just saying that, right? Joking?"
He shook his head slowly and a bit mischievously, "Nope. Not even a little bit joking. You can't stay on your feet forever."
From below them on the couch, Marina said, her eyes closed and her voice droll, "It's so nice that I can be an object lesson for others regarding their future degradation and how they'll fall apart."
All three of them laughed a little at that but it was a short lived respite. A young man wearing Turquoise and not wearing a shadow patch, much to Marina's secret relief, came in a few minutes later. He gave her an injection for inflammation and pain that worked to send it to the background quickly.
He examined her feet and her boots and tsked at the deputy for not doing this prior to a climb with someone who didn't normally spend much time on the stairs. From his pack he pulled out some felted pads and stuck those in her boots. He also gave her two small vials of pills to keep her pain and swelling at bay.
Once she had her boots on her feet, now including the wonderful pads, and confirmed she could walk, he demonstrated how she should climb the stairs for the time being. It was embarrassing to think of walking like that, flat footed and so careful, in front of all the people that would travel the stairs around them.
He must have seen this on her face because he became stern then, the look incongruous on his smooth young face. He advised her of exactly how bad it could get if she didn't take great care now. She had no desire to be trapped anywhere for a week without the ability to walk back home. Better embarrassed than stuck, she figured.
The final instruction from the medic made Sela's face fall in disappointment. Marina was to climb only one level at a time upward and 3 downward. That was for her thighs as well as her feet and she must rest and sit before taking the next bit of stairs. Even she couldn't hide her disappointment at these words. At that rate it would take far too long to do all that they had planned. There was also no way she was going to be able to investigate her find.
The medic saw this. He must have been all too aware of her predicament because he said in a more gentle tone, "I see this more than you think. People who go a few levels at a t
ime each day, at most, suddenly have to pack in as much as possible in a few days. Some I see after trying to make it seventy levels or more. You should see what shape I find them in!"
Marina could only imagine and said nothing.
"The point I’m trying to make is that it's not the end of your vacation. These two are doing fine," he stopped speaking and looked them both over, a quick appraisal in the look and asked, "You are fine, right?"
Both of them nodded and he returned his kindly gaze to Marina, "Since they are in good shape, they can do some of the running around. What you need to do is figure out what's most important for you to do and then plan a way to get that done. If you want to see the Up-Top Screen, you still can. You just won't see it today and you may have to skip something else. You want to shop in the Garment District? You can do that too, so long as you plan correctly. Okay?" The last he said with a paternal pat on her shoulder, the action again at odds with his boyish face.
She gave him a faint, disappointed nod but said nothing and he removed his hand from her shoulder to pull a little clipboard full of papers out. He scribbled on one and then another before handing both to Marina.
"One of those is a Rest Chit. I made it for a week but if you need it longer you can go see any medic. It will give you access to one of the rooms at the way stations on every third level so you can rest and put your feet up." He turned to Joseph and said, "And I really recommend you make sure that happens."
Marina smiled at the guilty look on Joseph's face and was about to tease him about making her do anything but the medic continued.
"The other one is a Berth chit. I don't know all your plans but that will get you a bunk for the night at any Medic Station. That's also for a week. There aren't many, some just have two fold down bunks, so try to get a message to whatever level you're going to need well ahead of time. You certainly can't traipse about back and forth to the hotel if you go too far up or down."
When the medic finally left and the family was left alone in the room with only the whisper of the ventilation to break the silence, Marina tried to re-work their plans in her head. It was no use and no matter which way she figured it, she wound up costing her family important vacation time. Joseph and Sela were seated on the other couch in the room and both seemed to be thinking gloomy thoughts as well. Finally, Marina broke the silence.
"Okay. This stinks and I'm sorry. Let's figure out how to fix this or at least not let it mess up too much of our vacation."
After an extended bout of negotiation and comparing notes, the family wound up with a list and a workable plan. The list was messy, some things crossed out and others cramped in between those lines, but everything that was really important would happen, even if it was without Marina.
For herself, she became far less interested in shopping when the whole purpose of this trip, her investigation, would be in jeopardy. She had no idea how she would ever arrange such an opportunity again and her priorities had changed.
She tried, despite her own desires, to keep the needs of her family at the top of her mind, but she also realized that she had been given a little gift in this unexpected injury in some ways. Her family would need to do some things on their own and leave her behind. She could then follow the trail of her investigation without much interference. She tried not to smile as she carefully copied out the final list so that both Joseph and she could have a reference for where the other was.
They got ready to separate for the rest of the day, with Joseph and Sela set to make the long haul up to the Garment District as planned. They each recited back to Marina the instructions on what kind of additional gifts for his mother to be on the lookout for.
Marina would rest a while and then make her slow and laborious way up to IT. A second wire had been sent letting them know the situation but no response came and Marina didn't know what to think. She would do her best to go up, however late she might arrive.
Before they could say their goodbyes there was a sharp rap on the door. Joseph popped up to answer and two porters, well-muscled and hulking young men, entered.
"We're here for the transport." He consulted the slip of paper in his hand and said, "For Marina Patrick."
Marina lifted a hand tentatively. "That's me. But I didn't wire for a transport." She turned to Joseph. "I didn't. Did you?"
He shook his head and turned to the porters, a small frown creasing the space between his eyes, "Who sent you?"
The porter who had spoken slipped the paper back into his pocket. His shock of very dark hair, shadow of an even darker beard and thick eyebrows made him seem older than he probably was. "IT ordered a person transport. We're supposed to get you there express, so if you're ready..." The sentence trailed off since it was obvious that Marina, lying on a couch with her legs elevated by couch cushions, wasn't ready.
"Uh, okay, well...", Marina began.
Joseph stepped in, much to her relief. "Great. Can you gentlemen just give her a couple of minutes to get her things together? We'll meet you on the landing. Will that do?" His hand reached out to herd the two porters from the room but his expression was all deputy, soothing and calm and authoritative. It worked because they shuffled out, polite nods to Sela and Marina as they left.
"Well," Joseph said as he closed the door. "That I didn't expect. What kind of meeting is this again?"
"Yeah, Mom, you're getting carried like an old person. What's up?"
Marina threw a little glare toward her daughter for the age reference as she sat and started gathering the things she needed to take with her. Most of their belongings were in the hotel but Marina had brought everything she would need for her business today.
She tied the top of her pack closed, pulling the loop tight as she did so. Joseph gave her a hand standing up. The stiffness was there and she could feel some echo of the pain just waiting for the injection she had received to wear off. She grabbed the vials of pills off the low table and jammed them into the protected pocket on her chest, hoping the feeling of them there would remind her to take them on time.
Marina felt guilty about leaving those men to wait for her so she turned to her family and talked quickly, checking the folded chits in her front pocket and all the other assorted things she carried as she spoke. "This is actually good. I mean, good once I get over the humiliation of being ported, that is. Anyway, you two do what we talked about and I'll go get the business out of the way. That means we can keep our schedule. Tomorrow, I'll already be halfway up to our next stop and all will be well." She ended that last with a smile she hoped looked confident and shouldered her pack. She leaned in to give each of them a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Good? Okay?" she asked when she got no verbal response from either of them. She hadn't answered Joseph's question and she knew that he was aware of it. The question he was probably considering was whether or not she knew that he knew or if it was an accident brought on by her need to hurry. She wanted to nudge him toward thinking the latter.
He nodded, apparently satisfied that it wasn't intentional and the duo saw Marina to the landing. Sela let out a laugh when her mother settled into the porting chair and then grabbed the sides in alarm as it rocked free when lifted. The frame was such that the two porters, one in front and another behind, could hold the handles even when angled by being on different stairs while the person seated swung free and remained level. The seat constantly adjusted no matter the angle of the carry. It was an ingenious design but a little shocking to a new rider. Joseph nudged Sela into silence and waved as Marina began to disappear up the first spiral up of the stair well.
Marina felt her face redden repeatedly as people peered at her, some discreetly and others not, during the first few levels of her portage. It was just as she had told her family, utterly humiliating. If she were very old, ill or in some other way infirm then this wouldn't be an issue for her. That is really what the transport chair was for. One couldn't even get the service without medical authorization and she hadn't gotten one from the medic. She
assumed that IT had gotten one and that embarrassed her even more.
A young family passed by, the couple not older than their mid-twenties and very fortunate in their fertility as they had two children in tow. They were young to have already met their quota of two children and were, no doubt, in the lottery for any extra births that might be permitted. The little girl, perhaps five years old, Marina guessed, pulled her thumb from her mouth and asked in a loud voice, "Is she going to clean too?"
The mother mouthed an apology, her face a horrified mask at her child's rudeness, but Marina just laughed. The mother moved the child to ride on her hip, whispering scolds at her as they passed the chair. Before they spiraled out of sight, Marina called back to them, "No, little one. I just hurt my foot by not being careful on the stairs."
The little girl looked back at Marina and she saw the thumb slip back into her mouth before they disappeared around the curve. It was sad that a girl so young even knew what cleaning was. Perhaps it had been explained when someone in her own family took ill, a grandparent perhaps. It was possible that little girl had already faced the peculiar mixture of honor and sadness that came from the gift of cleaning. Marina doubted anyone so young could truly understand the relief of knowing someone beloved would be spared the terrible pain of a lingering death and give the gift of knowledge in the doing of it.
It took a surprisingly short time to travel the six levels and neither of the porters seemed even remotely out of breath as they lowered the chair to the landing, well away from the traffic of the stair well and near the open entrance to IT. When Marina felt the braces that kept the chair from swinging free click home she let out a sigh of relief and caught the porter who secured the lever giving a little grin.
