Free The Stone That Never Came Down by John Brunner Page B

mass-producing a novel type of antibiotic and which was financed by public funds …? Ah, I see you do recall it. Good. Then the matter is settled. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am very busy. Merry Christmas to you both!”

VIII

    “Ruth! Ruth, that is you, I know! I recognise your breathing!”
    The quiet words roused her from the pile of cushions she had used to improvise a bed. The room was in total darkness, because she had drawn the curtains tight against the cold outside; though the snow of last week had mostly given way to hail and sleet, it was still freezing hard every night.
    “Malcolm! You finally woke up!” She snatched a robe around her and by touch located the switch that controlled the nearest light. Shaded to the point where it was not a shock to her eyes, it showed her his face as he rolled over in the bed: pale, unshaven, but visibly less tense than she knew her own to be. “How do you feel?”
    “I … I feel pretty good. Very relaxed. Very rested. But I’m starving hungry!”
    And then in sudden astonishment: “But what the hell are you doing here, anyway?”
    Rising, padding towards him barefoot and pausing only to turn on the electric heater, she parried, “That’s a good sign, anyhow.”
    And, one step from his side, her self-control failed, and she fell forward on her knees, clutching at him.
    “Malcolm, thank heaven you are all right! I’ve been so–so terrified! ”
    “What?” Raising himself on his elbow, he stared at her. “Why? I told you: I feel fine. I feel as though I’ve slept for days on end … Oh, lord.” With abrupt fearful realisation. “I have, haven’t I? I mean literally!”
    Drawing back a fraction, she glanced at the bedside clock and nodded.“Yes, Malcolm. It’s now about five-twenty a.m. on December twenty-seventh.”
    “I’ve slept clear through Christmas?” Appalled, he made to throw back the covers and jump from the bed; she caught his shoulders and made him lean back on the pillows again.
    “You stay right where you are!” she ordered.
    Yielding, seeming weak, he said, “But why aren’t you with your brother in Kent? That’s where you said you were going!”
    “I … I decided not to go.” Shivering a little, she reached out one arm to turn the heater so that its blast of warmth came at her directly, but with her other hand maintained her grasp of him as though half afraid he might melt into the air.
    “I can see that!” he retorted. “But when I flaked out I … Have you been looking after me all the time?”
    “Billy spelled me. He didn’t have anywhere special to go. And if you’re worried about the scandal, there’s no need. Mary’s away, Len’s away, Reggie’s away … We’ve had the place to ourselves.”
    “But this is crazy! Did you call the doctor?”
    “We decided not to.”
    “What? If I was lying here right through Christmas and–”
    “If we had,” she interrupted, “you could very well have found yourself in jail.”
    He gaped unashamedly. “Ruth, I don’t understand!”
    “And you better hadn’t try until you’ve woken up properly. I haven’t.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Wait until I’ve got the sleep out of me. How about a hot drink? There isn’t too much food left–all the shops have been shut, of course–but I have plenty of milk. Hot chocolate?”
    “Damn it, stop talking in riddles!” He broke free of her and swung his legs to the floor.
    “Only if you get back into bed!” she countered.
    “In a minute! I–uh–I have to get up!”
    “Oh. Oh, sorry. I should have realised. Though, come to think of it, that’s another proof we were right.” Glancing around, she spotted his bathrobe and handed it to him.
    “Proof of what?” he snapped, belting it around him.
    “Well, I’ve had a lot of practice nursing, what with my mother being bed-ridden for so long, and Billy said he’d had to take care of a lot of friends who were on bad trips with acid and mescaline … Anyhow, we knew all