Free Autumn in the City of Lights by Kirby Howell Page B

“Are you okay hearing this? Or would you like to let us talk first?”
    “I’m okay,” Rissi said, taking my hand.
    “I think, given the current situation, we should keep him here for observation for at least a few days, then re-evaluate.  Depending on what happens, we can make the call whether to let him come home or not. At that time, we may need to make some adjustments at the house.”  Grey glanced at Daniel, who nodded.
    “I’m pretty handy,” he said. “If we need to put in ramps or anything, I can take the lead on that.”
    “Ramps for what?” Rissi asked.
    “For a wheelchair, Riss,” I whispered. “Ben may need one.  We’re not sure yet.”
    “Oh,” was all she said.
    “Ben’s taken the news remarkably well,” Grey said. “I’m truly amazed.”
    “He knew the diagnosis might be coming,” Connie chimed in through her tears. “When he woke up, he realized what was going on right away.”
    I hoped we wouldn’t need to install ramps. I hoped Ben would walk out of here. Soon. But I didn’t like the tightness in Grey’s expression.
    We all walked back into the room and found Ben staring out the window. He turned to face us and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “You guys again, huh?”
    I smiled, wanting to be strong for him. But Rissi didn’t. She started crying as she went to his bed. Ben wrapped an arm around her and cried, too. I found Grey’s hand and willed my eyes to remain dry. If we all started crying, it would only make Ben feel worse.
    “Hey Marissa,” Connie said. “I have an idea. Why don’t we go home and start dinner, and then bring it back here so we can all eat together. Will you help me?” Rissi reluctantly agreed, and Connie gave me a sad smile over her head. We both knew Rissi needed to be taken away for a while for Ben’s sake.
    After everyone else left, Shad and I sat down and filled Ben in on the Summit of New Nations in Paris, and the three of us discussed whether we trusted Diego enough or if we should vote for someone else. Then there was the problem of how to get to Paris.
    When Connie, Daniel and Rissi returned with dinner, Daniel brought a surprise for Ben. “No doubt you’ve heard about the radio transmission from Paris,” he said. “I know you like to be take part in the evening conversations, so I figured you might want it here.” Daniel placed Ben’s shortwave radio on the table. “I don’t know what the hell you do on this thing all night, but I bet you money it’s alive with chatter now.”
    As Ben took the receiver from Daniel, his eyes lit up, and I saw the first real grin since he woke. “Thanks, Daniel. Maybe I can still be useful with this.”
    “What do you mean, still be useful ?” Shad demanded. “That’s ridiculous. You’re a walking encyclopedia...” Shad trailed off when he realized what he said. “I mean, well... you know... a wheeling... you don’t have to walk to be useful around here.”
    Ben ignored Shad’s comment and waved him forward. “Come here, I’ll show you how to use it.”
    The dinner Connie and Rissi made was absolutely delicious, but we were too focused on listening to the broadcasts on the shortwave radio to pay much attention to food.
    While we never heard a repeat of the broadcast from Paris, we did hear a version of it from the people at Niagara Falls, and on other channels from the groups in Virginia, Washington State, and Canada. They’d all received the Paris transmission and were passing on the details, like a children’s game of telephone.
    “...calling it the Summit of New Nations. Everyone’s sendin’ somebody,” said the Southerner. “We’re having our own elections here, but we got no way of getting there.”
    “Don’t you worry about that,” said Franklin, the leader in Vegas. “New Burbank has a jet and a pilot. Not sure what’s to be done about fuel, but I’m sure we’ll find a way.”
    “We should reserve this channel for official business, gentlemen,”