them she was constantly monitoring herself to gauge whether she was being too blunt or insulting, or whether she was overlooking some social nuance. She didn't always pick up gaffes before they happened, but she knew she was still, and always would be, a work in progress.
'Uh-oh. How did that sit with you-know-who and you-know-who-two?'
'How does it sit with you?' v
Dimitri propped his bare feet on the counter beneath the monitor screens.
'You're the doctor. Is he ever going to wake up, Doctor?'
'I don't believe so, but I really can't predict at this point.'
'And what will he be like if he does? Animal, mineral, or vegetable?'
'Sometimes people make it pretty far back from these sorts of things.'
'Sounds like another way of saying vegetable. I've been in to see him once. Sure didn't look to me like he's coming back.'
'So you think I should have just let him go back there? No resuscitation?'
'I think you're a doctor. You gotta do what you gotta do. But I also know that the twins are doctors, too. And I know they've been waiting for you to come home so we all can sign a paper telling the doctors at the hospital not to do what you just did.'
'You were going to sign that?'
'Actually, I told Niko and Selene that if you signed, I'd sign. Us against them, just like the old days.'
Thea tilted her chair back and set her feet up next to her brother's.
'It's not time yet.'
'There's a lot of money at stake, I would guess. That's got to be of interest to the Twinkies.'
'They're both surgeons, Dimitri. They have plenty of money.'
'Suit yourself. You want to see this great new Mario game? I have a friend online who is just the ultimate artist. I think he's from Japan someplace. He can take any video game, like Super Mario World, and make it X-rated. Just imagine what the princess is doing in that other castle? See, I help him with the technical end. He chips in the artwork. The guy's a genius. You should see what he did with Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man can't keep her snapper off him.'
Thea grinned. The abrupt subject change was Dimitri's way of saying that talk about their father and the twins had gone on as long as he could handle. For Dimitri, as for her, in fact, life was all about keeping stress down to a manageable level. Chaos, uncertainty, unexpected changes, difficult social situations, and confusing topics were some of the enemies. The difference between the two of them was that she initially had their mother and now Dr. Carpenter as advocates and guides, and Dimitri had never really had anyone.
As far as Thea knew, her brother's diagnosis had never been established, although she suspected that whatever had placed him squarely among the neuroatypicals fell somewhere on the autism spectrum, quite possibly some variant of Asperger syndrome or Asperger's combined with some other condition.
'Another time, Dimitri. I'm going to head back to the hospital. I'm sort of reverse jet-lagged right now.'
'If you see the lights on up here, I'm up. Just ignore my alarm system and come on in.'
She wondered as she stood to leave what, if any, impact the death of their father would have on him. She glanced over at his sleeping area: a rumpled double bed, armoire, hot plate, and apartment-sized refrigerator. Over the time she was here, she resolved to spend more time with him, possibly outside of his lair, and to get more of a sense of his survival skills. He didn't seem particularly miserable at this juncture of his life, but he didn't seem especially joyful either.
'Okay, maybe I'll see you later or in the morning,' she said. 'I might just stay in the family room at the hospital tonight.'
'It might not have been an accident,' Dimitri replied, continuing to shoot at an advancing horde of demons, each one of whom exploded in green blood when hit.
'What?'
'The man's accident. It might not have been one. Someone might have hit him on purpose.'
'Why would you say that?'
Dimitri remained focused on the demons.
'I don't think
'Uh-oh. How did that sit with you-know-who and you-know-who-two?'
'How does it sit with you?' v
Dimitri propped his bare feet on the counter beneath the monitor screens.
'You're the doctor. Is he ever going to wake up, Doctor?'
'I don't believe so, but I really can't predict at this point.'
'And what will he be like if he does? Animal, mineral, or vegetable?'
'Sometimes people make it pretty far back from these sorts of things.'
'Sounds like another way of saying vegetable. I've been in to see him once. Sure didn't look to me like he's coming back.'
'So you think I should have just let him go back there? No resuscitation?'
'I think you're a doctor. You gotta do what you gotta do. But I also know that the twins are doctors, too. And I know they've been waiting for you to come home so we all can sign a paper telling the doctors at the hospital not to do what you just did.'
'You were going to sign that?'
'Actually, I told Niko and Selene that if you signed, I'd sign. Us against them, just like the old days.'
Thea tilted her chair back and set her feet up next to her brother's.
'It's not time yet.'
'There's a lot of money at stake, I would guess. That's got to be of interest to the Twinkies.'
'They're both surgeons, Dimitri. They have plenty of money.'
'Suit yourself. You want to see this great new Mario game? I have a friend online who is just the ultimate artist. I think he's from Japan someplace. He can take any video game, like Super Mario World, and make it X-rated. Just imagine what the princess is doing in that other castle? See, I help him with the technical end. He chips in the artwork. The guy's a genius. You should see what he did with Pac-Man. Ms. Pac-Man can't keep her snapper off him.'
Thea grinned. The abrupt subject change was Dimitri's way of saying that talk about their father and the twins had gone on as long as he could handle. For Dimitri, as for her, in fact, life was all about keeping stress down to a manageable level. Chaos, uncertainty, unexpected changes, difficult social situations, and confusing topics were some of the enemies. The difference between the two of them was that she initially had their mother and now Dr. Carpenter as advocates and guides, and Dimitri had never really had anyone.
As far as Thea knew, her brother's diagnosis had never been established, although she suspected that whatever had placed him squarely among the neuroatypicals fell somewhere on the autism spectrum, quite possibly some variant of Asperger syndrome or Asperger's combined with some other condition.
'Another time, Dimitri. I'm going to head back to the hospital. I'm sort of reverse jet-lagged right now.'
'If you see the lights on up here, I'm up. Just ignore my alarm system and come on in.'
She wondered as she stood to leave what, if any, impact the death of their father would have on him. She glanced over at his sleeping area: a rumpled double bed, armoire, hot plate, and apartment-sized refrigerator. Over the time she was here, she resolved to spend more time with him, possibly outside of his lair, and to get more of a sense of his survival skills. He didn't seem particularly miserable at this juncture of his life, but he didn't seem especially joyful either.
'Okay, maybe I'll see you later or in the morning,' she said. 'I might just stay in the family room at the hospital tonight.'
'It might not have been an accident,' Dimitri replied, continuing to shoot at an advancing horde of demons, each one of whom exploded in green blood when hit.
'What?'
'The man's accident. It might not have been one. Someone might have hit him on purpose.'
'Why would you say that?'
Dimitri remained focused on the demons.
'I don't think
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