This time she was able to stretch in bed, to curl her fingers into her palms and yawn as she drifted awake. She turned her head on the pillow toward the voices. Dr. Aldani and Finn stood at the open door of the cabin, the light from the passage giving them both halos. “Why is it taking so long for the drug to get out of her system?” Finn’s words were clipped and short. Aldani shook his head. “I don’t know. Her blood levels are fine. The pressure in her brain has eased. There’s no reason for her to still be comatose.” “Is it the transition? Is her implant killing her?” Finn’s voice cracked. Aldani put his hand on Finn’s arm. “We don’t know that. She’s strong, Finn. We’re going to find a way to get her through this.” “But you said…” “I know what I said. The drugs Samil gave Renna have caused some neural damage. They may have caused the implant to start integrating even faster. But it will take time for me to try to work out a new formula from what little data is left of Navang’s experiments.
