Lu felt bad about leaving Tori on her own with the old man, but it seemed like Mr. Gao was stressed by seeing so many people. If she understood that spike in his heart rate correctly. Tori was the one he’d connected to, so Tori was the one he should hang out with.

Maybe. Lu wasn’t an expert in psychology—or medicine—or anything, really.

She worried that the main reason she’d wanted to get away was that she didn’t have to deal with a shrivelled-up old person who might die on her. Was that all this was?

But they really did need to get a bed ready for Mr. Gao. He couldn’t lie on the floor in front of the airlock forever. And she honestly thought he’d do better with fewer people around. Hadn’t he run as soon as he saw Brian?

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