Burning Angels

93

Five weeks had passed since Jaeger had paddled the Airlander’s life raft to shore and got Narov to the nearest hospital. It had taken him to the edge of his endurance and had seemed to age him. At least that was what Narov had said.

He reached for a surgical mask, slotting it over his mouth and nose, doing the same for the diminutive figure standing beside him. Over the past few weeks he’d spent barely a day apart from Simon Chucks Bello, and the two of them had grown close.

It was almost as if the kid who had saved the world had become like a second son to him.

Jaeger glanced up. Spotted someone. Smiled. ‘Ah, great. You’re here.’

The man in the white surgical suit, Dr Arman Hanedi, shrugged. ‘Over the past few weeks, when have I not been here? It’s been a little busy… I think I have forgotten what my wife and children look like.’

Jaeger smiled. He got on well with Ruth and Luke’s doctor, and over time he’d learned a little of his story. Hanedi was originally from Syria. He’d come to the UK as a child in the first wave of refugees, back in the 1980s.

He’d got himself a good education and had gone on to rise through the ranks of the medical profession, which was no small achievement. He clearly loved his chosen field, which was a bonus, for during the last few weeks he’d had his work cut out, combating the world’s most fearsome epidemic.

‘So she’s pulled through? She’s conscious?’ Jaeger prompted.

‘She is. She came round thirty minutes ago. Your wife is made of incredibly strong stuff. That long an exposure to such a virus – to survive it… it’s little short of a miracle.’

‘And Luke? Did he sleep better last night?’

‘Well, the son is rather like the father, I suspect. A born survivor.’ Hanedi ruffled Simon Bello’s hair. ‘So, little chap, are you ready to say hello to another of the thousands that you have saved?’

The kid blushed. He’d found the media attention hard to deal with, to put it mildly. It all felt so over the top. All he’d done was donate a few drops of blood.

‘Sure, but Jaeger did the hard bit. I didn’t do shit.’ Simon glanced at Jaeger a little sheepishly. Jaeger had been trying to get him to curtail the language, not always successfully.

They all laughed. ‘Call it teamwork,’ Hanedi suggested modestly.

They pushed through double doors. A figure was propped up on pillows. A mass of thick dark hair; fine, almost elfin features; plus those huge sea-green eyes, flecked with specks of gold. Were they more green than blue, or more blue than green? Jaeger never had been quite able to decide; they seemed to constantly change, both with the light and with her moods.

He was struck again by just how extraordinarily arresting his wife’s appearance was. He’d spent every hour possible with her and Luke, just staring at them or holding their hands. Each time, he’d been hit by the same thought: where the heck does love like this come from? It’s the only thing that totally breaks me.

Ruth smiled at him weakly. This was her first conscious moment since the virus had truly taken her, sucking her down into its dark and whirling vortex; since Jaeger had seen her thrust into that portable patient isolation unit aboard the Airlander.

He smiled. ‘Welcome back. How’re you feeling?’

‘How long have I been… fighting it?’ she replied, a little confusedly. ‘It feels like a lifetime.’

‘Weeks. But you’re back now.’ Jaeger glanced at the kid. ‘And this is how. This is Simon Chucks Bello. I thought – we thought – you’d like to meet him.’

She turned her gaze on the boy. Her eyes smiled, and when they did, the world smiled with them. She’d always had this miraculous ability to light up an entire room with her laughter; her magic. It was what had first drawn Jaeger to her.

She held out a hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Simon Chucks Bello. I understand that without you, none of us would still be… breathing. You’re one hell of a kid.’

‘Thank you, ma’am. But I didn’t exactly do much. Just got stuck by a needle.’

Ruth shook her head in amusement. ‘That’s not what I heard. I heard you got chased by the bad guys, jumped into a boat to escape, survived the sea ride from hell, not to mention an epic rescue by airship. Welcome to life with my husband – the very lovely but equally dangerous Will Jaeger.’

They laughed. That was Ruth for you, Jaeger thought. Always calm, always kind and always bloody right.

He pointed at the door leading into an adjacent room. ‘Go check on Luke. Go beat him at chess. You know you want to.’

Simon Bello patted the rucksack he had slung over his shoulder. ‘In here. Plus I brought him some snacks. We’re good to go.’

He disappeared through the door. Luke had been conscious for a good week now, and he and Simon had developed a certain repartee.

There wasn’t much in terms of electronic entertainment in the slums. Few were the households with computers or even TVs, and there was even less for orphans. Accordingly, they played a lot of board games, thought most were home-made – cobbled together from bits of cardboard and other trash.

Simon Chucks Bello was a demon at chess. Luke was using all his insider theories and trying various fancy sequences, but still Simon could defeat him within fifteen moves. It drove Luke crazy. He had inherited his father’s competitive spirit. He came from a long line of bad losers.

Ruth patted the bed. Jaeger sat beside her, and they hugged as if neither ever wanted to let the other go. Jaeger could barely believe that she was back. There had been so many moments over the past few weeks when he had feared they were losing her.

‘So, he’s quite the kid,’ Ruth murmured. She eyed Jaeger. ‘And you know something – you’re quite the dad.’

He held her gaze. ‘What are you thinking?’

She smiled. ‘Well, he did save the world. And us. And Luke has always wanted a brother…’

A while later Jaeger and Simon left the hospital. Once they were outside Jaeger switched on his mobile. There was the ping of an incoming message. He clicked on it.

It needed no sign-off.

Finally, Falk Konig had surfaced.

It gave Jaeger just the kind of lead that he’d been looking for.