Cosega Sphere (The Cosega Sequence Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

that all the enemies coming toward them would attempt to take Gale alive because they needed the Eysen. Otherwise, the hospital would have already been leveled by a cruise missile or a drone strike.
    “I don’t understand,” Gale was saying to Harmer as Kruse tuned back into their conversation.
    “They will not let you into the operating room,” Harmer replied as she led them quickly through the maze of hospital corridors, all of them looking identical.
    “I’ll wear a mask. Other than school, she’s never been away from me. I’m her mother ! They aren’t going to do surgery without me in the room.”
    “No exceptions,” Harmer said calmly.
    They corralled Gale into the surgical waiting room, a large open area adjacent to an outdoor garden, filled with fake plants and old magazines. Harmer left to try and hunt down the doctor who had first seen Cira, but returned smelling of fresh nicotine ten minutes later without success. “We’re lucky, Gale. The surgeon is a good one, trained in Australia and an eye specialist.”
    “But you said the admitting physician told you that Cira could lose her vision.”
    “Cira was a mess when she first came in. They had tried to clean her up in the chopper, but she was screaming so much it was hard enough to stabilize her. By the time they finally got her sedated, we were here.”
    “Oh, my poor little girl,” Gale gasped.
    “The doctor was giving the worst case, but the surgeon believes there’s a good chance he can save her vision in at least one eye. Possibly both.”
    Gale thought of the time the Sphere had shown the inside of a flower as it grew and bloomed – the pulsing energy, the colors, the passion of nature. Later they saw what amounted to a time-lapse internal view of an oak tree growing from an acorn to a hundred year old giant. The Sphere had shown them nine months inside a woman’s womb, even the creation of planets and stars. Gale knew nature had the power to heal anything. She pictured those events in the Sphere and silently begged for her daughter’s eyes.
    Another excruciatingly slow hour dragged by. Kruse spent most of the time on the roof, watching for trouble, listening to Booker’s updates through a receiver fitted into his ear. The US government had mobilized a team of Navy SEALs. Their escape window was closing – fifty-seven minutes.
    “Get her out of there!” Booker warned.
    “She won’t leave Cira,” Kruse said.
    “Once the SEALs get them, Gale will be confined to an offshore military prison and they’ll use Cira to make her talk.”
    “I know, but she won’t listen to reason.”
    “Then drug her,” Booker ordered. “Just get her out of there.”
    Kruse returned to the waiting area at the same time the surgeon appeared. He was younger than Gale had expected, still in faded green scrubs, a surgical mask pulled down on his neck.
    “Cira is okay,” he said. “The procedure went well.”
    Gale let out a long breath. “Her vision?” she asked.
    “Too soon to tell for sure. It’ll be a few days before we can test that, but I’m extremely optimistic.”
    Gale closed her eyes, saying a silent prayer of thanks. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so grateful for what you’ve done.”
    He nodded, smiling slightly. “You can go back and see her now, but she’ll be under the anesthesia for at least another hour or so.”
    Gale looked at Harmer, who had tears in her eyes, and then back at the surgeon. “We want to take her home right away.”
    The surgeon looked confused, as if he hadn’t heard her correctly. “Right away?”
    “We want to take her home. . . now .”
    “What?” the surgeon said, suddenly irritated. “That’s out of the question. She can’t be moved for at least forty-eight hours, and she’ll need to remain here for a minimum of two weeks. Maybe you don’t realize exactly what she’s been through. Any movement would dramatically increase her chances for blindness.”
    Gale looked back at Harmer, and