”“George?”“Took charge on the spot. Ever since I met him I’d thought he was autistic.”“George? No ... obsessive for sure ... autistic? N...,” John disagreed. “I’ve never heard George deviate from the original bass line.”“The lead player for the Royal Toads sat in on lead. We did a number that lasted 25 minutes ... George played stuff I’d never heard,” I said.“George?”“Yup ... George is seriously talented.”“Who knew?” Johnny said.“I sure didn’t. I thought he never had an original thought in his. )But. As I was saying. I have cursed people to their own figurativehells before, but I had never thought of this particular hell that I wasliving through ... and what made it particularly vicious was how thesebrutes put their imaginations to work to employ virtually no powers otherthan their mammalian bodies and what was around them.Now, granted, they didn't result to outright physical torture. We wereat the job, of course, and certain pretenses must be maintained. But thenumber of times. ..I don't know what to say." Last thing I expected was to end up as a little old Jewish lady," shechuckled, "but then I never expected to survive Afghanistan either. ThatIED should've killed me, so I figure I've been living on borrowed timeever since. Looks like that time is almost up now." What do you mean?" Esther Rubinstein had terminal cancer, which means I have it now. Thedocs say I've got a month or so left, if that." I...I'm sorry." Don't be. I've got no regrets. They won't tell me where. How did one compare ten minutes of pain and disappointment with what seemed like an entire night of pure bliss? What had just happened had to count for more than just one time.“When was your last period?” he asked.“That’s none of your business,” she said instantly, her natural modesty rebelling against talking about that with a man.“Of course it’s my business!” he said intensely. “What if I got you pregnant? I love all my children.”That’s when the rest of it clicked in Misty’s mind. All those.