"Oh, Desmond had help. If a toddler has a loaded gun with the safety off, you should have concern for who gave them the weapon."
"Where's Manish?" Darcy says.
"Manish had a rougher time with the pattern than you two," Dr. Ellison says. "He's been taken to hospital to recover. I claimed it was a concussion."
What present-you knows is that Manish vanished. He never returned to school. He didn't answer your calls or emails, either.
Past-you doesn't know that yet. Nor does Darcy. "Will he recover?" she asks.
Dr. Ellison sighs. "Perhaps. But he suffered pattern damage. Healing injuries to the brain is tricky, pattern-induced injuries doubly so. He may never be able to channel again."
Guilt seeps into you. "And Desmond?" you ask.
"Unscathed. Sometimes patterns preserve the foolhardy." She pauses. "Sometimes."
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