Sector B

23

"Her blood pressure is normal." One nurse said to Jessica.

"Have you checked her heart rate?" Jessica grabbed onto Rory's arm and felt her pulse.

"That's normal as well."

"That's strange. You've been having that bad cough all day. Your fever went down, but you still keep hacking up a dry cough."

"I feel fine, Mrs. Chen." Rory coughed. This was a symptom of her sickness. Just one of many signs in the future about what was to come of her.

"Have you been sleeping well?"

"Yes."

"Eating all your meals and drinking the dandelion root tea the herbal lady gives you?"

"Yes,"

"You're not moving around often, are you?"

"Nope, I'm not."

Jessica sighed. She knew that this dry cough was a sign of her declining state. But without the okay to do surgery, there was nothing more she could do.

"Okay then, keep up the usual routine."

"Yes," Rory nodded and pushed herself off of the examination table. She wanted to finish the final draft of her project. Then all she would have to do is physically replicate it.

"Rory," Jessica stopped her before she left.

"Yes?"

"There's something I have to ask you."

Rory's nerves shook. "Yes?"

"I'm curious. As a Bracketer, what kind of man are you into? Or what kind of guy would you be interested in?"

Rory bit her lip. She thought about it for a moment. She was always sick, so she never really gave it any consideration. She never thought of being in a relationship with any guy.

What kind of guy would want to date or marry a sickly woman? Not even Bracket men would take an interest in her. But that was okay. She accepted that fact a long time ago.

As for a guy, who would she like? Maybe someone like her father. "I guess someone strong and dependable. Someone who cooks for me and helps me when I need it the most. Someone who's always there for me."

Jessica's heart almost split into two. She knew her son was a strong man, and somewhat dependable. But he couldn't cook, and he wasn't always available to help. For Decha, everything came with a price.

Jessica was aware of Decha and Rory's frequent talks.

Over the week, she considered what it would be like to have Rory as a daughter-in-law. Yes, she was a Bracketer, so living in Astell would require a lot of paperwork. There was a new law put in place that would work for the two.

Jessica thought they would complement each other well. She was never a big fan of the program that required Generals to meet with a set match. Jessica didn't want Decha to marry a snobby rich Astellian girl, only for her to prance her way around their house acting high and mighty.

It didn't help that Decha would be a most popular candidate. Women would fight to get a taste of him. He was a high-rank general with many luxury accommodations. Gold diggers would harass him if Jessica didn't stop it.

Decha wasn't passionate. Jessica hated that about him. He did everything with the same emotionless glare. It was hard to read him.

Rory was very emotional. Jessica liked that about her. She reacted to things in ways that made Jessica laugh.