12
“MELATI?”
She hadn’t noticed Dr Chee in the corner; the light was dim in the room, he had been hidden behind an empty cot, and she’d been too busy looking at the boys. He rose from his seat and came towards her.
Was it the light in this room or did he always have such bags under his eyes? Come to think of it, did he ever leave this office?
“How is he?” Melati asked, glancing at Esse.
“It was unfortunate that we had to bring him back here,” Dr Chee said, his voice mild. “He’d gone into an unresponsive state.”
“Dead body syndrome.”
He nodded. “When he came in here, he was in borderline stage 3. He’d stopped reacting to outside stimuli, but his muscles hadn’t cramped up yet.”
A shiver went over her back. It was as she expected. She’d seen the cramping up once, in a cohort not her o
