#elsewhere

Frank waits for the mortal, patiently.

And soon he has the cooler with the heart in it

And is getting in "Thanks. I gotta get there fast"

"Do the best I can; better than sitting at the truck stop, I reckon.

Frank gets in gear. "Nice cab you've got there, though. Dragon." inviting more information.

"Oh yeah, my uncle died. He was a trucker from way back. Told me he won it in a bet, if you can believe it. Who bets a rig? Anyway... when Unc died, I bought it for a song" A smug look

"You in the business, then? Driving?"

"Yeah, before I got the Dragon I was with a company, man they were uptight. "

Frank nods. "I pre
fer being independent, even if the work can be spotty.

"Yeah, but it's going away you know, they'll automate everything they can."

As they drive, he looks anxious, checking the cooler he still has the symbol covered on

"What's in the cooler?" Frank asks the obvious question.

"Perishable" He says, not as smooth as he'd like to be

"Need to keep it cold?"

"YEah, really important" he says "Look ah, let's talk about someth8ing else" Is he sweating?

"Ok." easily "Just to say, though, I have a fridge in back."

"You do?" His eyes light up "I... well, the cooler keeps it cold but.. no best to just have it here by my side"

Frank nods. "Don't tell anyone I said to, but you can unbuckle and put it back there if you want." Sure enough, he does have a trucker-style mini fridge. It'll fit.

A nod "Well, It might be too cold for all I know. This temp is.. kind of exact"

"Up to you." Frank drives carefully.

He nods and shuts up

They drive along, he keeps it by him.

"Listen, I can fudge the paperwork about my rest break for a little but we are going to need to take breaks."

"It's 13 hours to Cincinnati; that's going to put me -way- over. Anyway, does you no good if I run us off the road and into a hospital, right?"

"I could drive part of it while you sleep" He offers

Frank chuckles, a low rumble; damn this guy is big.... "No, thanks. Not this rig."

"Yeah," Knowles swallows a bit nervous. This guy IS big "Okay. I guess you're right. I .. think it will last that long" worry ..born of greed

"You mind an audiobook?"

"uh no no" he says

Frank nods and uses a touch-screen (a recent upgrade, but worth it) to dial through books..... he selects "The Heart of Caring" (a life in pediatrics) and starts it.

The author is a pediatrician, and recounts 40 years of his medical experience; the story of a life lived in medicine, with all the heart
break, hope, and everyday heroism that entails.

Knowles grows increasingly irritated but doesn't say anyhthing. He squirms

"You need a comfort stop, man?"

"Nice try" A voice says , at first Frank wonders if it's Conrad Knowles. THen he realizes that nope. It's a small Chimera on the man's shoulder. It looks something like a baggy eyed angel. He's sucking down coffee, in a very tiny mug that the keen eyed might read as saying 'Have a heart, but just one at a time'

"I'm good" Knowles says, not hearing the chimera in the slightest

Frank grunts in acknowledgement of them both.

The angel says "I miss the old days. Fear of higher powers, that was a dream that had muscle," the angel says bitterly "Now heart stealing assholes like this are willing to let teenagers die so some rich fart can take a heart for himself"

Conrad sweats a bit, but if it's from remorse it doesn't show

"That heart IS stolen by the way, captain 'smooth' here is taking it to a rich guy in cincinatti. When there's a kid in Pennsylvania who is goiing to die without it. Kid was on the list. Somewhere there's a medical hospital in a panic"

Frank's Liam background comes into play; he knows where the heart was going. Arnold Palmer or CHOP.

He checks the weather outside. Conditions?

Not cold enough to keep a heart out of a cooler. A low on and off again drizzle

Survivable, then. Good.

Oh definitely. And there are rest stops here and there depending on how far they go. Exits to gas stations and more

The angel berates Conrad, "You realize somewhere there's a kids' parents going out of their mind if they've even been told 'hey the heart we promised got stolen'?"

But Conrad doesn't hear. The power of Conscience Chimeras is weaker than it used to be

The audio book gets dirty looks now and then

"We get near Philly, we'll have to make a stop."

"PHILLY?" He blinks "No way, that adds hours to the trip. The he.. the perishable uhm won't be fresh"

"I'm taking 80, It's 17 hours either way. You wanted faster, make some calls and you can fly from Philly."