Ty hit the tile on one knee and caught himself with the sickle before his skull reached the floor, while intake sheets and consent forms fell around him with transfer slips and specimen logs. Some were burned at the edges, where blue fire had chewed them thin during the fall. They brushed his shoulders and ribs, then came apart when they touched the freezer floor.
JJ landed behind him hard enough to slap both palms against the tile. Yun-Jin rolled once and came up facing the corridor. Omina arrived on one knee with both cuffs lit. Heissman dropped last, flat on his back, staring at the ceiling like the ceiling had offended him personally.
"I miss stairs more than I respect myself right now," he said.
JJ pushed herself onto one elbow.
"You miss having something normal to complain about."
"Normal complaints had a dignity I failed to appreciate."
