And if this
revelation, however ridiculous it may have sounded, caused Hank
to waver, to trust Peter's instincts, then Matthew had not a
single grain of hope of ever succeeding with his monumental plan.
He heard the sound of his own heartbeat squishing wildly in his
ears.
Hank looked Peter in the eye, and slowly shook his head.
Peter grunted. It was a wrenching, painful sound.
"Hank, no. No, Hank. No." He spoke very slowly, pausing with
every few words to catch his breath. "We did it before. And we
can do it again." He planted his hands on Hank's shoulders and
gave him the sort of shake one gives a drunkard. "We can run
Wallaby. Until we find someone who can cut it. Hank."
Hank gently removed Peter's hands from his shoulders.
"No, Peter," Hank whispered. "No."
"Hank, this is my life we're talking about, here. You will kill
me if you don't save me." Tears spilled down Peter's cheeks.
"You're my only hope."
Hank rested his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Petey, we're a big
company now, at probably the most critical point in all our
history. You are too unfocused to manage Wallaby. Matthew can."
He punctuated this last line with a squeeze. "But you've got to
stay on and be the innovator. We only want you to let Matthew do
his job. You'll think this is all bad for awhile, but then you'll
understand.
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