The cold river water roared out of the gooseneck faucet.
Julian held the rubber cord tight in the jaws of his stainless-steel sponge forceps. He didn’t let a millimeter of his skin touch the wet grey flesh covering the handset.
He forced the earpiece and the microphone down into the deepest curve of the stainless-steel basin.
SPLASH.
The thirty-eight-degree municipal water hit the perforated mouthpiece with crushing force.
Instantly, the spliced voice inside the receiver changed pitch.
“Julian--glub--say your full--gurgle--name--”
Bubbles of trapped air erupted from the circular acoustic ports. Each bubble carried a tiny, distorted syllable of his father’s voice, breaking into froth against the stainless-steel rim.
