Charles P.Crawford

Three-Legged Race

1974

Chapter One

Brent watched the second hand creep around the face of the clock. He could hear Lindsay Harper behind him gathering her books together. Miss VanderPoole talked on about the importance of continuing good reading habits during the course of the summer. No one was listening. A lot of kids hadn't even come to school for the last day, now that report cards were mailed home.

The bell rang.

The class cheered. Brent leaped from his seat as the class swirled around him. Everyone rushed for the door.

Brent could hear Miss VanderPoole shouting after them to have a good summer. He turned and waved at her and she smiled back.

The hallway rang with the sound of banging lockers and running feet. Brent was jostled several times and gave a push or two back.

Tom stopped by Brent's locker and said, "You coming over to the swim club?"

"Maybe," Brent replied. "I'll see you later."

Jim ran by and slammed Tom on the head with a book. Tom rushed on down the hall after him.

It was incredible how fast the corridor cleared, Brent thought. He saw the last few people disappearing down the stairs in the distance. The floor was littered with notebook paper and gum wrappers.

Brent opened his locker and took out his sneakers and gym shorts. The banging of the metal echoed in the empty hallway. He checked to make sure there was nothing left inside and then closed the locker door. He turned and walked down the steps. He could hear the roar of the buses as they swung away from the bus loop below.

When Brent got to the first floor, he stopped by the art room. Mr.Samuelson was taking the last few prints down from the wall. The room looked bare and colorless.

"Hi, Brent," Mr.Samuelson said. "Glad that summer's here?"

"Kind of," Brent replied. "I just wanted to pick up those watercolors I did this year."

"Sorry to hear that, Brent. I was hoping you would forget; I need something over my mantel. I hope you'll keep up with it this summer."

"Oh, I will, Mr.Samuelson. I always get a lot of stuff done when we're up in Maine."

"Good. It's important not to let yourself get stale."

"Well, thanks for all the help this year. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. It's good to have a student like you every once in a while, Brent. Have a nice summer."

"Thanks. I will."

Brent rolled the watercolors up and put them under his left arm. He walked from the art room, through the commons and out into the June sunshine. It was hot. It would be a hot summer, he guessed.

For a minute Brent considered walking up to Gino's in the center of Louella for a hamburger and a Coke. Everybody would be there. They'd all be laughing and talking and making plans for the summer. Brent decided not to go. He didn't feel like all that joking and noise right then. He'd see them all plenty of times over at the club anyway.

Brent walked up Windermere Avenue with his paintings under the one arm and his sneakers slung over his right shoulder. The trees made a bright green canopy over the street. Brent strolled slowly through the circles of light and shadow. The sounds of little kids playing drifted from a backyard somewhere. The large houses with their big front porches looked quiet and composed in the June sun.

It's like a Monet painting, Brent thought.

When Brent closed the front door behind him, his mother called from the kitchen, "Is that you, Brent?"

"Yes, Mom," Brent shouted back.

"Come on into the kitchen. There are some cupcakes if you're hungry."

Brent walked through the dining room into the kitchen. His mother was stirring something on the stove. It smelled good.

"Your sister's been and gone already. I just got back from running her over to the pool. They're having tryouts for the swim team this afternoon. Listen, Brent, if she doesn't happen to make it, you be nice to her at dinner tonight. She'll be heartbroken."

"Don't sweat it, Mom," Brent said. "She's a cinch to make it. She's half frog."

His mother laughed. "I suppose I worry too much about you two. How's it feel to be out for the summer? I would have thought you'd have gone up to Gino's with the guys this afternoon or over to the pool. Aren't you celebrating?"

"I decided not to. Maybe I'll hitch over to the club later. I'll see more than enough of them in the next few weeks anyway."

"Well, I think you spend too much time by yourself, Brent."

"It's okay, Mom. I enjoy it. When will we be headed for the island?"

"Probably not until sometime later in July. Your father's got too many things pressing at the office to get away right now. We'll have plenty of time there, don't worry."

"I wish we were going up sooner. That's the best part of the summer. I always feel like I'm bumming around and wasting time at home in the summer. Like at loose ends, you know."

"You can always do some painting, Brent," his mother said. "And the swim club is always there. I'm sure you'll find plenty to keep you occupied until we go."

"Oh, I know. I just like the island better, is all."

"I know you do. I wish we could be going up earlier too. But then Betsy wouldn't have the time to compete on the swim team, so it all works out for the best. You'll just have to be patient."

"You know what I'd like to do this weekend?" Brent said.

"What?"

"Do you think Uncle George would like a painting of his barn for a Christmas present?"

"Oh, I know he would. He'd think that was pretty special."

"Well, I'd love to get out of Louella for a day or two before the same old summer routine starts. I thought maybe I'd ask Uncle George if I could come out to the farm for the weekend. I'll do a picture of the barn, I just won't tell him it's for him."

"I think it's a fine idea."

"And it will get me warmed up for the things I want to paint up at the island this summer. Is it okay with you?"

"Sure. And I know your father won't mind. I'll give Uncle George a call this evening."

"Thanks, Mom. I figure I can get it pretty well roughed out in a day or so, if only John would leave me alone while I'm there."

"That might not be so easy." Brent's mother laughed. "You know how much he looks up to you. You may just have to put up with a lot of him."

"I guess. But he's a pain."

"Well, I'm sure you'll live," his mother chuckled. "You were seven once too, you know."

Brent finished his cupcake and the glass of milk. He left the kitchen and went upstairs to check over his paint supplies.

It seemed right to him to be going away for a couple of days just after school was out, instead of rushing over to the pool like everybody else and falling into the regular summer pattern.

I'd go crazy by September if we didn't have the island, he thought. The whole idea of getting over to the swim club before noon and hanging around all day every day messing around with the same people all the time turned him off. He liked the idea of getting away by himself.

Brent had been at his Uncle George's place for only a couple of hours and his younger cousin hadn't left him alone once. He was really getting into the picture now, sketching out in ochers and grays the siding of the barn. But John kept butting in and asking questions, and even had tried once or twice to start a game of tag by punching him on the shoulder and shouting, "You're it!"

Brent didn't want to be mean to John or anything, but he always found it hard to paint while someone was hanging over his shoulder, particularly someone like John, who couldn't sit still for more than thirty seconds.

"Why don't you run along and find out what time lunch is," Brent suggested.

"Mom will give us a call when it's ready," John said.

"Great," Brent replied and tried to concentrate on mixing just the right shade of gold for the sun streak down the roof of the barn. The cedar shingles turned all hazy and soft in the sunlight and he wanted to get it exactly right.

"How'd you like to play a game down in the pasture, hun? We could look for snakes or something, Brent."

"No, thanks, John. I want to get this picture done."

God, why won't the stupid kid just leave me alone? Brent thought.

Suddenly John grabbed the brush out of Brent's hand. He ran off around the side of the barn.

"You got to catch me," John shouted back.

Brent jumped to his feet. The watercolor pad fell to the ground.

Damn that kid! Brent thought.

Brent chased around the side of the barn and saw John disappear through the large hay doors on the second floor. Brent scrambled up the ladder after him.

The inside of the barn was hot. The smell of hay and horse manure filled the thick air. The light was dim and particles of dust drifted through the sunrays filtering through the roof. A stray chicken fluttered out of the back loft door into the barnyard below. John was standing on a pile of hay waving the paintbrush over his head.

"You got to catch me," he shouted again.

Brent lunged for John's foot but the younger boy jumped back off the haystack and ran farther into the dimness of the loft. Brent scrambled up the side of the hay mound. He leaped off the stack and landed for a split second on seemingly solid floor which abruptly gave way beneath him. He saw the floor of the loft desappear above him. The fall seemed to take forever. Above him he could just see the dangling form of the open trapdoor, one hinge hanging loose and broken.

Then he was lying flat out on the cement floor of the milking room. His whole body filled with pain.

He was vaguely aware of John yelling somewhere above his head and the distant sound of running steps. He was acutely aware that he was not breathing. Brent thought, Go on, buddy, just breathe in. But nothing happened. No matter how hard he willed his chest to expand and take in air, it refused to move. I'm probably blue by now, he thought He might have laughed if he could have. He felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. Suddenly Uncle George was leaning down above him.

"It's all right," Uncle George said. "Lie still. You'll be breathing in a minute. Just hang on."

The voice was comforting to Brent and so was the first small racking gasp of air that crept into his lungs. The air burned and Brent heard the wheezing sound of his first breathing. Soon the air returned more easily and Brent was able to lie on the cement and inhale without noise and pain in his chest.

"Okay," Uncle George said, "can you move at all now that you have your breath back? Took quite a spill, you know."

Brent pulled his legs up, bending them at the knees. He tried to sit up. The pain made him yell.

"You just lie there quietly and I'll call an ambulance. No sense having you up and marching around when you got so much pain. Hang on a little while. I'll be back."

Uncle George left at a trot and Brent lay back on the cement floor. The pain was bad now. Maybe I broke a bone or something, Brent thought. He wiggled his toes and was reassured that they still moved.

Brent noticed John standing nearby. The little kid's probably scared to death, Brent thought.

"It's all right, John. I'll be fine. It wasn't your fault anyway." It was an effort to talk.

"I shouldn't have made you chase me," he said.

"You couldn't have known that the trapdoor was broken," Brent said. "Could have happened anytime. Don't worry about it."

"I wish you hadn't come to paint your stupid picture," John shouted and ran from the milking room.

"I couldn't agree with you more, kid," Brent muttered.

He thought he remembered the ambulance coming but he wasn't sure. He felt cold all over and the pain continued to rush up and down his body. The ambulance attendants moved him carefully to a stretcher and he sensed the trees rushing past on the way to the hospital.

His parents were at the hospital when he arrived.

"Hi, Mom," Brent tried to say but it came out garbled and fuzzy. He couldn't seem to keep his tongue in line. "Hi, Dad. I'll be okay, huh?"

"Sure you will," his father said.

They moved him onto a rolling bed, and all of a sudden Dr.Matthias was beside him.

"We're going to send you down for a quick X ray, Brent. Don't try to move. Here's something for the pain."

Brent felt the sharp jab of the needle and waited for the rush of numbness. His back still throbbed constantly but it seemed as if the pain belonged to someone else.

He remembered the ceiling going by over his head and the nurse in the X-ray room gently turning his body to various positions. The X-ray machine lowered in, whirring, and rose again. It lowered and rose several times.

Soon he was moving through the halls again. The ceiling was just a blur now.

"Can you listen, Brent?" Dr.Matthias was saying. "Try to listen, and then you can just sleep it all away."

Brent heard his mother crying beside him as he moved on the rolling bed through the hallways.

"Brent, listen," the doctor was saying again. "You've a fracture of one of your vertebrae. It's a broken back, but you're very lucky. There should be no problems at all. You'll be fine."

"Broken back?" Brent managed to say.

"Yes, but it's not like it sounds. Don't worry. Just lie back and enjoy the next month," he said.

"Forget it, Doctor. I'm not staying for any month. I don't have the time."

"You've got it now," Dr.Matthias said. "You've got a compression fracture of lumbar one. With a month of lying flat and a few months in a brace, you'll be as good as new. No complications from what I can see now. Just remember, because you'll be asleep in a minute: When you wake up tomorrow, don't sit up. If you have a lot of pain, don't hesitate to ask the nurse for something. I'll leave orders and see you tomorrow. It won't be bad, Brent. It's a clean fracture and there's no damage to the spinal cord. You're a very lucky boy."

Brent drifted into sleep before he even reached his room.

Brent felt the slant of light across his eyelids. He was awake and the sun was making spots behind his eyes.

He could feel the pain again. It was steady and aching up and down his spine. He felt a sensation of falling and grabbed the criblike sides of the bed. He still felt drugged from the night's sleep, but he thought he would ring for the nurse for more pain relievers anyway. If I've got to be here, I might as well get zonked and enjoy it, he thought.

"Good morning, Supertube," a voice said.

Brent opened his eyes and looked to the right. The other bed in the room was about six feet away. A kid his own age was sitting up, propped against the pillow. He had dark hair and a sharp, angular face. He was smoking a cigarette.

Brent noticed an intravenous tube running from his own arm to a large bottle dangling from a stand. He didn't remember the doctor hooking him up to it.

"The only nice thing about eating through your arm is you don't have to taste the s... they serve here," the boy in the next bed smiled. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. Heard the doctor tell your folks that you were going to be here about a month. I've got seventy years to go."

"I'm Brent McAllister," Brent said.

"Yeah. I know. I read your clipboard last night after you got here. You've got a broken back, you know."

"I know."

"Well, that's tough. My name's Benjamin Kirkus Hughes. Call me Kirk. All my friends do, but I haven't seen him for awhile." His laughter matched his mocking smile.

"They treat you all right here as long as you don't give the day nurse any crap. Mrs.Pegeen Rush is her name. Get on her wrong side and she'll sneak in while you're asleep, unplug your arm and let you starve to death. She's a mean old bitch. I just thought I'd fill you in on the good news."

"Yeah? Thanks for the tip."

"No sweat. We can handle her. You look a little white around the edges. You got much pain?"

"Some." Brent wasn't feeling much like long answers. The pain was worse and he tried not to show it.

"Look, I won't bother you any more now. We've got all the time in the world, it looks like. Push that button there and get something from the nurse."

Brent reached for the push button dangling from the cord over his head. The intravenous tube pulled taut and his forearm hurt. He could see the hole where the plastic needle went into the vein. Down the hall came the sound of a hoarse buzzing. He felt funny about asking for pain relievers with Kirk there. He didn't want to seem weak or anything. Maybe he should just lie there and try to stand the pain.

"Don't hold your breath, though," Kirk said. "You could be beating off an attack of huge hairy spiders and they wouldn't hurry. There was a guy here last month that rang for the nurse and she had to scrape the cobwebs off him when she finally arrived. Just hang on."

The pain was sure getting worse. You got to hang on, he told himself. You can't yell or cry or anything. Brent clenched his fist under the covers.

After a few minutes, he heard the sound of sharp hard heels against the tile floor in the hallway. A nurse swung into the room. She was short and her white nurse's cap was perched on tightly curled dark hair.

"Who rang?" she asked.

"He did," Kirk said. "He wants a little juice for the pain."

The nurse came over to the side of Brent's bed. He could read her name tag. She was Nurse Rush, all right.

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes, please," Brent said. "The pain's pretty bad."

"Well," she said, looking at the clipboard at the end of his bed. "It says here that the night nurse administered a pain reliever through your I.V. tubing at five this morning."

"Oh, yeah?" Brent said. He figured that he must sound pretty dumb. "Could I have something anyway now? It really hurts pretty bad."

"Well," she said, "I don't think you should hurry your pain relievers too much. Suppose I check back later and see how you're feeling."

"What's the matter?" Kirk asked. "You afraid you're going to turn him into a junkie? I wouldn't worry about it. And I wouldn't sweat spoiling his breakfast seeing as how his three square meals all seem to be dripping into his arm."

"Now you keep out of this, young Doctor Hughes. This is a matter between this young patient and myself."

"I really would like something now, please," Brent said. He hoped that his voice didn't sound too desperate. He shifted his legs, but the pain was still there. "Dr.Matthias said all I had to do was ask."

"All right. Although there are certain minimum times between dosages of any pain reliever that Dr.Matthias should make you aware of. I'll be right back."

She left the room in a cascade of heel clicking.

"She'll probably take an hour to bring it back anyway," Kirk said. "And I'll bet she gives Dr.Matthias an earful when he gets here today. Her philosophy of life seems to be dedicated to increasing the suffering of the youth of America. She probably thinks it makes you a stronger person. There's a rumor that the sadistic old bitch steals babies from the pediatrics ward and uses them as dart boards for hypodermics. It's just a rumor though. I started it."

Brent laughed and it hurt. He winced with the pain.

"Sorry about that. No more funnies until you feel a little better. But anyway, you can see how well I get along with her. You couldn't find a greater example of mutual devotion. Just be polite and friendly like I am and she'll walk all over your body if you die. Maybe she'll walk all over it if you don't."

"Thanks for the help," Brent said.

"That's all right. It's what roommates are for."

Brent closed his eyes. He remembered the doctor saying that he couldn't sit up. How am I going to stand lying here for a month without even sitting up? he thought. I'll just have to. What a way to spend the summer! He guessed the family trip to Maine would be off. One day out of school and he had to go and fall through a stupid trapdoor. How dumb can you get.

Brent was conscious of a rustling at his bedside and he thought that maybe Nurse Rush might be back with the pain-killer. He hadn't heard her footsteps. He could sure use something for the pain. He was having trouble lying still.

Brent opened his eyes. It wasn't Nurse Rush. A girl stood beside his bed gazing at him. She wore a blue bathrobe and he could see that her feet were bare.

"Who's your friend, Kirk? A new arrival?" she asked.

Brent liked the sound of her soft voice.

"Name's Brent McAllister. He came in last night with a broken back. He's very graceful. His mother said he fell through a trapdoor in a barn. Brent, meet Amy, the only bit of sunshine in this godforsaken place."

"Hello," Brent said.

"Hi," Amy said. "It's nice to have you around. Whatever Kirk's been telling you, it's not that bad around here."

"Bullshit," Kirk said.

"And the nice thing about Kirk is his refinement. He reminds me of my grandmother, who was always such a gentle soul." Amy gave Kirk a smile.

"Anyway," she continued, "everybody's friends here. We have a good time. As good as we can, anyway. Except Kirk's last roommate. What was his name, Kirk?"

"I don't remember. Call him Toad."

"Well, anyway, this kid did nothing for a week and a half but watch daytime television."

"He was heavy on General Hospital," Kirk said. "He said it was so realistic. That shows you how far his head was wedged. He's the only person I've ever met around here who actually liked Nurse Rush. I think he was suffering from terminal ingrown toe-nail."

"So we're glad you're here," Amy said. "Maybe when you feel a little better in a few days, we'll see more of each other."

Brent decided that he would look forward to that. It would be nice to have a few friends here.

Amy reached down and grabbed Brent's big toe. She gave it a twist.

"Ow!" he yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Just checking. Glad you're still all there. You just can't tell about broken backs, you know." She smiled at him and turned in a whirl of blue bathrobe, and left the room humming a nameless tune.

"You'll like her," Kirk said. "She's all right."

"What's the matter with her? I mean, why's she here?"

"I don't know for sure. I don't think she does either. Her parents told her that it's a bad case of mono, but I think she figures it's a little more complicated than that. Some days she seems better and other days worse. She doesn't look real good today, although she never tries to show it. This is her third week in."

"I hope she gets better, whatever it is."

"Yeah. Sure. But it's always the good guys that get kicked in the tail in this screwed-up world."

A young woman in blue walked through the door.

"Morning, Kirk," she said. "How're you feeling today? You look so well I guess I better stay clear of you. Who's your friend?"

"That's Brent."

"Hello, Brent. I'm Jewel, and that's no joke. I'll take care of you. You want anything, anything at all, you just ask old Jewel here and she'll get it for you. First thing I'm going to do for you is get you cleaned up a bit."

She walked over to Brent's bed. Brent liked her face. She moved quickly and without any wasted effort.

"You going to hang around here and make things tough for me, Kirk? I'm sure not going to make that bed with you sitting in it when you can hike that body of yours out of here. Why don't you head on down to the washroom and take a shower. Lord knows, you probably need it. I'll have you all straightened out by the time you get back."

"Okay, Jewel. I know when I'm not wanted. You watch her, Brent. First time I was left alone with that woman, she ripped the covers off and attacked me sexually."

"Oh, go on, Kirk. You should be so lucky. Now scram."

Brent looked across the room toward Kirk's bed and saw him shift himself uncomfortably until his legs were dangling over the side of the bed. He grabbed the pair of crutches that had been propped against the wall and used them to support himself while he stood up. Kirk walked slowly toward the door. He stopped and turned back.

"You be careful how you manhandle that character, Jewel. He's not feeling so hot."

"Don't you worry now, Kirk. He's in good hands with Jewel."

Kirk swung his body out into the hall and paused. In a loud voice, he yelled, "Nurse Rush, Brent here's dying from the pain. You better get that medicine down here fast before I report you to the SPCA."

Brent heard Nurse Rush's voice grate down the corridor. "You keep your mouth shut, Kirk. There'll be no yelling in this hospital. I've got too much to do without trying to keep you in line. I'll be down there as soon as I can."

Kirk turned and left, disappearing from Brent's view.

"Now let's see what we can do about a bath for you," Jewel said.

Out of the cabinet next to Brent's bed, she took a large blue plastic basin and a washcloth. She crossed the room to the sink and filled the basin with warm water.

"Maybe later when you're feeling a little better, you'll be able to wash yourself up, but for right now, you just let Jewel treat you like a king. It won't last for long."

She crossed back to the bed and pulled the curtain which blocked the bed from view from the hall. With gentle hands she soaked the washcloth in water, soaped it until it foamed, and began to wash Brent's face. The warmth and clean smell of the soap were good, and Brent began to relax a little despite the pain. He unclenched his fists. She rinsed the washcloth and wiped his face clean.

Jewel pulled the sheet down to Brent's waist and removed the hospital gown, exposing his chest. In a large circular motion she began at his neck and started to wash down his body.

Oh, Christ, Brent thought as Jewel's hand moved over his stomach. The moment of relaxation was gone.

"Now don't you fret none," Jewel said. "You've got no surprises for Jewel that she hasn't seen a hundred times before."

Her hands disappeared under the edge of the sheet and Jewel continued to wash matter-of-factly. Brent couldn't help clenching his fists again. Jewel switched to the foot of the bed and lifted the sheet up from the bottom to his knees. She lathered and rinsed his legs.

"Think you can roll to one side?" she asked. "It's all right with the Doc, so long as you keep your back stiff. It's called a log roll. You put your right arm out from your side and cross your left leg and arm over and you'll find you turn nice and stifflike right on over to your side. How about giving it a try?"

Brent kept his body rigid and rolled to his right side. He expected sharp needles of pain, but only the dull heavy aching continued.

Jewel began at his neck and washed his back, scrubbing surely and finely down his spine with a firm, tender hand.

"You're a good kid," she said. "Now we got to get these sheets changed."

Brent considered the practicalities for the first time. How do you change a sheet when someone's lying on it? He pictured Jewel whisking the sheet from under him as magicians do tablecloths from under full dinner settings.

As if she read his mind, Jewel said, "Now don't you worry about this either. You just follow my directions and we'll have you fixed up in no time flat. You stay lying on your right side just the way you are."

She began on the left side of the bed, and Brent could hear the pulling and rumpling of cloth as Jewel stripped the sheet off the mattress. The bunching of the material created a light pressure against his back.

"Now roll on your other side," she said, and Brent thrust against the lumped material ridging the middle of the bed and rolled over it onto his left side. He did it just as Jewel had told him to and his body stayed rigid. The motions continued on the side behind him. Brent was amazed to realize, when the fluttering and moving stopped, that the bed was tight and freshly made without his having left it.

Jewel bundled the dirty sheets into a ball and tossed them towards the door. Next she took a small basin and filled it with clear, cold water. From the bedside cabinet she took his tooth brush and toothpaste and handed them all to Brent.

"I figure you can handle this part yourself," she said. As Brent rolled onto his back again and began brushing his teeth, enjoying the crisp peppermint taste that relieved the staleness of his mouth, Jewel attacked Kirk's bed and had it changed within a moment.

"When I get all the beds done that I got to do today, I'll be back to see if Kirk wants his usual Coke. Be good," she said and left the room, her arms full of dirty sheets.

Brent looked up at the ceiling. There was nothing there to see, so he turned his eyes to the right and watched the slow rise of the bubbles into the bottle that fed his arm.

He closed his eyes and tried to wait for Nurse Rush to arrive with the pain-killer. It wasn't easy.

Chapter Two

Kirk made his way painfully down the hall from his room. Every step sent a shooting pain through his left hip and thigh.

Ahead of him he saw the open space of the sunroom. It was always the same. It hadn't changed for the months that Kirk had been there. For some reason, Kirk expected that some morning he would walk into the sun-room and the furniture would be different, or the drapes, or maybe there would be another magazine or two at least. But it never happened. It was always the same.

He entered the room and struggled over to an easy chair. He sank into it. Across the room two kids from Pediatrics were playing a game of checkers.

"Beat it," Kirk said to them. "Go on back to where you belong."

"Make us," one of them said.

"I'll make you all right," Kirk said. He started to rise from the chair.

The two kids grabbed their checkerboard and hurried from the room.

Kirk looked out the windows that ran the length of the room. It was sunny out. He picked up a four-month-old copy of Sports Illustrated. He flipped through the pages quickly. He'd read it three or four times already.

He grinned when he saw Amy come into the sun-room. She moved across the room without a sound, her bare feet sinking into the dark blue carpeting. She sat down beside him and sighed.

"I thought I just might find you here," she said. "I was going to look in the psychiatric ward but I checked here first." Amy smiled at him.

Kirk gave his half-smile back. "I was there for a while this morning, but they kicked me out. Crazy as a fruitcake, they said, and asked me to leave. You aren't looking so good today," he said.

"I didn't sleep much," Amy said. "I've got the weakies and the achies this morning."

"I know what you mean."

"Brent seems like an all-right guy."

"Yeah. He'll do. Seems like kind of a loner. But better than the Toad any day."

"Nurse Rush is really pushing herself around here this morning. That woman's going to drive me up a wall one of these days. She was at me again about putting shoes on."

"Yeah, I know. The bitch must have wolfed down too many vitamins this morning at breakfast."

"Do you suppose she might cut off visiting privileges again? I'm not sure what I'd do if I couldn't wander around and drop in on people," Amy said.

"She won't. How'd you like to stir her up a little?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, give her a little of her own medicine, just to keep her on her toes."

"She'll probably call in the Inquisition if anything out of the ordinary happens, but I don't care. I need a little excitement. Just as long as we don't harm anything. What do you have in mind?"

"I thought we might stage a small medical emergency. I could have my hip slip out again."

"You mean slip that old epiphysis again, pins and all?"

"You guessed it. You game?"

"I don't think so. We shouldn't rock the boat."

"Oh, come on, Amy. What can happen?"

"We'll get Nurse Rush mad at us."

"She hates anything that breathes anyway, so what's the difference?"

"All right. I'll go along with it."

Kirk leaned forward in the chair and fell onto his outstretched hands. He carefully lowered himself to the floor and curled up on his side. He started to laugh.

"I'm all set," he said. He turned his face into a grimace of pain.

"Very convincing," Amy said. "Have you ever considered limping to Hollywood?"

"Next week," Kirk said. "But I would get tired of playing tall, dark and handsome parts."

They both laughed together. Kirk felt better already.

"You ever heard me scream?" Amy asked.

"No."

"Well, brace yourself."

Amy opened her mouth and let loose a yell which echoed down the length of the hall toward the nurse's station.

"Nurse Rush, Nurse Rush, come quickly! Poor Kirk has slipped his epiphysis!"

She gave a quick grin over her left shoulder. "Here she comes, start moaning," Amy said in a whisper.

Kirk heard the quick clip of Nurse Rush's footsteps as she hurried toward the sun-room. She arrived in the doorway and took in the scene. Amy was standing in the center of the room with her hands pressed against her mouth.

"Oh, Nurse Rush, he fell. I think he popped his leg out again."

Kirk gave a low rumble of agony and rolled his eyes at Nurse Rush.

"Don't move him," Nurse Rush said. "He was probably trying to do too much again. I'll get a doctor and be right back."

She hurried out of the sun-room and down the corridor.

As quickly as he could, Kirk struggled back to the easy chair. Amy sat in the chair opposite him. They each picked up a magazine and began reading. Before long Kirk heard the sound of footsteps again.

Nurse Rush appeared in the doorway with a young intern in white. She halted abruptly.

"Where's the injured boy?" the intern asked.

"That one," Nurse Rush said, pointing to Kirk in the chair. "He's gotten himself off the floor."

The intern strode forward to Kirk's side. "How did you fall?" he asked.

"Fall? I didn't fall," Kirk said.

"Haven't you injured yourself?"

"No, sir," Kirk replied. "I've just been sitting here reading a magazine."

"That's right, Doctor. He hasn't left the chair. Is something the matter?" Amy added.

The intern looked confused.

Nurse Rush moved forward. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but it seems we've had a false alarm. Sorry to have bothered you."

"That's all right, Nurse," the intern said and left the room.

"With all the work I have to do around here, the last thing I need is two wise brats playing cruel jokes. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, you hear me? In fact, Kirk, I will be more than pleased the day you're released from this hospital. I don't need these pranks to interrupt my day."

"Okay, Nurse Rush," Kirk said. "We get it."

"Listen, Nurse Rush," Amy said. "I'm sorry we upset you. It's not easy for us to sit around for days at a time with nothing to do. I guess we get a little rammy. We'll try not to disturb you again."

"I should hope not, young lady. Because if you do, you can bet that your parents will get a full report. I'd make sure that you both were thrown out on your ear, ready to be or not. You're lucky that you have such a fine medical facility at your disposal."

Nurse Rush turned and stalked from the room.

"Speaking of disposal, I wouldn't mind disposing of that old bitch permanently," Kirk said. "You'd think she could take a little joke."

"She's right, Kirk. I feel lousy. We don't have any right to mess up her day just because we don't have anything better to do."

"Maybe we can have a bake sale and raise enough money to install pool tables and pinball machines. Or at least enough to send that woman on a very long one-way vacation."

"Don't be wise, you crazy Kirk." She smiled at him.

"Yeah, sure. Listen, Amy, I'll see you later. I'm heading on back to the room. I think I'll lie down and count the cracks in the ceiling. Got to keep busy, you know."

"I'll stop by later. Maybe Brent will be feeling better. It looks like he could use a few friends."

"Can't we all?"

"Sure, but he seems kind of lonely right now. You know the first few days in the hospital are always the worst. Maybe we can break him out of his shell."

"See you later," Kirk said and left the room. He wandered down the long corridor looking into all the rooms whose doors were open.

When Kirk got back to the room, Brent was lying on his back with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of Kirk's crutches on the tile floor.

"Christ," Kirk said, easing himself onto his bed. "I've got so many pins in my hip I'm going to rust."

He placed his crutches next to his bed and stretched out with his hands behind his neck. He looked over toward Brent.

"How are you doing? All right?"

"Not too bad," Brent said and tried to smile. The pain was still there, raging along the middle of his back.

"Did you have a good walk?" Brent asked.

"Oh, great. Just fine. It's so scenic along these hallways it almost takes your breath away."

"What's wrong with your leg?" Brent asked.

"Oh, it's something to do with the hip socket not growing fast enough to contain the leg joint or something. My leg popped out on me and they pinned it back. I have to take it easy and stay on the crutches or in the wheelchair until the hip catches up with the growth of my leg. I don't know for sure. I don't sweat the medical details. None of the operations were any fun, though, I can tell you that."

"You been here long?"

"Awhile," Kirk said. "And I don't think I'll get out until I'm eighty. They may have to move me to Geriatrics eventually."

"You know, you get around so well on those crutches, I'm surprised they haven't sent you home."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know. My parents figure this is the best place for me. I have the feeling that the day I do get home they'll run me over with a car or something just so they can get me out of the house again. They're a real sweet pair, my parents."

Brent felt embarrassed by Kirk's talk. He'd never heard anyone talk about parents like that.

"How'd you slip your leg out in the first place?" Brent asked, trying to change the subject.

"It was a little over three months ago," Kirk said. "I was going to this school called Gable Prep. You know, a private school, all gray buildings and soccer fields. It was my third school since sixth grade. I get around in the educational circles, you might say. Anyway, Gable Prep's no worse than any of the others.

"So one day three months ago, I was sitting in English class. I was looking out the window as usual, trying not to pay too much attention to Mr.Davison, the teacher, who is a real horse's ass, I can tell you that. I don't even remember what the lesson was about. Something about lyric poetry or some other crap like that. I remember there was dirty slushy snow all over the ground.

"Anyway, at the end of the class, old man Davison passed out a test that we had taken on Huckleberry Finn the week before. I got an F on it. What the hell, I thought. It's no big deal. I'm not dumb, you understand, Brent. I'm what the guidance counselor calls an underachiever," Kirk said with a laugh.

"Anyway, the bell rang and I got up to leave and Mr.Davison tells me to wait a minute. I figured I was in for one of his heart-to-heart talks, and I wasn't wrong.

"I walked over to the old guy's desk and stood beside it, holding my books behind my back.

"'That's the second test you've failed in a row, Mr.Hughes,' the old guy says. They always call you Mister Hughes at a private school. It sounds pretty phony to me.

"'Yeah, I know,' I told him.

"What I wanted to say was, Lay off me, will you. Just get off my back, why don't you. But I didn't. I'm really pretty good by now at keeping a straight face and looking sincere when adults are giving me a lecture, if you know what I mean.

"Well, the old guy takes off his glasses, which is always a bad sign. He stares at me with his beady little eyes and asks me if I have an explanation of why I'm doing so poorly.

"I looked all interested and sincere and told him that I didn't have the foggiest idea except that I just didn't get the stuff, was all.

"So he tells me that he figures that I'm just not trying. He tells me that I'm a great disappointment to him, do you believe that? In his snotty old voice he tells me that I failed the test, if I would kindly remember, because I only answered one of the four essay questions.

"So I say, 'I know, sir. I didn't feel like answering the others.'

"Well, that really pissed him off. He goes on about how that's just what he means. If I'd just make the effort to do the required work, I'd be doing just fine. He even told me that the one essay question I did answer was the best one in the class.

"It was the old 'Get off your lazy butt and get to work' speech that I'd heard a million times before. He went on about the worst thing to see in life is when someone with real talent wastes it and all that crap. I wanted to tell him to stuff it, but all I said was, 'Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'll do better, sir.' I tell you, Brent, if I want to screw up my life, what's it to him, anyway.

"My next class was gym, and since I figured I was late already, I stopped in the boys' room for a quick smoke. I did that a lot. So I sat in one of the stalls for a while puffing away, watching the smoke drifting around my head, cursing old man Davison and trying to cool off.

"Finally I tossed the butt in the john and wandered on to the gym. I knew that class would have started already and I felt about as much like sweating my ass off on the basketball court as I did hearing Davison's spiel about what a great mind I'm wasting. So I went up to the locker room and hung around there for a while. Finally I opened up my locker and got my gym stuff on. I wandered on down to the gym. I was about fifteen or twenty minutes late by then.

"I walked in the door, and the first thing I hear is the gym teacher screaming, 'Hughes! Where you been, Hughes?' He sounded like some sort of wounded hippo or something.

"So I say to him, 'I was talking to Mr.Davison.'

"He asks me if I've got a note and I tell him no, I don't. Mr.Davison didn't give me one and besides I had to stop at the bathroom.

"'Duck walks,' the guy screams at me. "Ten laps around the court duck walking. Move!'

"I should have told him where he could have put those duck walks. If there is anything I hate it's doing those damn duck walks.

"'Move!,' he shouts. 'And make it fast. If I see you out of a squat or slowing down, we'll make it twenty. Get going.' He's such a sweetheart, I can tell you.

"I squatted down and began duck walking like crazy around the edge of the basketball court. The stupid dribbling of the basketballs was giving me a headache. You ever have to do duck walks, Brent?"

"No," Brent answered.

"Well, it's a real pain. Within about two minutes the muscles in your legs hurt like hell. I started getting cramps in my thighs before I was even around the gym once. I started to get up from the crouching position slightly, but the gym teacher shouted me down again.

"By the time I was around the court three times, my legs were hurting really bad. I had to slow down a little to keep my balance, so he shouted at me, 'Speed it up, Hughes. Make it twenty laps.'

"It probably wasn't the brightest thing I've ever done, but I yelled back at him, 'Thank you, sir. I'd love to, sir. Screw you, sir.'

"Well, I looked up and the gym teacher was headed across the floor toward me and he wasn't looking any too pleased.

"I started to brace myself for what I figured was coming, and a flash of pain shot up my left leg to my hip. I mean, it really hurt. I yelled and tumbled over. The gym teacher had gotten to me by then but my leg hurt so bad I couldn't get up. I was pounding my head on the floor it hurt so much.

"So the guy grabbed me and pulled me up. He lifted me right off my feet. He was really ticked off, I can tell you that.

"He said, 'Just what did you say, Mr.Hughes? Repeat what you just said to me.'

"I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I mean, I was really hurting. The gym teacher dropped me and my feet landed on the floor and I collapsed again.

"Being a real bright guy, he finally noticed I was rolling around on the floor and I wasn't exactly laughing my head off. He asked me if I was hurt.

"I couldn't answer that question either since my vocal chords seemed all frozen up. He sent a kid to call the ambulance, I guess.

"My mother arrived just before the ambulance did. I had been moved to the office by then. I was surprised they had found her home when they called. I guess they hadn't told her what was wrong, because she came barreling in the door shrieking about what had I done this time.

"I tried not to show her that I was in pain, but I guess I couldn't hide it. She patted and cooed at me all the way to the hospital once she figured I wasn't in trouble again. She was gabbing away about how she was going to sue the school and all.

"I didn't say a word to her all the way there.

"So here I am. And it's been a long three months, I can tell you that."

"That's a shame, Kirk. It must have really hurt," Brent said.

"Oh, it hurt all right. The whole thing was a mess. But that's the story of my life. How about you, Brent? What do you do with yourself when you're not falling through trapdoors?"

"It sounds like I've got an easier time of things than you do, I guess. My parents are nice. I like them. I like to read and I paint a lot."

"Sounds exciting. As long as you don't watch soap operas, we'll get along just fine."

Jewel appeared at the doorway. "You want a Coke, Kirk?" she asked.

"Yeah. Unless you want to make it a gin and tonic."

"No deal, Kirk. You know the rules. No gin and tonics in the youth ward before noon. Brent, when that I.V. comes out, you can have something, too."

"Thanks."

"Right. One Coke coming up."

She turned and left.

"I'll tell you something, Brent. The hospital's no worse that Gable Prep and it's a hell of a lot better than home."

I like him, Brent thought. I feel sorry for him, in a way. It would be a shame to have parents you didn't like. But I like him, and I envy him. He's so honest and casual. He must make friends easily. I envy that. I hope we get along all right.

Brent closed his eyes and tried to shut out the growing pain again. They waited in silence for Jewel to return with the Coke.

Chapter Three

Amy had left the sun-room too. She watched Kirk's back as he walked into his room down the hallway. She turned left outside the sun-room door and wandered down the hallway. The pediatrics ward was in that direction.

Amy felt strange as she walked through Pediatrics. She had always liked little kids. They were honest and open. She had enjoyed the baby-sitting jobs she had had. But she hated to see children in the hospital. They missed their parents and cried a lot; and some of them were really sick, and that always depressed her too. She liked to see them anyway, and sometimes she would stop in and talk to any little kid who was lying in bed looking lonely.

Amy went into room 284. She often stopped there to say hello to a little guy, about six she guessed, who seemed really sick and didn't have many people visiting him. She had met him the week before on a stroll through the pediatrics ward.

The room was empty and the bed stripped. All the cards and books and crayons had been removed from the room. All the things which made the room his were gone.

He had left without saying good-bye to her.

Amy continued down the hall toward the pediatrics playroom. It was filled with blocks and dolls and trucks and had bright animal posters on all the walls. There were never too many children there, though, since most of them couldn't leave their beds for roughhouse or play. Usually by the time they were well enough to go to the playroom, they were well enough to go home.

The walk down the hallway had made Amy tired, and when she reached the playroom, she sat down in an easy chair. The room was empty. The sun streamed through the windows and the bright posters made the room look cheerful. It was better than the other sun-room. It shouldn't be so quiet, though. It looked like a place that needed noise.

Amy looked up when she heard the soft slow sound of rubber wheels and saw a small child sitting in a wheelchair in the doorway. The boy looked to be about seven. Amy smiled at him but he didn't smile back.

"Why don't you come on over here by me and talk," Amy offered.

He didn't move from the doorway.

"Come on. I won't bite. I'll play a game with you."

The boy rotated the wheels of the chair and maneuvered the chair until he stopped next to where Amy was sitting.

"That's better," she said. "I'm Amy. What do folks call you?"

"Zero."

"That's an interesting name. Why does everybody call you Zero?"

"I don't know. It's my name."

"Do you like it here?"

"No."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm sick."

"Are you going to be in the hospital for a very long time?"

"No. I'm going home soon, my mother says."

"That's nice. I bet you miss your home."

"Yeah. I do."

"Would you like to play a game?"

"No. I don't know any games."

"I can teach you one."

"No. I don't want to learn any games."

"Would you like me to tell you a story?"

"If you want."

"Good. I like to tell little boys stories. What kind of a story would you like to hear?"

"I don't know. A scary one."

"Okay. I'll just make one up for you. Let's see. It should begin like this, since all stories begin like this: Once upon a time, there was a little girl. She lived in a pretty house with her mother and her father. She was very happy there."

So Amy told Zero a story that she made up as she went along. She told how the little girl found a door to a strange white room hidden behind the attic stairs and how she went into the room, but couldn't get out no matter how hard she tried.

When Amy had finished, Zero said, "That's a sad story. Will you tell me another story sometime? I like stories about animals too."

"Sure, when I see you again, I'll tell you another story."

Zero turned his wheelchair around and moved toward the door.

"Thanks for the story," he said and left the playroom.

Amy sat for a while longer and let her eyes roam along the walls of the room, looking at the animal posters again, the streaks of sunlight coming through the flowered curtains against the stark white walls.

Soon she gathered her strength and began to walk back to her room in the youth wing. She felt aches and small pains inside her and was weaker than she had been for days. She planned on lying down, maybe taking a nap before lunch. Maybe it would help.

Outside her room she ran into the blood lady wheeling her cart. The blood samples were lined up in labeled test tubes.

"Well, there you are, Amy. Just the person I was looking for. I'm afraid I've got to steal a little more blood from you today."

"Okay, Lady Vampire," Amy said with a smile. "You're welcome to any you can find, but there couldn't be more than a couple of tablespoons left, with you at me every day."

"Let's go into your room so you can lie down while I take my sample. We wouldn't want you crashing down in the hallway."

"What's it for this time?" Amy asked.

"Just to keep tabs on various levels of things. Your doctors can explain it to you if you want. I'm just the plumber around here."

Amy walked through the doorway into her room. The blood cart rumbled in behind her, the glass test tubes clinking against each other.

Amy's room was filled with plants. They hung in pots by the window. They stood on stands by the sink. The room was a jungle. Asparagas ferns festooned, begonias tumbled, philodendrons sprouted everywhere.

"I always love coming to your room, Amy," the blood lady remarked. "It's like a florist's shop. You certainly have a green thumb. Every single one seems to have grown since you've been here."

"I love plants," Amy said. "I've got a greenhouse at home. You have to talk sweetly to them. Taking care of them here gives me something to do."

"Well, they certainly are beautiful. It brightens up these blank white walls so. Anything green I touch dies immediately. I envy you."

"That's because you have a red thumb," Amy said with a laugh.

Amy lay down on her bed. The nurse took her left arm and wrapped the rubber tube around it, just above the elbow. Amy clenched her fist and saw the veins tracing like rivers down her arm.

The nurse swabbed Amy's forearm with alcohol and sank the needle into the skin. Amy always watched. Each day her eyes would be drawn to look and see the dark red fluid slowly fill the cavity of the syringe.

The nurse removed the hypodermic, capped it, placed a cotton ball on the small hole in Amy's arm and unwrapped the rubber hose.

"Thanks a lot," the nurse said. "I'll be by again tomorrow."

"Thanks. I'll mark it on my calendar. I wouldn't miss your visits for the world. See you later."

"'Bye now. Take care."

The nurse wheeled her cart out of the door and disappeared down the hall in a soft tinkling sound of clinking test tubes. It sounded like wind chimes.

Amy climbed out of bed and crossed the hall to Brent and Kirk's room. They were in their beds, Kirk drinking the Coke that Jewel had delivered.

"Hi," Amy said. "I thought I'd check in before my morning nap to see how you were coming along, Brent."

"Pretty good, thanks," Brent said. "I finally got another pain shot from Nurse Rush a few minutes ago and I feel a lot better."

Amy smiled at him and he tried to smile back. Brent liked her smile. It was so open and friendly.

Amy patted his leg beneath the white sheet. "Good, I'm glad you're feeling better. Kirk treating you all right? He's kind of a bear, you know. You just can't take him seriously is all."

"A bear, huh?" Kirk said. "I'd love to catch you bare."

Amy laughed and her brown hair swung around her head. "You just try," she said. "I'm still faster than you are on crutches, you dirty old man. See what I mean, Brent? He's all talk and no action. Underneath that tough shell, there beats the heart of a lamb. Or a black sheep, anyway."

It sounds so easy, Brent thought. You just say funny things and you're friends and they make it look so easy.

As if she understood, Amy said, "Soon as that pain gets better, Brent, we'll have you joking away with the best of us. Just remember, none of us is going anywhere for a while. We're all good friends here."

"Except Nurse Rush," Kirk said.

"Except Nurse Rush," Amy said. "Hey, good news, you guys. Speaking of nurses, the blood lady was just by for the day, and despite rumors to the contrary, I do have a little blood still left in me. My heart still beats. What do you think of that?"

"Congratulations," Kirk said. "You're still among the living. I wish I qualified."

"Every day I'm surprised there's any blood left. And after that bleeding I had before I came in here, I figured I must be about empty."

"What happened?" Brent asked.

"Oh, that's why I'm in the hospital, Brent. I had this sudden bleeding thing. So they brought me in here and gave me a transfusion a few weeks ago and I've felt much better since, most of the time anyway.

"I tell you, Brent, it was my own dumb fault. I got myself so tired out this spring it's no wonder I developed mono or whatever it is. I was playing the part of the daughter in The Glass Menagerie at school. It was rehearsals every night and then staying up even later to get my homework done. I was getting more and more wiped out by the whole grueling schedule, but I loved that part and wasn't about to give it up. I was too involved in the play to worry about how I felt. Now I spend my time trying not to worry.

"My mother was really on my back about taking it easy. I must have looked like I'd been dragged through the mud. I had circles under my eyes that reached all the way down to my chin.

"I promised my mother I'd take it easy after the show went on, and even agreed to go have a checkup, but I never quite made it that far.

"The play was great and then I went to the cast party, which was a stupid thing to do. I should have been home in bed, I guess, when you figure how tired I really was. So I had a couple of beers at the cast party and that made me even more exhausted.

"Well, I collapsed, I guess. Dropped right over. Everyone thought I was loaded of course, because a few others were. So may parents were called and they came to pick me up. I tried to tell them that I was just exhausted, but they thought I was loaded too, which is kind of funny now that I look back on it.

"My mother said that she couldn't believe her eyes. I'd promised not to go the party and I was just too tired to explain.

"I felt really lousy by the time we got home. Then the hemorrhaging started. So they rushed me over here. I've had tests and more tests, and a couple transfusions. That blood lady takes more samples of blood every day. But it's good to have the rest, and I'm feeling much better now, I guess. I'll never get myself hooked into a schedule like that again. I've just got to say no to some of the things I'd like to do. That's my problem. I end up involved in everything going except getting sleep. Anyway, it's fun while it's on. Well, I've talked your ears off long enough, Brent. It looks like we both can use some rest, and I'd hate to miss my regular daily-type nap before lunch. Doctor's orders, you know. I just wanted to see how you were feeling. You look better already."

"Thanks, Amy. I really appreciate it. I'll see you later. If you want some extra blood, just let me know. I've got plenty."

"How can one girl be so lucky?" she said. "Here I am confined with two such gorgeous men, and not a chance of escape. See you both later."

She turned and left the room.

That wasn't so hard, Brent thought. Amy and Kirk make it so easy for me. He felt better than he had all day.

Chapter Four

The three were playing poker again. Brent was feeling better. Most of the pain was gone and he was finally off the intravenous tube. It was the end of his first week in the hospital. He was lying on his side in bed holding his cards. Kirk was sitting in his wheelchair pulled up close. Amy was sitting cross-legged on the foot of Brent's bed.

Brent liked having them there. He felt close to both of them, closer maybe than to any of his friends at home.

He liked Amy and Kirk. They made him feel special. They were fun, and already he felt relaxed about joking and laughing with them. Maybe it's the closed world of the hospital, he thought, but it seems so natural now. I say something and they laugh. They say something and I laugh. What could be easier, or more special?

Amy laid her cards out flat on the bedside table.

"Two pair," she said.

She pulled the Kleenexes from the center of the table into her growing pile. Each Kleenex was worth a hundred dollars.

"That makes fourteen thousand, three hundred dollars I've won this week. I like poker," Amy said. She tossed her head and the long brown hair flipped over her shoulder. "I'm beginning to get the hang of it, I think."

Kirk lit another cigarette. "It's just beginner's luck," he said. "You must have pull with God."

"I know just what I'm doing," she said. "My deal. Let's play seven-card stud, all the spades are wild."

"Good Lord," Kirk said. "If you went to Las Vegas, they'd never recover."

"I think she's a hustler, Kirk," Brent said. "She probably could shuffle before she could walk. I bet she's just playing innocent so she can steal our money. If I weren't a millionaire, I'd start to worry."

Amy laughed. It made Brent feel good to hear that sound.

"Yeah, well, I'm broke. As a matter of fact, I'm over nine thousand dollars in debt to this cardshark. I ran out of money after the first hand four days ago. I'll have to start selling my body on the streets to pay you off, Amy."

"Sorry, Kirk. I won't accept payment in peanuts. Are we going to play or not, you guys?" she said, riffling the pack of cards in her hands.

"Maybe I could talk Nurse Rush into slipping me some money for a little action. I've noticed how she's been ogling me lately."

"Yeah, like she just stepped on a rattlesnake," Brent said.

"It's all right, chums. You can pay me in monthly installments."

"Wowie, the cardshark has a heart of gold," Brent said.

"This is getting dull. Let's change the stakes. How about a little strip poker for a change?" Kirk suggested.

"Now there's the epitome of an evil mind for you," Amy said. "Notice the way he tricks us into this friendly game for small stakes, Brent, just to lead us to this moment of depravity."

"It's no fair anyway," Brent said. "I only have one thing to take off, and that's already open in the back."

"That's all right, Brent. We'll count the sheet too."

"Well, you can forget it," Amy said. "Who wants to play strip poker with two dirty young men? I've got my modesty to keep up, after all. No one has seen me in the altogether since Jimmy Cavarelli paid me a quarter to run down Midland Avenue stark naked when I was four. He was very progressive for kindergarten."

"It doesn't sound like you were so backward."

"I didn't mind. I thought of it in terms of two double Tootsie Rolls, a box of Jujubes and Hershey bar. For that it was worth it. The spanking, however, was not."

"Besides, what would Nurse Rush say if she walked in here and the three of us were sitting around undressed, so to speak?" Brent said.

"She'd probably say, 'All right, children, you'll catch your death of cold,'" Kirk replied.

"Well, Mr.Playboy of the Youth Ward, you can count me out of this round. I play for Kleenexes or nothing," Amy said.

"Chicken," Kirk replied.

"You bet."

Just then Jewel wheeled the lunch cart through the door. Three covered trays were stacked on the cart.

"I might have known I'd find you three together. I've got all your gourmet lunches here."

Brent swung the bedside table over the bed so he and Jenny could share it. Kirk wheeled his chair over to his table. Jewel put a tray at each spot.

"The menu reads: Iced fresh fruit cocktail; Crisp tossed salad with dressing Parisienne; Roast beef au jus; Potato surprise; Candied Harvard beets; and Angel sponge cake with whipped topping. Lovely, huh?" she said.

"Yeah, but what does it look like?" Kirk asked.

"I don't know. I couldn't tell the beets from the fruit cup or the angel cake from the roast beef," Jewel laughed. "Dig in, kids," she called over her shoulder as she wheeled the cart out again.

"Brace yourselves," Kirk said, and he lifted the lid of his tray. "Good Lord, it looks like it should have been sent to the operating room."

"Not even a surgeon could help this," Brent said, as he peeked under his lid. "It looks malignant."

"It looks absolutely scrumptious to me," Amy said. "I love Alpo."

"Does anyone ever die of food poisoning in this hospital?" Brent asked.

"If not, this could be a first," Kirk replied.

"I liked it better when they fed me through the tube."

"Didn't I tell you so?"

Amy ate a mouthful of fruit cocktail. "It's not so bad," she said.

"What can you do to fruit cocktail?" Brent asked.

"Not much," Kirk said. "Except they heated it up by mistake a few weeks ago. Hot grapefruit, ick."

Amy ate a mouthful of roast beef. "The meat's not bad either, although it tastes like the ham we had yesterday."

"All the meat's the same. You know that. They just call it by different names. It's actually all something called Mystery Meat."

"What's Mystery Meat?" Brent asked.

"It depends on what's cheap that week," Kirk said. "Either kangaroo cutlet or roast of goat. It doesn't matter much. Amy's right. It all tastes the same anyway."

Yet Amy was the only one who didn't eat the whole lunch, Brent noticed.

"What I wouldn't give for a really good hamburger and a milk shake about now," she said, putting her fork down by her half-finished meal.

"Send out for one. You have fourteen thousand dollars worth of Kleenex, after all."

"Funny man, Kirk."

"Just trying to be helpful."

Amy began to smile. "I've got an idea. Thanks a lot, Kirk."

"What did I say?"

"You're a genius, is all. Think you can get your bed wheeled into my room, Brent, after Nurse Rush leaves and the evening nurse comes on?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Good. Gentlemen, and I use the term loosely, you are invited to my room for dinner. Semiformal. Dinner at seven sharp. Don't be late."

"Are you kidding?" Kirk asked.

"Nope. Just be there."

"Hot damn," Kirk said. "My mouth is watering already. What do you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise. I've got to go plan. See you later."

Amy left the room. Kirk looked at Brent and shrugged his shoulders. "Crazy broad," he said.

Jewel returned and took the trays out.

"Do you mind if I take a stroll, Brent?" Kirk asked.

"No. Fine. I just wish I could get out of this room myself. I'll be fine. I don't mind being alone."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Don't peek in on Amy. You wouldn't want to ruin her surprise. What are you up to?"

"Nothing. Just a little wandering. Maybe I'll pay a visit to the maternity nursery, and when the new fathers look through the glass, I'll say, 'That one's not yours. I just saw them switch the tags all around.'"

Brent laughed. "See you later."

"Right. Take care." Kirk struggled with his crutches for a few moments and left the room.

Brent lay back and looked at the ceiling.

I almost don't mind being here now that I feel better, he thought. If I were home I would be just kicking around at the pool until the family left for Maine.

Brent picked up the book he was reading and found his place. He was halfway through the second volume of The Lord of the Rings for the second time. He loved the world of Middle Earth. It seemed so real to him. He always wished it were a place that he could visit.

He had gotten so absorbed in Frodo's plight that he didn't hear his mother come in.

"Hi, Brent. How are you feeling?" she said when she had reached the foot of his bed.

Brent looked up from his book and smiled, "Fine, I guess. I'm getting awful tired of not sitting up, though."

"I know. It must be hard. I've got some good news. I just saw Dr.Matthias on the way up here and he said yesterday's X ray shows you're healing just fine."

"Yeah. I know. He told me this morning."

"I'm so pleased. He said you would be ready to go home in two or three more weeks."

"The brace guy is supposed to come and measure me tomorrow."

"We'll be so pleased when you come home. It's not the same without you, as I'm sure you can imagine. Betsy just mopes around all day. She doesn't have anyone to fight with." Brent's mother smiled.

"No Maine in August?" Brent asked.

"Maybe. We'll have to see what the doctor says. Anyway, you should be pleased that you'll be as good as new in the long run. No football this fall, but Dr.Matthias said by winter, when the brace comes off, there should be no restrictions. If we can't get to Maine in August, perhaps you and Betsy would like a week of skiing in January or February."

"Sounds great," Brent said. "I guess I don't mind lying here day after day as long as I know the end is in sight."

"Betsy wanted to come too, but she had swimming practice this afternoon."

"Fine. How's Dad?"

"He's fine. He said to tell you he'd try to get by on the way back from a settlement he has tomorrow morning. He'll be so glad to hear how well Dr.Matthias says you're doing."

"Yeah, well, tell him 'Hi' for me."

"I sure will. Have any of your friends been by for a visit?"

"No."

"Not even Jimmy or Tom? I'm surprised. I saw Tom on the street yesterday and he was so sorry to hear that you were laid up."

"No, he hasn't been by. You know how things are in the summer. Everybody's off doing their things, at the shore or somewhere. I've gotten cards from a couple of the kids at school. One from cousin John too."

"Well, it would be nice to have a visit from somebody else but family. Cards aren't much of a substitute."

"Oh, it's okay. Amy and Kirk and I spend a lot of time together. We have a good time. They're really great."

"I'm glad. Amy's a lovely girl. It's good to hear you aren't holed up all by yourself anyway. How's the food? Still as bad?"

"Worse."

"You'd think, at the prices you have to pay, that they would at least serve a decent meal."

"The only thing they serve are indecent ones."

"The night you get home, I'll make sure I have all your favorite things for dinner. Where's Kirk?"

"Out wandering."

"That's nice. I brought a surprise for you."

"What is it?" Brent asked.

"Your watercolors. I thought you might like to do a little painting while you have all this time on your hands. The doctor thought you could manage without hurting your back."

"That's great. Thanks."

Brent's mother took the paints, a few brushes and a small pad of watercolor paper out of her pocket-book.

"I'll leave them here on your table in case you want them. I hate to see you here without anything to keep you busy."

"I don't mind. But thanks."

"Well, I think I'll be on my way and let you get back to that book you were so buried in when I arrived."

"Right. Thanks for stopping, Mom."

"Take care now. Don't do anything foolish like sitting up."

"Don't worry."

"We're all so happy with your progress. You were a lucky boy."

"I know."

"Okay, then, I'll see you tomorrow. Sorry I've got to run, but I've got a million things to do today."

"Right. 'Bye, Mom."

"'Bye, dear."

Brent watched her leave the room. He reached over and swung the table closer to him. He opened the pad of watercolor paper and poured a glass of water from the Styrofoam pitcher. He dipped a small brush into the water and opened the tin of watercolors. He rolled onto his left side and propped his head up on his left hand. The pad was almost touching his nose as it lay open on the bed. It was awkward, but it would have to do, he thought.

What can I paint? he wondered.

He always painted landscapes in Maine. He had become very good at trees and rocks. Rocks weren't easy.

The view out the window beside his bed was only the brick wall of another wing of the hospital.

Not much of a landscape there, he thought.

He dipped the brush in the water again and swirled the tip in the small cake of brown.

I'll paint a picture of Amy, he thought; but it scared him in a way. He had never tried to paint a picture of a person before, only landscapes.

He swung the brush in a smooth curve down the right side of the paper. The sweep of brown caught the exact flow of Amy's hair.

He wanted to make it a good picture.

They'll probably laugh at it, he thought.

He continued to paint.

Kirk wrapped a rubber hose around his neck. He didn't have a tie.

"A tie would look stupid with pajamas," he said to Brent. "But a rubber hose has class. Amy did say semiformal, after all."

Brent brushed his teeth twice and tried to straighten out his sheets.

At five of seven, Nurse Schultz arrived. She was much more pleasant than Nurse Rush. Brent always felt an almost physical relief when the day shift ended and the evening nurse arrived.

"I understand there's some visiting to be done. If you don't tell the nurse on duty, I won't tell either."

"Wagons, ho!" Kirk shouted. "Move'em out." He clomped toward the door on his crutches. Brent followed behind, Nurse Schultz pushing the bed.

Down the hall they paraded and across to Amy's room. Her door was closed.

Kirk knocked. "Avon calling," he said.

"Come in," Amy shouted back through the closed door.

Kirk pushed it open and walked inside. Nurse Schultz wheeled Brent's bed in. "Have a lovely evening," she said, and left, closing the door behind her.

Brent couldn't believe his eyes. He hadn't been to Amy's room before. He was amazed to see the jungle of plants hanging everywhere, the stands of plants, the tables of plants, the cascading ferns and spider plants.

All lit by candlelight. Seven burning candles had been placed around the room. The only electric light was the constantly lit night-light by Amy's bed. The warm candle glow filtered through the profusion of greenery. The vacant white of the walls disappeared in the dimness of the candlelight.

Amy was smiling.

"Welcome, gentlemen. You're right on time. I admire promptness in my dinner guests."

"So glad we could make it," Kirk said. He crossed the room and kissed Amy's hand.

"I'd stand up for a proper greeting," Brent said, "but I seem to have this standing problem at the moment."

"That's all right. I'm glad you've made yourself right at home."

Kirk sat in an easy chair and propped his crutches against the wall. Amy sat in the other chair.

She had pushed her bed against the far wall. In the center of the room, she had set the bedside table with a white cloth.

Brent noticed it and asked, "Where'd you get a tablecloth in a place like this?"

"It's a pillow case. Jewel stole it for me from the linen closet. I'm glad you like it."

"Lovely," said Kirk. "The table looks divine. I particularly like the Dixie cups."

"We must make do with what we have," Amy said. "Would either of you like a cocktail?"

"You've got to be kidding," said Brent.

"Make mine a double," replied Kirk.

Amy went to the Styrofoam pitcher that had been placed on the table. She poured the contents into three Dixie cups and handed one to Brent and one to Kirk. She took her own and returned to her chair.

"I propose a toast," said Kirk. "No matter what other crap goes on in this screwed-up world, to friends."

"How nicely put," said Amy. "You've got such a way with words."

They each took a sip.

"My God, what is this stuff? Aged scotch it's not," Kirk said.

"Due to the fact that I am underage and unable to get to the liquor store even if I were forty-seven, I improvised with what was on hand."

"Obviously," Kirk said.

"You don't like my little punch?" Amy asked. "It's brewed by Benedictine monks in a monastery just outside Perth Amboy, New Jersey."

"Great. What is it?"

"Coke and Welchade. It's all I could get my hands on. Has a certain unique pizzazz, wouldn't you say?"

"Unique is right," said Brent, drinking from his cup sideways, trying not to spill on his pillow. He didn't want to use one of those dumb bendable straws for a cocktail, even if it did taste like sludge.

"Dinner will be arriving presently, I believe. I gave instructions to the cook to have the first course ready just after seven."

"First course? How many are there?" Brent asked.

"One. But I ordered enough so you could have seconds."

"I can hardly wait," Kirk said. "If it's as good as the cocktail, I may barf."

"You, kind gentleman, are no gentleman. Nor are you kind. If you do not appreciate my cuisine, you are welcome to eat the regular hospital dinner. I believe you can still get it."

"Do you want to kill me?"

"It has crossed my mind once or twice," Amy laughed.

"Hey, Amy," Brent said, "I got a present for you. Kind of a housewarming present or something."

"Oh, thanks, Brent. That's nice of you."

Brent pulled the finished watercolor from under his sheet. He was pleased with the way it had turned out. He handed it over to Amy.

"Oh, Brent," Amy said. "It's beautiful. I didn't know you could paint."

Kirk leaned over and looked. "Wow," he said. "Not half bad. You could give Andrew Wyeth a run for his money."

"Thanks," said Brent. "It turned out all right, I guess. It's the first picture of a person I've ever tried."

"I love it, Brent. I know just where I'm going to put it."

Amy got up from her chair and crossed the room. She placed the small portrait among the fronds of an asparagus fern.

Brent liked the way it looked there, like Amy peering out from the middle of a forest.

"When are you going to paint my portrait?" Kirk asked.

"I don't know," Brent replied. "I'm not very good at painting like Picasso."

Brent was enjoying the game: the candles, the forest of plants, the tablecloth, the jokes. He felt very special and even closer to Amy and Kirk than he had that afternoon.

We are, at this moment, a very close three, he thought.

There was a knock at the door.

"Perhaps that's dinner now," Amy said. "Come in."

A delivery boy appeared in the opened door. "Is this where the pizzas go? The nurse said this was the room."

"They sure do," Amy said and crossed to her bedside table and took out some money. "Just put them on the table please."

She paid the boy and he left, closing the door behind him.

"Dinner is served. Pepperoni or mushroom?"

"My God," said Kirk. "I, in all my born days, have never smelled anything so good. You, Amy, are a saint in a bathrobe. Let's eat."

Amy opened the two large lids of the flat cardboard boxes. Steam and odors swept upward into the candlelight. It was beautiful: two huge pizzas, covered with sauce, bubbling with cheese, spicy with pepperoni and mushroom.

"Amy, no crap, you're a genius," Kirk said.

"So I've been told."

She pulled the slices apart and placed one from each pizza on two plates, for Brent and Kirk.

"I don't know how you're supposed to eat pizza lying down, but I don't care if it glops all over my pillow or dribbles in my ear."

Amy took one slice from the mushroom pizza and nibbled at it, quietly smiling.

Amy ended up eating two pieces, Brent five and Kirk managed the other nine.

"You can't let the food of the gods go to waste," he said as he started to chomp on the last slice.

"That was great, Amy," Brent said. "Thanks. I really mean it."

"Mmmm," Kirk added through his last mouthful.

"You must come again some time," Amy said. "I love giving dinner parties."

Suddenly she gasped and blood gushed from her nose. It ran down her chin and spread across her bathrobe.

"Oh, good shit," Kirk said. "What is it?"

Amy covered her face with her hands and shook her head. The blood came through her closed fingers.

"Get somebody!" Brent said.

Kirk grabbed at his crutches and hobbled and jumped toward the door. He swung it open and almost fell into the hallway.

"Somebody get down here! Sombody get down here fast!"

Nurse Schultz ran down the hall toward him.

"What's the matter?" she yelled.

"It's Amy. She's bleeding."

Nurse Schultz shouted back to the nurses' station. "Jean, send for a doctor, quick."

Kirk turned back to the room and stood just inside the doorway. Amy was holding her nostrils closed. She was streaked with blood.

"I'm sorry," she managed to say.

"Don't be," Kirk said. "It's been a lovely evening. Thanks. I really mean it. Perhaps you would like to be alone to clean up the dinner dishes."

Kirk turned and left the room.

Brent lay in his bed imprisoned. He felt awful for Amy.

"I spoiled it," she said.

"No you didn't, Amy. Don't be sorry about anything."

The nurse packed Amy's nose.

The doctor arrived and said, "She'll be all right. Let's set up a transfusion. Nurse, get the stand."

While the other nurse went for the equipment, Nurse Schultz began to wheel Brent's bed toward the door.

"Hey, Amy," Brent said at the door. "You take care, you hear? I don't know when I've had a better pizza. Thanks."

Amy managed a smile and a wave, which Brent just saw as he was rolled into the hallway. Nurse Schultz wheeled him back to his room.

The evening was over.

"All in all," said Kirk after the lights had been turned out and the hall was quiet, "it wasn't a half-bad evening."

"I'm worried about Amy," Brent said.

"No shit. Go to sleep, why don't you?"

Brent tried, but it wasn't easy. He lay awake for a long time. He wondered whether Kirk was still awake too, but he didn't say anything or try to find out.

Brent lay in the darkness staring up at the ceiling that he couldn't see.

I wish Amy were well, he thought. I wish we were all well and together somewhere by ourselves. It would be good, he thought. It would be special.

Chapter Five

Two days later Amy was up and around again. It had been a long two days for Brent. After lunch she stopped by Brent and Kirk's room. It was the first time Brent had seen her since their dinner. Kirk had been able to stop over the day before but Nurse Rush hadn't allowed him to stay too long.

Brent and Kirk had joked some during the past two days, but Brent had been worried about Amy and he could tell that Kirk had been too, although he tried not to show it. Besides, it wasn't the same without Amy around. The jokes weren't as funny. The talk didn't come as easily. It needs all three to make it work, Brent had thought once the day before.

Brent, who had finished the Tolkien books and was reading Dune, looked up from his book and smiled as he saw Amy standing in the doorway. She braced herself against the doorjamb. Kirk was lying in his bed reading the new issue of Sports Illustrated.

"Hi, Amy, Kirk said you were feeling better. You okay?" Brent asked.

"Just fine," Amy said and smiled.

"You look like fungus to me, you're so pale," Kirk said.

All three laughed out loud. It's back, Brent thought. Amy's here, and everything's all back together again. He couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"Fungus, huh?" Amy said. "I'd hit you with your own crutch, wise guy, but the doctor said not to exert myself for a few days. Consider yourself lucky."

"I'll take a rain check. You can hit me any time. What you need is a trip to Jamaica. A little sun would do you good."

"It's not the sun, Kirk. If you had maybe a tablespoon of blood left in you, you'd be washed out too, you know."

"I suppose so. Did the transfusion help?" Kirk asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Except I've got my period. It seemed kind of futile."

"That's what I've always liked about you, Amy, your timing. I remember saying to Brent here the first day he arrived, 'You know that Amy girl? What I like about her is her timing.'"

"I don't believe it. You probably said, 'You know that Amy girl? She looks like fungus.' I know you too well to believe what you tell me. Anyway, it wasn't fun having Uncle Wiggily and a transfusion at the same time."

"Uncle Wiggily?" Brent asked.

"Yeah. That's what the girls at the scout camp used to call menstruating. I never did. I felt kind of foolish running around saying, 'Here comes Uncle Wiggily. Uh-oh, I've got Uncle Wiggily.'"

"I don't blame you," Brent said. "Anyway, I'm glad you're better. I was really worried about you the other night."

"It's okay. The doctor says it was a relapse, but I'll be fine."

"A relapse of what? Mono?" Kirk asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't know. No one'll tell me anything. I feel fine now, that's all I care about."

"Well, what do you know. Here we are again, the terrible threesome. Poker?" Kirk said.

"I don't much feel like it today, thanks," Amy replied.

"Neither do I," said Brent.

"What we need around here is something to liven the place up."

"You're right," said Kirk, "but we've been saying that for over a week now, and except for that great feast you gave, we still haven't come up with any other answers."

"You know what I was thinking yesterday?" Amy asked.

"No. And I'm not sure I want to. You've got a funny little gleam in that shifty eye of yours."

"What I thought was this: Last week I took a stroll down to Pediatrics and met this little kid called Zero. He was kind of sad. I ended up telling him a story and he really liked it. You know, all those little kids down there are just as bored as we are. Maybe we could do something for them."

"That might be fun," Brent said.

"Yeah, just what I need. A hundred and fifty screaming sickly kids climbing all over my crutches. Your timing may be great, Amy, but you mind is somewhere else."

"No, I mean it, Kirk. Just listen for a second. You know, we could give a party or something in their playroom. Have cake and ice cream. Play some games. We could tell them some stories, stuff like that. It wouldn't be much, but they'd like it. And we'd have something to work on for a while."

"I think it's a good idea, Kirk," Brent said.

"Well, I think you are both out of your trees, but there sure isn't anything else to do in this godforsaken hole. I'll go along with it."

"Oh, great, Kirk. I was hoping you'd agree. It wouldn't be any fun unless the three of us did it together."

"Yeah, it'll be fine," Kirk said. "Adults don't think much of me, but I get along with kids okay."

"All we have to do is get organized. Here's what we'll do. Brent, you can't go anywhere, so why don't you think up some stories to tell. Kirk, you're good at games. You think up some fun games to play. I'll check with Rush and Jewel and the Pediatrics people, and get the food and permission. Deal?"

"Yeah. Okay. I always wanted to be a social director," Kirk said.

"Okay," Brent said. "I wish I could do more."

"Thinking up the stories is fine. They'll love that. We'll give it for the kids two days from now. That should give us enough time."

Jewel had been a big help. She had helped butter up Nurse Rush to get permission for the party. She had helped get the crepe paper and the paper plates and cups from outside, and had helped Amy decorate the Pediatrics playroom.

Amy had been flushed and excited for two days. Even Kirk had warmed a little to the idea. Brent spent hours discarding one story idea after another, trying to think up one that would be entertaining for the kids.

The party was ready. The playroom was strung with red and blue streamers. Nurse Rush bustled around setting up the punch and cookies. She even smiled once in a while, although she made everyone well aware that she didn't really approve of parties of any kind. The kids had been told nothing, just as Amy has insisted. They just knew that they were not to come into the playroom that morning.

After lunch, the nurses and the aides went to the rooms of all the children and told them to come to the playroom. Three kids had to have their beds rolled down the hall. Brent was already there in his bed.

All of the children stood in the doorway with their eyes wide open. One small girl with a bandage around her head giggled and rushed forward. All the others followed.

"This is a party," Amy shouted over the din. "This is a party for you. We've got food and games and stories, all for you. Everybody take a seat."

When the party was over, most of the children filtered back to their rooms reluctantly. It had been a fine afternoon, but Amy had promised Nurse Rush that the excitement wouldn't last more than two hours.

The party had gone well. Amy and Kirk and Brent couldn't help feeling pleased. Kirk had led the kids in a couple of games. They'd played one like Hot Potato, where they'd passed an Ace bandage around the circle, and Pin-the-Hypodermic-on-the-Nurse. Zero had won that one. He'd managed a bull's-eye. Then after Nurse Rush had left the room, they'd had wheelchair races, dashing down the corridor to the sun-room and back.

The kids had clapped and laughed at Brent's story about three good friends - a mole, a rat, and a sparrow - who together outwitted a fox. Brent was glad that the kids had had such a good time.

Now the playroom was almost empty. Jewel lugged away the trash can full of paper cups and party napkins. The crepe paper drooped from the ceiling. Kirk swung at one of the streamers with his crutch. It pulled the crepe paper down from its moorings, and the streamer drifted gently until it rested on the carpet.

"Nice party, huh?" said Brent.

"Sure was," Amy said. "Shall we go on home?"

Kirk pushed one side of Brent's bed and Amy pushed the other. The threesome made their way back to the youth ward. The bed wheels hummed and the rubber tips of Kirk's crutches made soft tapping sounds on the tile. All three couldn't help but smile.

After Brent and Kirk were back in their room and Amy had gone to hers for a rest, Kirk's parents stopped for a visit.

Kirk was sitting up in bed with his arms folded behind his neck. Brent was working on a sketch of Kirk. He was having trouble getting the smile just right. Each time he tried to show the half-turned-up look that Kirk always had, it just seemed as if he was smirking, and that wasn't what Brent wanted at all. He would start over again. This was the third try.

Brent looked up when Kirk said, "Well, well, if it isn't the prodigal parents."

"Hello, Kirk," Mrs.Hughes said. "You look well."

"Thanks, Mother. I feel pretty good. How's the Main Line's most successful adman and home maker of the year?"

"We're fine," Mrs.Hughes said. "I'm sorry we haven't been by sooner, but things are pretty hectic right now. Your father's been absolutely swamped with work."

"Your mother and I are on our way to the Baxters' for dinner, so we decided to stop in for a visit," Mr.Hughes said.

"That's okay. I appreciate it. I'd almost forgotten what you looked like."

"Oh, Kirk," his mother laughed. "It hasn't been that long, after all."

"I know, Mother. I'm just giving you a little grief."

"So how's it going, Kirk?" Mr.Hughes asked.

"All right, I guess. I haven't died of boredom yet. Actually we've been having a pretty good time lately. Not that I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life here. What's the latest?"

"The doctor says you should stay another month," Mrs.Hughes replied.

"Oh, that's great. That's just fine. Jesus Christ, another month!"

"There's no need to swear about it, Kirk," Mr.Hughes said.

"I'm sure not going to jump with joy."

Brent put down his sketch and picked up the book that he had just started. He felt uncomfortable about eavesdropping, and he didn't want Kirk's parents to see the drawing that he was working on.

"You're just going to have to accept it and make the best of it. It's one of those things. We can't always have everything the way we'd like it. You still have a lot of healing yet. You'll just have to resign yourself to that."

"Cut the crap, Mother. I don't need a lecture, thanks."

"All right. I'm sorry, Kirk. I know you're disappointed."

"While we're here, we've got some other news to discuss with you, son," Mr.Hughes said.

"Is it better news than the last bomb you just dropped on me?"

"We think so. I hope you'll appreciate it."

"Uh-oh. That sounds ominous. Well, go ahead. What is it?"

"Your mother and I had a talk with the headmaster at Gable Prep. They feel that you shouldn't go back there in the fall."

"No crap, really?" Kirk interrupted.

"Yes. They explained that because of your..."

"Listen. I don't need the reasons, just as long as I don't have to go back to that retard institution again. I swear, that place is the worst place I've ever..."

"Kirk, it's not a bad school and you know it," Mrs.Hughes said. "We tried to talk the headmaster into giving you another chance, but there were just too many incidents. I thought he was being unfair, but..."

"I'm glad he was. I'd swallow my crutch before I'd go back to that dump."

Kirk turned toward Brent's bed. "Hey, Brent. Looks like I'll be going to public school with you in the fall. What do you think of that?"

"Now don't jump to conclusions, Kirk," Mr.Hughes said. "That's what we want to discuss with you."

"What's there to discuss?"

"Your mother and I, and the headmaster at Gable Prep as well, feel you need a more structured situation than you would find at the Louella public school."

"Now what exactly does that mean? The public school's fine with me. Hey, now wait a minute. What are you two trying to bulldoze me into this time?"

"We're not trying to bulldoze you into anything. We just feel that you need a school with more structure, that's all," Mrs.Hughes said.

"And we've managed to find a wonderful school for you. You'll begin in the fall and we have high hopes for you. Both your mother and I think you'll do well there. It's supposed to be an excellent school academically, and we felt that the opportunity of immersing yourself full-time in a new environment would be an advantage."

"And just exactly what does that mean?" Kirk asked.

"The school is New Pedford Military Academy. It comes with wonderful recommendations. Bernie Steinman's son goes there and likes it very much. He'll be a senior next year and is thinking of going to Yale."

"Hooray for Bernie Steinman's son. It sounds like a boarding school."

"It is," his mother said. "Isn't that wonderful? You'll be able to take full advantage of all the facilities."

Brent couldn't concentrate on his book. He kept reading the same sentence over and over again. He wasn't able to shut out the conversation.

"Don't I have anything to say about all of this? Don't I have a chance at all?"

"Listen, Kirk. There aren't very many doors open to you anymore. Whether you know it or not, we're trying to do what we think is right for you."

"How do you know what's right for me? Another goddamn institution for social rejects? Why don't you just go out and have my birth annulled altogether? Then you wouldn't have to worry about me at all."

"Listen, Brent," Mr.Hughes said. "It wasn't easy finding a school that would take you at all. You're pretty damn lucky that we could find a place as good as New Pedford."

"That's a bunch of shit."

"Don't swear in front of your mother."

"Who, Miss Sensibility with the virgin ears? How can it offend her? I'm just a chip off the old block."

"That's enough out of you," Mr.Hughes shouted.

"I told you he wouldn't understand," Mrs.Hughes said. "He's never even tried to appreciate..."

"Oh, excuse me, Mother. My humble apologies. Am I allowed to come home from the hospital for an afternoon to gather my junk together before I leave? I don't want to be pushy and inconvenience you or anything."

"Cut it, Kirk. Your mother and I certainly expected to see a little more gratitude from you than this."

"To tell you the truth, Father, the more I compare the thought of rotten institutional food, sleeping in a dorm and getting up at dawn to march around a muddy field with the alternative, I'm not altogether displeased. Thanks for the visit, parents, and all the good news."

"Kirk, I wish you'd try to..." Mrs.Hughes began.

"Forget it, Mother. Just leave me alone."

"Listen, Kirk. I know you don't have many expenses here in the hospital, but there's twenty bucks in case anything should come up," Mr.Hughes said.

"The old buy-him-off-with-money routine, huh? Gee, thanks a lot, Father. Maybe I'll buy a canteen for military school."

"We'll visit again soon," Mrs.Hughes said.

"I won't hold my breath."

"You know, we do care about what happens to you, Kirk," she said.

"What, by long distance? Just leave me alone, huh?"

Kirk's parents left. Brent looked up and watched them go. He felt sad for Kirk. Brent had had so many good times with his own folks, their summers in Maine and all; he wished he could have shared some of them with Kirk.

Amy came into the room a few minutes later.

"I couldn't seem to get a nap. It doesn't seem like hospitals are ever very quiet. Was that your parents I just saw waiting at the elevator, Kirk?" she asked.

"It sure was. We were having one of our sessions of mutual admiration."

Amy sat down on the foot of Brent's bed.

"It's a shame you don't get along with them better," she said. "Have you gotten into much trouble in the past? Why are they so down on you?"

"Not much trouble really. It doesn't make much difference. They think I have. I even got drunk for the first time when I was six," Kirk said, laughing. "They didn't think much of that."

"You're kidding," said Brent.

"No, really. I did. My mother was really ticked off, I can tell you that. I don't think she liked me much even then."

"What happened?" Amy asked. "It sounds like a story we ought to hear."

"Oh, we were just little kids. We didn't even know what we were doing. A friend of mine named Mike and I were just messing around at his house one afternoon. It was around August or something like that. Anyway, there was nothing much to do."

"So what's new?" Brent said.

"We found a grungy old winepress in Mike's garage. At least we thought it was a winepress. I think it was really a manure spreader or something. So old Mike says, 'Hey, Kirk, let's make some wine.' I thought it was a pretty great idea, especially seeing as how these two old ladies lived across the street and had about twenty million grapes hanging all over an arbor they had. We grab a couple of bushel baskets and head over there and start picking away like our lives depended on it. We didn't want to be caught. We were afraid if the old ladies saw us they would call the cops and we would be arrested for grape larceny, which is at least a felony. I don't even think the grapes were ripe yet or anything, but all we knew was that you needed grapes to make wine, and we sure as hell were going to make some wine even if it killed us - which it almost did.

"So anyway, we fill the baskets up and lug them back across the street and pull out the filthy old press and dump the grapes into it.

"Just then a little girl from next door wanders over. She was maybe four or something. Her name was Sally. She says, 'What are you going to do?' and we say something cool like, 'Make wine, stupid. Haven't you ever seen wine made?' She allowed as how maybe she never had but she sure would like to help, so she pitched in too.

"Mike must have seen some special on television about wine making or something, but he figures he knows just what to do. We pour the grapes into the old press and take off our shoes and socks and go stomping and slutching around in the grapes. If I remember, our feet weren't all that clean to begin with, and the grapes were no things of beauty, being half ripe and crawling with bugs and ants and things. Some brown juice started pouring out of the bottom of the press into a big jug Mike had put beneath it. We all thought that was pretty neat. Sally just laughed and giggled until Mike told her to shut up. We didn't think so much of little girls from next door named Sally, if I remember correctly.

"So when we got all done stomping and jumping, we had a mostly full jug of the foulest brown crud you've ever seen. Mike went running into the house and brought out three glasses. We poured them full and took a swig. It's a wonder we didn't barf on the spot, because it was the grossest tasting stuff that had ever passed my lips, and take my word for it, some pretty gross stuff had passed my lips when I was a kid."

"Yeah, but it couldn't have made you drunk," Brent said. "There wasn't any alcohol in it."

"I know. But we were too smart for our own good. Mike says, 'You know, when my dad has a drink he puts stuff in it from the liquor cabinet.'

"'Go get some,' I said. 'If we're going to have wine, we might as well do it like the big guys do.' Sally just jumped up and down squealing, spilling brown grape juice down her front. She wasn't real cool.

"So Mike runs up to his house and brings down a bottle of gin or vodka or something. We didn't know the difference then, so we fill our glasses the rest of the way up with the booze, swish it around a little and down the hatch it all goes."

Amy shivered and laughed.

"It didn't taste any worse with the gin in it. Nothing could have tasted worse. And maybe the booze even killed some of the bugs and germs that must have been floating around in there. So we guzzle it down and run around the yard and have another glass and lick the scum off the bottom of the press and stuff like that. Before you knew it, we were flying high. Sally could barely walk, she was so stoned. I don't know about Mike, but the whole world was spinning around me.

"All of a sudden Mike yells that he wants to swing. They had an old tire hanging on a rope from a tree in their backyard. We stagger over to the tire and Mike hops on and I start to spin him. Sally just keeps on squealing and trying to jump up and down, although she spent most of the time down by then. Mike gets going faster and faster and I'm spinning him for all I'm worth and we're all laughing like crazy. And then all of a sudden Mike gets sick and the twirling tire is like some sort of freaky living fountain; and I can barely stand up myself by that time, and Sally is eating dandelion puffs and they're stuck all over the corners of her mouth, and I can tell you, we were a real mess when Mike's mother came out of the house a few minutes later. Sally's mother wasn't too pleased either, but I really think underneath they thought the whole thing was kind of funny. And believe me, we learned our lesson. I must have been sick for a week."

"That's funny, Kirk," Amy said. "What did your parents say about it?"

"Well, that's what I mean. They didn't think it was real funny at all. My father almost went out of his bird screaming about what would the neighbors say and I was a disgrace to his name and all that kind of shit. And he should talk! I heard about it for years. So even back then they weren't the most understanding of people. God, you'd think I had robbed a bank or something instead of just being a stupid kid who didn't know any better."

"It's too bad," Brent said. I can't even imagine what it would be like to grow up with parents like that, he thought.

"Well, it's no skin off my back. I haven't stopped drinking since," Kirk said with a grin.

"My folks were always pretty good," Brent said. "They seemed to understand things fine. As far as I can remember, I was never spanked."

"I don't think I was either," said Kirk. "But I would have preferred it. I always got the psychological approach - the lecture, the guilt-and-freeze treatment."

"I remember once though when I was really little that I was sure that my mother was going to smack me good and hard. I was really scared by the whole thing, but I guess she understood even then," Brent said.

Amy leaned forward. "Tell us," she said. "I'd like to hear about it. The things that people remember are fascinating."

"Well, I must have been only three or four maybe," Brent continued. "My mother and my grandmother, who lived with us, were taking me along to pay a visit to a great-aunt who lived in a home. The home was kind of like a farm, I remember, because the part I liked about the visits was seeing the pigs and the turkeys they had there. I don't think I had ever been allowed upstairs to see my great-aunt. I don't remember ever seeing her before that day.

"We were in the car and it was raining. I felt good. I was sitting on my grandmother's lap and I could feel her arms around me. She always kind of tickled my stomach. She had a dress on that had blue flowers all over it. I was watching the windshield wipers go back and forth. My mother and my grandmother were talking, but I wasn't listening.

"My mother said to me as we pulled into the driveway of the old place, 'Listen now, Brent, you've got to be very quiet and not yell or run around. Aunt Sarah isn't well.'

"When the car stopped, my grandmother went inside to visit, I guess, while my mother walked me around the farm to see the animals. There were puddles all over I wanted to jump in. The grass sparkled, it was so wet. We watched the pigs for a while. They were enjoying the new mud. My mother said, 'It's time to go visit Great-aunt Sarah in the big house now.'

"The house was very quiet and dry, I remember. We went upstairs and walked into a large room. Far across the floor a big bed was nestled against the wall. Women in white rushed around. Aunt Sarah was in the bed.

"We walked across the floor to the bed. I hung onto my mother's dress. I peeked from behind my mother as we stood by the bed and saw my great-aunt's hands fluttering all over the blanket like little birds or something. It looked like if she smiled, the skin around her mouth would crack.

"'Oh, my little Brent,' she said, 'come here to me.' She stretched out one hand to me. It was all shiny and I could see the veins standing out. I pulled back behind my mother, but she pushed me forward. I could feel my great-aunt Sarah's hands shaking on my shoulder.

"'Give Aunt Sarah a kiss,' my mother said. Aunt Sarah pulled me closer. I couldn't seem to move or breathe. She tried to kiss me, but I jerked away from her and ran out of the room and down the steps and out the front door. I waited outside by the car and I was shaking all over. I don't know why she turned me off like that, but I just couldn't stand to feel her hands all over me.

"Well, my mother came down and I was really scared. I knew I had done something wrong and I was sure that she was going to whale the daylights out of me. I could feel it already. But she didn't. When she and Grandmother came downstairs, she just said, 'We're going home now, Brent.' She never scolded me or anything. She must have known how I felt."

"You're lucky," Kirk said. "My mother would have thrown me to the pigs and left me behind."

"I remember something like that, kind of," Amy said, "only it was the opposite. It was a place I didn't want to leave and my mother almost had to drag me away."

"Where was it?" Brent asked.

"Old friends of my folks that owned a greenhouse."

"What is this, an afternoon down Memory Lane?" Kirk said.

"Sure, why not?" Brent said. He was really interested in what Amy had to say. "There's nothing else to do. No more party to plan for or anything. Anyway, I think it's interesting to hear about you guys."

"So do I," Amy said. "Maybe we can figure out what makes you tick, Kirk."

"That's tough. I don't even know myself."

"So what happened at the greenhouse, Amy?" Brent asked.

"Oh, that. Well, you know how I feel about plants. I was just a little girl and we were visiting friends. They had a greenhouse, as I said. It seemed huge to me at the time, although if I saw it now, it would probably seem just regular size. The old folks were all in talking and I was standing at the door of the greenhouse looking at all the beautiful flowers. I mean, there were flowers everywhere, hanging from the ceiling and in rows of tables and planters and boxes. It smelled wonderful. The lady said, 'Amy, dear, you may go in. I'm sure you're bored by all the grown-up talk.' So I started in. My mother yelled after me, 'Now don't touch anything, Amy.' She always did that when we were visiting people.

"So off I went skipping into the jungle. And it was great. I just wandered around, sniffing and, heaven forbid, touching everything. Some of the leaves were shiny and some were fuzzy, and I had a great time. I climbed in under the tables and played in the dirt and picked up fallen blossoms and put them in my hair. I was a regular plant freak even then, I guess, and I had never been in a real live greenhouse before.

"Maybe you can guess what happened. It came time to go and I hid in the back of the greenhouse. I didn't want to leave all those flowers. So I scrunched back there knowing that my folks would be angry, but I didn't care. When they finally got tired of calling for me to come out, my mother stomped in and barreled her way down the aisle and found me hiding in the back. She smacked my bottom and grabbed my hand and I threw a real beauty of a temper tantrum, screaming and yelling and clutching the leg of the table. My mother was furious. I was supposed to be such a cute, bright, gentle little lady, you see. And there I was all covered with dirt and moldy flowers and screaming my head off."

"How'd they finally get you out of there?" Kirk asked.

"The lady that we were visiting came in and chuckled and clucked and said would I like a plant to take with me. I said I sure would and the tears stopped immediately. My mother protested, seeing as how it would spoil me, she said, but I got a plant anyway. It was an African violet with pink flowers on it. It was the first plant that I ever had and I took good care of it for years. In fact, I've still got some violets that were made from cuttings from that original plant."

"What a freaky little kid you must have been. Just like Sally from next door, I bet," Kirk laughed.

"I sure remember that well. I bet my mother does too. She was probably never so embarassed before or since."

"If you want to talk about parents," Kirk said, "I'll tell you about my tenth birthday, which had to have been the classic nightmare of all time. Whenever it was my birthday, we always had a birthday dinner and I opened my presents after I blew out the candles of the cake. It was one of the few times when my parents would make a big deal over me. I always got incredible presents like they were trying to buy me off for the rest of the year. So when I was ten I was flying around somewhere like ten feet off the ground all day because I expected that I would get a new bike, see. It was really agony after I got home from school knowing that I would have to wait through cocktail hour, when my parents had their usual one too many, and then all the way through some fancy dinner before I'd have a chance to get that bike I was counting on.

"Six o'clock rolled around and no father. I paced around the kitchen for a while and then I paced around the living room until I bugged my mother so much that she told me to go upstairs and play in my room and she would call me when my father got home.

"Well, he got home all right. Like at about seven thirty and stewed to the gills. I was sitting at the top of the stairs. He stumbles in and heads for the bar and mixes another just to keep himself rolling along. By that time my mother had a few under the old belt as well. She was pissed. I mean really pissed. She'd been working on a slow burn for hours. The first thing she says is, 'And where were you, or need I ask?' Man, her voice could have formed icicles.

"I yell, 'Hi, Dad.' He grunts at me and flops down in his favorite chair. My mother is going to get an answer whether he likes it or not, so she says again, 'And just exactly where have you been until this hour? And on you son's tenth birthday as well.' She always was quick on the guilt bit.

"'Business,' my father says and takes a healthy swig. No wonder I got stoned when I was six." Kirk laughed.

"'Business, my eye,' my mother says. 'Who was she?'

"Now I may not have been an unsoiled ten, I'd heard talk like that through the walls plenty of times before, but it was the first time that they'd ever gotten into this area of their marital bliss right in front of me.

"So my father says, 'Look, we'll talk about it later, just relax. It's nothing important,' or something like that.

"'Nothing important, you say. Relax, nothing.' My mother says, 'I don't care if Kirk does hear. It's about time he learned what his father was really like. It wasn't business you were up to this afternoon. I called your office hours ago to remind you to get home at a decent hour for Kirk's birthday dinner.'

"I almost felt like saying, 'Listen, I know, I know. So what's new?' but I just sat there on the stairs with my mouth shut.

"So my father says, 'Dear, this isn't something to talk about now. It was just a business meeting, nothing else.'

"'Like how many other business meetings over the years?' my mother shouts. She's getting all riled up and they're both swigging away at the booze as fast as they can, which is their answer to the communications gap. 'A little business conference with another of those secretaries, I suppose?' It wasn't very pleasant to hear, I can tell you that.

"'Well, I don't know what you're complaining about,' my father says. 'I'm home in the evenings. I provide for you and the kid. I don't see you lacking good clothes or your weekly hair appointments. You've got a damn good deal going for you here, if you ask me. Just don't push.'

"'I'm not asking you, I'm telling you,' my mother shouts. 'You stop this fooling around. I've put up with it long enough. And if you don't, one of these days you'll come staggering in here and you won't find me or Kirk around to hold your hand.'

"'Don't make promises you aren't going to keep,' my father says, and my mother starts crying.

"I could see my big birthday dinner going right down the drain with all the other crap that was flying through the air. I'm just giving you the high points, you understand, and guessing at what they said. If I remember correctly, this particular battle lasted for several hours and ended up with somebody hitting somebody else, I think. I finally sat down and read a magazine for a while, surrounded by all that yelling and crying. I felt all squeezed up inside. I tried to close the whole thing out just waiting for one of them to look up and say, 'Hey, it's Kirk's birthday. Let's eat dinner and have a good time.'

"Needless to say, I never got my birthday dinner. I felt pretty lousy about it, but they never knew. I had long since stopped showing them how I felt about anything. So it was one beautiful birthday. I don't know what my father finally did, passed out in his chair probably. I got myself a bowl of cereal and went on up to bed."

"What happened to the bike?" Amy asked.

"When I came down to breakfast in the morning, my mother was all smiles and brushed away the argument of the night before as if it had never happened. The bike was propped up against the table. I said, 'Thank you,' although I didn't much care at that point. My father brought me home a new tennis racket from work that evening."

"That's really sad," Amy said.

Brent didn't know what to say right then. Anything I say will sound stupid, he thought.

"Who gives a shit? I don't let things like that bother me anymore. Maybe they did when I was little, but I guess I'm used to them now," Kirk said.

"What's the nicest memory you have?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, make it a happy one," Kirk said. "I can tell my last little story really cheered everybody up a lot."

"I don't know," Brent said. "There've been a lot of great times."

"Think," said Amy. "I'd really like to hear."

"I remember when I was younger, I had to spend the night out in a boat by myself," Brent said.

"That sounds scary," Amy replied. "Make it a nice memory."

"No, it's all right. It was nice. It was wonderful, really. My family and I were up at our summer place in Maine. It's an island house a little way off the coast, and you have to go back and forth to the mainland by boat. We'd done it for years so it was no big deal. It's great to get away in the summer to such a peaceful place. It gives me plenty of time to be by myself and paint and watch the sea and things like that.

"Sometimes fog would come in, and if one of us was over on the mainland to a movie or something, we would have to spend the night in the car. It's very easy to get mixed up in a Maine fog, I'll tell you that, even if you only have about a half mile to go from shore to island.

"This one night, it was a Saturday, my parents had let me take the boat over to the mainland so I could go to the Cundy's Harbor square dance that was held every Saturday night in the firehouse. I had some other friends and we always used to meet at the dance. It was a great time.

"When I got back to the boat that night, a thick fog had settled in over the water. I couldn't even see the lantern that my parents always left burning for me at the end of the pier on the island. It was really thick stuff.

"I should have stayed in the car on the mainland, but I figured I'd be able to make it over to the island if I just followed the reefs around and kept a look-out for the lantern. So I went down to the dock and got into the boat. It was all wet and cold. I got the motor going - it was our old ten-horse Johnson. Off I went. I was sure I'd be there in a few minutes.

"I got lost. I got so lost that before you knew it I didn't even know in what direction I was headed. Those fogs can be really tricky."

"Weren't you scared?" Amy asked.

"I suppose I should have been, considering I could have run aground on some rocks or something. But I wasn't. The night was really calm. I cut the motor, hoping I'd hear something that would give me a sense of direction. I could hear the foghorn from the point, and the far clang of the bell buoy near Bear Island. The water made lapping sounds on the boat. But I really couldn't tell what direction any of it was coming from.

"It was beautiful out there. There was phosphorus glowing in the wake of the boat. I just let myself drift for a while. I knew that I had no idea of where I was. I hadn't been in the boat long enough to get too far from home, so I still wasn't worried.

"I drifted toward a lobster buoy that a lobster-man had attached to his trap, and decided to tie myself up to it. There was no point in just drifting into trouble. I sat there in the dark and quiet. The fog drifted in waves around me. Every once in a while the moon shone through for a minute or two.

"Some seals stopped by and poked their heads out of the water near the boat. They were curious, I guess. They barked and snorted a few times and then slid back into the water and disappeared.

"It was a great night. I slept some, I guess, but it really didn't matter. It was fine to be out there all by myself on the water. I'm sure my parents thought I was sleeping safely in the car or at my friends' house.

"The dawn was beautiful, too, and the fog burned off. It turned out that I was only a hundred yards or so from home the whole time. Sounds crazy, I guess, but I'll always remember that night as being - I don't know - really great."

Kirk didn't say anything.

Amy sighed. "I wish I'd been there too. You know what I found a few days before I came to the hospital?"

"What?" Kirk asked. "Prince Charming?"

"Oh, stop it, Kirk, I'm serious. Just before I came in here, I was going over some old boxes of my stuff and I found a clay hand I'd made when I was in first grade. You know, one of those things where you make a pancake out of clay and press your hand in it with your fingers all stretched out and then run home and give it to your mother. I took it out of the box and held my hand against it. It was very strange."

"Why?" Brent asked.

"The thing that amazed me so much was that it was hard to believe that I had ever had such small hands. The hand in the clay seemed too little to have ever been mine."

"You'll have to face it one day, baby, we all have to grow up sometime," Kirk said.

"Oh, I know, Kirk. It's just that sometimes I don't much like the idea."

Sometimes Brent worried about things like that too, but he had never had anyone to talk about it with before.

They spent the rest of the afternoon gabbing about the past and things little kids do and what makes them scared and all, while Brent tried to forget the conversation he had overheard between Kirk and his parents earlier.

"Oh, Monty, pick me! Oh, Monty, pick me, pick me!" Kirk shouted in a falsetto voice. "I want to win a refrigerator! Pick me, Monty, pick me!"

The three were watching Let's Make a Deal on television the next day.

"Can you believe those jackasses?" Kirk said in his normal voice. "There they are, dressed as carrots or buffaloes, screaming their greedy heads off so they can pick some stupid curtain and win a gag prize like a horny llama or something. You know what I'd do if I were on that show? I'd scream and squeal like the best of them and Monty would have to choose me. Then I would ask for the curtain girl instead of the curtain. I think she's listed in the Spiegel catalogue, f.o.b. Detroit, retail value forty-seven fifty. These daytime game shows make me want to puke."

Amy began to cry. She didn't make any noise at first, just her shoulders shook as she sat at the end of the bed facing the television. Brent and Kirk turned to her. She didn't say anything, she just continued to cry.

Kirk swung his legs over the side of his bed and grabbed for his crutches. He stumbled from the room without looking back. Amy buried her head in her hands. The deals and the boxes and the curtains continued flowing from the television.

Brent rolled onto his side so he could see down the bed to where Amy was sitting. He didn't know why she was crying, but he wanted to comfort her. He felt he wouldn't know the right thing to say, though.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I don't know. I feel sad. I'm scared, Brent."

"Why?" Brent asked.

"I don't know. I'm just scared. I wish I knew what was going to happen to us, to me."

"Yeah, I know. But you're fine. Your mother says you're fine."

"I'm scared anyway. I'm worried, Brent. I wish I felt fine."

"Look, Amy. Everything's going to be all right. There's nothing to worry about. You'll be out of here soon and so will I, and nothing's ever going to get to Kirk. It would take a bulldozer to knock him flat."

"I know. I'm being stupid."

The television blasted: "And which curtain will you choose for the big deal of the day, Curtain One, Curtain Two or Curtain Three?"

Amy continued crying.

"Look, it's all right, Amy. I don't know what else to say."

"There's nothing you can say, Brent. I'll be fine. I'm just scared is all. Like this show. Like if I had to pick one of those curtains, it would be the wrong one. They'd open my curtain and something awful would be there, something frightening. It's like a nightmare. The curtain would be open and everybody would scream, and I don't know what my prize would be, Brent, but I know I wouldn't be a winner."

"You'll be a winner this time, Amy. You'll be fine. It's all right to be scared."

"You never are though, Brent."

"Yes, I am. I just never show it is all. I don't know why sometimes I'm so scared it hurts. Or I hurt so much I'm scared, but I never want to show it. I'd never mention anything like this to anyone except you and Kirk. You two are special. Otherwise I don't show it to anybody at all."

"Thanks," she said, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands and sniffling. "I just wish I knew what was behind the curtain."

Kirk barreled through the door, pushing the lunch cart ahead of him.

"I don't know what's going on in here, but it's against the rules. How many times have I told you two, no one is allowed in a room alone without a chaperone, or you have to have at least three feet on the floor. Let's shape up, you two. The nurses are beginning to talk."

"Let them talk," Amy said. "You can't stop the course of true love."

"I think I'll write a book," Kirk said. "A girl and her pig, a heartwarming story of true romance."

"Hey, I resent that," Brent said, laughing. "I'm no pig."

"No?" Kirk said. "But it's what's for lunch. I bring you, hot from the kitchen, today's luncheon speciality, cooked to a turn by the seven nonfunctionals at the stove: breast of sow's ear stuffed with artichoke livers."

"It's artichoke hearts," Amy said, laughing again.

"Not this time, honey. And it's not the only thing that will be choking around here."

"You can say that again," Brent said as Kirk lifted the platter lid and they saw what lay steaming on the plate.

"Yummy," Amy said. "I could eat a horse."

"Hang on," Kirk said. "That's what's for dinner."

Chapter Six

The hospital was quiet. Dinner had long since passed. Amy was with Kirk and Brent in their room watching a rerun of The Longest Day on television. The troops were beginning to land. Sirens were wailing, guns were firing, artillery was booming through the small speaker.

Brent was idly sketching on a pad of drawing paper.

A tooth paste commercial came on the tube and the sirens continued to wail.

"What do you suppose that is?" asked Amy.

"Just a fire, I guess," Brent replied, doodling on the paper with his drawing pencil.

"Shhh," said Kirk. "I love toothpaste commercials. I can hardly hear the line about whiter than white with you two gabbing away."

"They sound awful close," said Amy.

"They sure do," Brent replied.

A commercial for soda came on.

"It sounds like action at the emergency ward," Kirk said.

"Big action, from the sound of it," Brent replied. "There's more than one siren out there, that's for sure."

"I hope it's nothing too serious," Amy said. "The sirens always make me kind of jittery."

"Why don't we wander down and see," Kirk suggested. "No one would care at this hour."

"I don't know, Kirk," Amy said. "It scares me. Besides, we'd be leaving Brent alone."

"That's okay, Amy. I wouldn't mind. I'm curious too. Maybe you could find out what the excitement is," Brent said.

"I still don't know."

"Come on, Amy. No harm. We won't get into anybody's way. We'll just peek through the doors and psych out what's going on."

"Go ahead. I've got the movie to watch," Brent said. "I don't mind being alone."

"I don't like it, Kirk."

The sounds of the sirens continued to pile up against the window and creep into the room like fog.

"Just for a minute. Just to check on what's going on."

"Okay, Kirk," Amy said. She stood up and wrapped her bathrobe close around her. She slid her bare feet into her slippers.

"We'll be right back, Brent," she said. "I can guarantee we won't be long."

Kirk and Amy left the room. The commercials were over. Brent returned to watching the invasion of Normandy.

The halls were empty. Down to the right of the room the two night nurses were conversing quietly. Kirk and Amy sneaked away in the other direction toward the service elevator. They pushed the elevator button and Amy watched as the arrow worked itself up from the ground floor to number six. The door opened and flooded the dim alcove with bright light.

Kirk took Amy's arm and put both crutches under his other arm. The doors hissed closed behind them. Kirk leaned against the wall and rested.

"Which floor is Emergency on?" Amy asked.

"One," replied Kirk.

Amy pushed the "One" button and the elevator lurched and began to descend.

"I think we ought to go back. I don't want to be in the way," Amy said.

"We won't be in the way. We won't even go in, just peek through the door."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors hissed open again. The first-floor hallway was very dim. Except for the emergency ward at the other end of the hospital, there were only offices and receptionists and gift shops and outpatient units on the first floor. In the silence, the sirens still wailed from outside the building.

"It must be something pretty big from the sound of it. I wonder what could have happened."

Amy and Kirk walked cautiously through the corridors toward the sound of the sirens. They turned a corner and saw the bright lights of the emergency ward beneath the door at the end of the hallway. Under the double swinging door, shadows crossed and recrossed in the light.

"Let's go back," Amy suggested again.

"No way. We're this far. I can't go back now without checking."

They moved down the hallway until they stood just outside the swinging doors. The sirens continued, and now Amy and Kirk heard the sound of running footsteps and crying and moans and doors slamming.

Kirk pushed against the right of the two doors, swinging it slightly open. He and Amy leaned forward to look.

They squinted from the brightness of the glare.

The scene through the door was horrible. Slumped bodies were in every free chair. Kids leaned against the walls. Nurses and doctors and residents in white rushed from person to person. Heads were bandaged, blood ran down cheeks, two boys lay writhing on the floor. Amy saw a piece of bone sticking through the skin of a young girl's arm.

"More help here," one doctor yelled, and a nurse rushed from one bleeding teenager to another.

The outside doors of the emergency ward opened and the sound of the sirens swept loudly into the room. Four more teenagers entered, three of them helping the fourth to walk. Two ambulance attendants carried a stretcher with a sixteen-year-old girl on it. She was unconscious.

Amy turned away from the door and looked into the dimness of the long hallway that stretched away from her in the opposite direction from the emergency ward.

"God, Kirk, what's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know. It's crazy. I'm going in to find out."

Amy turned to grab his arm. "No, don't."

"I want to. No one will notice one more kid in there. Stay here."

Kirk pushed through the door and it swung shut behind him. Amy stood alone in the hall. She couldn't block out the sound of the sirens and the moaning and crying, although she tried covering her ears with her hands.

She pushed the door open and followed.

Kirk was standing, leaning on his crutches just inside the door. Amy stood beside him. If anything, the scene was even worse now they had entered into it.

"God, let's do something! We can't just stand here and not help," Amy said.

"We can't do anything," Kirk said.

A girl Amy's age was standing against the far wall screaming. A doctor stuck her with a needle and she seemed to crumple almost immediately. The doctor moved on to a boy whose shirt was covered with blood. A nurse stopped and straightened the fallen girl's legs.

There must have been thirty kids in there, all of them bleeding, all of them hurt.

Near where Kirk and Amy were standing, a young girl was sitting in a chair. She leaned forward and held her head in her arms. There were cuts above her elbow, but they were bandaged already. Blood was seeping through the gauze.

Amy went over to her and squatted down next to the chair.

"What happened?" she asked. Kirk moved over and stood behind Amy.

"Oh, God. I don't know. The bus turned over."

"What bus? Where were you going?" Kirk asked.

"On a trip, a trip to a concert from church. The bus went over the side of the road and flipped. God, the glass flew all over. John had his arm through a window. All the bodies crashed down." The girl started to cry.

Amy reached out and put her arm around the girl's shoulders.

"It was so dark. It was all black. I couldn't find the way out. It was so awful. I kept cutting myself. I don't remember..."

"It's all right now," Amy said. "It's all over. Everyone will be all right. Everybody's being taken care of."

"Oh, God," the girl sighed. "I don't know..."

"It's okay. Look, everybody's getting their cuts all fixed up."

The doctors and nurses still rushed like mad people from patient to patient. There was blood on the chairs and blood on the floor.

Amy dabbed at the blood leaking from under the bandage on the girl's arm. Then she noticed a small trickle of thick, half-congealed blood flowing slowly down the girl's hair, along her neck. Amy reached her Kleenex up and tried to wipe that away too.

"It's so stupid, so awful..." the girl said and began to cry again.

Amy started to cry too. She looked up and saw the chaotic rush of doctors and nurses, the hurt and crying kids, the bloodstained bandages.

Kirk put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Let's go," he said.

Amy looked up at him. Tears were still running down her cheeks, although she made no noise. Kirk was pale.

"Let's go," he said. "We can't do anything here. We'll get in the way. The doctors will do just fine without us."

Amy turned back to the sobbing teenage girl and put a hand out. Kirk tugged persistently at Amy's shoulder.

Amy gazed again across the room. "I'm going to stay. Maybe I can do something."

"We've got to forget it, Amy. There's nothing we can do. No one's hurt bad here. They'll be fine."

He pulled at the sleeve of her bathrobe. Amy gave in and Kirk maneuvered her through the swinging doors. They were silent all the way up in the elevator and down the hall to the room.

The television was off. Brent had put away his sketching materials and was reading again. He looked up when they entered the room. Amy's eyes were red and puffy. Brent could tell immediately that she was upset.

"What was it?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you know, it was a real mess down there," Kirk replied. "Some bus with a bunch of kids going to a concert turned over. There must have been thirty of forty of them, all cut up. It was a real horror scene all right."

"Oh, it was awful, Brent," Amy said. "I felt so sorry for them all. The doctors couldn't seem to get to everybody fast enough. I just felt I wanted to do something to help. There was blood all over and everybody was crying and all. I should have stayed. I could have helped out the nurses or something."

"Right. Just like Scarlett O'Hara during the siege of Atlanta. Listen, Amy, don't let it shake you up. They'll all be fine. We couldn't have done anything much. We just would have been in the way."

Amy turned on him. "You just don't care is all, Kirk. You just close it all out of your safe little world and say, 'No sweat.' I don't care what you say, we should have stayed. Sometimes I wonder whether you'd help anybody, you're so wrapped up in yourself."

"Listen, Amy..." Brent began. He didn't like to hear them fighting. It gave him a weird feeling.

"No, it's all right," Kirk said. "Let her think what she wants. Amy, those kids down there are probably a hell of a lot better off right now than any of us up here, and that's no crap. So don't come on righteous and Florence Nightingale with me. We have enough problems of our own without getting tied in with a lot of cuts and bruises downstairs. The whole thing gave me the crawls."

"Yeah, okay, Kirk. I'm sorry I blew up at you. But I still think we should have stayed."

"No way. You don't need that kind of hassle and neither do I. The screwed-up world out there can go to hell in a bucket for all I care. There's no way we're going to stop it single-handed."

Amy turned to Brent. "Tell me, Brent. Is the world always like that out there? It seems so far away sometimes, I forget, I guess."

"No, Amy," Brent said. "It's not all bad."

"Sometimes it seems safer here with you and Kirk. Sometimes I almost don't want to think about leaving."

"I know what you mean, Amy," Brent said, and he did know what she meant. He almost felt like crying when he thought of leaving Amy and Kirk behind when he went back outside to the other world.

Kirk climbed into bed. The room was silent.

"Well, we missed the end of the movie, I guess," Kirk said. "Tell us, Brent. What happened?"

"People died," Brent said. He picked up his book again and began to read. He didn't look up when Amy said good night.

Chapter Seven

Kirk rolled up another Kleenex and heaved it at the bedpan on the other side of the room. He missed. Brent laughed quietly.

"If you hang around here long enough, you'll have the singular honor of watching me go out of my tree. I tell you, one more day of this crap and I'll go looney. They'll have to tie me up in my sheet and cart me off to the bananas ward," Kirk said.

Amy sat in the easy chair curling and uncurling her toes.

Brent was staring at the ceiling, making designs in his head from the cracks that ran through the plaster.

"I believe you," Brent said. "You aren't the most stable person I've ever met in my life to begin with."

"Very funny. More jokes like that and I'll never be bored again."

"It would be fun to do something exciting," Amy said. "I'm a little rammy myself. It's tough to be cooped up in one place for so long."

"Look, Brent, you haven't been here as long as Amy and I have, so maybe you don't feel it so bad. Besides, it looks like you'll be going in a few days. Listen, would you mind if Amy and I pulled something off on our own even though we usually do everything together, the three of us?"

"What do you have in mind?" Amy asked.

"No, it doesn't bother me," Brent said.

"I don't mean to cut you out or anything, but you've got to admit, you're not the most mobile person I've ever met."

"No, seriously. I mean it. If you and Amy can think of something fun to do, don't let me stop you. Really, I don't want you to worry about me holding you back."

"Amy, what's the last time that you take your medicines each day?"

"Before dinner."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. No, forget it. It's a lousy idea."

"No, tell us," Amy said. "I'm excited already."

"That's what I mean. It's no good. You look like you've been feeling pretty bad the last few days. It's a poor idea. Just forget it."

"Listen, Kirk, you don't think you can get away with mentioning an idea and then not telling us about it. I'm all right. You let me decide. It's like saying you know this really great dirty joke and then saying that you won't tell it."

"We can just skip it, is all. It was a stupid idea anyway. I thought you and I might sneak out of here for an evening, you know, go to a movie or something. It was stupid. Forget it."

"Forget it, nothing. I think it's a great idea," Amy said.

"So do I," Brent said. "You can tell me all about the movie when you get back."

"Amy, the doc says you're supposed to take it easy. I don't think it's such a good idea anymore."

"What, sitting in a movie? That's a strain? After dinner the nurse never checks on me unless I ring for her. And Brent could cover for you here if anyone noticed that you were gone. I think it's a great idea. I just wish Brent could go along too. It doesn't seem right to be doing something without you, Brent."

"Really, I don't mind at all. I'd be mad if you let me stop you. Besides, I've got some painting I want to do. Why don't you do it tonight? No one will ever know that you're gone," Brent said.

"I don't know," Kirk said. "You haven't been feeling so hot, Amy."

"Well, I need to get out of here just as much as you do, Kirkus Hughes. If you don't ask me for a date for this very evening, I just may be forced to go out with that orderly who's been looking me over lately."

"All right. If you think you're up to it. Miss Amy, would you be so kind as to accompany me to a flick tonight? I understand one of considerable merit is playing at the local cinema."

"Why, Mr.Hughes, I thought you'd never ask. I would be delighted to accompany you. Would you call for me at eight thirty?"

"Of course. Eight thirty it is. Seriously, we should be able to sneak out pretty easily then. Visiting hours are over just then, and we can wander out with the crowd."

"That's great," Brent said. "I wish I were going with you." Brent hoped he didn't sound too disappointed. He couldn't help envying them their time together. After being used to being so self-sufficient before the accident, Brent didn't know why he dreaded those few hours alone so much.

"It would look a little suspicious rolling you around town in a bed. Besides, I'm not sure they'd sell you a ticket for the movie. Beds always block the aisles," Kirk said. "Besides, three's a crowd, you know. Forget it, I didn't mean that. I was just trying to be funny."

"I know," Brent said. "You should have a great time."

At eight-thirty Kirk climbed into his wheelchair.

"It'll be easier than using my crutches and trying to clomp all over town," he said to Brent.

"Never take a girl out without a set of wheels," Brent said. "Too bad you don't have a sidecar."

"Or at least a motor. You'd think that with modern technology, every one of these things would have four on the floor."

"Be back before midnight, Kirk," Brent said.

"Don't wait up, Mother," Kirk replied. He wheeled himself out of the room. Brent put his book down and stared at the ceiling.

Amy was ready. She looked very pretty. It was the first time they had seen each other out of pajamas and bathrobe. Her brown hair was tied back and hung down behind her.

"Do you think I need a sweater?" she asked.

"Nah, the news said it was warm out. It's over seventy, still."

"Okay. Here's the way I figure we can work it. I'll push your wheelchair out of here. Once we're off this hall everyone will just think we're outpatients or visitors or something."

"Are you sure that you feel up to it?" Kirk asked.

"Yes, I feel just fine. You can't let me down now after I've spent all afternoon looking forward to it. There's no problem."

They left the room, Amy pushing Kirk in his wheelchair.

"We have a small detour to make," Amy said.

She pushed the wheelchair back into Brent and Kirk's room.

"Hi," Amy said to Brent. "I couldn't take off without saying good night."

"Night," Brent said and smiled. "Have a good time."

"We will," Amy said. "It doesn't feel right without you, though. This is one of the few nights all three of us haven't been together since you got here three weeks ago. Well, we won't be gone long."

"See you later," Kirk said. "Stay cool."

Amy and Kirk left the room and turned down the hall out of view.

All of a sudden Brent felt empty. Loneliness was something he had never minded before. He smiled over letting this one evening without Kirk and Amy get to him.

He reached over to his bedside cabinet and took out his watercolor pad and his brushes. He opened the pad to the painting he was working on. It was a picture of Amy, Kirk and himself. The painting was going fairly well, although he found it hard to paint a self-portrait even with a mirror handy.

I just can't walk out of here in a day or two and not leave anything behind, he had thought. He was going to give the picture to Amy. He was afraid it might seem too funny and sentimental to do one for Kirk. Maybe I'll do one at home and mail it to him later, Brent thought. Anyway, he hoped to get this one done in time.

The picture showed the three of them in muted colors. They were held together by a tangle of greenery and the swirling brown of Amy's hair. Brent liked the effect, and the likenesses were pretty good. He hadn't wanted to show it to Kirk and Amy until he left. He had been working on it in secret.

Maybe I can finish it tonight before they get back, he thought. Then I'll keep it tucked away until I have to leave.

He dipped the brush in water and began to paint.

Amy pushed Kirk's wheelchair to the elevator. The doors opened and they went inside. There were two people standing against the back wall, one of them a resident in his white uniform.

"It sure is good to see Johnny looking better," Kirk said. "It looks like he'll be back at the swim club in another week or so."

"I hope so," replied Amy. "It's so good to see color back in his cheeks. That operation must not have been much fun, I'll tell you that."

"A brain transplant," Kirk said to the resident.

The resident smiled at them.

They left the elevator on the ground floor and maneuvered casually to the main exit. Out the front doors they went, and down the hospital driveway to the street.

"God, I don't believe it," Kirk shouted. "We're free at last!" He spun his chair around three times.

The hospital was just a block from the center of town. The night air was warm and smelled delicious. Amy pushed Kirk along the sidewalk. He spun the wheels of the chair to help out. They passed the old houses around the hospital grounds that had been converted into doctors' offices. They passed a school and a library and a small park.

The light from the streetlamps sifted through the leaves of the overhanging trees and made small pools on the sidewalk. The air was soft, and dust particles drifted in the lamplight. Fireflies blinked and glittered above their heads. Moths fluttered and clustered about the streetlights. Amy's shoes made soft tapping sounds on the pavement. Kirk's wheelchair hummed in the summer air.

When they reached the main intersection of the suburban town, they wheeled left down the shopping street. Just half a block away was a movie theater. It generally showed art films and catered to the two colleges nearby.

The marquee said: The Ravished.

"It's not what I might have chosen if I'd had the choice," Kirk said.

"I don't care a bit. A movie's a movie and I'm starved for one. Besides, Time said it was great. It's the only one in wheeling distance, so to speak."

"What's it about?" Kirk asked.

"I don't know. It's foreign."

"Just my luck. Let's go."

They arrived at the box office and Kirk paid the three dollars apiece for the tickets out of the money his father had left him.

"What's the deal?" he asked the ticket seller who sat in her glass booth snapping her gum. "Is the popcorn gold or something?"

The movie had already started.

"You can't be too picky when you're escaping," Amy said. "We can sit through the beginning later if we want. It's freezing in here. Why do they always have the air conditioning down to below thirty in movie theaters in the summer?"

"Would you like some popcorn or candy?" Kirk asked.

"Oh, I'd love some. I haven't tasted popcorn in weeks. Make mine with butter if you don't mind."

"Right," Kirk said. He wheeled himself to the refreshment stand. The woman behind the counter was immense. The maroon blazer didn't help.

"Two popcorns," he said. "Lots of butter. Pretend you're a cow."

The woman snorted, and scooped the popcorn into the tall wax-covered cups with a practiced hand. She splashed butter across the top and handed them to Kirk without saying a word.

Kirk paid for the popcorn, and he and Amy pushed through the lobby doors into the theater itself. The darkness and the cool air flooded over them. The screen flickered with colored images, pastels and greens.

Amy and Kirk went down the aisle. About halfway down, Amy asked, "How's this?"

"Fine."

Amy sat in the seat next to the aisle. Kirk parked the wheelchair next to her and put the brake on. They began to munch on their popcorn.

The movie was a love story. Kirk enjoyed the parts where the girl took off her clothes. Amy cried at the end, when the girl was hit by a train in slow motion.

They moved out into the warm summer night among the crowd of quietly talking moviegoers. They remained outside the movie theater until the street emptied. There were very few cars. The sidewalk was deserted.

"That was a lovely movie," Amy said.

"Yeah. It was okay. A little mushy for my taste, and you needed a speed-reading course to keep up with the subtitles."

"I'm glad we came."

"So am I."

"I hope we can get back to the hospital without being caught, though," Amy said.

"It would probably be safer to wait until later, when things really slow down there, after lights-out. Want something to eat?"

"Sure. While we're on the loose, we might as well take advantage of all that the outside world has to offer. I wonder what Brent is doing?"

"He's fine. Probably reading."

"I wish he could have come."

"Yeah," Kirk said.

They started down the sidewalk to the right. Three stores down was a small restaurant called La Crˆperie.

"How about here?" Kirk asked.

"Wonderful. I love crˆpes."

"I'd rather have a Gino's Giant, but what can you do?"

"You've got no couth, Kirk. You'll like it."

They went into the restaurant. It was almost empty. Kirk wheeled up to a table for two and Amy sat down. A waitress came with menus and quickly left. Kirk lit a cigarette.

They both looked over the menu.

"What kind of a place is this anyway? No pizza crˆpe?"

"Funny boy," Amy said. "I think I'll just have a dessert one. How about a Crˆpe Grand Marnier?"

"Fine. Me too. It better be good or I'll break your leg."

"Just try it. Why can't you be romantic like the guy in the movie?"

"I'm not your lover. If you put out for me, I'd bring you candy."

"My, aren't we suave tonight? It's not part of the game, I'm sorry to say."

They ordered the two Crˆpes Grand Marnier and ate them with delight. They tasted the sweet powdered sugar, the thin crisp crˆpe and the sharp flavor of the liqueur. The dim candlelight and quiet music were the backdrop, and they sat for a long while after they had finished eating.

"It's so nice to be away from the hospital for a night. Sometimes it gets to seem like it's the only world there is," Amy said.

"I know what you mean, although sometimes I wonder if it's such a bad world compared to the real one."

"I liked the movie tonight. But it was so sad. I wished the girl hadn't died in the end."

"They always die in the movies. You know that. It's tough, but so what? It's only a movie."

"Have you ever cried in the movies?" Amy asked. "I cry all the time. It's silly, I guess, but I can't help it."

"Yeah, I cried once. I was five years old and I was taken to see Bambi. I cried when the mother died. I was just a little kid then."

"I guess I shouldn't let movies get to me so much. They are just movies after all."

"I had to leave my seat once when I was six," Kirk said. "It was during The Wizard of Oz. I took a dollar from my mother's purse. I sneaked out of the house one Sunday and went by myself. Well, when those flying monkeys came swooping down and picked up Dorothy, I almost wet my pants I was scared. I ran up the aisle and watched the whole rest of the movie from the lobby."

"You're funny," Amy said. "It's cold in here too. Let's get going. I guess I should have brought a sweater after all. We should be heading back soon anyway." She coughed quietly.

"Yeah, I guess so. Brent must be wondering where we are."

They paid the bill and went back to the deserted sidewalk. They passed by store windows on the quiet street.

"I wish we could bring something back for Brent."

"Why don't we?" Kirk said.

"Nothing's open."

They passed a shop full of handthrown pottery and original jewelry and a shop with jeans and jersey tops.

"What do you take a guy in the hospital when none of the stores are open? I wish we had thought of it earlier. At least we could have taken him a cup of popcorn or something," Amy said.

"We could break a window and steal something," Kirk laughed. "Pull a heist, so to speak."

"What kind of a getaway could we make with you in a wheelchair?"

"Slow."

"Exactly."

"I can see the headlines now: 'Mono Bonnie and Wheelchair Clyde Strike Again.' Somehow it seems a little too dramatic."

Kirk stopped the wheelchair and leaned over. He picked up a candy wrapper from the sidewalk.

"How about this? Do you think Brent needs a used candy wrapper?"

"Aren't you thoughtful, but I think he has enough already."

"That's the trouble with trying to find a gift for someone who has everything. We could take him flowers," Kirk said. "You always take people in the hospital flowers."

"Kirk, that's a wonderful idea. Where are we going to get flowers at a time like this? I didn't notice an all-night florist on the way to the movie."

"Yeah, I know, but I bet I do know where we could get some flowers at this hour."

"Where?"

"There's a cemetery less than a block from here."

"You've got to be kidding," Amy said.

"No, really, I'm serious. There are always tons of flowers lying around a graveyard begging to be picked up."

"We couldn't do that."

"Sure we could. No one would ever miss them. A flower here, a flower there, what's the difference? They practically have 'Pick These' signs all over the place."

Amy laughed. "I guess you're right. I hope we don't get caught."

"Now who would catch us at this hour?"

The bank clock on the corner said eleven thirty.

Kirk wheeled ahead and Amy followed. On the other side of the small park was a church with a graveyard. Kirk and Amy moved through the warm darkness past the gates into the cemetery.

"It's spooky," Amy said. The fireflies were high in the trees now. The light from the streetlamps barely reached that far into the blackness.

Amy wandered among the tombstones. Kirk wheeled across the damp grass.

"Somebody's bound to notice the tire marks tomorrow," Amy said.

"They'll just think it was a ghoul with training wheels," Kirk replied.

There were a few pots of planted flowers - geraniums, petunias and summer marigolds.

"I don't see anything worth picking yet. Geraniums smell like mud. Only the best for Brent," Kirk said.

They wandered farther into the darkness.

"Hey, look at this," Kirk said. Amy came to him. Kirk had stopped by a grave piled high with fresh flowers, full wreaths of white carnations, piles of long roses wrapped with white ribbons.

"They must have buried someone here just today," Kirk said. "There are sure lots here we can take."

"I don't feel right about it," Amy said.

"So what's the difference, Amy? We'll take just a few. Nobody will notice. Brent will appreciate them more than this person. Here, pass me some of those roses. I'll hold them in my lap."

Amy bent down and picked up a few roses. She handed them to Kirk, cutting her finger on one of the thorns. She sucked on it until the bleeding stopped.

"Hand me some more," Kirk said. "We can't be cheap about this."

Amy bent down again and passed him some more roses and some carnations. There were so many flowers, no one would be able to tell that a few were missing.

"More, Amy. Really pile me up."

They finally stopped when Kirk could hold no more. His lap was heaped high with flowers. They seemed to glow in the dim white light.

"They're beautiful," Amy said. "I think Brent will like them."

"Sure he will. It was a good idea."

Amy leaned back against the tombstone.

"I feel all tired out," she said. "It's been an evening, all right. I loved it. If we stayed here all night, we'd be covered with dew by morning. It would sparkle in our hair. If Brent were only here, I wouldn't move an inch."

Kirk said, "We'd better head back."

They started to move. Amy turned back to the grave with the flowers. "Thanks," she said. "Brent needs them too. I hope you don't mind."

"Come on, crazy girl," Kirk said laughing.

They passed through the dim graveyard between the tombstones in the darkness. They returned to the sidewalk and the streetlights.

"Boy, do you look silly. Like a rolling greenhouse," Amy said.

"I've got this thing about flowers. They follow me everywhere. It's kind of embarrassing on the school bus sometimes."

A dog started barking from the porch of a darkened house. Amy and Kirk looked toward the noise. The dog, a huge German shepherd, stood on the edge of the steps growling loudly.

"Nice doggy," Kirk said. "Choke on a bone, why don't you."

The dog ran down the steps and out the front sidewalk toward them. It was still barking loudly.

"It'll wake the whole neighborhood," Amy said. She began to run. Her shoes pattered along the sidewalk. Kirk spun his wheels as fast as he could. The dog ran after them a little way and then stopped, still barking, at the corner of the property.

Kirk shouted back, "Hush up, Rover." He caught up to Amy, threw her a carnation and wheeled right on past. Amy walked along behind him swinging the flower in the lamplight. She sang a no-song in the night air, humming a tune that had no name. Kirk slowed down and Amy skipped along beside him for a moment, hitting him on the head with the carnation.

They reached the hospital doors.

"Shhhh," said Amy, out of breath and laughing. "We're burglars. We're stealing flowers into the hospital. No one had better hear us or we'll be in real trouble."

She pushed the swinging door open and Kirk passed inside. Amy followed. The entrance lobby was dark and deserted. Across the corridor the light of the elevator sign glowed. They moved quietly toward it. Amy couldn't stop giggling.

"Shhh," Kirk said. "Can't you ever be serious."

Amy giggled even louder.

"You look so funny rolling around half covered with flowers." She picked up a carnation and stuck it behind Kirk's ear.

Kirk pressed the "Up" button and the elevator doors opened. They entered and pushed for the sixth floor. The elevator carried them up. On the sixth floor the doors swished open again. This hall was brighter than the lobby had been. Down the corridor Amy saw the light from the nurses' station.

"Quietly, now. Let's not get caught."

Amy tiptoed, but the quiet taps of her shoes on the tile floor seemed impossibly loud in the stillness of the hallway. Even the whirr of the wheelchair carried in the silence. Amy giggled again when she looked down at Kirk half covered in flowers.

They were almost to Amy's room when Nurse Schultz swung out of the nurses' station and said, "Well, there you are, our two escapees. You had me scared to death, until finally Brent explained. And don't be mad, I had to almost strangle it out of him."

"Did you tell anyone?" Amy asked.

"No, I didn't, although Lord knows I should have reported it immediately. It was a foolish thing to do, particularly for you, Amy, in that cool night air."

"It was beautiful out."

"I know," said Nurse Schultz. "I hope it was worth it. Now both of you, hurry to bed. It's late."

Amy turned into her room. "Give Brent his flowers, will you, Kirk? And tell him good night for me. Thanks, Kirk. I liked the movie."

"Night, Amy. See you tomorrow."

Nurse Schultz pushed Kirk the rest of the way down the hall to his room. She clucked her tongue several times and laughed quietly once.

"Thanks, Nurse Schultz. Good night."

"Good night, Kirk. Be good from now on, huh? You wouldn't want to get old Nurse Schultz in trouble now, would you?"

"Night," Kirk said and wheeled into his room.

"Hi," Brent said in the darkness. Only the two night-lights glowed. "Have a nice time?"

"Yeah, great. Brought you a present."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?"

"Turn on your light."

Brent did and immediately burst out laughing. "What did you do, ambush a funeral?"

"Just about," Kirk said, laughing too. "Just thought you might like a little consolation present for having to stay home tonight."

Kirk wheeled over to one of the sinks. He dumped the pile of flowers into it and filled it with water.

"That should do until morning. Amy would shoot us if we just let them die overnight."

Kirk moved over to his bed and shifted himself from the wheelchair. He struggled out of his clothes and got his pajamas on. Brent turned his light out and they lay in darkness.

"Was the movie good?" Brent asked.

"Okay. It was a love story. The girl had a nice pair."

"I wish I could have gone out too."

"Yeah, I know. But you'll be going home in a few days."

"Since my brace has been delivered, the doctor says I can get it on and try standing up and maybe walking around a little tomorrow as long as I'm careful. It doesn't look too hard to get into. The nurse showed me how."

"Yeah, that's great."

"I'll almost be sorry to leave," Brent said.

A white ghostly figure appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the dim light of the hallway. It was Amy in a pale nightgown.

"Hi," she said in a soft voice. "I couldn't go to sleep without seeing how you liked your flowers."

"They're great, Amy. Thanks for thinking of me," Brent said.

She crossed to his bedside.

"I'm glad you like them. We wanted to bring you something."

"We almost got bitten by the Hound of the Baskervilles getting them for you," Kirk said. "You better like them."

All three laughed quietly.

"We better not let Nurse Schultz catch me in here," Amy said. "She's been too good about the whole thing already. I'm kind of weary. Mind if I climb into bed with you, Brent?"

"Be my guest. I hate to admit it, but this will be a McAllister first."

Amy slid between the sheets. She and Brent lay stretched out side by side.

"Your bed's warm," Amy said. "Thanks."

"Was it nice out there tonight?" Brent whispered.

"It was lovely," Amy said. "I wanted to catch you a firefly."

"I like the flowers. Thanks."

"Kirk," Amy asked, "how many people do you figure can fit into one of these hospital beds?"

"I don't know." His voice passed from one bed to the other through the darkness.

"You think maybe three?" she asked.

"We could see," Kirk answered.

"Come on over," Brent said.

Kirk sat up and grabbed for one of his crutches. He stood supporting himself with it and hobbled over to Brent's bed. Brent and Amy shifted over toward the window to give him room. Kirk climbed in too.

"It sure wasn't built for three," Kirk said. "I'm not complaining, you understand."

They lay together side by side in silence for a long time. Their breathing seemed to follow the same rhythm.

"The world doesn't seem so bad right now," Amy said.

"It's like a three-legged race, I guess. You can't make it to the finish line by yourself," Kirk said.

Amy reached her left hand over Brent and took his hand. She reached her right hand over Kirk and grasped his hand. She gave both a small squeeze. Then she crossed her arms and brought Brent's and Kirk's hands in hers up until all four lay crossed on her chest. Brent and Kirk let their hands rest in hers.

"Hey, Amy..." Brent began to whisper.

"Hush, don't talk," Amy said.

They were silent. Their breathing came in unison.

After what seemed like a long time, Amy said softly, "We're good friends. That's nice."

Kirk and Brent didn't speak.

Slowly Kirk's and Amy's breathing lengthened and they drifted into sleep. Brent lay awake in the darkness awhile. He couldn't see the ceiling even when he squinted. He felt his fingers intertwined with Amy's and the rise and fall of her breathing beneath his hand.

Time, stop! he thought. Let this go on forever.

He too finally floated into sleep.

Amy awoke coughing. She ached all over. She glanced at the clock and the glowing hands told her it was after four. She tried to stop coughing but she couldn't. Her chest seemed filled up and she couldn't clear her throat. Her head throbbed. She put her hand against her forehead and it was hot.

She sat up, but the coughing continued. She saw that both Brent and Kirk were asleep.

She slid the covers down and climbed to the bottom of the bed. When she swung her feet to the floor and stood up, she almost fell over. She had to hold onto the edge of the bed to keep her balance. She quietly left the room and crossed the hall. She climbed into her own bed and fell asleep.

Chapter Eight

Brent felt great when he woke up. What a night's sleep, he thought and stretched. Kirk was sitting in his own bed.

"Morning," Kirk said.

"Where's Amy?" Brent asked.

"I don't know. When I woke up, she was gone. She must have left sometime during the night."

"That's probably just as well. I can imagine what Nurse Rush would have said if she had found Amy here."

"I can also imagine what she would have said if I hadn't woken up and moved back to my own bed too. That would have looked cute."

"I never thought of that," Brent laughed.

"I may be weird, but not that weird."

"Hey, did you fix those flowers up?" Brent asked.

They were arranged in the Styrofoam water pitchers.

"Yeah. They were all wilty and half dead hanging out of the sink when I woke up. I figured Amy would be ticked if we let them just die, so I stuck them in the water pitcher there. I'm no great flower arranger, that's for sure, but maybe they'll live a while longer."

"I wonder how Amy is this morning?"

"I don't know," Kirk said. "She'll probably be over for a visit later. Let her sleep now. Last night might have been awful tiring for her."

Just then the door burst open. Amy's mother stormed in. Her eyes were wild and she was shaking, Brent could see.

"You little bastard, if she dies, it's all your fault. How could you have done this to her?" she screamed at Kirk.

She rushed across the room. Her elbow hit the pitcher of flowers and it tipped over. The water spilled down the side of the cabinet. The flowers scattered across the tile floor. Amy's mother didn't stop. She stood by Kirk's bed clenching and unclenching her fists. Brent thought she was going to hit Kirk.

"Amy?" Kirk said.

"You know goddamn well who I mean.... Oh, God, in there with another transfusion... the oxygen... so helpless she can hardly breathe... all those tubes..."

"What...?"

"What? You know what, you son of a bitch," she yelled. "You better hope to God she lives. Oh, God, let Amy live...."

"I don't know... it can't..." Kirk tried to say.

"It goddamn right can't happen. She was doing all right. The doctor said she was doing all right. Didn't you want her to get better? The bleeding... the pneumonia now. If she dies..."

"Dies? From mono? You're hysterical."

"Mono, nothing. Mono! You fool! What the hell did you expect me to tell her?"

Brent shifted in his bed. Say something, he thought, but he couldn't.

"If only I'd known," Kirk said.

"It wouldn't have made any difference to someone like you... dragging her out at night. Yes, the night nurse told me. So help me, if Amy does pull through, I don't want you ever, do you hear me, ever trying to see her again. If you so much as set foot inside her room, I'll see to it..."

Nurse Rush appeared in the doorway. "Go to your daughter," she said. "She needs you now. I don't want my other patients disturbed."

"Not until..."

"Not until nothing. Please leave this room immediately," Nurse Rush said.

Amy's mother turned and ran from the room.

Kirk shouted after her, "Don't you think I give a damn too?"

"I'm sorry, Kirk," Nurse Rush said. "Amy's very sick. I know it's not your fault, although it was a stupid thing to pull last night. Don't try to visit her. Things are bad enough over there without having her mother fly off the handle again. Amy shouldn't see anyone now anyway. You'll be kept posted."

"Thanks, Nurse Rush," Kirk said.

She left the room.

Brent and Kirk were silent for a long time.

"Nurse Rush isn't so bad, is she?" Kirk finally said.

"No, she's all right, I guess," Brent said. He knew he should say more.

"Yeah, well. What a shitty world," Kirk said. "Why does it have to happen like this to the good guys? Poor Amy. I wish I'd known."

"Listen, Kirk, it's not your fault she's so sick. She wanted to go out last night."

"I know, but I shouldn't have let her."

"You couldn't have stopped her."

"It was a stupid idea."

"Relax, there's nothing we can do but wait. She'll be fine," Brent said.

"Don't give me that patronizing shit like all the others. I've had enough of that shoved at me all my life. You've had it made from the start. Just shut up, why don't you?"

"Okay, sorry," Brent said.

They waited in silence for another long time.

"Maybe I should go over and see how she's doing," Kirk said.

"Don't. You don't need her mother screaming all over the place again. The nurse will tell us if anything happens."

"I'd like to see her. I feel so shitty about the whole thing."

"She knows."

"Yeah, maybe..."

After a long while Jewel came into their room.

"Amy?" Kirk asked.

"Amy's dead," she said.

A cold wave washed over Brent and left him empty.

"Oh, Christ," said Kirk. "Why Amy?"

He grabbed his pillow and smashed it again and again against the wall. He struggled out of bed and grabbed his crutches. Jewel rushed to him and took his shoulder.

"Kirk," she said, "there's nothing you can do now."

Kirk pushed her away and stumbled to the door, his crutches swinging, striking the walls. He almost fell into the hallway.

"Oh, good Christ," he said. "Not Amy."

The blood lady was wheeling her cart of test tubes and blood samples down the hall. Kirk lunged at her and smashed at the cart with one crutch. He let the other drop, and it bounced and thudded against the hard floor.

He swung again and the blood lady shrank back against the wall. The crutch crashed through the top of the cart, knocking the tops off test tubes. He smashed it down onto the cart. Glass shattered and sprayed everywhere. The samples of blood spilled and spattered in all directions. Blood splashed against the walls and against the white floor and all over Kirk's pajamas.

Kirk wailed once and smashed the cart again. It rolled against the wall and he turned it over, kicking at the glass and dripping blood with his bare feet. The glass cut him. A trickle of his own blood streamed down his ankle. He smashed at the broken glass again and again. The blood lady screamed. Kirk had blood in his hair and on his face.

I can't lie here any longer, Brent thought. He reached for the brace that had been delivered the day before. He twisted his body sideways into the gray canvas monstrosity and thrust one arm through the right strap and tried to get the brace around behind him. God, hurry up, he thought. The brace fought his efforts but he got it halfway into position and sat up.

He pulled one buckle closed across his stomach and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

He stood up and the room spun in front of him. He was dizzy from standing for the first time in over three weeks. He pulled another strap closed in front of him and felt the brace tighten across the lower part of his back. It helped the weak feeling. You've got to make it, he thought.

He stepped toward the door, holding onto the edge of his bed for support. He lunged from his bed to Kirk's and got a few feet closer to the hallway. He thought he was going to fall.

Outside the door Kirk leaned against the wall crashing his head again and again against the plaster.

Brent struggled to the doorway and leaned against it. It took an effort of will to keep from tumbling sideways.

The floor was littered with glass and blood. The blood lady was still pressed against the far wall. Nurse Rush was running toward them from the nurses' station. Jewel was standing in the doorway behind Brent.

"Kirk? Hey, Kirk?" Brent said softly. "Help me, will you? I think I'm going to fall."

Kirk looked up and saw Brent standing in the doorway. He turned his mouth up into his half-smile.

"Yeah, sure."

Kirk leaned on the one crutch he still had and put it under his left arm. He hobbled toward Brent and put his right arm around Brent's shoulder. Brent felt the weight and pressure of it.

"You got to be a real asshole to get out of bed by yourself in your condition," Kirk said.

Together they turned back into the room, leaning on each other. Kirk helped Brent back to bed and Brent lay down. Kirk stumbled over to his own bed and climbed in.

Someone was sweeping up the broken glass in the hallway. Brent could hear the tinkling and clatter of the shattered pieces.

Nurse Rush appeared in the doorway. She crossed to the foot of Kirk's bed. "Kirk, are you all right now?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Kirk said. "Sorry."

She and Jewel left.

"You know, it's a real pisser. Nothing good ever lasts," Kirk said.

Brent could hear the coldness creep back into Kirk's voice.

The rest of the day passed very slowly.

The next day Brent got ready to go home. It felt strange to be up and around. His suitcase was packed with his pajamas and toothbrush, his books and paints. The room had become so permanent, Brent sometimes had the thought that the world outside had ceased to exist, that the view from the window was just painted on. He was in his back brace and moving around pretty well.

When everything was packed, he turned to Kirk and said, "I'm almost sorry to be leaving. I hope you get out soon."

"Someday, I guess. I don't give a damn," Kirk said.

"Listen, you got my address and telephone number?" Brent asked.

"Yeah."

"We'll keep in touch, huh? I mean, I'll be by to visit in a day or so."

"Good."

"It's sure nice to be thinking about getting a decent meal and all."

"Yeah, I envy you."

"Say good-bye to Jewel for me, will you?"

"Sure."

"Listen, don't lose any wheelchair races. Make sure I get the address of the school you're going to this fall."

"Don't worry, I will."

"Stay out of trouble while I'm gone," Brent said.

"Don't worry about old Kirk here. He's just fine. Never better."

"Maybe you'll get a new roommate soon."

"I don't care much about that. I'll probably get another Toad who watches soap operas all day. I don't mind being alone. I guess I learned something from you after all."

We're so far apart already, Brent thought, and it made him even sadder.

"It looks like it's really hot outside. Thank God for air conditioning, huh?" Brent said.

"Yeah, can you imagine what this place would be like without it?"

"It'd be hotter than the food, I'll say that for it."

They both laughed.

"The brace uncomfortable?" Kirk asked.

"You guessed it. I've almost torn it off and burned it already. At least I don't have to sleep in it. I guess I can put up with it. Anything I can bring you when I come to visit?"

"Nah, I don't think so. I'll be fine. Really."

"Yeah, well. I guess you're looking forward to getting away to school and out of this place."

"Right. I tell you, Brent, old buddy, you look pretty good in that brace. You may just start a new fad."

"That's funny," Brent said, but he wasn't laughing. "If anyone wants it, he can have it for free."

"And give that handsome piece of machinery away for nothing? Brent McAllister, you'd be a fool."

Say it, Brent thought to himself. Open up and say it. You can't leave it like this.

"We had a good time, didn't we?" Brent said.

"Yeah, we did."

"We were good friends, huh?"

"Yeah, we sure were. All of us."

They smiled at each other.

"I've got something I'd like to leave with you," Brent said. He crossed to the bedside cabinet and took out the almost-finished painting of the three of them. The background was finished in detail, but all three faces were not quite done. It was a good painting. Brent had caught Amy's sweep of hair and her wide, honest eyes, had caught Kirk's half-smile without it looking like a smirk.

Brent handed the painting over to Kirk, who took it and stared at it for a long time.

"I wanted to leave something with you," Brent said.

"You have," Kirk said. "Thanks."

Brent looked at his feet in the silence that followed.

"Well, listen, Kirk. I got to be going. My mother's waiting for me."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll be back down to see how you're doing in another day or so. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Anytime. It looks like I'm not going anywhere. It's great to see you up and around."

"Oh, thanks. Be seeing you."

"Right. Take care now. Don't knock up any chick at the swimming club, now."

"Don't sweat it. I couldn't get out of the back brace fast enough."

Brent's mother appeared in the doorway. She lifted Brent's suitcase.

"I'll be waiting in the hall when you're ready," she said.

"I mean it now, Kirk. I'll be seeing you in a few days."

"You be careful of that old back now, you hear? I don't want to hear about you falling through any more trapdoors. Grace you ain't got," Kirk said and lit a cigarette.

"Yeah. Right. See you, Kirk."

"See you, Brent."

Brent left. He felt like crying, but he waited until he got home.