“My name is Nicole Rudderham. What’s yours?”
The boy said nothing.
“It’s kinda scary outside, isn’t it?”
Still nothing.
“Are your parents here anywhere? Or ... or ...”
His eyes darted to the man on the cot.
“Oh. Is that your ... your dad?”
He slowly nodded his head.
“Was he in an accident?”
The boy just stared.
“Do you go to this school? Are you in school yet?”
The boy gave one slow nod.
“Oh, wow. I used to go to this school, too. Now I go to high school. Him, over there …” She leaned to her left and pointed at David, who was still blanked out, staring at the floor, “… he went here too. Do you know him?”
The boy looked quickly at David, then shook his head, no.
“Oh, well, that’s okay. His name is David. He’s my brother. Not a lot of people know him.” She leaned to the boy, who, despite the fear in his eyes, leaned forward to hear her secret. “I think it’s ‘cause he’s weird.”
The boy smiled.
Nicole smiled back at him. “Yeah, you can’t tell by looking at him, but he’s weird all right.”
“Ry ... an,” said a faint voice behind her. The boy scrambled over to his father’s side. “Ryan,” said the man, “are you ... all right?”
The boy—Ryan—nodded his head.
“Good. That’s ...” gasped the man, resting his shaking hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Is there someone else here?”
Ryan nodded, then walked back to Nicole and pulled her forward to his father.
“Hello,” she said. “I’m—”
“Can you take him downstairs ... have some breakfast? I need ... sleep.”
Nicole paused, caught by the man’s eyes. They had the same look of terror and exhaustion that she had seen in Carol’s. “Uh, sure. Sure we can.” She turned to Ryan. “Do you wanna come downstairs with me and David? See what we can have for breakfast?”
Ryan quickly shook his head and clutched his father’s hand.
“Ryan,” his father said, his voice barely more than a whisper. “You have ... something to eat. You ... have to ...” He started to fade out of consciousness.
Nicole took a step back and offered her hand to the young boy. “C’mon, Ryan. Let’s go. What’s your favourite breakfast? Mine’s pancakes. How ‘bout you? You like pancakes?”
Unsure of what to do, his eyes flitting between his father and Nicole, Ryan slowly nodded.
“Great! Pancakes are easy to make for a lot of people too, so maybe that’s what they have downstairs! I think I can even smell ‘em, can you? Let’s let your dad have a nap, and then we’ll come see him after we have something to eat, okay?”
The boy nodded, and slowly took Nicole’s hand, though he continued to stare at his now sleeping father.
“Okay, let’s go!” Nicole said, walking away from the cot. “David,” she whispered loudly. “David? David!” The third one got David’s attention. “Come get breakfast with me and Ryan.”
“Who’s Ryan?” David asked, rubbing his eyes.
Nicole looked at him, incredulously. “Who do you think?” She looked at Ryan and shook her head. “See? I told you he was weird.” She turned to leave. “C’mon, spaz. We’re not gonna save you anything if you’re late.”
Nicole had been right about the pancakes—they were made bright and early. However, when the power went out, that was the end of them. By the time they got downstairs, all that was left was cold cereal and warm milk. Nicole wasn’t really hungry but decided she would eat so Ryan would. She got three bowls of Froot Loops and sat at an empty table. The staff room/makeshift cafeteria had mostly cleared when the power went out.
Nicole forced down a few spoonfuls, smiling all the while. Ryan followed her lead. David just stared at the bowl, occasionally picking up his spoon and letting its contents fall back into the milk. Soon he pushed the bowl across the table. Nicole glared at him with a look that said, Don’t be a jerk; eat so the kid will eat. He didn’t take the bowl back.
To distract Ryan from this, Nicole dug for more information. “So, Ryan,” she started with the basics, “where do you live? Around here? Me and David live a while away, but we’re staying with our aunt.” Ryan just stared, no longer eating. Maybe that was too forward a question, she thought. Kids don’t talk about where they live ... though Ryan doesn’t seem to talk at all. Before she could think of another question, some yelling caught everyone’s attention.
“You’re goddamn right I’m allowed! My wife is in there! I want to know how my wife is!”
Nicole, David and Ryan ran to the end of the hall leading to the medical centre. Six people stood with their backs to them. One man with a broken arm was yelling at the guard—a new orderly, switched in at some point during the night.
“There are no visiting hours, sir,” the orderly explained. Others had joined the man, presumably those who also had family in the blocked off room. “You’ll just have to wait until she is released.”
“Who the hell are you, huh?” someone in the crowd yelled.
“You can’t tell us what we can do!”
“Yeah, Will, get the hell out of the way!” Apparently, some people knew this orderly, but it didn’t make them any more pleasant toward him.
Will said, “Look, I’m sorry, but it’s not my decision. Doctor’s orders, okay?” Though his words were civil, there was a clear threat to them.
They made a good choice, putting this Will guy at the door. He’s calm, but it looks like he could snap, Nicole thought, as she watched him slowly back the small mob a few feet away.
The man with the broken arm apparently didn’t see Will the same way, and he rushed at him, knocking the orderly against the door. Quickly taking control of the situation, Will threw his arm around the man’s neck and walked him through the crowd, down the hall, away from the door. The remaining group followed, some protesting Will’s actions, their interest having turned from seeing family to
