In the silence that followed that speech, Alex looked to Jared. His head was down once again as if he was ashamed of something. He wrung his hands on the straps of his backpack. Looking at the bag, Alex wondered why he hadn’t thought to go into the centre to get a bag for himself. Or protective gear. Or why this was only a two-person job. Maybe it was just so that Jared could save face, just in case the food run ended up failing. Maybe—
Jared cut off his thoughts. “You know I failed, right? In school?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Grade 2?”
“Yeah,” Jared replied with a grin. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
“I guess.”
“How do you even fail Grade 2?” Jared asked, kicking a rock down the street.
Alex shrugged.
“I missed a lot of the year.” Jared said, slowing his steps.
Alex nodded, not sure where the conversation was going.
Jared sighed. “Like, two full months, almost at the end of the year. My little brother ... he got really sick. Some kind of blood thing. They weren’t sure what it was. Just that there was something wrong with his blood. They didn’t even know that much for a while. He just got sick all the time. Like, colds and flus and stuff. He had fever. He was ... I guess he was four. He didn’t grow that much and it was ... it was shitty.
“He had to go to the kid’s hospital in Halifax. Once a month for like a year. Then, way more. Then, they just kept him there. My mom lived there with him, at first. They made a room for the two of them and she stayed there. Then she got sick and they couldn’t let her stay in the wing with the sick little kids ‘cause that might make them sicker. Then my dad had to go up, and me and my sister stayed with my grandpa. Well, my grandpa stayed at our house with us ‘cause his house was small.
“After a week of that, Grandpa got a call and said we had to go to Halifax, too. I think he was crying when he was on the phone, but I don’t really remember. When we got there, we went straight to the hospital. I went there once, the year before with my brother and my mom, but this time felt ... different? I think the first time I went, I was excited. Like it was a fun trip or something. This time, it felt bad. Really bad. My dad met us at the door and he looked really sad, but he tried to smile. I hate that. Like they think it’s going to fool you or something. But I smiled back at him anyway. He seemed like he needed it.
“He took us upstairs to some waiting room. All kinds of these weird blue-green chairs that looked like they were supposed to be comfortable, but they weren’t at all. You ever been to the children’s hospital in Halifax, Alex?”
Alex shook his head, now fixed on Jared’s story as they went.
“It’s not great. I guess it’s good for kids who are sick or whatever, but I don’t like it. I guess that makes sense, though.
“I asked when we were gonna go see my mom or Jason—that’s my brother—and he said that we were gonna go soon, but he just wanted to tell us to not be scared or anything when we saw him. That he was still Jason and that everything was okay.
“We went into this small room, and there was this little glass box, or plastic or whatever, and my mom was sitting next to it. Her eyes were so red, like she’d been crying for a long time. We went over to her, and my sister gave her a hug, and I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I stared into that glass box thing. Jason was in it and he had all these tubes and stuff going into him. He looked really weird and pale. Mom said that he was sleeping, and I guess he was, but I just thought he was dead.”
He paused and took a deep breath before continuing.
“He wasn’t. Not then.
“They set up this little house for us near the hospital. We were there for a while, and it was weird. Me and my sister kept asking when we were going home. We were little, right? So it made sense then. My dad said we’d go home soon. I didn’t know what we were waiting for. Not until it happened. We were waiting for my brother to die.
“By then I was out of school for, like, two months, and with all the time I missed before going to Halifax with Jason on other visits and staying at home with him and stuff, I wasn’t allowed to pass that year. It sucked, but you know, I got to see my little brother just before ... you know ... and I got to help my family. You know why I’m telling you all this, Alex?”
Alex had been in a daze as he heard this horribly sad story, and was surprised when he heard his own name. “What?” he asked, shaking it off.
“I’m telling you because I want you to know that I know how to help out and put others before me.” Jared stopped and looked at Alex. “I’m not that bad a guy, right?”
Alex looked back at Jared and realized that he was waiting for a response. To be assured that he was not a bad guy. He needed Alex to tell him that. Alex didn’t know what to say. “I guess not,” he finally said, although he didn’t sound convincing even to himself.
“Thanks,” Jared said, putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder before he
