Three-Legged Race

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.