Chapter Sixteen

Timmy slowly regained his strength, and as he did, he spent hours in front of the window, watching the duck in the bird bath. People stopped and stared, gawked and dropped pieces of bread for the duck. He never failed to put a smile on people’s face as they maneuvered through the snow banks on the edges of the sidewalks.

Eric walked out of Timmy’s room. He had been moved just one floor down, to the children’s ward and out of ICU, and Eric was looking for the drinking fountain. He looked down the corridor on his left, then turned around and began walking back past Timmy’s room to check the other side. A couple of nurses were huddled together talking in low voices as they checked supplies in the cupboard.

“I’m telling you, Iris. That kid’s strange. Six boxes of 3x3 guaze pads.”
“Check.” The other nurse marked the sheet. “What’s so strange about humming?”
“Ten boxes of gloves, size medium. Well, he doesn’t just hum, he taps his feet and moves his hands like he’s playing an instrument or directing an orchestra.”
“So what?” She made another mark on her sheet. “What about the larges?”
“It’s not normal, I’m telling you. He acts like he hears music but there’s nothing there.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ve got him tonight though, so I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Eric stood there embarrassed and angry. They were talking about Timmy, he knew they were. He was afraid to move and draw their attention. He should just sneak back to the room, but he really was thirsty.

One of the nurses turned and spotted him. With a startled look, she nudged the other nurse. “Shhh.” She smiled at him. “Do you need something?”

“Th-the drinking fountain?” he stammered.

“Just around the corner, you’re almost there.” She kept smiling her big fake smile pretending he hadn’t heard them.

Eric zipped around the corner then leaned against the wall. It was true. Timmy was different. He was getting a little weird before he got sick, but now…now he was just strange. Timmy had been asleep when he came in, but he could have sworn he was humming in his sleep, a secretive smirk on his face.

Eric was getting restless. Mrs. Reynolds picked him up from the hotel every morning and took him to school. After school he was dropped off at the hospital where he did his homework in the waiting room, spent time sitting in Timmy’s room before heading back to the hotel to sleep.

He wanted to go home. He was glad his brother was alive, but he wanted everything to be like it was before. He wanted to get up and take care of the animals, get ready for school and come home to do his chores and more homework.

The roads had cleared the day after they had come to town, but still they were here at the hospital every day. He hated that hotel bed with its faded coverlet and skimpy towels. He wanted his own room and his own bed.

Everything was changing. He could feel it in his bones and he didn’t like it. Once he had gone to the ocean with his cousins and had felt the tide pulling him out to sea. He tried to stand but kept falling, he tried to walk to shore but kept being pulled backwards and smothered by waves crashing over him and pulling him back. He had made it out by crawling to dry sand, finally escaping the tremendous power of the sea. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to crawl back to shore on this one. This tide was carrying them all somewhere they had never been.