Kate followed the ambulance and didn’t let it out of her sight. She thought again she could have easily driven Ben to the hospital.
She ended up losing the ambulance once they got into town. They couldn’t be more than a couple of minutes ahead. Still, it surprised Kate to find he was already with the nurse by the time they arrived at the hospital. She sat Jack and Stephen in the waiting room and went to go fill out forms and answer questions. Between interviews, she called her husband to bring him up to speed.
In the waiting room Jack and Stephen couldn't focus on reading so they ended up talking in hushed tones.
“This place is empty today,” said Jack. “It’s usually really busy.”
“I wonder what he’s doing right now?” asked Stephen.
“He’s probably up to level six at least,” said Jack. Stephen had packed Jack’s handheld video game console, and they had given it to Ben before he got in the ambulance.
“I really started to get worried when he wasn’t crying or anything,” said Stephen. “I think that’s shock, when the person isn’t really reacting to the injury and stuff.”
“I can’t believe he got out of that hole,” said Jack. “By the end he could barely even jump across the gap. I thought he was going to fall in there.”
“I know,” said Stephen. “When I grabbed him I was like—he almost fell backwards.”
“Yeah.”
**********
Ben was drifting off to sleep when Kate found him in the examination room. He had the room in the corner, separated from the others by curtains. Equipment surrounded Ben. Kate sat down in a chair close to his side.
She hunched forward, her bag on the floor between her feet. She stared at Ben, watching him breathe; her hands were folded between her knees.
The curtains rustled and Kate sat up straight. She was surprised to see Dr. Lambert—the man who had seen Jack when he fell out of the loft. Kate stood up.
Dr. Lambert set down his papers on the edge of the bed and flipped through until he found the file he was looking for. “Ms. Randolph?”
“Yes,” Kate answered. “We met last month—with Jack?”
“Oh, right, Jack. How is his arm?”
“Perfect, thank you. He’s doing quite well,” she answered.
“So this is his brother?” he asked, skimming the documents in front of him.
“No, this is his friend, Ben Palmer. He’s staying with us for the summer,” she replied.
Ben stayed quiet through this exchange.
“Hello Ben,” Lambert went to Ben’s left side and extended his hand.
They shook and Ben said “Hi.”
“You hit your head?” the doctor asked.
“Yeah, I was running and I tripped,” said Ben.
“Anything else hurt?”
“I think my neck hurts a little,” said Ben.
“Okay, well let’s get you checked out.”
**********
“Do you think he’ll stick to the story?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, I think so. He said he would,” Stephen replied.
“I don’t know though. He said all that stuff to the sheriff that time,” said Jack.
“Yeah, but that was a surprise. We had a chance to plan this one.”
“I guess,” said Jack. “Do you want to go back to the hotel once this is done?”
“Do you?” asked Stephen.
“Yeah, I want to figure out the rest of it.”
“Me too. But Ben’s never going to go back there,” said Stephen. “He quit after that other time, and he’s really been against it for a while.”
“Yeah, but he’ll probably be laid up for a while anyway,” said Jack. “Maybe we can just go without him.”
“No way. That will never work,” protested Stephen. “Your mom will want us to stay home with him and make sure he’s not bored and junk.”
“Maybe his mom will make him go home because he got hurt. Do you think she would do that?” asked Jack.
“I barely know her, but she doesn’t seem really overprotective like that,” said Stephen.
“Yeah, that’s totally true,” said Jack. “I have another friend who was in the hospital like Ben and his mom won’t let him leave the house or anything. She barely even lets him go to school and then she always picks him up and stuff. Ben’s mom is just like ‘Whatever.’”
“What was wrong with him anyway? He just told me that he was sick.”
“His appendix burst, and then he had all these infections and stuff,” said Jack.
“Oh wow,” said Stephen.
“Yeah, he almost died because they let him out after like five days, but then he had another infection and had to go back for all these antibiotics,” continued Jack. “Then they let him out again and he kept having problems so they put him back in for like two weeks. It was crazy. After that he was like ‘I’m never going back to a hospital again.’”
“I’ve heard him say that. But I didn’t know why,” said Stephen.
“I wish he wasn’t so down about the hotel though,” said Jack.
“Yeah, but we can’t dog him. Especially if he’s hurt,” said Stephen. “Let’s just find out what he wants to do.”
**********
After examining Ben, Dr. Lambert pulled Kate aside to talk about treatment. “Based on his injuries, I’m going to recommend some cleanup, and a few sutures to close that cut on his scalp. He’s had a bit of a concussion, so I’d like him to stay overnight for observation.”
“Will he have a scar on his head?” Kate asked.
“Not much at all. Only a small part is below his hairline, and there’s not much necrotic tissue to debride there. All the jargon aside, I'm just saying that I think it will be just a tiny white line in a few years. You’ll want to keep him out of the sun for several days, and a hat if he does go outside. Sun damage is your worst enemy at this point.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“Now I see you have an emergency treatment waiver from his mother—do you want to exercise that, or would you prefer to wait until she arrives?”
“I haven’t been able to reach her. I’ve left several messages. I suppose we could call his father,” she replied.
“Well from our perspective the guardian has to be here in person. You can authorize, or if either of his parents comes here, they can authorize as well. There’s not a huge time crunch, but the sooner we get going, the more comfortable he’s going to be. It’s twenty-til now, can you get me a decision by two o’clock?”
“Sure, yes, I’ll do that,” said Kate, pulling out her phone.
“Please hold off on using your phone until you’re past those doors,” Dr. Lambert pointed.
“Oh, of course—sorry,” said Kate, embarrassed.
“No problem. Just get word to the nurse’s station when you’re ready.”
**********
“What do you think is past the maze?” asked Jack.
“I don’t know. I was thinking about it, and when we go in, the first thing we do is go straight to the ground floor, right?”
“Yeah, the drawing room is probably right at ground level,” answered Jack.
“Then, we go up one floor, and another, and we’re in the attic.”
“Yeah.”
“But then the pit is what, forty feet deep?” asked Stephen.
“Yeah, about that.”
“So, it seems like the place goes deeper than the drawing room. And then we go down the stairs, and into the maze. I think there’s at least two more levels,” Stephen said.
“Well aren’t some of the levels on the same floor? Like the spiral room and the maze are really on the same floor, and then the latest thing—the vents with the traps—that’s on the same floor too,” said Jack.
“True, true. I guess I mean two more floors then,” said Stephen.
Jack was about to speak when he saw his mom approaching.
“Who’s got Ben’s phone? I need to call his dad,” she said.
Stephen pawed through the bag and produced the phone. Kate scrolled through the numbers until she found the entry marked “Dad.”
“Thanks,” she handed the phone back to Stephen.
“What’s going on, mom?” asked Jack.
“Tell you in a minute,” said his mom as she headed towards the automatic doors to the outside.
“We should go see him,” said Jack.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to,” cautioned Stephen.
“Who cares, come on,” Jack rose.
“We don’t even know where he is,” said Stephen.
Stephen was half out of his seat when Jack’s mom came back through the doors. “I can’t get him—straight to voicemail,” she said.
“He’s probably working,” said Jack. “Ben never bothers to try him until after eight, because of the time difference.”
“Well, keep an ear out for Ben’s phone—I told him that if he can’t reach me he should try Ben’s, and you would get me the message. I can’t use my phone in the exam area.”
“Sure, no problem. Is Ben okay?” asked Jack.
“Oh, yes, he’s going to be fine, but I wanted to get one of his parents on the phone before they give him stitches.”
“Is it going to take a lot?” asked Stephen.
“I don’t know—they didn’t say,” Kate replied. “Okay, so you boys sit tight—are you hungry?”
“Not yet,” said Jack. “We brought snacks.”
“Excellent, good work,” she said. “You hold tight and I will let you know what’s going on in a minute. If you hear from Ben’s mom or dad, come through these doors and find me.” she pointed. “There’s a nurse’s station through there and you can ask them. Okay?”
“Okay mom,” said Jack.
“Sure, Mrs. Randolph,” said Stephen.
Kate strode back to the examination area, turning off her phone on the way. She turned when she got to the double-doors and waved goodbye to Jack and Stephen.
“You know what I just realized?” asked Jack.
“What?”
“The money is supposed to be refilled tomorrow,” said Jack.
“Is that tomorrow?”
“Yup,” said Jack. “Whether or not Ben comes back with us, I think we should find a way to check it.”
“Deal,” said Stephen. “I guess we’re not going to be able to stake the place out though.”
“Yeah—too bad,” said Jack.
**********
After another hour, Kate came out to check on Jack and Stephen and tell them that Ben was about to get stitches. An hour after that she came out to announce that they could go see him. She led the boys up to room two seventeen in the pediatric ward. They found their friend stretched out on a bed and watching television.
“Are you going to stay here?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, they want me to stay overnight for observation,” said Ben. “Just one night though.”
“That’s cool,” said Stephen.
“You got a private room?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, it’s great, I can watch TV all night,” said Ben.
“Not
all
night,” interjected Kate.
“Did you play the game at all?” asked Jack.
“No, I didn’t get a chance. Shoot, I don’t know what I did with it,” Ben said, nervous.
“I put it in the closet with your clothes,” said Jack’s mom. “That reminds me: Jack, I’ll take Ben’s phone now.”
Jack dug the phone out of his pocket and handed it to his mom. “How many stitches did you get?” asked Jack. “Too bad you have that bandage on, we can’t even see everything.”
“Yeah, how does it look?” asked Stephen.
“I got four stitches, and it looks okay I guess,” said Ben. “They didn’t cut much hair off at all.”