“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Martin.”
“Nice to meet you, Martin. My name’s Chris.”
“Thanks.”
“How long did you wait?”
“What?”
“It took them four hours to get me on a Unit.”
“Oh, the waiting room. I don’t know.” He looks at the
phone booth. “When can I use the phone?”
“What?”
“Why?”
“I’m not really sure. Most of us don’t make calls.”
I frown. “No.”
“No children?”
“What’re their names?”
“James and Alicia.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
I bite my lip. “I’m sorry.”
Somewhere in the hospital, a woman screams. The
intercom crackles: “Code Green on Unit One. Code Green on Unit
Martin shivers. “It’s okay.”
“What’s James like?”
“He wants to be a paleontologist.”
I laugh. “Smart kid?”
His eyes brighten. “Very. He’ll talk for hours about
dinosaur feeding patterns, hunting and mating habits. He nearly
“What about Alicia?”
“She’s a big reader. She aced her reading exams last year.
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