"How's the little one from over the hall?"

"Oh, same old, same old. I can't get hold of him mother, though, and we need her permission to administer that new medication. It's such a pain when people don't pick up the phone, don't you think?"

"Yeah... Poor boy."

"He's talking about his dad again, too."

"Oh, really? How long's it been?"

"It's been a while, sure... Never even mentions him in anything official. Never has done. The doctor's tried to bring it up, but the only thing we get is when we overhear him talking to himself."

"He is kinda loud, isn't he..."

"Crying, screaming, the works. Ever since he first came in, he's done that, though."

"What was he saying this time?"

"He sounded upset... Kept asking why he didn't love him."

"Oh, poor kid. Oh, that's sad."

"Never says 'daddy', or 'dad' either."

"Well, what does he say then? How do you know if he's even talking about his dad?"

"It's always 'the tall man', that's how we know. It's just a guess, but who else could it be? He always replaces 'dad' with 'the tall man'... Weird, am I right?"