Chapter 36: Angelica & Dr. El-Saadawi

In which Angelica talks to the doctor, talks to Will, and drives the kids home

The hospital allows no more than four visitors in a room at a time without a doctor's approval, and Angelica really hadn't expected eight grubby, shabby, soaking-wet teenagers to inspire any exceptions to be made.

But Dr. El-Saadawi had surprised her.

"Thank you," Angelica tells her as the kids file into Will's room. "I know this means a lot to them."

Dr. El-Saadawi nods curtly. "I'm glad he has someone to visit him," she says. She sighs, and sits down in one of the chairs outside the room. "The police got back to me. Turns out he's a runaway."

"I see," says Angelica, also sitting down. She'd expected as much. "Runaway from where, if you know? Foster care, home...?"

"Home. Nineteen months ago. There's a missing person's report."

"So he does have a family."

But the doctor shakes her head. "None living. Father died a few months after he left. Police couldn't find any other relatives."

Grimly, Angelica wonders if Will knows about his dad. Wonders what drove him to run away. "And he's eighteen?" she asks, just to be sure.

"Turned eighteen earlier this month," the doctor confirms. She hesitates for a moment, then glances at Angelica. "There's something I was hoping you might talk to him about," she says slowly. "A hospital social worker met with him while you were gone. Explained about possible next steps— treatment, support groups, that sort of thing. He said he wasn't interested."

"You want me to try and get him to reconsider?"

"If you can." The doctor sighs again. "You said he's homeless. I'm sure you know that without any rehab or formal support, the chances of relapse..."

"I know," Angelica says softly. "I know." And she does. She knows that getting clean on the streets is difficult enough, but staying clean is almost unheard of. She knows that being discharged from the hospital is only the first step in a long, uphill battle for Will.

"I don't want to see him back here in a month, and hear that this time we couldn't save him," says Dr. El-Saadawi.

The words make Angelica's stomach curdle. She swallows. "I'll talk to him."

o - o - o

9 PM arrives and visiting hours end and it's time for the kids to go. Angelica holds the door open as one by one, they each hug Will goodbye and join her in the doorway.

"I want you to keep this," says one of the girls as she lets go of Will's shoulders — Nomi, Angelica thinks she said her name was. She slips a colorful bracelet off her arm, then gently takes Will's limp hand in her own and slides the bracelet onto his wrist. "At least until you get out."

Will nods dutifully, wide-eyed.

"We'll see you tomorrow," says Riley from the doorway, and Will nods again. Then, slowly, the eight of them leave his room, waving over their shoulders, calling out final goodbyes, obviously trying their best to put on a cheerful front.

Angelica hangs back. "I'll be right out," she tells the kids. "I'm just gonna talk to Will for a second."

They nod, and Angelica closes the door. Will stares at her. His eyes are red. Angelica guesses he's been crying.

"Hey, kiddo," she says. "How're you feeling?"

Will shrugs. "Fine." He pauses, then looks down. "Thank you," he mumbles. "For bringing them."

"You're welcome," Angelica tells him, as if anyone could have seen those kids and not done the same.

There's a moment of silence. Angelica clears her throat. "So," she says. "Your doctor said you should be getting released tomorrow."

Will just nods.

"She also said you don't want to try out any kind of treatment program."

"I don't."

"Why not?"

"Because," Will snaps. "I don't need rehab."

"If I may," says Angelica. "I think you should reconsider. If your long-term sobriety is important to you, I really, really think—"

"I don't need rehab," Will repeats. He gestures toward the door. "I need them."

And Angelica's not sure how to argue with that.

o - o - o

The car ride back is quiet, for the most part. The kids whisper amongst themselves. Angelica makes occasional small-talk.

There are questions she'd love to ask, like how long have you guys known each other and how did you meet, because something about these kids, the way they interact with each other, the way they seem to understand each other, is unlike anything she's ever seen. Alliances on the streets are supposed to be tenuous and self-serving, formed only out of necessity, yet the bond between these kids seems anything but 'tenuous.'

She keeps her curiosity to herself though, because personal questions are not the way to get answers from distrustful kids.

"I can't believe it's still raining," she says instead, conversationally.

"I know," agrees the boy sitting beside her. Lito, his name was. "And in August too."

"I hope it stops soon," says the curly-haired girl, Kala. She pauses. "I love rain, usually. But it makes everything so... wet."

By everything, Angelica assumes she means the church. And suddenly all she can do is imagine these kids curling up tonight in sopping wet sleeping bags on the floor of that godforsaken building, imagine the inch-deep water seeping into their skin and keeping them awake, with nothing to do but worry about Will…

"Come home with me," she says abruptly. "Just for tonight."

The kids go silent.

"I have a guest room and a sofa bed," she tells them. She knows it's a long shot, knows that a typical group of street kids would never, ever agree to stay at a virtual stranger's house, not unless they felt unfathomably desperate. But at least she can try. "It's nice and warm," she offers cajolingly. "There'll be food, pillows, blankets..."

"We've already got blankets," mutters the boy named Wolfgang. There's a pause. Then, quietly: "Why?" he asks.

Why. Angelica glances at him in the rearview mirror. Why would you let a bunch of homeless kids stay in your own house, is what he's asking.

We're not worth it, is what he's implying.

"Because I hate to think of you guys getting rained on in that church," Angelica says simply. "I figure if I have somewhere you can stay, why not let you stay there?"

The silence that follows feels almost electrified, buzzing with the weight of a hundred unasked questions and unvoiced fears. "But only if you want to, of course," Angelica adds.

"We want to," says Lito, a hint of panic in his voice, as though he's afraid she's going to rescind the offer if he doesn't speak up quickly enough. "Please."

Angelica shoots him an encouraging smile. Then she glances back in the rearview mirror. "And how about the rest of you?" she asks, though somehow she knows that Lito wouldn't have said yes if he weren't already sure that his friends were on the same page. "Does that sound alright, coming back to my place?"

"Yes," says Kala tentatively. "It— it sounds wonderful."

"Thank you," says Riley.

"Yeah," grunts Wolfgang. He clears his throat. "Thanks."

"Of course," Angelica says. For a brief moment, she wonders what she's gotten herself into.

Then, she changes lanes, and starts toward home.