Garfield

It's not like he didn't know this could happen, but it still doesn't feel real at first. After Richard leaves it's time for dinner. He's still not allowed to sit next to Raven. Ms. Reeves makes her sit with the girls in her room. He sits with the boys he shares a room with.

"Aren't you jealous? If you weren't an ugly green booger maybe you could have gone too," one of the boys says. They keep making comments about that, but he doesn't really hear them. He's still thinking about what all this means... Richard is gone. They almost killed a man. The Daytons are coming to see him next week.

The next morning, he wonders if the guy above him wet the bed or if someone is playing a prank on him. His blankets are completely drenched. His pajamas are the same. They stick to his skin and he smells. He usually showers at night, but this morning, he takes a quick shower.

Even after a shower his head feels foggy. He'd had a hard time falling asleep. The uncertainty of the future was unsettling. Never, had he ever thought he would miss he mundane routine of chores and homework, seeing his two friends in the library, doing the same things every day, but now he did. He missed it so much it hurt.

It takes him longer than usual to get dressed. His limbs feel sluggish and his fingers don't feel like they're moving quite right. He must be more tired than he thought. Maybe their adventure is finally catching up with him. The rest of the morning is the same. He walks slower and his breakfast tray feels like it weights twenty pounds, he even chews slower. By the time he gets to class his head is throbbing. Maybe it's not just that he's tired, maybe he's sick.

That thought brings panic to his chest. Being really sick is what changed him. It turned him into the "green booger" his roommates liked to call him. He'd almost died. Only because his parents were genius doctors, was he still breathing, but they're not around anymore... If he gets sick like that again, he probably really will die.

Raven

Class has started. There's whispering in the back. I look towards Garfield's seat. His face is bright red, eyes half-closed and cheeks look a little swollen. Mr. West is talking, but his lecture isn't important. I get up and go to the back of the room.

"What are you doing?" Mr. West asks.

"Sir, I think something's wrong with Garfield." The boy sitting next to Garfield says. I put my hand on his head. It's so hot. Mr. West is next to us in seconds.

"Garfield... Garfield..." Mr. West tries to rouse him, but he doesn't respond. Before I can blink, he's picked Garfield up and is carrying him out of the room. I hurry to follow.

"Go back to the classroom," he tells me, but I ignore him. "Go back to the classroom." He takes him to the living room and puts him on the sofa. He leaves for a minute and comes back with an ice pack, that he places on Garfield's head.

"I mean it, go back to the classroom." I sit on the floor because I'm not going anywhere. He makes an annoyed sound, but he stops arguing with me. He leaves the room and comes back with a thermometer, placing it in front of Garfield's head. It beeps and I sense fear. He leaves the room.

I go over to Garfield. Beads of sweat pool along his forehead under the ice pack. His cheeks are still looking swollen and his face his still blushed with red.

"Garfield." He doesn't stir. I touch his hand. It's as hot as is face. "Garfield." Still, nothing.

"Don't touch him, we don't know if it's contagious," Mr. West is back, he has Ms. Reeves with him.

"Get out of here and go back to the classroom," she orders. I sit down again, because I'm not leaving him. They fuss over him and then the front door opens. Unfamiliar people enter the building, but it's not them. They come in the room with a big bed on wheels and Garfield is whisked on top of it. They start rolling him towards the front door.

"Where are they taking him?" I ask Mr. West.

"The hospital, he's very sick," Mr. West says as we follow them. I watch them wheel him out the door. Ms. Reeves follows them and closes the door behind her. The lights start to flicker. I take a slow deep breath. I need to calm down...

"Come on, let's go back to class." Mr. West leads the way. I don't know what else to do, so I follow him. He tries to teach, but no one is listening is, so eventually he just puts a movie on until lunch.

I don't go eat. Instead, I head to the library. If I sit in my normal seat, will they come back? Is there a way to make everything go back to the way it was before? I put my head down on the table. I should have put one of the walkie-talkies in his pocket, then maybe he'd be able to talk to me when he wakes up. If Richard was here, maybe we could sneak out and go find him in the hospital. Somehow, he would find out where Garfield is and get us there, just like how he found his parent's murderer.

When lunch is over Mr. West is stricter and doesn't allow for distractions, but it doesn't mean that anyone actually learns anything. The other kids are scared of getting sick. They keep putting their hands to their foreheads. They already saw so many people die this year, next it could be them. What if Garfield dies...?

Garfield
Garfield doesn't remember coming to the hospital. There must have been an ambulance or car ride. What happened to get him here is also a blur. His head feels like he got hit with a hammer. His heart rate won't go down. Every beep of the machines reminds him of what it sounds like when people 'flat line' on TV. His fever is down though and the infection is being treated with antibiotics being pumped through his veins. Mr. And Mrs. Dayton are here too... They took up chairs on either side of his bed. She runs her hands through his hair and squeezes his hand. For a minute, he forgets where he is, forgets what had already happened. He'd thought she was his mom. He'd even said it out loud. That made Mrs. Dayton cry and then he remembered everything. No, his mother isn't here.

A few days after his arrival at the hospital. He's feeling better. Mrs. Dayton has helped him sit up and put a tray of food in front of him. It's not hospital food, but food she made herself, when the hospital's vegan options proved to be few and far between. Now that he's able to think clearly and his head doesn't feel like it's going to explode, he has time to think about things and wonder why they're still here and why they came at all.

"Looks like you're feeling much better today." Mr. Dayton walks into the room. He's got a checkers board under his arm. Garfield nods.

"The doctor says he just needs to stay one more night and then he can finish recovering at home." Mrs. Dayton looks up from her phone.

"Good to hear," Mr. Dayton says. "Did you already tell him?" Mrs. Dayton shakes her head. Garfield looks between them. Tell him what?

"Garfield, you're not going back to Sunny Oaks. You're coming home with us." He hears the words Mrs. Dayton says, but he can't believe them...

"You scared the hell out of us when you took off. I've still got an earful to give you about that, but it can wait until you're really feeling better," Mr. Dayton says. Mrs. Dayton gives him a warning look and he sighs and puts the checker board down.

"I don't understand?" Garfield's head was feeling better, but now it's all foggy and confused again. He's not going back?

"You don't have to go back there. We'll take care of you from now on." Mrs. Dayton takes his hand and gives is a squeeze. "We bought a house in Gotham. We travel a lot, as you know, but you can go to the same school as Richard."

"You don't have to call us Mom and Dad, Steve and Rita, Sir and Ma'am, whatever you want..." Mr. Dayton says. "But we'll be your family now."

"..." Garfield isn't sure what to say. He can go to school with Richard. He can have a family again? He's going to live in a house in Gotham? Not at Sunnay Oaks?

"Say something," Mrs. Dayton says. Tears stream down his face and she wipes them away with her hand. He never thought anyone would want him after his parents died. He figured he would just live at Sunny Oaks until he turned eighteen and then that would be that...

"Can we get a dog?" That makes them laugh.

"We'll see." Mr. Dayton puts a hand on his shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

Raven

The weekend is spent trying to prevent myself from falling asleep. The last time I tried this, it did not end well. Richard and Garfield aren't here to save me this time, but I don't know what else to do. The nightmares are different this time. There's no sound. No screams. Instead of different variations on how he plans to shape this world into his own, the same dream plays on repeat.

Hunger does not stop the sleep from coming. Cold icy water does not stop the pull of sleep. Poking and pinching my skin does not stop the pull of sleep. Is there anything that can make this go away? I repeat the spell Mrs. Huntington did, but it's no use.

On Monday when we get to class Mr. West is grinning ear to ear, which is not unusual for him, but the happiness emanating from him is so great, I can't think of any time I've ever felt such joy from a person.

"Good morning class," he fidgets and dances this way and that. "I have some good news for you this morning." The class straightens up and looks at him curiously. "Garfield has made a full recovery." I sense relief. Though they might not have been nice to him, no one wants another kid here to die. "He won't be coming back though. He's been adopted." The other kids are mixture of happy and jealous. I'm devastated... He's not coming back? Not even to say goodbye?

He doesn't come back... Surely, he will come to at least say goodbye to me, but by Thursday he doesn't come. Maybe Mr. West lied. Maybe he did die or maybe something bad happened to him. He could have been happy about something else. He barely knew Garfield, so why would he feel so happy about that... He doesn't know it was Garfield's dream to be adopted. He doesn't know anything...

Thursday after class I sit next to the shelves in the library. I haven't done my chores all week and if someone notices, maybe they won't find me here... The door opens. It's not Ms. Reeves or Ms. Kinders though, it's Mr. West. He walks around for a minute before finding me. I don't look at him, because I'm hoping he'll go away.

"Hi" he says. "I want to talk to you for a minute, can I sit down?" He waits, but when I don't answer, he sits down anyway.

"..."

"I heard that Richard is doing well. He's starting school next week. Garfield's going to go to the same school. They'll be starting on the same day too." What? So, they get to stay together. That's good. "You must have been sad, so I wanted to let you know they were doing alright."

"Thanks..." I am happy they're doing alright, but I'm still sad. They promised we'd stay in touch, but Garfield didn't even say goodbye and Richard hasn't ever called the phone he left behind.

"They'll be alright and you'll probably be out of here soon yourself." What? I want to ask him what that means, but the door opens again. It's not Ms. Reeves or Ms. Kinders. The man with the eye-patch, Mr. Wilson is here. He walks around the library like Mr. West did and stops when he finds us.

"Hello, can I help you?" Mr. West asks. He stands up.

"I came to visit," Mr. Wilson says.

"How kind of you," Mr. West says, but I sense he's just as unhappy to see this guest as I am. Does he know he's a bad person too? "I'm Wally West. I started teaching here a few weeks ago."

"Slade Wilson." They shake hands. "I've just begun filling out the paperwork for that one. I'd intended two others as well, but I didn't move fast enough." What? I look at Mr. West. Is that what he'd meant when he said I wouldn't be here much longer either?

"I'm aware. Unfortunately, it looks like there may be a delay," Mr. West says. I get up and leave the room. If they think I'm going to leave with that man, they're wrong...