Chapter 25.

Petey led us to the restrooms that were reserved for park staff, far away from the park's visitors. Jess started to follow us in until Petey's buddy, whose badge said he was 'Lester', pointed to the 'Men' sign and she sighed and crossed her arms, but stayed outside. "Call the airline and see whether we can get a flight out later this afternoon," I called to her as the three of us, who met the requirements of the sign, entered the restroom.

I wasn't sure why Lester had come with Petey and me, but it was none of my business. I just wanted to get the damned sample and leave. Although one more time on Harry Potter would be sweet if Petey could get me in without standing on line again.

I collected both a blood and a urine sample from the runaway dad, then added a swab from inside his mouth, and stowed them all in a small insulated bag I had with me. I didn't know whether there were park rules against taking the samples of bodily fluids here or carrying them through the park, but I was afraid that if we tried to arrange to meet Petey outside the park, he'd scamper.

"Is that it?" he asked.

"That's it," I said with a nod. "Of course, I wouldn't mind another ride before we go, but then we'll be out of your hair."

"Hey, it's the least you can do for them, Petey," his buddy told them. "Although I really think you should go see the kid if he's that sick and all."

I smiled a thank you to Lester for the effort. We walked out into the bright sunshine and Jess looked at us expectantly. "Got my samples," I told her. "And maybe a way to by-pass the line for the ride of your choice." I felt safe in saying that because I just knew she'd pick either Spidey or Harry Potter.

"You can do that for us?" she asked Petey and Lester with a big grin.

"Well, we'll do our best," Lester promised, although I could see that Petey just wanted us gone.

"Even the Spiderman ride? Or Harry Potter?" Jess asked excitedly. "They were both awesome!"

"Well, the easiest for us to get you into is the one we work on," Lester said.

Jess grinned again and looked to see whether that pleased me, too.

"That'll work for us," I told him, then turned to Petey, "And then we'll be flying off to New Jersey and it's possible we'll never bother you again."

He frowned, and let Lester approach the man who'd shooed us away from the Spiderman ride earlier in the day, before we'd found Petey. I could see the people in line look at us and wonder who we were to be treated like VIPs, as we were let in ahead of them all.

The ride was as much fun as the first time, surprising me because we knew what was about to happen. I would have asked to do it again if we didn't have to head for the airport and home. As we got off, Jess told me she'd arranged our flight home.

When we exited the ride, we thanked Lester. Petey was no where to be seen, not that I expected him to be. We left the park and took the moving walkways to the garage, then drove directly to the airport. It had been a smart move to check out of our motel in the morning and take our bags with us. Jess had been able to get us a four thirty flight and we'd have just enough time to drop-off the rental car and pick up our boarding passes.

"I'm glad we got in that last ride," Jess said, as we sat in the hard plastic chairs at the gate for our plane. "I have a feeling we won't have time for any fun again any time soon."

I nodded. She was right of course. I just hoped I'd find something in the samples I'd gotten from Petey to justify this trip. A thought occurred to me. "Jess, you and Nina said that Petey was a good student until the accident that killed your mother."

She winced at the bald way I'd put that, but nodded. "He wasn't the smartest, but he tried very hard, worked at his studies."

"Did he ever have episodes when he seemed out of it?" I asked.

She looked like she was going to say 'no', but then thought further about it. "We always chalked it up to a phase he was going through. He'd seem to withdraw, sometimes for an hour and other times, for as much as a couple of days. And then he'd just snap out of it."

"How old was he at the time?" House asked.

"Um, prepubescent, I'd say, ten, maybe," she replied.

It was something to consider. Had there been episodes earlier than that, ones she didn't remember because she was just a kid herself, self-absorbed by the changes in her own body as she went from child to teenager? Who would know? Maybe her father, but I didn't think I'd get that kind of information out of the man. Any information at all, if truth be told.

The boarding started, and since we were in first class again, Jess and I grabbed our bags, gave the gate attendant our boarding passes and made our way down the walkway and onto the plane. We settled into our seats, and I ordered a stiff drink, but Jess stuck with orange juice.

"Guess you're looking forward to getting back to New Jersey and away from me," I said.

"I wouldn't say that, exactly," she replied. "What I want is to see Chris for myself and find out what your team has been able to do for him."

I studied her face. She was quite serious. "You really care about that little boy, don't you?" I asked her.

"Don't you?"

I didn't have an answer that I was willing to share with her. After a while, she went back to sipping her juice and looking out the window. I don't know what was so interesting on the tarmac. She couldn't even see them loading the luggage. Seeing all those different bags moving up the conveyor could be cool.

Then the rabble started to file down the aisle to coach, pulling their rolling carry-ons behind them. I might have missed him if I hadn't looked up at exactly the right time. Or maybe not, because he came to a dead stop and looked past me in the aisle seat to his sister.

"Jess!" Petey exclaimed.