Ch. 7
"And so that's how it's been so far." Mrs. Ladybug sighed and sat back a bit in the cushioned chair set across from Ms. Gould's desk. "I know Dylan must be upset about his grandmother, but this behavior of his is inexcusable."
"My goodness, I wasn't expecting this." Ms. Gould sat back in her own chair, shaking her head. "When I met with Dylan at his home, he was pouty, but quiet."
"Was he watching television?"
"Well, yes, but he never threw a fit here at the hospital either."
"How long did Dylan's visit with his grandmother last?"
"Not as long as either would have liked, I'm sure. From what I understand, though, she's having more tests done today and you're bringing Dylan to visit tomorrow, correct?"
"That's the idea. But I noticed Dylan never once asked for his grandmother or mentioned missing her."
"He didn't?" Ms. Gould frowned and tapped her fingers against her desk. "That's odd, given he's never been away from her before."
"I know. But his tantrums all centered around not being able to stay up late or having to go to school. And I will not tolerate Dylan's disrespecting poor James like he did this morning."
"And nor should you. Hmmm." Ms. Gould frowned for a few moments, then stood up. "Maybe we should check in on Amelia Anderson and see if she's up for answering a few questions."
"Yes, let's do that."
Together, Ms. Gould and Mrs. Ladybug left the case worker's office and headed for the wing of private rooms at the far end of the hospital. No sooner had they stepped into the hallway when a middle-aged doctor with salt-and-pepper hair and a pair of glasses emerged from one of the rooms. Catching side of the duo, he waved.
"Oh, Dr. Ladybug, I was just on my way to see you. And good, Rachel, you're here as well."
"Hello, Dr. Harmond. What can we do for you?"
"Well, it's about Mrs. Anderson."
"We were just on our way to see her," Mrs. Ladybug said. "Is she alright? I know she had tests done today."
"Yes, well, about that," Dr. Harmond said with a sigh. "As far as we can tell, she has no life-threatening illness nor does she have a past injury that's now causing her pain. However, she's been running a constant fever, has little appetite and is complaining of general aches and pains, particularly in her lower back. I can't say for sure what's causing these symptoms, only that her body is not fighting off the sickness. We're waiting on the results of her latest blood and urine tests and if I'm correct..."
"Kidney stones?" Mrs. Ladybug asked.
"I'm hoping that's all it could be. But even so, it would mean Mrs. Anderson would have to remain in the hospital until she either passes the stones naturally or we will have to operate. As such, I don't see her being discharged by Sunday, as we originally planned."
"I see," Mrs. Ladybug said with a sigh. "So then, it seems my family will be looking after Dylan for a bit longer than a week."
"I'm afraid so. I just don't feel comfortable sending her home so soon and I will say that Amelia Anderson is currently in no shape to be looking after a child."
"Will I still be able to bring Dylan in to visit her tomorrow afternoon?"
"As of now, I would say so. I'll monitor her condition and let you know if anything changes, but an hour or so with her grandson should do her some good."
"Would it be possible for us to speak to Amelia now?" Ms. Gould asked.
"I'm afraid not. After all the tests, she was in some pain, so I've given her a sedative. Is something the matter?"
"I'm afraid we've had problems with her grandson's behavior," Mrs. Ladybug answered. "As I was just telling Rachel, he's been quite difficult. I've no doubt he's upset about his current circumstances, but nor has he really asked to see his grandmother."
"Really?" Dr. Harmond frowned at this. "That's a bit strange, I'll admit. Was he difficult when you brought him here, Rachel?"
"No, but now that you mention it, Dr. Ladybug, he did have a bag of cookies in his backpack and was focused on those."
"Oh he did, did he? And here I thought he hadn't had any sweets that day. Tell me, does Mrs. Anderson have a television set in her room?"
"Yes, all the private rooms do," Dr. Harmond replied.
"I see. No wonder he wasn't fussing then."
"I'm very sorry about this," Ms. Gould said with a sigh. "He brought the cookies from home and his grandmother said he could have them. And with everything happening..."
"You don't need to apologize, Rachel, I would've thought the same thing." Mrs. Ladybug shook her head. "Goodness knows we've all seen children have to sit in here while their parents or siblings were in distress and in such cases, a treat is not only welcome, but something I would almost consider necessary. And his neighbor didn't complain of any tantrums or fits?"
"No, but Mrs. Anderson was only admitted this past Sunday. She'd been feeling sick for a few days, but from what I understand the neighbor looking after Dylan was also being paid as a part-time housekeeper and would just let him be during the afternoon."
"Likely in front of his own television set," Mrs. Ladybug concluded with a nod. "Well, I'm afraid Dylan will have to get used to living differently with us."
"Then, you don't mind keeping him with you?" Ms. Gould asked.
"Of course not; we're not going to turn him away just because of some bad behavior. Dylan's a child and if his grandmother allowed him to behave a certain way, that's not his fault. A bit of nuisance, yes, but something that can be corrected. It'll just take time, that's all."
"And time you will have." Dr. Harmond consulted his chart. "I expect the results of Mrs. Anderson's tests by Wednesday morning at the latest. If I'm right and it's just kidney stones, we'll still have to wait and see if surgery is needed. Thankfully, the recovery time for such an operation isn't too long, but strenuous activity should be avoided."
"But you said you may have doubts if what's ailing is Mrs. Anderson is kidney stones, correct?"
"I'm hopeful that the problem is kidney stones," Dr. Harmond clarified. "But there could be another cause or she could have kidney stones as well as another illness, hence all the tests. But I can say that Amelia Anderson is unlikely to be back on her feet anytime soon. Even without the sedative I gave her, she was quite worn out. If her grandson has the tendency to be difficult when not given his way, as you've noted, Dr. Ladybug, then I cannot recommend he be returned to her care at the moment."
"I understand. Thank you, Dr. Harmond."
"Of course. I'll let you know if anything changes, but as of now, a short visit is the best I can do for the two of them."
"Then I'll have to wait until tomorrow to speak with Amelia as well. Perhaps it's for the best; if Dylan won't listen to us, maybe he'll be more inclined to listen to his grandmother."
"Why don't I come with you then as well?" Ms. Gould asked. "I wat to keep a record of this. If Dylan's behavior is as bad as you say, it's best to have it documented in case anything goes wrong."
"Let's hope it doesn't."
But of course, it would.
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"Looks like everything's in order, sir."
"Yeah, looks like it. But what about-"
"The shelters are all fully stocked."
"Uh-huh, and the-"
"Plumbers have been inspecting pipes all week and generator sales have been up. Oh, and the local animal shelters are prepared too."
Centipede raised an eyebrow at the young woman standing in front of his desk. "And the police stables?"
"Fresh hay and extra blankets came in today."
"Then everything really is in order. What about your family, Wren?"
"The usual."
"I meant are you guys ready?"
"Oh yes. Mom and Dad have been through bad winters before, so when I mentioned you getting the city ready, they sprang into action. Our pantry's overflowing and we have a gas generator, so no issue there."
"Yeah, I wish more people would get one of those. We weren't takin' the risk of a storm knockin' out the heat. Oh well, at least I managed to convince the zonin' board to install gas generators in all the homeless shelters and hotels. The schools were already covered, so that's a plus."
"I thought you said the storm wouldn't hit until this weekend."
"Friday's gonna be a bad day. Trust me, Wren, I can feel it. The problem is, it won't start gettin' real bad till afternoon, so I can't really justify closin' the schools down."
"Hmmm." Wren pushed a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "Why not see if you can close the schools at noon? Make it a half-day? The kids'll be happy and it'll give the teachers time to close up and get home."
Centipede straightened up at his desk. "Wren, that's brilliant! Hah, that's what we should do!"
"Shall I take your dictation?"
"Just a short one." Centipede watched his secretary-in-training quickly snatch up a pad and pen. Waving a hand at her, he intoned,
"By order of the Mayor, all schools are to close no later than 12:30 p.m. this Friday due to the cold snap we're gonna get. I want the places locked up by 1:00 and everyone gone."
"Right. I'll spruce this up a bit before handing it off to Mrs. Brown."
"Do what you need, Wren, but make sure everyone knows the kids are to be let out by 12:30. And that goes for all the schools."
"Yes, sir, I'll see to it."
"Thank, Wren. And speakin' of school, I gotta go pick the kids up."
"But you have a meeting at 4:30."
"Yeah, I know. I'm just takin' 'em home; I'll be back." Centipede sighed. "And if we got any aspirin, lay some out for me, will ya?"
"Already in your desk. I sent for some when you ordered lunch."
"Thanks. Though hopefully, Dylan won't cause much of a problem goin' home."
"Yeah, but then you gotta deal with homework." Wren flashed Centipede a knowing grin.
"I'll let Grasshopper handle that."
"You'll still probably come home to yelling. I can't count the number of times I've come home to find Mom struggling with my younger siblings."
Centipede paused while tugging on his coat. "How does she handle it?"
"She didn't for a while. If Mom put her foot down more often, my sister wouldn't be crying over not understanding math at age 14 and my brothers wouldn't be running away from the table to watch TV ever time she turns around."
"Yeah, that sounds familiar."
"But credit where credit is due, Mom's started not helping the younger ones with homework and just letting them do it or not, as they see fit."
"What? Seriously?"
"Well, yes, after talking with their teachers. My two younger brothers decided all last week they weren't doing their homework and every day, they came home upset because their teacher made them sit in at recess and do make-up work. Mom and Dad think letting them fail might have been the best thing for them because they were really quiet when they went to school today."
"Hmmm, that might not be a bad idea, Wren. If Dylan doesn't do his work, we should just let him get in trouble. Saves us the headache."
"Better let his teacher know first; that's what my parents did. Now we just need to get Mary's crying under control."
"Little at a time, eh?"
"Probably. Anyway, I hope that helps with Dylan. From the sound of it, you need all the help you can get."
"Ha ha. Anyway, I'll be back soon. Just make sure that order goes out right away and if anyone calls to complain about it, take a message and tell 'em I'll call 'em back when I can, but the order stands. Got it?"
"Yes, sir. And good luck."
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"Alright, class, you have your homework and I encourage you to start work on your projects tonight. We'll set aside time each day in class to work on it, but the more you can get done at home, the better."
The end of day bell rang and Ms. Devon nodded.
"Have a good afternoon and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Ms. Devon!" The farewell chorus was quickly drowned out by the tugging on of coats and hats as well as the grabbing of backpacks and shuffling of books and folders.
"Do you think you'll be done with the first part tonight?" Tessa asked.
"Sure," James answered. "I have what I need to get started and we have art class tomorrow. Ms. Kelly always lets us take supplies if we need them, so if I'm missing something, I can get it then. What about you?"
"I have what I need, but I need to check out a book from the library to make sure."
"We can do that tomorrow before lunch."
"Okay. This is gonna be fun!"
"I know. I can't wait to show everyone. But why don't we keep it a secret from our families? That way, we can surprise them on Friday when it's done."
"That's a good idea. But, what'll we tell them?"
"That we have a project, but we don't want them to see it before it's done. That's all."
"Okay. I just hope my sister won't try and show my mom before I finish."
"Can you hide it under your bed or in your closet?"
"Probably. Beth doesn't like looking in my closet anyway. She hates the constellation map on my door."
"Why?"
"She hates science."
"Oh." James shrugged. "Well, then your part of the project should be safe."
"What about you?" Tessa glanced at James. "You don't think Dylan will do anything, do you?"
"I don't think so. He's been bad, but... he hasn't done anything to me." Well, expect not caring what James had to say, but then he was used to people thinking that about-
No, no, that was just Spiker and Sponge. James clutched the strap of his backpack a bit tighter.
Only Spiker and Sponge hated me. My family and friends love my ideas. They've told me so.
"I'd still be careful." Ricky and Adam had joined James and Tessa. "Dylan might mess up your project just because he got mad."
"I don't know. I don't think he'd do that."
"But you never know. He's been bad enough already," Adam reminded James.
"I guess..." James felt his stomach twist a bit at the thought.
"Well, like you said, you could always hide it in your closet or under your bed." Tessa gave James a smile. "Do you think Dylan would look there?"
"Probably not," James answered with a smile of his own. "Especially because I don't have a television under my bed or in my closet."
All four kids laughed together as they headed out into the chilly Monday afternoon.