He needed to pee really bad. He had been told not to get out of bed without telling the nurse, but the nurse's station was all the way down the hall. It was really late now and the hospital was really dark and quiet. He tried to think about something else.
The doctor had said they were going to keep him in overnight for 'observation', though he wasn't even sure what that meant. Miss Gordon had got him some pajamas from the mall. They were Spiderman ones. He liked Spiderman. He'd been moved somewhere else and didn't find out if Claudia was okay. He didn't care that much. She was mean.
He still needed to pee. It was starting to hurt. If he didn't get up he was going to go right here. He pulled the covers back and stepped quietly into his slippers. He didn't want to wake anyone up, so he was careful making his way to the toilet.
In the hallway he could hear voices. There was a light coming from the nurses' station. He cautiously moved up to the door and peeked round just far enough to see who it was. It was Miss Gordon sitting on a chair with a blanket round her shoulders and the doctor standing next to her. They both looked tired.
He could just about read the sign for the bathroom, but he thought he might get in trouble for being up. They would definitely notice him if he went past the door. It was like torture being so close and not being able to go. He pulled his head back and tried to hold it.
"Don't you have any influence over the matter Michael?"
"A little. But I'm not about to upset one of this hospital's most generous donors over unfounded allegations."
"Of course not. That would mean taking the right course of action instead of taking a bribe..."
"I would not exploit my patients for profit."
"But that's exactly what you're doing!"
"I am merely suggesting that any action taken should be based on evidence, not assumption."
"How much more evidence do you need? Weren't you looking at the girl's eye?"
"But it's not just Claudia's father you're concerned with here is it? It's the whole organization you want to bring down. An organization that has achieved a great many things for this community. You must wait for the facts before unleashing this controversy."
"Do you remember the first time I asked you about this? Do you remember the girl who lost her life because you advised me to wait? We're about to make the same mistake."
"Those were different circumstances; beyond our control. It was a tragic accident, not domestic abuse."
"Had she been removed from her abusive mother she wouldn't have gotten caught up in that fire...Michael please -"
"Had she been removed from her mother's care her guardianship would have passed to the Silent Hill Smile Support Society, the organization you're trying to discredit now and we would be having a very similar conversation."
Miss Gordon was crying.
"How many idealistic teachers; lawyers; doctors, have come and gone with these cases? How many well intentioned social workers have removed children from their parents only for them to end up in Wish House? Complaints about that place must number in their hundreds but never are made public. Moreover, our elected officials never act on those complaints. We can't change this town with one complaint, Kay."
"Then what do we do? I can't just sit and watch this."
"I have collected medical evidence of physical abuse, requisitioned social worker reports and logged every complaint about the organization I could find. This dossier will bypass the County Sheriff and be delivered straight to the District Attorney."
Miss Gordon was quiet for a minute.
"I will deliver this dossier personally when I leave town, which will be soon. Next month if possible. If you had any sense you'd leave this place too."
"Michael, I'm sorry. I misjudged you completely. I should have known better."
"We have been keeping this quiet for a long time now. I understand your frustration. But if you can wait a little longer this whole thing will be exposed."
"But what if one of the children is badly hurt or even killed while we wait?"
"I will not let that happen. I have a little influence over Wolf and his associates. I will try to keep things calm until I can get away...To play my hand too early could ruin the entire plan."
"I don't know. I've been turning a blind eye to this problem for years. I don't know how much longer I can keep quiet."
"It would be in both our interests to keep this quiet. Just between ourselves Kay, will you do that for me?"
"I'll try."
"If you tell anyone about this or rock the boat in any way, I may have to leave before the dossier is complete. That could mean that less charges are brought and certain individuals could escape conviction altogether. Do you want Wolf to get away with what he did today?"
"No. Of course not."
"Then don't raise the alarm. Not yet...Do we have an understanding Miss Gordon?"
He smiled weirdly at her.
"Yes, Doctor Kaufmann."
He put his hand on her shoulder and then walked away. Miss Gordon stayed in the chair and wiped her eyes.
Andy was busting. It was starting to hurt again. He thought he might wet himself. He had to move now.
He crept past Miss Gordon and made his way to the bathroom. She didn't look up.
After peeing and being mighty relieved about it, he came back past the teacher and she was asleep under her blanket. He slipped back into bed and pulled the sheets over him. He tried to forget about the things he had just heard and fell asleep thinking about how he was going to miss Kay Gordon when his mum got here.