DAY 32
Volunteer
“This is the worst yet,” George said. “I mean...look at me.”
“You look great. That yellow really matches the whites of your eyes.”
He glared at Polly. “May I say it again, if you weren’t already dying...”
Annie plucked at her own costume. “I get that George is the Easter bunny, but what are we?”
“Chicks, of course. Groovy chicks.”
That explained the fluffy yellow dress and the orange tights. At least she got to wear a beak headdress that would hopefully hide her identity.
George was still moaning about his costume, which was made of pale yellow fur, with floppy ears. “This is so humiliating. I’m in Equity, you know.”
“Think of it as a top acting gig,” Polly urged. She managed to make her own chicken costume look like couture. “Come on, guys. This is really important.”
Annie and George exchanged grouchy commiserating looks. “At least you’re not dressed like a dumpy showgirl,” she said. “You’ve got the starring role.”
“Hmph. What’s my motivation for this part?”
“To give Easter eggs to the poor suffering kids on the children’s ward,” Polly said sternly. “The ones who can’t go outside because they’re so ill it will kill them?”
“Fine, fine.” He adjusted his ears. “I’m going to play it as an Easter bunny that missed out on the lead role in Watership Down because of a tragic brush with myxomatosis, and compensates by bringing a depth and pathos to even this gig.”
“Whatevs. Right, we’ve hidden the eggs around the ward already, so you just have to help the kids find them and be nice and stuff. Think you can manage that?”
“Yeah,” mumbled Annie and George.
“Och, it’s Bugs Bunny!” Oh, no. Scottish accent. Dr. Max was approaching, today in a shirt and tie, both crumpled, as was his face with tiredness. With him was Dr. Quarani, neat as always.
“Hi, Dr. McGrumpy!” shouted Polly. “What do you think?” She gave a minitwirl, adding, faux-nonchalantly: “Oh, hi, Dr. Quarani.”
“Hello,” he said. Polite but distant. Annie saw Polly’s face fall. “How is your mother, Ms. Hebden?”
“Much better, thanks. I found her doing the word search in her magazine earlier. It’s been months since she could manage that.”
“Interesting outfit.” Dr. Max was looking at Annie.
Annie blushed, pulling down the edge of her fluffy dress. “It’s for the kids,” she said.
“Is it, or is it to make the adults feel better about themselves? I hope the costumes have been sterilized. Seriously, Polly, some of these wee ones are vairy sick indeed.”
She rolled her eyes. “Stop fussing! It’s going to be great.”
“Well, sorry, but it’s my job to fuss. Hand hygiene, everyone. If they’re on ‘nil by mouth’ that means nothing by mouth. Don’t give them chocolate. If they’re on ‘limited contact,’ do not cuddle them or pick them up. I know it might make you feel all fuzzy inside, but it could actually kill them. Aye?”
“Do you want to join us, Dr. Quarani?” Polly said innocently.
“I tend to deal with the older patients.”
Dr. Max glanced at him. “Sami is a serious doctor. I doubt he’d want to be associated with grown-ups dressed like farm animals.”
“Rabbits aren’t farm animals.” Polly adjusted her beak. “Come on, the kids are really cute!”
“I must go. It’s time for my run.” Dr. Quarani hurried off without a backward glance, fiddling with his Fitbit.
“Well, isn’t he a barrel of laughs,” muttered Polly.
Dr. Max frowned. “I’m serious, Polly. Leave Sami alone. And be careful around these kiddies. They’re vairy fragile.”
“Are you coming in?” said Annie.
He shook his head. “I’ve to excise a brain tumor. It’s not a—”
“Not a nine-to-five, yes, we know.” Polly rolled her eyes again. “That really is your catchphrase.”
“Well, petition the government for more funding if you want things to change. Have fun, though.”
Funny how he could always make her feel frivolous and stupid, even when she was trying to help. Annie pulled her hem down again. Polly stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. “Never mind Dr. McGrumpy. Come on, let’s do this.”
Annie was strangely nervous as the doors buzzed open, rubbing a layer of hand sanitizer into her palms. Sick adults she could cope with. At least they could understand their situation. But what did you say to a small child who might die before they’d even lived? At least there wouldn’t be any babies. She couldn’t have coped with sick babies.
There were six beds on the ward, each with a face peeping out. At the end, one little boy in Superman pajamas stared hopefully from a plastic tent. Annie swallowed hard. Tried to smile. The color palette in there was brighter, but awful somehow. The yellow of lying hope, the pink of pointless love.
“Hi, everyone! It’s the Easter bunny and the awesome chicks!” Polly ran into the ward, flapping her wings. There was silence.
“They’re a bit shy,” said the nurse, a strapping young man whose name badge said Leroy. “Hiya, Polly.”
“Babes.” They exchanged cheek kisses. Annie raised her eyebrows at George. How did Polly know everyone?
“This is Leroy, who basically runs this place, and that’s Kate, the pediatrician.” This was a freckled young woman with plaits and scrubs who looked about twelve.
“Hi, guys. Did Dr. Max run through the infection control? I know it’s a pain but some of them are pretty sick.”
“What’s—I mean, what do they have?” George made a rather subdued mythological figure, staring at one kid whose head was wrapped in bandages.
Kate went around them, pointing her stethoscope. “Bilal there had fluid on the brain. Amy has a hole in her heart—she’s getting her fourteenth surgery soon.” This was a little girl with pigtails to match Kate’s, in a pink elephant onesie, who looked all of three. “Matty has brittle bone disease—this is his tenth fracture.” A kid playing on a Game Boy, both legs in plaster. “Matty!” She mimed taking headphones out and he did, reluctantly. Kate moved around the room. “That’s Anika—she has a brain tumor.”
“Snap,” Polly said with the disconcerting smile she wore whenever she talked about her illness. She’d told Annie, “Oh, it’s just everyone says ‘cancer’ in that same way, like they have to swallow the word down in case it kills them. Like it’s Voldemort. I’m just trying something different, is all.”
Kate came to the final two kids. “That’s Roxy. Fifteen going on fifty, doesn’t think she should be in the children’s ward.”
Roxy was a Goth-looking teen in a black jumper and leggings, with a black scarf around her bald head. She’d drawn her eyebrows back on with dark pencil. She tutted. “I can hear you, you know. And this is lame.”
“Yes, Roxy, we know you hate everything. And in the little tent there is Damon. Poor kid was born with basically no immune system.”
Annie tried not to look horrified. “So, he has to stay in there?”
“We’re prepping him for a stem cell transplant, so we can’t risk infection. Even his parents have to talk to him through that, sadly.”
Annie felt something tug on her feathers, and looked down to see Amy, the smallest girl, standing there shyly. “Is that the Easter bunny?”
“Sure is! Um, maybe he’d like to talk now?”
She could almost see George give himself a pep talk, getting into the role. His voice came out high-pitched, with a slight American accent. “Hi, kids! I’m the Easter bunny! I know you’ve all been a bit poorly, so I’m here to lead the Easter egg hunt. Let’s see what you can find!”
“What a pro,” muttered Polly.
Annie would not have believed six children—one inside a tent—could cause so much mayhem. Eggs were located under beds, in the medicine store, in bedside cabinets, in the pocket of Kate’s white coat. Even Roxy joined in, pushing Matty in a wheelchair so he could take part, too. Polly was chatting to Anika. “Did you know we’re brain twins?”
Anika looked at her shyly. “I have a bad lump in my head.”
“Me, too.” Polly lifted up her chick headdress to show the bald part of her scalp.
Kate nudged Annie. “I think Bilal could use a little help. He’s a bit woozy from his surgery.”
Bilal, half his face obscured by the bandage, was feeling carefully around the edge of a set of shelves that held toys. Although toys was putting it kindly—there were some grubby colored blocks, a doll with one eye and cuddly animals with the stuffing knocked out of them. A bit like the kids. “Hello,” Annie said, desperately nervous. She had no experience of children past the age of two months. “Um, I’m Annie. Are you Bilal?”
He stared at her.
“How old are you, Bilal?”
“Five.” He looked so small, so sick.
“Look, I think there’s something hiding around the back there. Inside the stacking blocks.”
He reached in and brought out a small egg, wrapped in purple silver foil. His small face, so wan and scarred, lit up. “The Easter bunny!”
“That’s right, he left you an egg!” She looked to Kate for confirmation; she nodded. “Why don’t we have a bit?” As Bilal smeared his face in chocolate, Annie looked about her. There was George, letting tiny Amy slide around on his feet/paws. Polly, with Anika by her feet dissecting an egg, was chatting to Roxy, miming putting on eyeliner. Her eyebrows had mostly gone with the chemo, too. Matty was over chatting to Damon, showing him the eggs he’d found, while the other boy looked out. He was bald and pale but Annie saw he had a lightsaber hung over his bed. Would Jacob have been into that, if he’d lived—would she have had to learn about Stormtroopers and football and Lego?
Annie blinked. Bilal was staring at her from under his bandage. “Hey, I know,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. “I bet you could wear some really cool hats over that bandage. Polly, do you have a hat in your bag?”
“Of course! I never go anywhere without a hat. Let me see.” She rummaged in her large print bag, pulling out a beanie. “How about this? This is the coolest one I have.” She set it on Bilal’s head, stepping back to look at him critically. “Oh, no! I made him look too cool. We can’t let him wear this, Annie, can we? He’s stealing all my style.”
Annie played along. “Oh, come on, Polly, just because he’s cooler than you, there’s no need to be jealous.”
Bilal giggled. It was far too big for him, but it hid the stark whiteness of the bandage, made him look more like an average kid, if a scrawny one wearing Doctor Who pajamas in the daytime.
George came over, pushing up his bunny ears. He was flushed and smiling. “Guess what? They want me to come back, maybe every week. They’ve got a whole rack of costumes apparently. Who’d’ve had thought Easter bunny would be my breakthrough role! I must go and prep for my motivation as Coco the Clown.”
Annie met Polly’s eyes, and they started to laugh. “He’s going to be insufferable now,” said Polly. “What about you, Annie? Any life lessons learned on the children’s ward? Did they teach you the true meaning of things?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Annie looked back at the sad rack of toys. “But I might have an idea what we can do next.”