SARAH

 

We drove Troy to the hospital, where they x-rayed his lungs and performed other respiratory tests. This was all done within an hour, the hospital okaying the boy to leave once he’d been checked over. Everything was recorded, and this had been the main reason Doc Taylor had wanted to bring him there: so that it was all officially documented and could be of future use in court.

After that, we said our goodbyes to the doc and I dropped Karl back off at the office. Once again he was silent for the whole ride and only spoke when he said goodbye to both me and Troy. It saddened me—this abyss that had formed in our relationship—but I ultimately shrugged it off.

Then I took Troy back to the house I shared with my father and two sisters. It was in a leafy suburb on the edge of the city and contrasted significantly with the gray inner-city building that the boy had come from. The whole time we drove along the suburban streets, he looked out the window with a face painted in wonder. He’d clearly never seen so much green. The ash trees lining the streets were now in full bloom and their great canopies merged with those on the other side so that they formed a shimmering tunnel of green over the road. Blades of sunshine burst through the gaps in the foliage, forming golden pools of light upon the ground.

Pulling up onto the driveway of my house, the boy’s eyes nearly exploded and I felt an element of shame in watching how in awe he was of my home. It wasn’t anything luxurious, just a four-bedroom detached house on a middle-income street.

“Is this where you live?” the boy asked in a wheezy voice once we were parked.

“Of course,” I said, opening the door of the car and stepping out.

I took his bags from the trunk and led him inside. When we entered, Troy stood stock still in the entrance while I walked straight in and began removing my shoes. Untying my laces, I looked up at the trepidatious boy and saw that his keen eyes were scanning the interior of the hallway.

“Anyone home?” I called into the house.

My father came out of the kitchen and I introduced him to Troy. I then called my sisters, who were both upstairs, and they came down to greet him. Everyone was very sweet with the boy and attempted to make him feel as at home as possible. I took his coat and shoes off and guided him into the kitchen. Then me, my father and my sisters went about preparing dinner together. For his part, Troy was a cheery boy, and the whole time we prepared the food, he simply sat at the table eagerly watching us with a gleeful smile. Even when I offered him the chance of watching cartoons in the lounge, he turned it down and said he’d rather stay with us.

“What time are you on patrol tonight?” my sister Kay asked me as she prepared the salad.

“I’m on at nine until three in the morning. Why?”

“Karen McConner called asking if I’d swap with her so I’m also with you tonight.”

I placed my arm around my baby sister and smiled as I reeled her in for a warm hug.

“Yay!” we both let out.

“Makes me feel a little left out,” Lucy, my middle sister, said, making a sad face.

“Ooh!” Kay and I exclaimed, opening our arms and grabbing ahold of her.

“Come on,” I put to Lucy. “You’re not left out at all.”

Lucy smiled and joined our mass hug.

“Is this a girls-only affair?” my father inquired, putting down a spoon that he’d been stirring some sauce with. “Or can anyone join?”

“Oh, daddy!” we girls exclaimed together.

My father placed his loving arms around us, and from within I spotted Troy smiling at the table.

Once dinner was ready, we all sat together, Troy having helped with setting the places, and dad led us through grace. The boy had never experienced grace before, so I explained it to him, helping him place his hands together and close his eyes. Once my father had finished the short prayer, the boy uttered amen with the rest of us and we began to eat spaghetti Bolognese with homemade focaccia bread and Greek salad.

While we ate, the boy made us all laugh as he struggled with the spaghetti until I cut it up into smaller pieces for him. He smiled at me when I’d finished, then took his fork back and ate his food with delight on his little face.

“So, little man,” my father said to him, “you like watching baseball?”

“I love baseball,” he agreed with a cheeky little grin. “My two brothers play. But I don’t.”

“Do you like watching it?”

“Yeah, it’s real good.”

“Then after dinner while the girls clean up, how about us men go into the lounge and watch us some baseball?”

The boy smiled cheerily and nodded his head.

“Daddy,” Lucy inquired of our father, “are you trying to get out of the dishes?”

“No,” my father grinned. “I was simply offering to look after the boy while you do them was all.”

“Well, then you’re let off,” Lucy stated with a smile.

“Oh, that reminds me,” I let out suddenly to my father, “with me having patrol tonight, is it okay if you look after Troy?”

“Of course. Me and Lucy’ll keep an eye on him. You set him up a room yet?”

“I’ll put him in my room and I’ll take the couch.”

“Okay then,” Dad said.

“Also he needs to call his mom before he goes to bed,” I added. “I put her number on the fridge.”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

Once dinner was finished, my father took Troy into the lounge while us girls cleared the table and cleaned up. Afterwards, Kay and I went and got changed into our patrol clothes, which were basically anything we didn’t mind getting damaged, the city streets offering up a whole host of potential filth to cover you in. Then we sat with the others and watched baseball until it was half-past eight and we had to leave. I said my farewells to Troy and was glad that he had settled in so easily. He had only asked for his inhaler once since we’d arrived and it impressed me how much our home appeared to invigorate his poor health. After saying our goodbyes, Kay and I left the house, got into my car and were soon on our way into the city to start our patrol along its wretched streets, offering light to the most miserable.