From Ant to Eagle(51)

“Okay,” Sammy said with a smile.

We waited a few more minutes to be sure he was asleep before we left.





CHAPTER 31

REALLY, I HADN’T WANTED TO SHOW ALETA THE GAMES ROOM; I had wanted her to meet Oliver. I was happy to see he was sitting in his familiar spot by the TV when we entered. Only on that day, he wasn’t playing Mario, he was writing on a piece of yellow paper that he quickly crumpled up and put in his pocket when he saw us.

“Cal,” he said, “and this must be your sister.”

Aleta’s forehead crinkled and she looked at me with a look somewhere between surprised and comical.

“I’m kidding. I just like to make it awkward when I meet someone so they don’t focus on my bald head.”

I laughed when I saw how confused Aleta looked. “Aleta, meet Oliver. Sometimes I think all the medications he takes affect his brain.”

“They probably do,” Oliver said, reaching out his hand and shaking Aleta’s. “You guys are just in time. I was planning a field trip today.”

“A field trip?” Aleta asked.

“Follow me,” Oliver said, standing up.

I had no idea what Oliver was planning but I helped him get untangled so that he could make his way to the door. When he got to the exit he turned and put up his hand to stop us. He looked around the corner then said, “Psst, Jenny, come here.”

Moments later one of the nurses appeared. She looked suspiciously at Oliver.

“Yes, Oliver?” she asked.

“You wouldn’t mind letting me and a few friends out for a quick trip would you?”

The nurse looked really skeptical as she glanced over Oliver’s shoulder at Aleta and me.

“Hi, Cal,” she said. Then turning back to Oliver, she said, “I’m not so sure it’s a good idea today.”

“Ohhhh,” Oliver said, grabbing his side and hunching over. “The pain is too much. I don’t even know if I’ll make it to tomorrow. Ohhhhhh.”

Jenny rolled her eyes, turned around and looked back down the hall she had come. “Okay, just be quick,” she said.

Jenny swiped her name badge over a sensor on a door and we walked through to find ourselves in a concrete stairwell. The sound inside the stairwell echoed and the only light was from a few windows on each of the floors above.

“One of you is going to have to help me with my IV pole,” Oliver said, lifting the bottom of his hospital gown so that his bare legs showed beneath and started walking up the stairs. I followed behind, carefully bringing his IV pole so that I was never too far behind as to stretch the tubing and never too close as to bang his legs.

After the first flight of stairs Oliver stopped and rested against the railing.

“Phew, and I thought dying was hard work,” he said, breathing heavily between words.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Oliver turned and started up the next flight. “To the top, my friend—to the top.”

It took us a while getting to the top as we had to stop longer and longer with each flight and I could sense Aleta feeling more and more worried as we went. Oliver looked ready to pass out on more than one occasion and I was beginning to realize that after this expedition, Aleta would likely never return to the hospital with me. I thought about turning around but Oliver was too determined.

At the top was a large door and Oliver grabbed a thin piece of metal off the nearby windowsill and jammed it into the frame. He was able to pry the door enough to get his fingers in, then, pushing it the rest of the way open, he said, “Welcome to my favourite spot in the whole world.” Then he started to laugh. “That’s a lie—but it is the nicest spot in this hospital.”

A wave of cool air rushed in at us and the brightness from outside made me squint after spending the last twenty minutes walking up the dimly lit stairwell. The rooftop was flat and covered with pebbles and tar. We followed Oliver as he walked toward the far edge of the roof where he sat down with his legs dangling over the ledge.

“Grab a seat,” he said, patting beside him.

I was about to say that we were fine standing when Aleta hopped up on the ledge and sat next to him. I warily joined so that the three of us were now high above the hospital overlooking the ground below. There was a parking lot directly beneath us and on the other side was a road that looped around the hospital. Opposite the road was a large, grassy park. The grass was dead and dull but the colour of the trees made up for it. A winding dirt path cut through the park, passing an old-looking playground before entering a wooded area beyond. From where we sat we could see the tops of those trees spread out like a giant quilt of oranges and yellows and greens and golds.

“Not a bad spot, huh?” Oliver said.

It wasn’t quite the view from our Secret Spot, there were no rolling hills or sparkling lake in the distance, but I had to admit, it was pretty.

“It’s lovely,” Aleta said.

The sun was already starting its descent toward the horizon behind us and it cast a long shadow of three small figures atop the hospital on the parking lot below.

“I used to come up here a lot,” Oliver mused. “Back when I used to dream of getting out. I thought that on a really clear day I might see all the way home.” He pointed off in the distance to a forest on the horizon. “My colony is somewhere behind those trees.”