It was a nerve-racking elevator ride up to the second floor. Not because I was afraid of elevators, but what would I do if the doors opened and someone was standing there? Visiting hours were over. How would I explain being there at night without an adult? Maybe an unsuspecting candy striper would come along, and I could jump her for her uniform.
I flattened myself like a chameleon against the elevator interior. When the doors opened, I was still alone. I peeked out and down the hallway. The elevator dinged, and I jumped out of it so it would close and shut up.
I tiptoed along the hallway and froze when I heard voices. There was absolutely no cover in the hall, so I stepped into a patient’s room. Some guy was snoring like there was a monster inside him trying to escape. When the footsteps passed, I peeked out and into the hall again. Grandpa’s room was the third on the left. I crouched low, hurried down the hall, and sneaked into his room. Shrugging out of my backpack, I let it slip to the floor and went to his bed.
Well, not his bed. It wasn’t Grandpa. Not unless he had found a fountain of youth and grown a dark mustache since I’d last seen him. The other bed in the room was empty.
This was the right room, I knew it. The one by the water fountain in the hall.
Why wasn’t he here? Could it be … maybe … wait. I rubbed my eye with a gritty knuckle. Maybe they just moved him to another room. Yeah, just a different room. Maybe all the noise on the phone was, you know, from moving the bed and all that equipment. Maybe to a room with life support or something.
Voices came down the hallway. I hid behind the curtain by the empty bed and pressed into the shadowy corner. A nurse came into the room. I could see her outline through the curtain. I held my breath and prayed. She checked the patient and started to leave, then reached down for something.
“What’s this? Somebody left a backpack,” she said to someone in the hall.
Shoot me now. I’m such a geek.
“Too bad. Send it down to lost and found, I guess,” said another voice.
As their voices receded, the nurse added, “Check it for ID first.”
I whacked my palm against my forehead and sagged against the wall. There went the rest of my money. Then I remembered that my school ID was on a lanyard inside. I had to get out of there.
I had some change in my pocket. If I could get to a pay phone, I could call and ask the operator which room Grandpa had been moved to.
It was risky, but I had to find my way back along the corridor and get to a phone. Voices came and went. I stepped out from behind the curtain. The patient’s heavy breathing kept time with the soft beep of the machine beside him. I slipped out, got back into the elevator, and punched the button for the ground floor, bouncing on the balls of my feet to make it hurry.
The elevator opened, and I took it down to the first floor. It opened to another deserted hallway, and I could smell food. I slinked along until I came to a cafeteria. The scent of popcorn and pizza made my stomach growl. I peeked around the corner where people in lab coats and green scrubs were snacking at plastic tables. There was a pay phone on the outside wall by the entrance. If I was quiet, no one would even notice me.
I curled into the phone with my back to the entrance and dug in my pocket for change. Thirty-five cents. Don’t screw this up, I told myself. That’s all you’ve got. I looked up the hospital’s number again and held my finger on it while I dialed. The operator answered.
“Orville James?” she said in answer to my question. “There’s no Orville James registered, ma’am.”
“But … but he was here. The other day. He broke his hip, and then he had pneumonia.”
“One moment, please.” There was silence; then she came back. “The patient checked out today.”
“Checked out?” Was that code for permanently? “But where did he go?”
“I don’t have that information, ma’am. Perhaps you could check with his doctor tomorrow,” she said in an irritated voice.
I hung up the phone and tried not to cry. He couldn’t have gone back home. Grandma couldn’t take care of him. Now I couldn’t even call her to find out. I was so tired. There was no way I could walk all the way out to their house tonight. What could I do? Where would I stay? I had no plan B.