Cameron blinked and seemed to remember where he was. “Where’s the doggie? Did he go away too?”
“Dexter had to go home, but I’m sure he’ll be back up to see you. He’s a police dog, and he had to go to work today with Officer Grant.” Cameron’s shoulders slumped, and he laid back once more. “Are you hungry?”
Cameron nodded. “Okay. Let’s see what you can have for breakfast.” There was a menu on his tray, and Marty helped him order some pancakes with fruit and cereal. He dropped the menu off at the nurse’s station and asked for some juice.
“How is he? Does he want anything?” the nurse who had brought Marty the coffee asked. “We’ve all heard what happened to him.”
“He’s hungry, and we ordered him breakfast,” Marty said. “He seems okay. Maybe a little frightened and wondering what’s going to happen next.”
“I have an order for some blood tests, so we’re going to have to check that his kidneys and liver weren’t damaged… things like that. But once we’ve made sure he’s truly okay, we should be able to send him home in a few days.”
And there began the ticking clock. Marty had a lot to do by then if he was going to make sure Cameron went home with him and not back to some awful group home or something.
“Okay. That’s good to know.” Marty got the juice and returned to the hospital room. “Your breakfast will be up soon, but I got you some juice.” He opened it, and Cameron drank it slowly. “Do you have questions you want to ask?”
Cameron shrugged. “Where’s Binky?”
“What’s Binky?” Marty asked.
“My penguin. Mommy gave it to me.” Cameron answered. Thankfully Donald had left a card, so he left the room and gave him a call.
“This is Marty. I’m sitting with Cameron, and he’s asking for a stuffed penguin named Binky. Have you picked up his things from the group home?”
“Yes. I have it. There isn’t a lot. Apparently they had already packed his things because he was gone, and they just handed me a box.”
Great.“Can you please check? It was a gift from his mom, so it’s important.” He stepped out of the room as the line went quiet.
“I pulled off the road. Give me a second,” Donald said. “I’m checking the box. There are some clothes and some care items, a few pictures, but no penguin.”Shit.“Give me a few minutes and I’ll call you back.”
Marty shoved his phone in his pocket and sighed before going back into the room. Thankfully breakfast was delivered shortly, and eating occupied Cameron for the time being,
His phone rang again. The number was strange. “Hello.”
“It’s Donald. I went back to the home and told them what I was looking for. The family didn’t seem to care, but I told them that they needed to find Binky or I was going to put their license under review. It turned out one of the other boys had taken it. Then I found out that other things were taken. I added them to the box, and I’m on my way there. I have forms for you to fill out and sign.”
“I’ll be here,” Marty said and hung up. He didn’t want to promise that he had found Binky yet, so he remained quiet and let Cameron eat. He ate a pancake and the fruit, but not the cereal. Instead, Marty saw him slip the box under the covers of the bedding. And the second pancake got wrapped in a paper napkin and put in the drawer of the tray. It broke his heart that a seven-year-old felt he needed to hide food for later.
“Hi, Cameron,” Grant said as he came in the room with Dexter, who sat next to him until Grant said “free.” Then Dexter climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Cameron.
“He was just asking if Dexter was going to come visit.”
“I had a few minutes, so I wanted to stop in. We can’t stay too long, but I wanted to see how he was doing.” Grant went to the bed and handed Cameron a small bag. He looked inside and grinned from ear to ear before pushing the breakfast tray backand, one by one, setting out pieces of Lego as though they were precious.
“So far, so good, I guess, and Dexter is certainly a hit.”
Marty usually got to know people by sitting down with them, talking, asking questions, sharing a laugh, that sort of thing. But with a seven-year-old, that wasn’t possible. He was just going to have to learn through experience, which was a whole different thing. “And thank you for stopping to see us.”
Grant cleared his throat. “I stopped in to see both of you. We didn’t get to finish our evening, and I’m hoping that maybe we can do that soon.”
“I’d like that,” Marty said. He swallowed hard, his attention focusing on Grant’s full lips, and he wondered what they tasted like. Then he pulled himself out of his daydream. “Call me soon.”
“I will.” Grant stepped closer to the bed. “Say good-bye to Cameron,” he told Dexter. “We have to go back to work.”
The dog was amazing. He gave Cameron a kiss and then climbed down off the bed.
“Does he have to go?” Cameron asked.
“I’m afraid so. But Dexter will see you again. Have fun with the Legos,” Grant left the room with Dexter next to him, and Cameron sighed like he knew that all good things came to an end way too soon. But then he went back to the Legos, and Marty pulled out his computer and used his hotspot to log onto his email to check for issues. Thankfully it was a slow day and there was nothing waiting for him. He was just finishing up when Donald knocked on the door, carrying a box that he set on the other chair. He pulled out a stuffed penguin, and Cameron held out his hands.
