Did You Get What You Deserve?

Dad dropped a newspaper on my bed.

“Thought you might like to see.”

I picked up the paper. On the lower half of the page was the title “Disastrous Fire at Local School.” I looked up at Dad.

“Do I want to read it?”

He shrugged.

“There’s nothing horrible in there.”

I scanned the article. There wasn’t much there- that is, not much that I didn’t already know. One thing caught my eye. Fire fighters have confirmed that the blaze started from a defective heater, and arson has been ruled out. That was good. It meant the fire was an accident. I folded up the newspaper and threw it down on the foot of my bed.

“Nothing in there.”

Dad nodded.

“That’s what I thought.”

I sighed and stretched.

“When can I get outta here?”

“When you’re in any state to go anywhere.”

The door opened and a nurse walked in carrying my lunch.

“You know,” Dad mused as the nurse set the tray down beside my bed, “you look a lot like a nurse who worked here when I was a patient about fifteen years ago.”

The nurse straightened up, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“And what was that nurse’s name?”

“Rhonda.”

“That’s my mother. She still works here.”

“Oh, really? That explains the similarity then,” Dad said with a smile. The nurse smiled humourlessly and turned to walk out. As she opened the door, a voice from the other side said, “Jerri, there you are.”

Dad jumped up.

“That’s Rhonda. I’m going to go say hi, excuse me Alec.”

As he walked out, I heard Rhonda say “Oh my lord.” Then Dad closed the door behind him and I was alone. I sighed and looked at my lunch. I didn’t feel much like eating, so I left it.

A little while later Matt dropped in to visit. We talked for a while about school. He told me what it had been like since the fire. Then he asked a question.

“Is our band serious?”

“Yeah, sure. Why?”

He smiled.

“Just wondering.”

By the time he left, I had the distinct feeling he was hiding something.

Several days later, James and I were discharged from the hospital. At school, we were followed by a group of junior-schoolers, to the extent that I finally screamed at them to leave us alone, at which point they scattered and watched from a distance. Matt was still hiding something that he refused to disclose, and Alana was still acting over-friendly with Alec. Dani was still in hospital, but life carried on...