Uncle Luqman had to complete some paperwork, and then he and the boys were escorted through a hall that was full of lockers and into a tiny room, where they were seated and asked to wait to be seen. Some time later, a lady who wore a white coat and carried a slate with a pen that hung from it by a silver chain joined them.

Sitting across from the boys, she asked them a list of questions about their depression and, in response to each answer, marked something off on her slate. At last, she flipped all the pages back into place.

“I’m going to take your bags for you and put them in a locker. We’ll need to get you rooms to stay in at the center. Once your rooms have been picked out, we’ll transport you and your bags to the center. We’re just going to need to take a look through your bags to make sure you didn’t pack anything that could be unsafe."

Uncle Luqman‘s forehead was creased with worry and with tiredness. He kneaded the bridge of his nose. “How long do you expect them to have to stay here?”

“We don’t know. On average, patients are in inpatient care for anywhere from a week to two weeks. Based on the symptoms we have, we’re going to need to put them on antidepressant and sleep medication. It can take up to a week for the antidepressants to have an effect, but we’ll be combining medication with therapy. Once they seem to be showing progress with their depression and anxiety, we’ll explore options for outpatient care.”

The lines in Uncle Luqman’s forehead deepened. “You said medication. Do you really. . .think it’s necessary to medicate them? I don’t know how I feel about putting those kinds of drugs in a kid’s system.”

“I understand your concerns, Ryoshi-san, but because Hoku-kun and Ikari-kun are experiencing severe depression, a combination of medication and therapy is going to be our best bet.”

Hoku’s heart leapt, though, in his exhaustion, he didn’t show it outwardly. There was actually medicine that could help take their depression and fear away. Yes - Uncle Luqman might be worried, but he wasn’t afraid to take a hundred pills if in them lay a chance to be free of all of this darkness.

The lady, having scooped Hoku’s and Ikari’s baggage up, stood. “Once the rooms are ready, a staff member will come to get you. Ryoshi-san, do you want to wait here with them? It may take a while.”

It was already 10 PM. The lobby was chilly, the hard plastic chairs offered little comfort, and home was an hour away.

“Go home, Uncle Luqman,” Hoku begged. “Go to sleep. We’ll be okay.”

Uncle Luqman was reluctant to leave, but, in the end, he decided against staying. In heading home, he chose wisely, for now the real waiting began.

Ikari and Hoku sat alone in the room, shifting in their seats, hugging themselves and rubbing their hands together all in an effort to be warmer. The clicking of shoes and the carrying of voices up and down the hall’s vinyl floors never seemed to stop, but none of those feet were headed for their room. Again and again, they rested their heads against the wall, closed their eyes and tried to sleep, but, tired as they were, the cold prevented it. 10 PM became 11, 11 became midnight, and midnight became 1 in the morning before, at last, the door opened and another white-coated lady entered the room.

“Hoku-kun and Ikari-kun, right?”

Ikari sat up, blinking drowsily. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Let’s get you checked over, and then we’re going to transport you to your rooms.”

The boys were led to the restroom that lay at the nearest end of the hall. There, before this lady and another woman, they had to remove their socks and shoes, hike their shirts up, turn their pockets inside out and even roll the cuffs of their shorts up so that they could be inspected for any items that might be considered dangerous. Under other circumstances, Hoku would have been embarrassed and uneasy at being looked over like this. Tonight, however, he cared about nothing but the opportunity to sleep and the medicine they had been promised.

After the checking-over, the boys were allowed to fetch their baggage from the locker in which it had been placed. A man came to escort them into the back seat of a large truck that resembled an ambulance car. Ikari buckled himself in, then Hoku, and they huddled together for the ride to the place where they’d be staying.

The ride lasted for a few minutes, which was strange to Hoku. If the lobby and the ward were a part of the same institution, why were they so far apart? He asked no questions, though. Before long, they were pulling up in the parking lot of what appeared to be a short, but broad-bodied house with a slanted roof. A woman came out onto the curb to greet the boys, allowing the truck-driver to take his leave. She appeared to be in her forties, a short, wiry lady who looked as though she were as ready to go to bed as Hoku was.

“I’m Momonoki. Come on in, dears. We’re going to look through your things to make sure everything’s safe, then put them away so you can get to bed.”

The boys followed Momonoki-san through the building’s entrance and down a few halls before they reached their living area. The room into which they were led was a medium-sized one, carpeted and, mercifully, a little warmer than the waiting room had been. There appeared to be an exit in the form of a large pane of glass and a door, which, undoubtedly, was locked; on the other side of the exit lay the outdoors - Hoku could make out the silhouettes of trees and sitting booths.

The central and most prominent area had been arranged in the style of a living room - a short couch had been placed between two armchairs, which sat facing one another. Across from the couch, on a wooden shelf, stood a television set. In the shelves below were stacks of books and a bin of assorted drawing and coloring materials - crayons, colored pencils and markers. To the left of the TV set was a miniature fridge; farther to the left of the couch was a small, round table, around which chairs had been placed. Two of those chairs were occupied, much to Hoku’s surprise, one by a boy and the other by a girl, both of whom appeared to be around Ikari’s age. The boy, who had been diligently working on a page of a coloring book, and the girl, whose nose had been buried into a book, glanced up when Hoku and Ikari came into view.

It’s so late. How come THEY’RE awake, too?

Momonoki-san ushered the newcomers forward. “Tengoku-kun, Mizumi-chan, these are Hoku-kun and Ikari-kun. We’re still getting things ready so you can sleep, so sit tight.”

A little timidly, Hoku lowered himself into a chair. He watched as Momonoki-san, bearing their baggage, retreated into the cubicle a few feet away from the table, opening the little door that had been cut into the surrounding counter, and sat down at her computer. She deposited the bags onto the counter, then began conversing in murmurs with another lady, who had come out from a portion of the room that lay behind the cubicle.

I guess this means these two are waiting for THEIR rooms, too. How long are we going to have to wait?

Mizumi set her book aside to smile at the latest newcomers. She was a fair-skinned girl with a gentle heart-shaped face, soft, shoulder-length marshy brown hair and hazel eyes.

“Hi, Hoku-kun, Ikari-kun. Are you two brothers?”

Hoku nodded.

“You two look so much alike,” dark-haired, brown Tengoku pitched in with a grin. “I had to look twice when you came in.”

In spite of everything, Mizumi’s and Tengoku’s smiles were like a daub of salve on Hoku’s heart. Ikari smiled, too, a little.

“We just got here tonight, like you two did.” Tengoku muffled a yawn with his hand. “I’m so sleepy, I almost can’t stand it.”

“Me, too,” Hoku muttered.

“How old are you guys?” Mizumi pitched in.

“I’m eleven,” Ikari replied, “and Hoku’s eight.”

“What about you two?” Hoku added.

“I’m twelve.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

”I’m eleven, too. There’s a kid here who’s about your age, Hoku - Ajisai-chan. We saw her about three hours ago, just before they all went to bed. That’s how long we’ve been waiting for our rooms.”

Hoku twisted around to gaze longingly in the direction of the wall behind him, which stretched from the end that lay behind the cubicle off into a hall that ran in the opposite direction in a row of doors. Those doors must all belong to the bedrooms. When would they ever get to find out about their medicine and go to bed?

“Do you guys like to read?” This was from Mizumi.

Ikari nodded, and Hoku, after a moment, did the same thing. When Mom and Dad had been here, he had loved to read. Ikari would never complain about the dullness of reading, but he had never been as fond of stories as Hoku was. He did draw and color habitually, and he chose a coloring book and moved to sit beside Tengoku.

Hoku didn't have much of a desire to read, but he had little interest in coloring books and, unlike Ikari, was a sloppy artist. It seemed that they’d be waiting an eternity to be given beds, so when Mizumi handed him a book, he accepted it.

“It’s the Chronicles of Narnia - the first book. Grandpapa and I used to read all of these books together. If you like stories, you’ll love this one.” Her hazel eyes sparkled. “It never gets old for me.”

“Thanks, Mizumi-chan.”

Hoku laid the book upon the table, opened it up and began. It didn’t take a great deal of time for him to get to the end, for he was a fast reader, and, with this book, he read without lingering on the descriptive details.

He was sorry to find that the The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe did nothing to revive his love of reading He had read one Narnia book last year - The Silver Chair - which Ikari had brought home from school for an assigned reading project, and he had loved it, but his heart was different now. In this book, there were two dull main characters, a boy and a girl, a mother who was deathly ill, a lion who was actually Jesus Christ, a magical realm that couldn’t have more obviously been heaven, and page upon page of Biblical preaching.

In the end, the wicked, greedy traitorous Uncle Andrew, who hadn’t been a faithful believer in religion, was forcibly reformed, and the sick mother was healed, saved from the brink of death. This last part did relieve Hoku. He had had no desire to read about the death of a mother.

Mizumi voiced her amazement when he turned the last page, then closed the book. “Did you really read it that fast?”

“Yeah.”

“Even I can’t read that fast, and I’m a total bookworm!”

Ikari exchanged his blue coloring pencil for a dark green one. “Hoku skims when he’s reading fast. He doesn’t really pay attention to the whole page.”

“Well, don’t read too fast,” Tengoku advised Hoku. “You’ll need something to do to pass the time till we can go to bed.”

“Did you like it, Hoku-kun?”

“It was really good.” Mizumi was so openly-enthusiastic about Narnia that Hoku wished he could put more heart into his words.

Momonoki-san left her computer and came to the front of the cubicle. “Tengoku-kun?”

“Finally!” Tengoku shot up and fairly flew up to the counter.

After Tengoku’s bags were checked, the second lady, Kosui-san, tossed some of them into a bag, crossed through the living area and, passing the glass-doored exit, rounded a corner into what must have been yet another hall. She returned to do the same thing when Mizumi’s bags were searched. At last, Ikari and Hoku were called up to the counter.

Momonoki-san sorted their belongings into piles. As she worked, she explained what they could and could not keep with them and why.

“We can’t let you keep anything that you could use to cut, stab or strangle yourself with you. So we’ll have to hold onto your leather belts, your ink pens, the art scissors. . .” She plunked these items into a freezer bag. “We don’t allow any electronics, so we’ll need to keep your cellphone, Ikari-kun. The same thing goes for the alarm clock. If you’d brought a regular clock with hands, it would have been okay, but digital alarm clocks can be a trigger for some patients.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Hoku wasn’t altogether certain what a “trigger” was, but he thought that he understood the general idea. Their alarm clock could upset or frighten someone. He couldn’t help but to wonder what was frightening about a digital alarm clock, but he didn't ask. He supposed he could imagine how the glare of great red numbers on a black screen at night and the blaring of an alarm could be creepy.

“I’ll have these items put back into your locker. They’ll be ready for you when it’s time to leave.” Momonoki-san tossed their toothbrushes and sticks of deodorant into a grocery bag. “Kosui-san will put these in the hall closet for you. They’ll be in baskets with your names on them so you can come and use them when you wake up in the morning, but they’ll have to be put back.”

Their clothes she returned to their bags, which she handed to them. She stepped out of the cubicle. “Alot of patients have to share rooms. You two will be in a room together. I’ll show you to yours.”

Hoku was not inclined to complain about this. He did, however, stop Momonoki-san with a question. “Momonoki-san. . .when are we going to get medicine?”

“Tomorrow, sweetie. Dr. Ali, the psychiatrist, will have to see you first.”

Hoku could content himself with this answer. One day wasn’t a long time to wait. Only please, please let the medicine really work. If it didn’t. . .if it turned out that the loss of Mom and Dad and the depression really were a punishment from God or that life was meaningless. . .

But he couldn’t fret now. Momonoki-san was unlocking the door to their room, which was number 106. Finally, finally, they would be able to sleep.

It was a very small room with white walls. Near the door was a restroom, so it was like a little master bedroom or apartment. On the opposite side of the room were two slim beds, one beside the other, thin mattresses laid up on four-legged black steel frames, and, between the rearmost bed and the window, a bookshelf. It was very cold; evidently someone who was in charge thought it best to keep the AC running, but Hoku knew that it wasn’t his place to complain.

“Around 7, Kosui-san is going to come in to take your temperature and your vitals,” Momonoki informed them. “After eight, everyone has to be up and out of the rooms. We don’t want anyone to try to isolate himself, so the bedrooms are all locked from eight until 9. We can unlock your door for a minute if you need to get something out of your room, and if you need to take a nap or just to be alone for a few minutes, we have a quiet room you can ask to use.”

“Yes, ma’am.” What else could Hoku say? It must be close to 3 AM now, but five hours of sleep was better than no sleep at all.

The boys bade Momonoki-san goodnight and were left alone in their new sleeping quarters. While Ikari went to use the bathroom, Hoku crammed their bags into the bottom section of the bookshelf. He sat on the bed and hugged his knees until Ikari exited the bathroom. Then he took his turn in it.

They had a washtub of their own, though there was only a shower nozzle, no faucet with which to run an actual bath, and clean white towels, washrags and even thin, sand-colored toothbrushes had been supplied. After making use of the toilet, Hoku reached back to flush it, but couldn’t find the handle. The reason why soon became apparent. Without warning, a thunderous noise and a rush of air sent him flying for the door.

Ikari was waiting on the bed for him when the door flew open. He read Hoku’s expression.

“It’s just an automatic flush system, Hoku. You’ve seen those before. You don’t have to be scared of that."

Hoku felt foolish for having overreacted in front of another person, even if that person was only his big brother. “I know.”

He inched back into the bathroom to lower the toilet seat and wash his hands. By setting the seat in place and moving away, though, he set the flush system off once again. Hoku didn’t think that he would grow to be a fan of the ghostly howling that this toilet gave off whenever it sucked water down its drain. Still, this was better for them than having to leave the room and find their way through this building to a bathroom every time they needed it. Hoku had a habit of getting up to go again and again in the middle of the night.

Ikari rolled the thin woolen quilts back on each bed so that they could climb beneath them. Once he’d done that, he turned the lights out and climbed into the outer bed. This left Hoku with the bed that was nearest to the window. Hoku knew that lying on the outside and affording him greater closeness to the light of the moon were Ikari’s ways of making him feel safe, and they did help some, especially the second gesture, for he had become a little afraid of the dark lately. The bed arrangement, however, also meant that he might disturb Ikari every time he passed him to use the bathroom.

Still, Hoku climbed into his own bed without protesting and pulled the quilt up around him. The cold air seeped through the weaving of the blanket, which wasn’t very large, without much difficulty. He maneuvered his feet under the bedsheets and crossed them to keep his toes warm. Lying there, he gazed out through the window at the night sky and the pale moon. He knew that it must be shining down upon Mom and Dad’s graves. Could their spirits be up there with that moon?

His eyes grew heavy, and he closed them, but couldn’t sleep yet. He listened to Ikari’s stirring and the sound of his breathing. When his breathing changed, Hoku knew that he was asleep.

Sleep claimed Hoku before he realized it was happening. The urge to use the restroom seemed to wake him once every hour or so. Each time, he flinched at the thundering of the toilet and saw Ikari toss and turn when he exited the bathroom. The restroom had a stupid door that sprang shut by itself if allowed to, and it wasn’t quiet or gentle about it. Hoku, in his forgetfulness, sometimes tried to leave the door open to avoid disturbing Ikari further by closing it. Every time he made that mistake, the door slammed as if it were being pushed by a gust of wind.

In spite of this, Hoku didn’t have a great deal of trouble getting back to sleep between bathroom interruptions. This was a mercy, for, not long after dawnbreak, as had been promised, the door opened, and Kosui-san entered, wheeling a cart laced with medical equipment in front of her.

“Ikari-kun, Hoku-kun? Sit up, sweethearts. I need to take your temperatures and your vitals.”

The boys sat up long enough to have their temperatures, heartbeats and pulses checked. When Kosui-san left, they sank back under the covers till, all too soon, the sun was up and the door opened once again.

“It’s time to get up.” The voice and silhouette belonged to a lady whom Hoku didn’t recognize - neither Kosui-san nor Momoniki-san. “You can come to the hall closet and get your hygiene things. After you wash up, we’re going to have breakfast.”

Hoku dragged himself out of bed. That night’s sleep had just dulled the edge of his tiredness, and Ikari was faring no better; there were shadows under his eyes.

But today’s the day we get medicine, and we can go back to bed in just thirteen hours. We’ve just got to hold out for a little while longer.