Night Runner Read Online Free Page B

Ophelia put her elbows on the armrests of her chair and started massaging her temples. “So many bizarre things have happened tonight. I just need a minute to clear my head and think things through, okay?”
    After a few moments she looked up at me and continued talking.
    â€œAre you feeling all right?”
    â€œI’m okay,” I said.
    â€œAre you getting better?”
    â€œI feel fine. I feel
strong
. I
am
strong.”
    This was true. When you’re alone most of the time, you need to have ways to keep your mind busy. Exercise is great for this. And reading, too. I never felt lonely when I was moving, or buried in a good book.
    â€œI know you’re strong. But do you think you’re getting any better?”
    I didn’t know what she was getting at, so I just shrugged.
    â€œHow did things go with Charlie?” she asked.
    â€œFine,” I answered. “He’s always happy when the school year’s over.”
    She smiled, but her eyes still had a far away look.
    â€œWhat is it?” I asked her again.
    She sat up in her chair and focused her eyes on me. I was surprised to see how tired she looked. Not haggard. Just deflated. And sad. She took a deep breath, as though she was gearing up to say something important, but before she could get started she was cut off by a quiet hum and a beep. She reached down to her waist and unclipped her pager.
    â€œWhat now?” she muttered. She’d barely had a second to read the message when the phone beside us rang. It was the house phone, so the call was coming from somewhere inside the ward.
    â€œThat will be Roberta,” she said, nodding towards the phone. She clipped the pager back to her belt. “I have to make a call. And I need to get back to work.”
    The disappointment on my face must have been pretty obvious because Nurse Ophelia reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. Then she gave it a gentle squeeze and got up to leave the room. When she reached the doorway she turned around.
    â€œI’ll check in with you as soon as I have a minute,” she said. “We can talk then, and if not, I’ll come in early tomorrow night. Okay?” She pressed her lips together in a flat smile. I did my best to smile back. Then she slipped into the hall.
    I sat there by myself for a few minutes, just looking around the room at all the empty tables. It was strange to imagine that in a few hours everyone would be awake. The room would be packed, and full of the sounds of people eating and talking together. I stood up and started back to my room. It bothered me to be there, all of a sudden. I couldn’t say why.
    Just before dawn Nurse Ophelia knocked at my door. Four quick raps. She opened it a crack, and light from the hall made a yellow lineacross the floor. She slipped in quietly and set the rest of my brain cocktail on my desk. I must have left it behind.
    â€œI have to go now,” she said. Then she asked me again if I was all right. I’m not sure if I answered. I probably didn’t, because she put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, just like she had earlier in the dining room. Sometimes you had to do that to get my attention. And it didn’t always work.
    I often got quiet. It seemed to upset everyone, but I didn’t think it was that big a deal. I just had a lot on my mind, that’s all. And I didn’t always want to talk to other people about it. We all need downtime now and again. I was no different, except that for me it sometimes lasted a while, a few days even. It was one of the reasons everybody told me I needed counselling and psychiatric evaluations and anger management and group therapy and all that other stuff. But I never thought so. I was fine. Just as long as people didn’t act like it was the end of the world when I wanted a few moments to myself. And that’s how it was just then.
    Nurse Ophelia must have known, because she walked over to the