“Criminology.” Roland turned his attention back to the homemade lunch on his desk, gazing at it as if his partner’s very heart were packed within the plastic. “We considered having him transfer somewhere closer, but it would be such a waste after he got accepted into a top-rated university. Plus, I know he loves his school and would hate to leave it behind. It’s only four years. Then he’ll graduate with his degree. There’s plenty of jobs in Baton Rouge he can use a Criminology degree for, including here at FPA if that’s the route he chooses to go, so moving here shouldn’t be too hard, and then we can finally put an end to this whole long-distance thing.”
I hoped everything would work as easily as he made it sound. I really did. Long-distance had killed my marriage, but Roland had an advantage that I didn’t. His long-distance relationship had a built-in end date. That had to help. When it cameto my marriage with Chantal, our future had always been ambiguous. We never knew exactly when I’d get leave, or if I’d even survive to come home at all, and I couldn’t commit to a certain retirement date. The uncertainty had probably killed our relationship even more than the distance had, so maybe that meant Roland really did have a chance.
Before I could say any of that, however, the familiar tune of my phone ringing interrupted me.
It was probably for the best. Wishing Roland luck by comparing his relationship to my own doomed marriage would probably just sound like I was cursing him. Under my breath, I whispered a silent thank you to my phone for saving me from sticking my foot in my mouth, before hitting the answer button.
There were only a few people who would call me on my personal phone in the middle of the day. I mentally ran down the list, trying to prepare myself for what I was about to hear. However, nothing could have prepared me for the unexpected sound of Newt’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Um, is this Augustine Conway?” the nurse asked, his voice on the phone making him sound even smaller than he was in person.
“Yep, you’ve got the right guy,” I said, trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible, despite my mounting confusion. “Newt, right? Why are you calling? Is everything okay?”
There was only one reason I could think of for him to call me so suddenly. It must have something to do with the coma patient, Mia.
“Well…”
Newt hesitated and my stomach immediately dropped. That wasn’t a good hesitation. I knew the sound of that hesitation. It meant I wasn’t going to like whatever the other person was going to say, and they were trying to figure out the least upsetting way to say it.
On the other side of the phone, I heard Newt sigh. “Mister Conway, I hate to ask you this, but could you come back to visit Mia?”
Although I’d been expecting Newt to mention the recently awakened coma patient, the abruptness of his request still left me speechless. Several moments passed with nothing but the static of the phone line passing between us as I tried to figure out what to say.
Newt must have misinterpreted my silence as confusion, because he quickly rambled out a further explanation.
“I’m talking about the John Doe patient. You know that his name is Mia, right? Oh, right. Of course you do. You were there when he finally managed to tell us his name. Anyway, we’ve been having trouble keeping him calm, and we don’t want to sedate him if we don’t have to, so I was hoping you could come in and keep him company.”
“Um…” It was a lot of words to process all at once, but I managed to pick out the most important information. “Why is he so upset? And what good can I possibly do? I don’t even really know him.”
“Maybe it’s because you spent so much time reading to him, but he seems to find your presence calming. He’s asked about you several times since he woke up. As for why he’s so upset…”
Again, Newt hesitated, but this time the sound of the silence was different. Newt wasn’t exactly trying to pick carefully through hiswords, but rather, it seemed he wasn’t even sure what he was saying, either.
“Honestly, we’re not entirely sure what’s upsetting him. He hasn’t been the most communicative since waking up. But whenever we try to sedate him, it seems to upset him even more, so we’re trying to find other ways to keep him calm.”
“And you think I can do that,” I reiterated, just to hear the words out loud.
It sounded so ridiculous that I was certain I had misunderstood something. I’d been called many things throughout my life, but “calming” was not one of them. The FPA used me as an intimidation tool during interrogations simply by putting me in the room with suspects. At best, I was maybe able to create a sense of camaraderie with certain criminals by tricking them into thinking I agreed with them. None of that sounded like the “calming presence” that Newt was describing. Yet, apparently Mia had asked for me by name.
Well, Newt was the professional. If he thought I could help Mia by simply paying the recently awakened coma patient another visit, then I was happy to help. The poor man had already been trapped in that hospital for so long. Giving him one extra afternoon of my time barely seemed like a sacrifice in comparison.
CHAPTER 16
Auggie
The hospital lookedthe same as always. By this point, I could walk the path to the John Doe’s—I really needed to remember to start calling him Mia—room. I knew every cracked floor tile, every piece of inoffensively modern wall art, and could even recognize that the maintenance staff had been through recently to replace the old lightbulbs.
That being said, the atmosphere was completely different from normal as I approached Mia’s room. The nursing staff, who usually bustled around with calm authority, now seemed to be walking on the very tips of their comfortable shoes. They gave Mia’s room a wide berth, and a few even avoided looking toward the closed door.
I didn’t even have to ask. The moment one of the nurses saw me, they immediately waved me on into the room. Clutching tighter to the bag of books that I’d brought mostly out of habit, I sucked in a deep breath before carefully inching the door open.
Something struck the wall just inches from my face with a metal clang.
“Don’t want it!”
I froze, ready to dodge the next missile, but when I looked over at Mia I found him also frozen on the hospital bed. A significant portion of his face was wrapped in bandages, but his eyes were clearly visible, and they were wide with shock as he stared at me. He was curled up in a ball at the top of the bed, arms around his knees like a little pill bug trying to protect his vulnerable underbelly.
It was a sad sight, especially with so many bandages wrapped around his limbs and torso. I’d been told that his burns had healed enough that they were no longer open wounds, but newly grafted skin was still delicate and needed to be protected, so the bandages stayed on. The thick layers of white cloth practically suffocated him, and made him look even smaller and more pathetic, like a doll that was about to unravel. Yet, before my very eyes he gradually uncurled himself, as though the sight of me was calming enough for him to let down his guard just a bit.