The darkness let me go, and I my face moved when I found the light. A smile? A smile, yes... I greeted the light surrounding everything that was with a smile.

But something was different. I was different. I knew what different was, and that I was - different that is. I knew more from before, and I knew that I did.

My bed was empty, but not empty because I was in it. Nurse Gracie had been here last night, reading me a story. I looked at the book, and the writing was still squiggles. I put the book down and went under the warm blankets again. Why were blankets warm, and other things were not?

The door made noise - that meant someone was hitting it.

The someone was Nurse Gracie. "Mary, are you awake?"

I made noise, I couldn't help it. It was the same noise that Nurse Gracie had made before when I moved her.

"I heard that! I'm coming in!"

Nurse Gracie took the blankets away, and she had a smile. She held out a... hand? A hand.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

I was different. I let Nurse Gracie pull me up, and followed. In the room of baths, I took my clothes off as she did the same. We cleaned up here... why? There was a thing, a reason, but it was gone as soon as I saw it. But not saw it, there was another speech... it too was gone.

I couldn't stop another sound, and Nurse Gracie turned from the water to me, with no smile. "What's wrong Mary?"

I worked to find the speech, and my hands worked too. Why were they doing that? I had not told them to do that. Had I?

"Mary?"

Nurse Gracie wanted speech. Speech I did not know. "Things... speech. There but then gone. I don't... Mary doesn't...."

Nurse Gracie grabbed me, and it felt nice. "Its okay. Just take your time and work it out when you can. You can take forever if you need to."

Forever... something... I knew that word, somehow. It was an amount or something. I knew things. Why did I know these things? I had been, I had lived before. I knew these things then.

Yes, I had lived before. There was I before! That was... something.

Nurse Gracie helped me wash up, and I helped her too. Why were people not able to wash easily? Why was washing something I's did? So many things to know. Hands needed to work in other ways.

"Mary, don't do that, you'll break something - you'll hurt your hand, and then it won't work for awhile."

What? It could do that? That was bad, so I stopped.

Nurse Gracie said something about 'needing pain' very softly. Was she trying not to let me hear?

Nurse Gracie grabbed the water-thing and sprayed me; her hand near my... face. The Water did not get to my... something. The stuff I used to see, and that was why I could still see. Seeing was believing - and other things.

Nurse Gracie finished wiping the stuff out of my... hair, and stood up, out of reach. That was no fair, since I couldn't help her!

"What's wrong, Mary?"

I... what was the speech? I put my hand where Nurse Gracie had, and moved my hand.

Nurse Gracie knew anyway. "Oh its fine Mary, I know how to do this part myself. If you watch carefully, you can learn to do it too."

So I looked (watched) as Nurse Gracie moved her hands over the top of her head, in her... hair. While pointing her... smile up. She turned off the water and got a towel from the ones next to us, and used it on herself first. Then she threw it into the corner of the room, and got a... second one? Second one.

That one was for I. Nurse Gracie ran the cloth over me, top first. It felt nice. "Got a big day today, Mary. We're going to have another guest."

A guest? What was a guest? I felt like I should know....

"Don't worry Mary," Nurse Gracie kept speeching. "You'll like Isiah. He's a bit serious, but he will play with you if you ask."

I liked playing... I think? Was that the word? Yes, Nurse Gracie had used the word yesterday, when we... tagged. Played tag? Yes, that was right.

Nurse Gracie was right! Today would be a big day!

Nurse Gracie grabbed me. "Oh no little miss. Clothes first, then you can go outside."

Oh, right. Clothes. Nurse Gracie pulled something over my head... a dress? Right, a dress. I was wearing dresses now and had been since I knew. This one was a color that I did not know.

I looked to the other colors, those around me. They were not the same. The socks Nurse Gracie grabbed from the same chair the dress came from, those were the same. One for each foot. Why only two feet? Why only feet? So much to... know, right. So many questions.

Nurse Gracie grabbed my hand and took me to the bed. She put me on it, and I looked as she put my socks on. So I would know how to do that too. Then she put more clothes on me, some small thing that went between my legs. She pulled it up until it stopped, and then nodded to herself.

"There, all done except for your boots. Stay there while I get them please, Mary."

I would stay; if I did, maybe I could stay on the bed longer. Something... it felt. It felt nice, that was it.

Nurse Gracie finished doing my boots though, and moved to pull me up. She could not. "Come on, Mary. Let's go get breakfast."

Breakfast... food. Food sounded... good to me. I wanted food so I let Nurse Gracie move me from the bed. Nurse Gracie almost fell, but she held on to me.

I... me... my lower part made noise. It really wanted food.

I wanted to meet the other I. Meeting other I's was always fun.

Nurse Gracie pulled me along, and I was happy to go. I didn't want to go ahead or stay behind; I could hurt Nurse Gracie if I tried.

We made it to the food room, and Nurse Gracie took me to my chair. Doctor Reg was already there, eating something with a fork. I did not need a fork; that was because my food was not like doctor Reg's food.

Nurse Gracie took... no, grabbed my food from the box of food and put the straw in. Straw? Yes, straw... that was the word. Straw also meant something else; an...image of a long yellow thing came to me; that was also straw.

Maybe they were both straw because they resembled each other? Both were long and thin, only the color was different.

Nurse Gracie handed me the.. bag, yes bag, with the straw in it. I did what I was supposed to and sucked on the straw. The food flowed into... me, yes that was right, and I did something to gulp it down. Something I didn't need to wonder about doing, it just happened. It was cold.

Then there was no more, the red color almost gone and the bag mostly empty.

I wanted more. "Nurse Gracie."

She turned from her own food, which was like doctor Reg's food. I hadn't seen her eat before, and she did the deed like doctor Reg did. "Yes Mary?"

I held out the bag. "More?"

Doctor Reg dropped his fork. That was... clumsy of him. Yes, clumsy.

"I don't think I should give you more Mary, your stomach can only hold so much of that at a time. Too much might be bad for you."

But it was good! It helped, I could tell it helped. I was... better.

No, Nurse Gracie knew more. She could be right, despite the goodness. I gave up and instead threw the bag where it was to go when empty.

"Well done, Mary. Thank you for throwing it away."

She smiled at me - beamed a smile at me, so I beamed one back at her. I liked smiles, they could be everywhere in an instant.

Still, I wanted more. More of something.

"Don't pout Mary, its unbecoming." Nurse Gracie said, in between bites.

I didn't know what unbecoming meant, but Nurse Gracie made it sound like a bad thing. Something I didn't want.

But what was pout, and how did I stop it? Nurse Gracie hadn't said.

Nurse Gracie bobbed her head. "That's better."

I did not understand.

"How about something else, Mary? A different kind of food?"

I wanted it!

Doctor Reg walked over to a different box, and opened that up. He took out a... box, yes, a box, pulled another, smaller straw from the side of it, and put the straw in. Then held it out to me.

"Try this."

I took the box and sucked on the straw... and something, a different color, a different... exploded into me. It was.. good. It was something I needed, something I wanted.

Doctor Reg could tell. "You like it Mary? It's called grape juice."

I nodded. "I like it."

I wanted more, but I felt something. Too much. I walked over and held the box over where the bag was.

"That's right, Mary. Throw it in." Doctor Reg said with a smile.

I beamed a smile back at him and threw it in. It bounced, then settled on top of the bag.

"You need not throw quite so hard, Mary. A simple toss will do," Nurse Gracie told me.

"We will work on it Mary. That is where trash goes. Trash are things that have no use or function anymore. That box and bag are empty, so their usefulness has ended."

Couldn't they do other things? Couldn't the box and bag hold other things?

"She doesn't like that answer, Doctor." Nurse Gracie said.

"I know, it is a bad answer... but both of them are dirty now. They have some of the darkness in them. No, no! Not that bad. Just a little bit... not enough to hurt anyone, unless you use them again."

I was against the cool stone, as far away from the darkness things as I could get. Doctor Reg moved his hands at me.... he was gesturing. Yes, gesturing me closer. "It's alright Mary, these things cant hurt you. See how close I am? They can't hurt you."

Nurse Gracie gave Doctor Reg a look. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I knew it meant something. Why did it mean something?

"It's ok Mary," she said. Then she touched the box! "See? No harm done. It only happens if you use it again."

I grabbed her hand, moving it away. She seemed fine, there was no blackness there; just fingers.

Nurse Gracie beamed another smile down at me: "See? it's fine."

What was the proper response? "Yes."

Nurse Gracie pulled against my hand, so rather than hurt her I let her go. She smiled more, and that was great. Smiles meant a person was happy. I wanted Nurse Gracie to be happy.

Why did I want Nurse Gracie to be happy?

That was an odd thought. A weird thought. Maybe a bad thought? Why would it be a bad thought? What was a bad thought? What was thought?

I knew that one. Thought was what I was doing now. It was words in my head... or more.

"Mary, are you okay?" Nurse Gracie asked.

I was okay. "Yes!"

Nurse Gracie smiled again.

The door made noise again, just like yesterday. Yes, yesterday. There was a yesterday!

Fido made a dog noise. "Woof, woof."

I could tell he was down the hall... and what a dog noise was. Why did dogs make that noise? Why did Fido make that noise?

He was responding to the door noise. That was it! Another... awareness? No that wasn't right, but it was all I had... another awareness of how the world worked. Dogs responded to other sounds with sounds.

Humans did too, but their sounds made more sense?

Maybe the dogs made sense too, if I could speak dog. I already knew that Fido said 'woof'. Woof might mean 'person here'?

I wanted to ask Nurse Gracie, but she was already moving on her way to the door.

I wasn't being held this time! I followed, and Doctor Reg didn't stop me. Neither did Randolph. Where was Randolph? I hadn't seen him yet today. Yes, today was today, or now.

He was probably in his room. Was he alright? Had he eaten food yet?

Had the little darkness let him go yet?

Or had it got him?

No, I needed to know, now. I didn't want to lose another other I to the darkness. Randolph even read me stories! I wanted more of those. But a new other I was here, on the other side of the big door. What to do?

Doctor Reg was behind me. I pointed back, to Randolph's door. Doctor Reg looked that way, then shook his head.

"What is it, Mary? You know the words. Tell me."

"Randolph."

Doctor Reg stopped. "What about Randolph, Mary?"

I couldn't stop. What were the words? Ah! "Check on," and the most important word. "Please."

"There is no need for that, Mary. Randolph is fine. Simply sleeping. Here, I'll prove it to you."

Doctor Reg started moving again, and pressed the thing on his wrist. "Randolph, are you okay?"

A voice came out of the thing. A voice I recognized: "I'm fine doctor, what's up?"

Randolph's voice sounded different, but I knew it was him.

"Mary was worried about you, and wanted me to check on you."

"Well that is sweet," Randolph said through the thing again. "but you can tell her I'm fine. No problems here. You going to answer that knocking?"

"We are on our way now," Doctor Reg said.

"Good, it's an...." Randolph's voice stopped.

Still, he said he was fine. Fine was a word meaning well, or okay. I could go to the big door without worry. Worry? Yes that was the right word. Concern for or over another.

Nurse Gracie reached the big door at the bottom of the stairs and stuck her face close to it for a moment. That was... I don't know what that was, but it allowed me to catch up without doing my stair trick; Nurse Gracie did not approve of my stair trick.

Stairs were difficult. Doctor Reg slowed to grab me by an arm. Yes, an arm - that was another good word.

Doctor Reg pulled, slowing me down. He made a face too, one that I wanted to do too. I thought I was doing it right, then he smiled. Smiles were the best.

Nuse Gracie opened the door as we got to the bottom of the stairs. On the other side of it...

Was another I. My size, not Nurse Gracie or Doctor Reg size. He was a he, I was sure, and he was thin, with black hair, a white (but not as white as mine) body, and blue eyes.

Blue eyes that seemed to see everything, all in a moment. He was dressed in a smaller coat like Doctor Reg's, and had tan pants on with a shirt the color of the sky. Blue, yes. All these words! I had so many words now, all mine!

His blue eyes snapped to me and he looked for a long time. "Holy shit Doc, you actually did it. I saw the data and footage, but I half thought you were screwing with me. Well done."

Doctor Reg let go of my hand and stood up straight. "I would never lie to my sponsors, especially one as important as you."

What was a sponsor? What was especially?

The other I turned to me again, and grabbed some kind of thing from his coat. He got closer.

I moved behind Nurse Gracie; this other I... there was something about him.

"You're scaring her," Nurse Gracie said. What was scaring?

"My bad," the other I said. "My name is Isaac, and you're Mary. It's nice to meet you. I'm not going to hurt you, okay? This..." He moved his thing in front of him; it looked like a box! "This won't hurt you at all. I'm just going to wave it in front of you. Like this."

He moved it back and forth.

Nurse Gracie moved away, but grabbed my hand. "Don't worry Mary, he won't hurt you. It'll be alright."

I remembered... remembered! Another good word! I remembered not to squeeze, as Nurse Gracie would get hurt if I did.

"Okay... so we've got electrical activity, and it looks to be mirroring neural activity, but its weirdly diffused... the body is two full degrees above room temperature, which implies some form of heat generation. Eyes show a pupillary response and the body is upright and moving."

What did it all mean?

"It means you're alive, Mary." Isaac said. "Wow, she's very expressive, Doc. No filter at all."

"I know. We're all very proud."

Isaac got closer. "You can see the gears turn, too. Something is going on up there. Well, not up there exactly, around there, but...."

The box was right in front of me. I knocked it away, gently. "Play."

Other I's my size should play. They should play with me.

Isaac picked his box up. It didn't have the darkness in it, but had colored lights instead. "Play, huh? Sure. But can we play the games I know?"

I only knew tag, so new games were a good thing. Weren't they? "Yes!"

"Great!" Isaac said with a faint smile. "But we can't play them here. We need to go upstairs, to the lab."

That was... fine, yes fine with me! I knew where the lab was!

"Mary, slow down!" Nurse Gracie said.

I passed Fido on the stairs. "Woof," he said.

"Oh hey Fido, how's it going?"

"Can't really complain," Fido replied. (replied was a word!) "Oh wait, yes I can. When are you going to make a real body for me?"

"When I find the time," Isaac replied. "Until then, you'll just have to hang out. Maybe if you ask real nice the Doc will take a second stab at it?"

Fido gave Isaac a look, a weird look. "I think I'll pass on that, thanks."

Doctor Reg gave them both a weird look too, but he didn't say anything.

Isaac led us all up the stairs again, and he knew the way because we kept going. "How are you, Grace?" He said... no, asked. He asked!

"I've been well," Nurse Gracie answered. Why would she answer that? She was Nurse Gracie, not this Grace person!

Unless... she was both? Could she be both, somehow? Something told me she could.

"And Randolph? Phil?" Isaac asked.

"Both well, or as well as can be, given their circumstances. Both are stable, at least." Nurse Gracie answered.

"That's good," Isaac said. "Let me know if that changes, I'll help."

"Despite what you think Isaac, I am not...." Doctor Reg said.

"I know Doc, you do your best, and your best is good. However, we both know I'm better, when I have time. For your projects, for your data, I can make time. That's all I'm saying. You got some nice people around you; you want to do right by them, don't you?"

Do right by them? What did that mean? It meant something important... but what?

Doctor Reg made a noise. "I just don't appreciate the sentiment, Isaac."

"I know Doc, and I am cheating in a way, but... well, you can handle it. The important thing is the goal, isn't it?"

What was a goal?

"You know it is," Doctor Reg responded... responded! "The goal is more important than any amount of petty ego. On that, we can both agree."

What was ego? Ego was something... bad, I think? Maybe?

Isaac turned around, still moving... walking? Yes, walking on the stairs. "It's okay Doc, I didn't mean what you think I meant by it. I'm even less good with people than you are. Got to remember."

Then he looked at me. "She okay?"

"She has trouble with stairs. For some obvious reasons, she's not the most agile of us." Nurse Grace answered.

Then she turned to me, and held out her hand. "One hand on the rail there, and give me the other Mary. I'll help you."

Nurse Gracie wanted my hand... but should I let her have it? I needed it!

I took her hand, and she helped pull me up. So that was what she wanted? All she wanted? She would have to do something to keep my hand, and she wasn't.

We walked around the rest of the way in silence. Doctor Reg moved past Isaac at the landing. He pulled out a metal stick he had and put it in the door. The door opened with a click, and he gestured.

Isaac went in first, and Doctor Reg followed. Then Nurse Gracie helped me up and in, and Fido followed us all. Fido didn't close the door - because Fido didn't have hands.

Just as I thought, hands were important. Nurse Gracie already had her own though!

Maybe I could talk to Doctor Reg, and get him to give Fido some hands. Hands were useful.

"Come on Mary, come up here." Doctor Reg said.

Here was the table I was normally on when in the lab; doctor Reg was waiting with a smile. I walked (Walked!) up and doctor Reg put me up on the table; why was his face red?

I was on the table. I could kick my feet, but I did not, because I had been told not to do that and I remembered. I wanted to.

Isaac moved close and he put some sort of thing near my eyes; it hurt. Then he pulled a pen from his coat, and wrote on... a piece of paper? Yes, it was paper. Pens were used on paper, and nothing else. I remembered.

Isaac pulled another thing from his coat. It was a box, and made of wood. It had some... markings on it.

"The goal, is to make the markings match. You twist the box around like so," He said, demonstrating. "Gently, because breaking it ruins the game. The fastest one to solve it, to get all the designs right, wins."

Designs, not markings... twisting, not moving. Or a type of moving? Something.

Isaac held the box out and I took it, carefully. "Now, I'm going to be doing other things while you take your turn. You know what turns are, right?"

I nodded. I knew what turns were. Nurse Gracie and I took turns for showers. So I would go first.

"Some of the things I do will be to you. Nothing bad, so don't let it bother you, and don't let it stop you, okay? This game is all about speed."

I nodded again. I would do my best!

"Okay, go!"

I shifted the first panel, slowly and carefully at first to make sure I didn't break it. To break it was to lose. Slow and careful would... something.

Isaac put a thing around my arm, and used his hand to make it squeeze me. That was easy to ignore. Whatever he wanted, he did not get; he looked.. mad. Yes, mad, that was it.

The next thing he did was grab a thing, a sharp thing, pull up my clothes and jab me with it!

That was unfair!

"Mary, Mary, its okay! Its okay!" Nurse Gracie said.

"Whoa, she felt that?" Isaac asked.

Doctor Reg was mad too. "Of course she felt it. You need to warn us, she could have...."

Who? Which she could have?

It didn't matter. "You're a jerk."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Isaac said. "I'll make it up to you with another game, okay?"

That was okay.

Isaac was looking at the sharp thing in his hand; it was full of black stuff. Was that stuff inside me? How was it inside me? That sharp thing was for bringing stuff inside a person out, I knew that....

Was it the darkness?

"Darkness?"

"No Mary, it's dark, but not the darkness. This is you. Or a piece of you, anyway. Don't worry, I'll be giving it back to you in just a bit. You need to work on the puzzle box there; time is ticking.

The box was a puzzle box? What was a puzzle box? Time could tick? How could time tick?

"Hm, constant charge, just beginning to fade... minus 2 volts... some activity; motion with no musculature, which means the cells morph into muscular structure somehow. Complete autonomy? I wonder how far away we can get from her before this goes dormant. Whatever, its not a big deal to test that right now. The real question is how much this knows or realizes."

I didn't understand the words at all. That was fine, I had a puzzle box. Isaac was being mean to me, but I would win the game, and that would show him!

The puzzle box kept changing though, and it was... weird how the markings changed.

Isaac did other things, like tapping me with a.. tool and putting sticky things on me for a bit so machines could beep. I was used to that part; Doctor Reg had done the same before.

"Seems like her level of current slowly erodes over time... as if it is being used. Good to know. The amount also seems to be stable. Her reserves are still good, but because of the old nerves, it is possible not everything is receiving the same charge. We should probably use probes and make sure... the body is healing, or rather, it is being forcibly healed. Some functions seem to be nearing some semblance of normal function already. For example, this heart could probably start beating now, if we jump started it. The brain looks alright...."

"I've noticed as much myself," doctor Reg said. "It seems to be related to Mary herself. She is giving some of herself to heal it."

"Of course," Isaac said. "Mary takes food, multiplies, then uses it to shore things up. Makes sense. Have you tried anything else besides blood?"

"No," doctor Reg said (replied) "We didn't want to risk arrest. I've little doubt it would speed the process up, but there are a variety of reasons to just do things more or less legally."

"Good point," Isaac said. "What about instinct? Have you noticed any?"

"None," doctor Reg replied. "Mary has been an exceptionally bright and nice child so far."

I knew what that meant. I beamed a smile at Doctor Reg, and he beamed one back at me.

Isaac made a noise I didn't know. "You two, I swear. Mary, you're not hungry, are you?"

I wasn't. Well, not really. So I shook my head. That meant no, and I knew it! Nurse Gracie had been right all along!

"Right, too much to hope for, I guess. I'll just do a few things while I'm here, assuming you have no objections Doc?"

"I've no objections," Doctor Reg said. "So long as you document it all. I can handle filling in the results."

"How are you doing on that puzzle, Mary?" Isaac asked.

I showed him the box. I wasn't sure if I was at the goal or not.

Isaac took it from me and looked it over, then handed it back. "Very good Mary, you're close. Keep at it."

Isaac handed me the box again, and I started again. I would beat him! He was talking about other people and not paying att... atten... heed to me, so I would win for sure!

Isaac spent some time sticking other things to me and turning on machines. They made me tickle, sometimes. But even with that, I would fix (solve) this!

A few moves later, I did.

I handed it back to Isaac and he whistled. Which sounded like fun of course, so I did it too.

Isaac was better at whistling than I was.

"Well done Mary, that's a level 7 puzzle. No easy feat to solve at all, and you got it in just a couple of hours."

I smiled. Then he kept talking.

"I've beaten it in ten minutes though. So I win."
I wanted to throw the box at him, but I'd already given it back. "Jerk. You beat it first!"

"I never said I hadn't, consider it a lesson. Still, you did well. Many people can't even solve that puzzle, and when they do, it takes them several hours or days. You are pretty smart... or have the capacity to be."

I didn't know what all that meant... but it didn't seem like Isaac was being mean. So I no longer wanted to throw things at him.

"Well, what do you think?" Doctor Reg asked? Asked.

Isaac answered while taking all the stuff he'd put on me off. Thankfully the tickling stopped. "You did good Doc. You did real good."

Then he turned to me. "Hold out your hands, okay?"

I did, and he put another box, a different box, in each one. "That's for you. Let me know when you beat them, okay?"

"Yes!" Maybe I could beat him on these.

"Got to go for now. Take care of yourself. Take it easy on the stairs, okay?"

I did not know what 'take it easy' meant... to take stairs? But stairs didn't move. I nodded anyway; if I could 'take it easy' I would. Everyone was so nice, they all meant well for me.

I knew that, somehow.

"Doc, walk me out? It's fine, the Doc is enough."

But I wanted to come!

"Mary, should we go see what Randolph is doing? He could still be asleep...." Nurse Gracie asked.

Ah! we should check! The darkness may have Randolph, at least the little one! "Yes!"

I moved, and Nurse Gracie grabbed my hand. "Mary, slow down! Let's go carefully, okay?"

I couldn't move (pull) Mary, so I slowed. Everyone else went ahead of us, even Fido.

Fido looked back and grinned, and it wasn't a smile. I didn't like it.

Nurse Gracie saw it too: "Fido, behave yourself, or someone might forget your food."

"Oh no, anything but that," Fido said, hurrying down the stairs on his four legs. Four legs was cheating, just like Isaac doing puzzles first! I knew it was!

What else was cheating? There were many things that were....

"Mary, take hold of the railing, like this. Grab it, there you go. We walk down, slowly, there you go."

Everyone else was gone by the time we reached the ground... no, not ground. Floor? The floor. We headed to Randolph's door, and Nurse Gracie knocked on it.

I wanted to knock too, so I did.

"Come in already!" Randolph said.

Randolph had that look on that I'd seen other people wear, but it changed when we came in. "Hello Grace. Hello Mary."

"Hello Randolph!" I said. Randolph was in bed like normal, with books spread around him. I jumped up and joined him there, looking. None of the books looked like the right one. The right one had a giant guy on the cover, who was showing lots of teeth. He wasn't happy either. He was very lonely, even with all the people around him. Even with his mom there. I still didn't really know what a mom was, but it sounded important to have.

He was bad, because he took people to the darkness, but it was still hard not to worry? Worry about him, because he was so lonely. Even if it was all made up.

I wanted to know the end.

"So you've come to hear the rest, have you?"

I did, but there was another thing. "Are you okay?"

Okay was a word meaning 'well'. I knew it.

Randolph looked different again. I knew what it was, what was the word? "I'm fine, Mary. Just a bit tired, but then I'm always tired. There is no need to worry about me just yet."

Sur... surprise? Was that it? Randolph no longer looked like that, whatever it was.

"Now Mary, you'll have to help me. The book we were reading fell off the bed, near the wall there. Can you go under the bed and get it for me?"

"No, wait, Mary!"

What was the problem? I could go under the bed, so I did. I found the book, and it was the right one, with the toothed man on it. There were a few others, so I grabbed those too.

Nurse Gracie was looking at me, and she made a noise. "You're covered in dust now...."

What was dust? Oh, was it this stuff, on my clothes? Was it like yesterday, when I got other stuff on my clothes? No, my hand moved it, so it came off.

Nurse Gracie pulled out a cloth. "Come here," she said, and touched me all over with the cloth. "Don't do that again, Randolph. It's not funny."

Randolph was looking at the books I'd found. He held one up. "I wondered where that one got to; I should have known. Thank you, Mary - and I won't, Grace. I just didn't think about under there, since you always do such a good job cleaning."

"Flatterer. Your punishment is you get to read to Mary."

Randolph did a thing with his eyes. It looked fun so I tried it too, and it was as fun as I thought it would be.

"The rest of the day. If you finish, you're starting another. You get to watch her while I get some work done."

"Grace, wait, that's not...."

Nurse Gracie moved, and waved before shutting the door. "Enjoy yourselves."

I waved back, even though Nurse Gracie could no longer see. I knew she knew I'd done it.

"I looked at Randolph, and Randolph looked at me. Then he made a noise - a sigh? - and said. "Alright, fine. Settle in Mary, Let's get started. Just let me find where we left off."