Jerome smiled at Eddie from behind the counter. “What’s up, Eddie?”
“Fluorescent lighting.” He looked up to the ceiling. “It makes an annoying buzzing sound, which is why I always have tissue paper in my ears during mealtime.” He pointed to the tissue, which was not difficult to spot. Eddie made no effort to conceal it.
“I was getting worried about you, man. Didn’t see you around here for a couple days. You doing okay?”
“I’m doing much better than okay, Jerome. I am doing great. Can you guess why?”
“Because we’re serving your favorite dessert, yellow Jell-O?”
“I got to hear my mother sing. She really did have the voice of an angel, just like people said.” He was beaming.
Jerome glanced over to his boss, Ida, who did not seem pleased to see him chatting up this particular patient. Jerome backed away, clearly moving on to other business. “I’m happy for you, man. Let me know what you think of the Jell-O.”
“It will be my pleasure,” Eddie replied, and then carried his tray to a table. He placed the binder next to his tray and methodically moved the food items onto the table. He spaced each plate evenly distant from the others, then sampled the food items, recording the score of each in his binder. The chicken tenders got a four; the french fries a three; the canned corn a two, which was why he spit it back out onto the plate; and the Jell-O a five. He savored every last bite of the dessert, and looked back to the counter to see if there was any more. Had there been, Eddie would have certainly gone back for seconds.
He carried his tray to the “Dirty Dishes Here” sign, then counted the 113 steps back to his room. He was surprised to find the door slightly ajar. Eddie was sure that he had closed it when he had left. It was not unusual for nurses or other Harmony House personnel to enter his room when he was not present, but they had never left his door open before.
Eddie knocked on the door. “Hello, is anybody in there?” There was no answer. He pushed the door open carefully, only to find the room was vacant. He entered, surveying his various possessions. Everything was in its proper place: the echo box, his special laptop, his binders, his pencils, the sharpener, even his Batman pillowcase was just as he’d left it. But then he saw it. He raced out of his room, running right into Nurse Gloria.
“Eddie, what’s wrong? I was just coming to see you.”
“Nurse Gloria, somebody put something in my room!”
She responded calmly, just like she always did. “What? Who did? What is it?”
“It shouldn’t be there! It doesn’t belong in my room! Don’t you see it?” He pointed inside his room.
“See what?” She had no idea what he was talking about.
Eddie continued past her, racing down the hallway to Skylar’s new office, which until recently had been Dr. Fenton’s. She hadn’t yet had time to hire her own assistant, which explained why Stephen Millard still had his job. He looked up as Eddie rushed in. “Dr. Drummond isn’t in. Is there something I can help you with?”
Eddie didn’t respond as he continued directly into Skylar’s office. All signs of Fenton had been removed, but there was still little that identified the space as Skylar’s. Stephen poked his head in the door. “I told you, Eddie, the doctor isn’t here.”
“Where is she?” His panic was growing.
“All I know is she had an outside appointment.”
“I don’t know what an outside appointment is. Outside what?”
“Outside Harmony House.”
“Well, this is an emergency. She needs to come back.”
Nurse Gloria entered, having heard the last bit of conversation. “Eddie, until Dr. Drummond gets back, can you tell me what the emergency is?”
“I want it out of my room!”
“I will be more than happy to help you. But, first, I need you to calm down. Can you do that for me?” Her voice was soothing as ever.
Eddie took a deep breath and nodded.
“Will you show me what we’re talking about?”
He nodded again and led Nurse Gloria out of the office.
After they departed, Stephen waited a moment before removing a phone from his pocket. It was the same model Senator Davis now carried with him. Stephen pressed the speed-dial button for the only number he was ever to contact with it. “You said I should call if anything unusual happened.”