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A nurse is waiting for him on the other side of the door He knows she’s a nurse because she’s wearing green scrubs and soft-soled sneakers like Nurse Rachel from his doctor’s office Her smile is warm like Nurse Rachel’s, too, and she takes his hand and leads hi with dirty clothing and paper robes hanging from hooks next to a white curtain

"Okay, cha has it been since you’ve had a bath?"

She laughs at his startled expression Then the nurse whips back the white curtain to reveal a shower stall

"Everything comes off and into the hamper Yes, even the underwear We love children here, but not lice or ticks or anything with h he protests, the nurse insists on doing the chore herself He stands with his arms folded in front of hi shampoo into his hair and sudses his entire body, froht or it’ll burn," the nurse gently instructs him

She lets him dry himself off, and then tells hih that door over there" She points at the door at the other end of the roo for hioes to the next roo there for him She’s heavier than the first one, older, and not quite so friendly She has Saht on a clipboard beside his number, and then has him hop onto the examination table She places a ainst his forehead

"I’ your temperature," she explains

He nods "I know Parker told ht," the nurse says Her cold fingers press on his wrist, taking his pulse

Saoose-bumpy cold in the fli to the doctor, and he’s worried they ive him a shot The nurse sits down in front of him and says she needs to ask some questions He’s supposed to listen carefully and answer as honestly as he can If he doesn’t know the answer, that’s okay Does he understand?

What’s his full name? How old is he? What town is he from? Did he have any brothers or sisters? Are they alive?

"Cassie," Sammy says "Cassie’s alive"

The nurse writes down Cassie’s name "How old is Cassie?"

"Cassie is sixteen They’re going back to get her," Sammy tells the nurse

"Who is?"

"The soldiers The soldiers said there wasn’t rooet her and Daddy"

"Daddy? So your father is alive, too? What about your mother?"

Sammy shakes his head Bites his lower lip He shudders violently So cold He remembers two empty seats on the bus, the one Parker sat next to hian He blurts out, "They said there was no room on the bus, but there was room Daddy and Cassie could have come, too Why didn’t the soldiers let them come?"

The nurse answers, "Because you’re the first priority, Saht?"

"Eventually, yes"

More questions How did his mother die? What happened after that?

The nurse’s pen flies over the page She gets up and pats his bare knee "Don’t be scared," she tells him before she leaves "You’re perfectly safe here" Her voice sounds flat to Sa she’s said a thousand tiht The doctor will be here in a er than a minute to Sa to hold in his body heat His eyes restlessly roam the little roo stool in one corner and,directly above the stool, a ca black eye aimed directly at the examination table

The nurse comes back in, followed by the doctor Dr Pam is as tall and thin as the nurse is short and round I about the tall doctor lady that reminds hi directly into his eyes, her voice warloves to touch him like the nurse did

She does what he expects, the doctor stuff he’s used to Shines a light in his eyes, in his ears, down his throat Listens to hih the stethoscope Rubs just beneath his jaw, but not too hard, all the while hu softly under her breath

"Lie all the way back, Sa on his belly