"Make us," one of them said.
"I'll make you all right," Kirk said. He started to rise from the chair.
The two kids grabbed their checkerboard and hurried from the room.
Kirk looked out the windows that ran the length of the room. It was sunny out. He picked up a four-month-old copy of Sports Illustrated. He flipped through the pages quickly. He'd read it three or four times already.
He grinned when he saw Amy come into the sun-room. She moved across the room without a sound, her bare feet sinking into the dark blue carpeting. She sat down beside him and sighed.
"I thought I just might find you here," she said. "I was going to look in the psychiatric ward but I checked here first." Amy smiled at him.
Kirk gave his half-smile back. "I was there for a while this morning, but they kicked me out. Crazy as a fruitcake, they said, and asked me to leave. You aren't looking so good today," he said.
"I didn't sleep much," Amy said. "I've got the weakies and the achies this morning."
"I know what you mean."
"Brent seems like an all-right guy."
"Yeah. He'll do. Seems like kind of a loner. But better than the Toad any day."
"Nurse Rush is really pushing herself around here this morning. That woman's going to drive me up a wall one of these days. She was at me again about putting shoes on."
"Yeah, I know. The bitch must have wolfed down too many vitamins this morning at breakfast."
"Do you suppose she might cut off visiting privileges again? I'm not sure what I'd do if I couldn't wander around and drop in on people," Amy said.
"She won't. How'd you like to stir her up a little?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, give her a little of her own medicine, just to keep her on her toes."
"She'll probably call in the Inquisition if anything out of the ordinary happens, but I don't care. I need a little excitement. Just as long as we don't harm anything. What do you have in mind?"
"I thought we might stage a small medical emergency. I could have my hip slip out again."
"You mean slip that old epiphysis again, pins and all?"
"You guessed it. You game?"
"I don't think so. We shouldn't rock the boat."
"Oh, come on, Amy. What can happen?"
"We'll get Nurse Rush mad at us."
"She hates anything that breathes anyway, so what's the difference?"
"All right. I'll go along with it."
Kirk leaned forward in the chair and fell onto his outstretched hands. He carefully lowered himself to the floor and curled up on his side. He started to laugh.
"I'm all set," he said. He turned his face into a grimace of pain.
"Very convincing," Amy said. "Have you ever considered limping to Hollywood?"
"Next week," Kirk said. "But I would get tired of playing tall, dark and handsome parts."
They both laughed together. Kirk felt better already.
"You ever heard me scream?" Amy asked.
"No."
"Well, brace yourself."
Amy opened her mouth and let loose a yell which echoed down the length of the hall toward the nurse's station.
"Nurse Rush, Nurse Rush, come quickly! Poor Kirk has slipped his epiphysis!"
She gave a quick grin over her left shoulder. "Here she comes, start moaning," Amy said in a whisper.
Kirk heard the quick clip of Nurse Rush's footsteps as she hurried toward the sun-room. She arrived in the doorway and took in the scene. Amy was standing in the center of the room with her hands pressed against her mouth.
"Oh, Nurse Rush, he fell. I think he popped his leg out again."
Kirk gave a low rumble of agony and rolled his eyes at Nurse Rush.
"Don't move him," Nurse Rush said. "He was probably trying to do too much again. I'll get a doctor and be right back."
She hurried out of the sun-room and down the corridor.
As quickly as he could, Kirk struggled back to the easy chair. Amy sat in the chair opposite him. They each picked up a magazine and began reading. Before long Kirk heard the sound of footsteps again.
Nurse Rush appeared in the doorway with a young intern in white. She halted abruptly.
"Where's the injured boy?" the intern asked.
"That one," Nurse Rush said, pointing to Kirk in the chair. "He's gotten himself off the floor."
The intern strode forward to Kirk's side. "How did you fall?" he asked.
"Fall? I didn't fall," Kirk said.
"Haven't you injured yourself?"