The Moxy Byrd

Chapter 9

May 13th 2043 11:00

Amia was dreaming. She and Justin were in the orchard. They were young. She no more than seven, he maybe eleven. They were playing with a ball they'd managed to make out of reeds and dried grass. A rabbit jumped up in front of them. They laughed and chased it, running excitedly through the trees.

Suddenly, she was awake. The nurse from the other day was standing over her. The one with the dark curly hair and the soft voice. She was flipping through the papers from the edge of Amia's bed. She nodded as she scrolled down the page with her pencil, muttering words that Amia couldn't understand. The woman looked up and gasped softly when she found Amia staring at her. "Oh, sorry to wake you," she said with a grimace. She looked tired.

Amia shook her head and tried to say something, but the transition from her brother to this woman was too abrupt, and this room was too bright, and she couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth. Besides, what was there to say?

"Been a pretty hard couple of days, hasn't it?" The woman put the chart back on the bed. Amia shrugged.

"You want company for a minute?" Before Amia could answer, there was screaming down the hall. Three nurses went running by. The woman muttered something under her breath and peered out the door, listening. The screaming stopped and her face relaxed. She walked back over.

Monique approached Moxy with a mix of sympathy and seriousness. "Actually, Moxy, I needed to talk to you anyhow. You have to talk to the social worker this afternoon about housing. I know she's tried to talk to you before." Monique paused, trying to keep her face from showing her frustration. She was so tired and busy, and here she was doing the social worker's job.

Moxy shook her head. "Thank you, uhm... Sorry, I forgot your name."

"Monique." Monique glanced out the door. The hall was still quiet. Did that mean the other staff were handling whatever situation it was?

"Thank you, Monique, but I'd rather not live in Domer housing."

That was right. Tony had mentioned that she was scared of the government for some reason. Honestly, after a week of working with the Domers, she'd heard enough strange stories to know that there might be good reason for it. But that didn't change the fact that she was currently homeless and was going to be discharged soon. It wouldn't be the first time she'd discharged a person to the street, but she always hated it.

"Look, Moxy, this isn't the government from the Dome."

Moxy shook her head warily. "You don't understand."

Monique nodded. No point getting upset. "I can understand being afraid. And I can tell that you suffered some pretty big traumas in that Dome. But you can't live in this hospital. I need to get you a place to live."

"I don't want the government to know where I live," Moxy said, twisting the edges of her sheets around her fingers.

"Do you have any money?" Monique asked. They really needed to hire a better social worker. This current one was way too young and passive. She was going to have to talk to the board about it next month.

"No," Moxy said after a moment.

"Do you have somewhere back inside the Dome area where you can live?"

Moxy nearly choked at this statement and shook her head violently. "I can't go back in there."

There was an eruption of shouting down the hall. Monique gave Moxy's hand a quick squeeze and darted out into the hallway without another word. There was no telling what might be happening. Yesterday, a man had snuck in and set off a bunch of smoke bombs in one of the bathrooms. They'd thought the hospital was on fire, which was actually a real possibility because one of the hospitals a few towns over had actually been set on fire two days ago.