Have You Ever Listened To The Rain At Night?

Chapter 2

In their third week, it finally happened. Jo and Camille helped Jen serve the afternoon tea. At the end of their usual round, they found that one place setting was left.

"Did we forget someone?" Jo asked, puzzled. Jen smiled. "No, everything is alright." When she saw the confused looks of the girls, she laughed softly. "You asked me about the patient in room five last week. I spoke to the medical staff again this morning and they informed me that his condition is beginning to stabilize. So I think you girls will get to know him today."

However, before they entered the room, Jen held them back and handed them four, still wrapped, medical gloves. "Please put these and your masks on. His condition is improving, but we're still playing it safe . . . Okay, very good. Then follow me."

"Wow," was the first thing Jo said as they stood in the room. Her statement didn't refer to the patient in bed, but to the masses of books that were scattered all over the room, in all possible colors and sizes.

"That's a lot of books," Camille said, impressed.

"Do you want to know what the sad part is?" a calm voice asked behind her.

Jo and Camille turned around and finally saw the mysterious patient. A slim boy with dark, tousled hair and dark, impressive eyes lay in his bed and watched them warily. He looked quite normal, except for the unusual, severe pallor of his face. In contrast to his hair and eyes, it looked almost white.

"That every book has to come to an end at some point?" Jo answered his question. The boy nodded slowly. "Yes . . . And . . . There are never enough books."

Jo and Camille laughed.

"Girls, this is Logan. Logan, these are Jo and Camille. They are doing a voluntary internship here during their summer vacation."

"That's very commendable," Logan said, impressed, then he sighed. "I hate to be impolite and would like to shake your hands, but unfortunately . . ."

"Well, safety first," Camille said, making the boy named Logan chuckle.

"They were very excited to meet you," Jen told Logan while preparing his tea on a table next to the bed. "They started the day you had your relapse."

"I see . . . Well, they weren't the only ones who were impatient. My mom calls me every hour. I think she's going insane at home."

"I'll talk to her again," Jen promised, handing him a cup of tea. "By the way, Kendall will be very happy to hear that he can visit you again."

Logan smiled. "He's a good guy. Well, if I rest now for the next few days, I'll be fit right in time for celebrating my birthday at home. Kendall is welcome to come if he likes."

"Um, Logan . . . Listen, your last relapse was pretty bad and you're still not quite up to par. We'll try our best, but just in case, be prepared to celebrate your birthday in here. The doctors haven't decided yet."

The level-headed expression on Logan's face disappeared for a split second and was replaced by a shadow that crossed his face. He nodded slowly. "If you don't appreciate the small things in life, you don't deserve the big ones." His gaze wandered to the window and suddenly his mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"I think that's enough for the first contact. We'll let you rest now."

Jo and Camille said goodbye to Logan, but he didn't seem to hear them. His thoughts were far, far away.

"Come on," Jen said softly to the girls, leading them back into the hallway. Before she closed the door, Jo and Camille caught one last glimpse of Logan who was still looking towards the window.

"Well, what do you think of Logan?" Jen asked as she paused with the girls in the cafeteria. Jo frowned, apparently unsure of what to reply. "He's nice, but . . . he's also kind of . . . odd."

Jen nodded knowingly. "Yes, I know what you mean. He can be very special."

"Does he always talk like that?" Jo asked. "I mean, when you listen to him, it's like you're talking to a character from a book."

"He was like that when I first met him. You get used to his way of speaking."

Camille had been silent at first, now she asked, "And what happened at the end of our visit? It looked like he wasn't present anymore."

Jen sighed. "Sometimes he has the habit of escaping into his thoughts and then he is literally somewhere else. Maybe in a place where everything is easier for him. He suffers from his immune deficiency since he was a kid and because he reads a lot I guess that pattern developed over time."

"But it's not . . . dangerous, is it?" Camille asked. Jen shook her head. "No, it's not dangerous. Neither for him nor for others."

"I've never met a person like him before."

"Me neither," Camille agreed with Jo absently. Something inside her seemed to have changed in the last few minutes. She just couldn't tell what that was exactly. But somewhere deep in her consciousness, something told her that the reason for this was the special patient in room number five.