Being a Barrow - A Sequel to Barrow's Boy

11 O'Clock Number

Just to be transparent: this chapter involves some tarot card readings. I myself do not read tarot cards and got help from the internet. If you read tarot cards and believe these readings are wrong, I'm really sorry. I did my best

     "I'm going to be honest with you boys," Dr. Howard started as soon as he walked into their classroom. Theodore and Dansworth, who had been occupying themselves with gams of tic-tac-toe on a spare piece of paper, both immediately looked up, sliding the paper away before Danny could draw his next O. "I was at my in-laws' last night, and they would not stop refilling my glass. So, I'm incredibly hungover."

     Howard squinted out at all of his pediatrics students, as if to prove his point. 

     "Someone, I beg, close the blinds."

     Giles, sitting near the back, immediately rose to do so. Simms, sitting on the other side of the room, followed suit. Howard thanked them before continuing.

     "Now, I'm going to lecture, and you're all going to be quiet, yes?" Theodore glanced at some of his fellow students, then joined them in nodding. "Good. I'll make it short. If you have questions, save them for when I don't have a splitting headache."

     Dr. Howard certainly wasn't what Theodore had expected from a specialist in pediatric medicine. He couldn't really imagine the man interacting with children, though he had made brief references to his own. He was blunt, though he enjoyed a good joke, as Theodore had discovered when he'd overheard Dansworth commenting on how his brother, Ivan, had told Danny that he should act more like him if he wanted to be successful. Danny had responded that he didn't have 45 minutes every morning to do his hair, and Howard had laughed from his place at the chalkboard.

    Howard also had an odd knack for knowing random information about his students. One day, he'd asked Giles whether he had just bought a toaster (Giles had, and still had no idea how Howard had known that). 

     Dr. Howard got through his lecture on paediatric infectious disease fine enough, and Teddy and Danny focused on their notes. Today, Howard never asked the class to answer any questions, and his lecture finished within twenty-five minutes. At the end, he looked out at his students.

     "Common cold, flu, infections, fevers, you all get the point, right?" 

      Theodore nodded along with his classmates. 

      "Great, you all can leave. See you next week."

      With those words, Theodore began packing up his belongings. Next to him, Danny did so as well, whispering to him.

     "What are we gonna do with this extra time?"

     It was a good question. Monty would still be in his hematology class, and Ashton in a keynote lecture on patient advocacy. They'd want to wait for them on campus, so where should they go?

     "Library?" Teddy suggested. They could always work on another assignment in the meantime. "Or somewhere in the O'Donnell building?"

     "I was thinking Azarias?" 

     Azarias was the on-campus coffee house that was especially favoured by members of the Raphaelites. Northings had taken Dansworth there for one of their study sessions the year before, and Danny had been quickly converted into loving it too. Theodore couldn't blame him, they were quite good. 

     "I wouldn't mind that, actually," he responded. He could still get work done there, too, after all. 

     "Dansworth," Dr. Howard said, drawing the boy's attention. Most of the class had left by now, exiting in the time Danny and Teddy had taken to consider their options. He tucked his book under his arm as he answered the professor.