Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle Page A

up a chair and sat down and took my left hand in his. He just sat there with me, not talking, holding my hand, until I fell asleep.
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    In the morning I wasn’t sure at first where I was. Then I remembered. I’d never been in the hospital before, except to be born, of course, and John and I were both born in New York, though Suzy and Rob were born right here. Outside the windows the snow was coming down, big soft white flakes, tumbling over each other. And my arm ached and my face ached and I was thirsty. One of the nurses spooned a little soupy cream of wheat between my lips for breakfast, but it tasted awful
and after a few bites I kind of gagged on it and she stopped. Dr. Harlow came in and looked at my teeth and bound me up again, but looser, and then Dr. Olsen came in and looked at my arm and said I was to have more X-rays, and I got wheeled down to the X-ray room and I didn’t have time to think about home or Mother or Daddy or anything.
    Right after I got back to the room, Daddy came in. I couldn’t fling my arms around him because of my broken one and I couldn’t kiss him because of my teeth, but he managed to give me a hug, and the first thing I asked him was when I could go home.
    â€œOh, in a few days if you’re good,” he said.
    â€œHow’s John?” I asked. “Is he still sick?”
    â€œHe’s kind of miserable,” Daddy said, “but I think he’s over the worst of his bug. But he’s very upset about you, Vicky.”
    I looked at Daddy and didn’t say anything. Finally I mumbled, “I’m upset about John.”
    â€œWhy?” Daddy asked. I didn’t say anything again, and Daddy said, “I know you don’t feel up to talking much today, Vicky. Would you rather wait and discuss it later?”
    I tried to shake my head, but that hurt worse than talking, so I said, “No, I’d rather get it over with.”
    â€œGet what over with?” Daddy asked.
    â€œIt was an awful day,” I said. “I did everything wrong. I had a fight with John and it was my fault because John had a fever, and then when the radiator started squirting I got mad at everybody and I hated everybody, John most of all. And when Nanny called, Mother was holding the radiator, so I knew she wouldn’t hear me if I left, so I got on my bike and I told Nanny it would
be all right, but we both knew it wasn’t, that Mother wouldn’t have let me, so when I went to her house we sneaked up the back stairs and Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins never even knew I was there. Then I fell off my bike and I was all that way from home alone and it was dark and awful and when I saw the lights of the house I started to scream and John was the one who heard me and he came running out of the house to me. Did I make him worse, Daddy?”
    Daddy never tries to pretend things, so all he said was, “I don’t know, Vicky. But he isn’t terribly ill; you needn’t worry about him too much.”
    â€œDaddy!” I said. “What happened to the radiator when Mother left it to come out to me?”
    â€œYour room and Rob’s got pretty soaked, the wallpaper and the floor. Luckily, Mr. Calahan drove up right after Mother and you left for the hospital, so it could have been worse. The living-room ceiling’s quite wet in one place, but he thinks it will dry out without leaving a stain. But if he hadn’t come when he did and the water had gone on streaming out of the radiator, the whole ceiling might have fallen in. By the way, Vicky, who gave you permission to let the air out of the radiators?”
    â€œI thought I was being helpful.”
    â€œDid you? Honestly?”
    â€œI thought I thought I was.”
    Daddy said, “You managed to give yourself a punishment that was quite a bit rougher than anything Mother or I would have given you, didn’t you? And remember, when you’re hurt, Mother and I and the whole family are