Page 48 of The Wish
‘Did anyone in your family take you in?’
‘No,’ Alex says quietly. ‘It was just mum and me. And then . . . just me.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Mandy says, her voice sincere. ‘Everyone deserves a family.’
From the doorway, Kelly steps in, having heard the end of the exchange.
‘Fourteen,’ Alex says, still focused on the poem in his hand. ‘That’s how many homes I was in – until I aged out. Some just for weeks, some longer.’
‘And school?’ Mandy asks softly.
‘Lost count. They tried to keep me in the same district, but it never really stuck.’
Before Mandy can respond, Kelly reveals why she came.
‘Dean’s on his way up.’ She turns to Alex. ‘Let’s get you out of here.’
Sam suddenly leaps onto the bed. ‘No! Don’t send Alex away – we need him!’
Jesse grabs him, giggling. ‘Hey, Sammy – maybe we should hide Alex under the bed!’
Sam bursts into laughter as Kelly pulls Alex gently by the arm.
In the hallway, she steers him towards the exit – too late.
Dean is already inside, talking to another parent. Kelly curses under her breath. ‘Come on. I’ll take you to the playroom. It’s safer.’
The door shuts softly behind them, sealing Alex into a space that feels both safe and suffocating. The hospital playroom is bathed in the soft colours of forgotten childhoods – dolls, puzzles, finger-painted drawings pinned to the walls. The air is still. Heavy. Alex stands awkwardly in the middle of theroom, surrounded by symbols of a childhood he never got to experience.
Kelly glances through the small window in the door, making sure Dean hasn’t spotted them. ‘No one usually comes in here during visiting time. You’re safe.’
‘I don’t want to be safe,’ Alex murmurs, but before Kelly can respond, the door opens again.
Sandy appears, urgent and matter of fact. ‘Sorry, Kelly. We need you. Christine wants to speak to Mandy and Dean together. Sam needs to be taken out of the room.’
Alex’s expression shifts instantly. ‘What’s happening?’
Kelly’s eyes soften, but there’s no comfort she can offer. ‘The consulting doctors always speak to both parents when it’s serious. Christine wouldn’t ask unless she needed to. I’ll be right back,’ she adds, and follows Sandy out the door.
Alone, Alex wanders further into the room, unsettled by the quiet hum of fluorescent lights. The toys sit as if they, too, are waiting. He walks past a half-finished puzzle, past an easel where a rainbow has been started and abandoned.
Minutes later, the door creaks open again. Kelly enters with Sam in tow.
As soon as they step in, Sam pulls his hand from hers and runs to the far corner, where he sits at a table facing the wall. Alex looks to Kelly, whose face betrays what he already fears: Jesse is out of time. Grabbing a piece of paper and a crayon, Sam begins to draw. Despite all of her training, Kelly’s eyes fill with tears. Alex sees this and feels himself well up.
He turns to Sam, seeing a mirror image of himself, someone who retreats into his own world instead of interacting with others. Going over to him, he pulls up a chair. Sam slides a blank piece of paper towards Alex and hands him a crayon. Alex begins drawing, not the human figures Sam is creating but a dog. Max. Kelly remains at the far end of the room watching, unsure of herability to do her job in this instance. She’s the one who should be looking after Sam.
Alex and Sam finish their drawings and wordlessly push them aside. Sam gives Alex another piece of paper and again they draw. Sam draws people, Alex another version of Max. Alex pushes his piece of paper alongside Sam’s, extending his drawing on to Sam’s, a small dog now appears with what is obviously a drawing of Sam’s family. Sam attempts to do the same, put people into Alex’s drawing, and their arms tangle as they draw across each other. Sam begins to giggle and nudges Alex who exaggerates the nudge ruining the drawing with a large line across both pieces of paper. Kelly takes this as her cue to join them.
They welcome Kelly, who pulls up a chair beside Alex as Sam shows her what they are doing. In demonstrating, he nudges Alex who leans into Kelly. Both are shocked as bare arm touches bare arm. Alex then nudges Kelly who loses balance on the small chair and reaches out and grabs Alex for support. Sam is laughing loudly at the game he started. Alex nudges him a little too hard and reaches out to grab him as Sam threatens to fall from the chair. He holds him in an embrace for a moment longer than he should and Sam relaxes in his arms.
Feeling the need to regain composure, Kelly stands and takes a few steps away. Alex glances at her before putting a blank piece of paper in front of Sam.
‘Why don’t you draw a picture of us for Jesse?’ he suggests.
As Sam begins drawing, Alex joins Kelly.
‘You continue to surprise me,’ Kelly says quietly.
