Chapter
2 ? Dear Prince
When
Blake entered the last room on the right side of the corridor at 6:07pm with a
dinner tray, he found his young patient in bed. He was deeply hidden under the
white blanket and sobbing loudly.
Blake
smiled sadly and put the tray down. He had immediately known that Justin would
have difficulties with becoming acclimated.?
Anybody who lived in the same room for eighteen years and then put into
a completely different building in a totally strange town, would feel the same
way.
?Hey,?
He looked around and discovered the still packed bag locked tightly in front of
the cupboard.? ?You still haven?t
unpacked. Don?t you want to put your socks in the drawer??
Justin
cried under the blanket and pushed his nose deeply into the pillow.
?I
bet this shelf would be perfect for your alarm clock.? Blake opened the bag and
began to distribute a couple of things in the room. ?I am sure your underwear
feels very lucky now that it?s out of the dark bag.?
The
boy whimpered further, but more quietly so he could eventually hear what Plake
had to say. ?Oh look. Your trousers fit exactly on the upper shelf.??
The
male nurse took a stack of t-shirts from the bag and put them at the second
shelf under the trousers.
Justin
sniffled and turned his face half from the pillow to be able to see something,
at least with one eye.
?Wow.
I?d say you have a rather cool radio here!? Impressed, Blake took a silver
radio from the bag. This thing really wasn?t bad. ?Can I try it??
He
didn?t wait for his patient to answer. He pulled a safety guard from one of the
sockets and attached the radio?s plug. With a couple of twists on the buttons,
a radio station from New York could be heard and he smiled at the boys nervous
whimpering under the blanket.
Justin
turned a thick hair strand around his forefinger and mumbled nervously to
himself. ?Piii-pliiine to Paa ra-diiise.? He didn?t like the strange voice in
the radio. He preferred to hear Pu'ukani. ?Your iiiisland muu uuusic co-nnnn-e
ct ion!?
Blake
grinned at this perfect imitation of a Hawaiian radio announcement. ?Pipeline
to Paradise? You?re a real Kahuna then, hmm??
Justin
stayed in his exceptionally deep, monotonous intonation. ?Cowabunga?
The
male nurse looked at Justin stupefied and then laughed out loud.
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Fifteen
minutes later Justin wasn?t lying in his bed anymore and even though his blue
eyes were red rimmed and welled up a little, his general disposition was much
calmer now.?
The
little radio was adjusted on the right frequency to receive Pipeline2Paradise
in best quality and all garments of Justin?s had found their place in the
cupboard.
?Hey
Justin,? Blake spoke quietly from the side to get his patients attention. ?You
feel a bit hungry now? It?s time for your dinner.?
Justin
looked at the watch and began to rock back and forth. ?Aah.?
It
was Thursday. 6:29 pm. This was not good at all. Certainly dinner was always at
6 pm on Thursday. Two slices of bread with hard crust, eggs, peppers and meat
paste.
?Justin.?
Blake sat himself at Justin's little table and began to spread salami on the
wholemeal roll. ?It?s ok. Remember? You?re in Pittsburgh now. It?s ok to eat a
bit later in Pittsburgh.?
?6
pm.? Justin ran to the door which wasn?t green and beat his hand against it. ?6
pm. Of course it?s 6pm.?
Blake
watched the boy attentively, but however didn?t stop preparing the meal.
?Justin?? I would like for you to not
beat your hand on the door. You?ll hurt yourself. Come here and try the salami.
You surely like salami, hmm??
Justin
loved salami. Monday was salami day, but today wasn?t Monday. Of course today
was Thursday. Therefore he would certainly not eat any salami. Today it was
eggs and peppers and?
??meat
paste. 6 pm.?
?It?s
meat paste in Harrisburg today??
Justin
rocked back and forth and curled blond hair around his finger. ?6 pm. Of course
it?s meat paste.?
?Ok.?
The male nurse put the roll aside. ?I gave you a piece of paper earlier. Where
is it now??
Justin
looked up to his bedside table, not stopping his rocking motions.
Blake
got up, fetched the small paper and went to his patient. ?What does it say? See?
What have I written for you Justin??
?6
pm.? Justin was stubborn and didn?t want to look at the piece of paper.
Blake
grinned. ?Justin Taylor. 3 Fuller Street. 15219 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA. Do
you remember? Justin has moved. Not in Harrisburg anymore.?
?Moved??
Justin looked blankly past the male nurse and directly at the white wall.
?Yes,
exactly. You have moved. Justin lives in Pittsburgh now with Plake.?
The
rocking stopped slowly and a small smile drew over Justin's lips. ?Plake?
?Yes.
Plake and Justin are living in Pittsburgh now and can you see this?? Blake drew
out a black and white copy of the weekly St. James meal plan. ?Here in
Pittsburgh its wholemeal rolls, salami, butter, cheese and pickled gherkin on
Thursday.?
?Meat
paste.?
?Not
here in Pittsburgh.?
?6
pm.?
Blake
sighed, fetched Justin?s deep blue alarm clock off the shelf, altered the time
to 6 pm and then held the clock in front of his patients face. ?6 pm. Will you
eat the salami roll now??
Justin
looked astonished at his clock. Then he took it into his hand, shook it and
knocked on its plastic structure. It was 6 pm again. That had never happened
before.
?Justin?
You really don?t want to miss dinner time again, do you??
Justin
looked once again at the clock and then went to the little table with the
salami.
He
kept the magic watch tightly in his hand while eating the whole roll and half
of the pickled gherkin. Although pickled gherkins were actually for Sunday
evenings only.
Of
course.
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The
last point on Dr. Bruckner?s to do list for the day was the welcoming of his
newest patient.? He knocked at J.
Taylor?s door shortly after 7 pm.
At
St. James it was not usual to ask for permission to enter a room, so he didn't
wait for it before opening the door. He knocked on doors only out of courtesy.
?Good
evening, I'm Dr. Bruckner.? He entered the room with a kind smile and saw a
thin boy sitting at a small table. His head hung down, almost touching the
table top and his face covered by a thick curtain of bright blond hair. ?Mister
Taylor? Justin? Do you mind if I sit down with you for a little while?? Dr.
Bruckner took the little stool and sat down opposite the boy.
Justin
remained still. His right hand clutched an old?
book of fairy tales tightly against his chest and the other held
something.? A pen.? A blue wax crayon which he kept clasped
tightly.
?Justin?
Wouldn?t you like to tell me hello??
The
tip of Justin's nose touched a little piece of paper which lay on the table.
The paper smelled of wax crayon. Like the blue one. Justin breathed in deeply.
He liked blue.
?I
am your therapist for the next couple of months. What are you doing? Does this
become a drawing??
Justin
felt his eyes become damp and once again breathed in deeply. This time through
his mouth and a little louder.
Dr.
Bruckner tipped his head to the side and gave the boy a closer look before
extending his hand to stroke the blond hair. ?It takes a while to settle down
in a new place. And it?s ok to be sad at first. To miss your old place.?
Something
wet ran down Justin?s nose and it tickled.
The
professor stroked the soft strands once again before getting up. ?The nurses
have the number of my pager. Just let me know if you want to talk, ok? I?ll
stop by every time you want me to.?
?One
five two one nine Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA. One five two one nine.? Justin
dropped his forehead against the little paper on the table. ?One five two one
nine.? He knew Justin Taylor's new numbers exactly now.
?only
the prince didn?t know the numbers.
And
without the right numbers certainly the letter would never arrive at the
prince?s castle.
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At
8:30 pm Blake made his last check on station four and smiled gently as he
entered the last room on the right side at the end of the corridor. It was dark
except for the moonlight and the shine of the streetlights, coming from outside
the window.
Justin
wasn?t in his bed. He still sat at the table with a wax crayon in his hand and
his head on a well-worn book of fairytales. Like on a pillow.
He
slept and breathed evenly.
A
crumpled piece of paper lay beneath his other hand marked by a blue crayon.
Blake
pulled it out carefully.
Prince I live
now in another tower one five two one nine Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA.
Princess Justin
Taylor
The
handwriting was smeared and reminded him of a preschooler. Blake read the
sentence three times before carefully putting the wrinkled paper back on the
table.? He took the pen from Justin?s
thin fingers and stroked the boys head while he softly whispered to him to wake
up. He stood beside Justin and held him firmly by the arm to help him up.
The
patient hardly opened his eyes as they took the few steps toward the bed and
mumbled something unintelligible, but when Blake tried to direct him down on to
the mattress, he stopped stubbornly and suddenly seemed wide awake.
?Come
on Justin. You?re tired. Lay down.?
?Channel?channel
four.?
?Channel
four??
?Channel
four.?
?You
want to watch television? What?s on channel four??
?Channel
four. The good night greeting. Eight?eight o?clock on channel four.?
Blake
looked at the boy attentively. ?The good night greeting is on channel four at 8
pm??
?Channel
four.?
Blake
held his watch to Justin's eye-level. ?8:36 pm. Justin the good night greeting
is over now. You can watch it tomorrow.?
?Watch
it tomorrow.? Justin couldn?t recognize the numbers on Plakes? watch in the
darkness.
?Tomorrow
Justin.? The male nurse pulled the blanket back and guided Justin into a
sitting position on the mattress.
?Time
to sleep now. You?re tired.?
Was he? Yes. His eyes felt very heavy and he wanted to sleep a little more. So
he tucked his legs under the blanket and put his head on the pillow.
?Here.
Your book.? Blake covered the boy up and shoved the fairytale book under the
cushion. ?No one can take it now, right??
A
ghost of a smile played over Justin's red lips for a few seconds and three of
his fingers followed the precious book protectively under the down filled
pillow, before his eyes fell shut.
Blake
smiled and stroked soft blond hair from a pale face. ?Good night?frog prince.?
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