Leon woke up and the first thing he said was “I'm hungry.”
Not hello. Not mommy. Not where am I or what happened or why does my arm feel funny. Just that. Evelyn was out of the chair in seconds. Two days of barely sleeping had not slowed her down at all. She was just suddenly upright, eyes on him.
He blinked at her.
She blinked back.
“Hi, Mommy,” he said.
“Hi baby,” Her voice came out smaller than she meant it to. She sat on the edge of the bed and touched his face — his cheek, his forehead, his chin, just checking. Just making sure he was all there. "How do you feel?'
"Hungry," he said again.
"Besides hungry."
He thought about it. "My arm feels weird.”
'That's the tube. It's giving you medicine.'
He looked at it. Turned his arm slightly to see it better. "Does it have to stay?
