The Bubble Boy (6 page)

I turn my head towards the window and watch the pigeons circle outside.

I’m lying on my bed when Greg comes in. I’ve got a headache and even though I’ve drunk loads of water my throat is sore. Greg walks around checking my
monitors and writing the figures down. He says he’s sorry, things have gone a bit manic. A new kid with leukaemia came into one of the wards today and he’s had to help him settle in. I
ask him if he can stay for just one minute; I’ve got something important to tell him and it won’t take long.

‘You should speak to one of the doctors,’ Greg says.

‘No, I can’t. I can’t talk to them about things like this.’

Greg looks at his watch.

‘Maybe in a couple of hours, mate. Can you wait? Things might have slowed down by then.’

I open my mouth, I want to tell him now, but he really is too busy because he’s already halfway out the door before I can say his name.

I’ll text Beth. She’ll know what to do. I start typing my message then put my phone down again. She worries about me too much already. And I’m not sure she’d believe me
anyway. She’d probably say it was my imagination playing tricks on me.

I open my laptop – four messages from Henry.

It’s nearly midnight when Greg comes back. He stands at the end of my bed and whispers to see if I’m awake. I tell him that I am, that even if I wanted to sleep, I
couldn’t. He says he’s got a few minutes now but I think that it’ll take longer than that to tell him everything.

Greg sits down in the chair by the side of my bed. I roll over and look at him. He yawns then pushes his hair out of his eyes.

‘I’m sorry, mate,’ he says. ‘I’m knackered, things went a bit mad.’

‘Is he okay?’

‘Who, mate?’

‘The new kid.’

‘Yeah, he’s good now. His mum and dad are with him. They’re going to stay the night.’

‘What about the snooker-ball kid?’

‘Yeah, mate, he’s fine, too. He’s just had a bit of a reaction to a drug like you do sometimes.’

‘But he’s all right?’

‘Yeah, it just made him run round twice as fast for a while. Hey, you’re nosey!’

I laugh but I’m not sure I should. I know what it feels like when the drugs go wrong. I’ve had it loads of times when the world moves in slow motion but inside my heart is beating
double fast.

I look down at my bed.

‘Hey, mate.’ Greg taps my arm. ‘I said he was okay . . . And you had something to tell me. What is it?’

‘It’s okay.’

‘No, come on, tell me.’

I smile. It doesn’t feel right to talk about it now. Not when I hear about all the other kids and their problems. Maybe I’ve been worried about nothing, and Greg seems really tired.
But then I look at the window and imagine Amir standing there waiting for the aliens. I’ve got to tell Greg now or I’ll never get to sleep.

‘It’s the new nurse,’ I say.

‘Amir?’

I nod.

‘What’s up? Don’t you like him?’

‘He’s okay.’

‘So what is it then?’

‘. . . I think he might be mad.’

Greg leans forward and ruffles my hair. ‘We all are, mate. We’ve got to be to work here.’

‘No, this is different, he believes in aliens . . .’

‘But that’s okay, isn’t it? Lots of people do.’

‘Maybe, but they don’t spend all day looking out of the window, waiting for them to land!’

Greg laughs. ‘Hey Joe . . . think you’ve been watching too many films.’

I sit up on my bed. ‘No, I think he’s really crazy-mad. He gets really bad headaches, too.’

‘Hey, relax.’ Greg puts his hand on my shoulder.

I take a deep breath.

‘It’ll be okay, mate. Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to him. Maybe he’s messing around. Or it could be he doesn’t know how to talk to kids your
age.’

I nod and take another deep breath. Thinking about Amir being a secret mad person is making my heart rate go up.

Greg glances at the clock.

‘Do you have to go?’

He shakes his head.

‘No, we’ve got another five minutes. Have you told anyone else?’

‘Only Henry. He thinks I’ve been abducted.’

Greg laughs and rubs my head.

‘Everything’s going to be fine, mate, I promise. He seems like a good guy. If there really are aliens then they wouldn’t need an airport to land and I doubt they’d be
coming to see Amir.’

I laugh.

‘Feel better?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good man.’ Greg stands up. ‘Hey, listen, I won’t see you tomorrow. It’s my turn for a three-day shift this week, but I’ll see you when you I get
back.’

I nod. I already knew his shift was ending; I’d counted the days just like I always do.

I ask him what he’s going to do on his days off and he tells me he’s going to go with his girlfriend to see her parents. They live in a small house in Margate with old windows that
rattle at night and keep him awake. I ask him if he likes going there and he tells me it’s okay, that him and Katie sleep in the attic room where if he stands on tip-toe he can look out of
the window and catch a glimpse of the sea.

‘Can Katie see it too?’

‘Yes, but only if I pick her up.’

He smiles and I smile too.

‘Is she little?’

‘Yeah, mate. She’s not much taller than you.’

‘Is she nice?’

‘Of course.’

‘Do you love her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you going to marry her?’

‘Might do.’

‘Even if she doesn’t like football?’

Greg laughs. ‘Hey, mate. I’m telling you too much.’

I smile. ‘It’s okay; I’m not going to tell anyone.’

I think he’s going to say something else, but he just looks at me for a long time then he looks down at his wrist and slowly pulls back his sleeve.

‘I know,’ I say. ‘You’ve really got to go.’

‘Afraid so, mate. But it’s only for three days.’ He puts his hand on my head. ‘And hey, make sure you’re looking good for the TV documentary.’

‘Am I allowed to do it?!’ I forget about the aliens for a second and am just filled with excitement instead.

‘If you’re feeling okay. Dr Moore’s going to check again on you tomorrow.’ He notices the giant smile on my face. ‘Ha, that cheered you up! So you’re good
now?’

I nod, then slide down into my bed. I listen to Greg’s footsteps as he walks to the door; it clicks open and closes after he has gone. I lie in the dark and think of him talking to Amir in
the morning. Everything will be fine after he does, especially now the TV people are coming. Then I think of Greg leaving the hospital – maybe if I’m awake I’ll get up and watch
him cycle out onto the road. I wish I’d told him I’d do that so that he would stop at the bus stop and wave up at me. I wish I could text him, but it’s too late. I pick up my
laptop. Henry might have been annoying earlier but I want to wish him luck for his walk tomorrow.

11 years, 2 months and 24 days

Amir comes into my room at seven. I watch him through half-closed eyes as he walks over to the window and raises the blinds. I wait for him to look to the right, over towards
to where the planes fly, but he just stands there looking at his shoes. Something is itching my foot, I want to scratch it but I don’t want to move or he’ll know I’m awake. I hope
Greg spoke to Amir to tell him to be less crazy around me.

The air-con clicks. Amir looks up at the unit as the blades swivel, blowing clean air around the room. I scratch the bottom of my foot with my heel. Amir turns his head and looks at me. He knows
I’m awake now. I don’t know if I should speak or stay still. He walks past the end of my bed, opens my wardrobe, takes out a clean set of clothes and puts them on the chair beside me. I
close my eyes tight, lie still and wait for him to leave, but his shadow is hanging over me.

‘You tell him.’

I look up. Amir’s eyes are circles of water.

‘You tell Greg about the aliens.’

I push myself up onto my elbows.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I was scared.’

‘You shouldn’t be scared of aliens.’

‘I’m not.’

‘Then you afraid of me?’

‘. . . A little.’

Amir holds his hand against his chest and suddenly looks really sad and worried.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘I not mean to make you afraid. I just thought maybe we could be friends. Anyway, superheroes shouldn’t be afraid of aliens!’ He looks
at me then at all the posters on the wall.

I smile. Maybe he’s only a little bit crazy.

‘So we can be friends?’

‘Of course.’

He holds out his hand. ‘It’s okay,’ he says. ‘They clean.’

I shake his hand. He looks around the room like he’s lost something.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I thinking . . . You’ve got nothing to do in here.’ He glances at the electrical sockets in the corners, at the TV, at the window, then back at me.

‘Tell you what. Now you my friend, I get us Sky TV!’

‘Sorry?’

‘You need Sky TV? You can get lots of channels, lots of films. You only got 47 channels, I get you 607.’

‘But I can’t pay, and people will notice.’

‘It’s okay,’ he says. ‘It’s not a big dish and I bring my card from home. We can watch football. Who you support?’

‘Arsenal.’

‘Snap!’ he says.

I sit up. My head spins. I lean back on my pillow and wait for it to stop. Amir doesn’t seem to have noticed. The worry has gone from his eyes; now they’re sparkling bright. I
don’t understand how someone can look so sad one minute and then look so happy the next. He jumps out of the chair, walks to the end of my bed and checks the wires on the back of the TV. I
think of all the new channels I could watch. I’d have so many that I wouldn’t have to go to sleep early just because there was nothing on! I could stay up all night, watch the same
films as Henry, and Beth wouldn’t have to spend all her money on DVD’s any more.

Amir shouts something.

‘Sorry?’

He looks over the top of the TV.

‘How long you been in here?’

‘All my life,’ I say.

‘All of it?’

‘Nearly. Didn’t they tell you?’

‘That’s terrible. You’ve been in here all your life and they don’t give you Sky TV?’

I laugh, Amir is smiling at me. After being scared for so long I suddenly want to laugh. Amir is so confusing. Maybe he’s not a real person. I look around the room for hidden cameras,
waiting for him to take off his disguise to reveal himself as a celebrity.

Amir walks over to the window, bumping his head against it as he tries to look up at the hospital roof.