Have You Ever Listened To The Rain At Night?

Part One

"One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . ."

"Stop. I can't take it anymore."

"Are you sure? Last week you made it to fifty. Today only to twenty-five."

Logan Mitchell shook his head, breathing heavily. "I'm sure. It's hard for me to breathe."

"Okay," his best friend Kendall Knight replied, grabbing Logan's arm for support. "I'll take you back to your room."

Logan nodded, but they had barely managed more than three steps when he suddenly had to cough heavily and fell to his knees.

"Logan?" Kendall asked concerned, gripping his friend's shoulders. "Hey, man. Remember, you need to breathe calmly and evenly. Can you do that for me?"

But Logan was no longer responsive and only marginally heard how Kendall called for help . . .

Kendall paced restlessly up and down the hallways. When his mother Jennifer finally came out of room number 5, he approached her with concern. "How is he?"

Jennifer – Jen – Knight sighed. "I don't want to lie to you, honey. His condition isn't the best at the moment."

"I don't get it. When I helped him with his exercises last week, he made it to fifty without even getting out of breath. Today he collapsed halfway through. He's getting weaker, Mom."

"Yes, I know."

"Is there nothing you can do to help him?"

"The doctors are already helping him as much as they can, but the last bit of strength has to come from him."

"And strength is what he lacks most right now," Kendall murmured, ruffling his thick blond hair. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then he asked, "So what's the plan now? After all, we all thought he could go back home this week."

"The doctor in charge has prescribed him bed rest for the next two weeks and ordered more tests."

"Can I still come to visit him?"

Jen shook her head regretfully. "I'm afraid not, Kendall. Right now, we have to play it safe until he gets stronger again."

Kendall made a face. He didn't like leaving his best friend alone when he was feeling so bad. But he also knew that in this current situation every little bacterium or even the tiniest germ could be dangerous for Logan. He nodded with a sigh. "Alright."

His mother put a hand on his shoulder. "I have to go now. We're getting two new interns today."

"Okay. See you tonight. Katie and I will make dinner."

"I'll make sure I'm not late home. I promise."

Two weeks later:

"Hey, Camille, you have the list. Can you check how many towels there should be?" Jo Taylor called to her friend across the room.

"Wait . . . let me see . . . um, 250," Camille Roberts replied. Jo frowned. "I only counted two hundred. So fifty towels are missing."

"Is the trolley completely empty?"

Jo nodded. "Yep. All empty."

Camille considered. "Have you checked the rest of the bed sheets? Maybe they slipped in between."

Jo searched through a trolley with various bed linens until her face suddenly brightened up. "Found them."

Camille laughed. "The same thing happened when I was helping Jen with the laundry last week."

After Jo had also arranged the last fifty towels, Camille called out, "Can you help me with the sheets?"

As Jo helped Camille fold the sheets, she asked, "You know what's weird?"

"No, what?"

"I keep thinking about this one patient room. We've been doing this internship for two weeks now and have actually seen every other room apart from this one. Don't you think that's weird?"

Camille nodded. "You're talking about room number five, right? Yes, I was wondering about that too."

"Do you think we should finally ask Jen about it today?"

Camille nodded. "Yeah, good idea. Let's ask her during lunch."

Jen was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with some folders, making notes on a piece of paper, when Jo and Camille came over to her. Jen gave the two of them a friendly smile. "Hello, you two."

"Are we disturbing you?" Jo asked, pointing to the folders. Jen shook her head. "Not at all. What can I do for you? Come on, sit with me."

After the two girls sat down, Jo began to explain, "We were wondering what room number five was all about. I mean, we know every corner of this facility, but we've never been allowed to go into that very room. Is it really that dangerous to go in there?"

Jen was silent for a few seconds, then she said, "No, it's not dangerous, not really. It's just a precautionary measure. The patient in number five suffers from a rare immune deficiency, which means that even a simple cold can be very distressing for him. Three weeks ago we thought he was ready to go home again, but then a few days later he relapsed and collapsed. That was right on your first day. We are now waiting for his condition to improve. And the reason you shouldn't go into the room is because we're trying to prevent him from coming into contact with foreign germs. He has to maintain a high standard of hygiene because in his current weakened state, any bacterium or germ can weaken him even more. Not even his parents have been allowed to visit him for the past two weeks."

The two girls stared at her speechless, depressed by what they had just heard.

"How old is this boy?" Jo finally asked.

"Sixteen, almost seventeen."

"Do you think we can meet him soon?" Camille asked.

"Well, I spoke to the doctors this morning and as soon as they give the green light, I'll introduce him to you. And I promise you it will be worth it."

"Why?" Jo asked, surprised by Jen's words. "What is so special about him?"

Jen smiled mysteriously. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."