After one last hopeful look into the nurse’s station to see if Nurse Haddie was off the phone yet, Sarah set off for the bathroom. She’d been to the hospital enough to know where it was, just through the door that led out of the emergency room and down the hall to the right. She walked to the door with her head down, trying to bounce the ball with alternating hands, the pink ball looking extra bright against the lime green floor.
Through the door, out of the ER, and right into temptation. On the other side of the door was a long, empty hallway. Shiny linoleum stretched out in front of her like an airport runway, completely clear of any obstacles, and totally absent of any adults. The hall almost begged for her to throw the rubber ball. It was clear all the way down to the elevator at the far end. She could just imagine how cool it would look with the ball skipping along the linoleum, bouncing off the walls the whole way down.
But what if someone walked out of the side rooms and saw her? And what if they told her mom?
She chickened out. Her mom would be really mad if she heard she threw a ball around the hospital, especially since she wasn’t even supposed to be in the hallway by herself to begin with.
She spotted the blue sign for the bathroom three doors down the hall. Seeing the sign, her urge to pee took on new urgency. She hustled down the hall to the door and was about to go in when a different urge hit her. She turned and faced the direction she had just come from and chucked the ball down the hall toward the emergency room door. It bounced around in a satisfying way, careening off the white walls and making neat squeaking noises when it hit the linoleum. After bouncing for a bit, it rolled to a stop against a wall, well out of the way where anyone might step on it. Sarah decided to leave it there and pick it up on they way back.
She leaned all her weight against the heavy bathroom door until it swung open and she went inside.
When she reopened the door she was pleased with her accomplishment. She couldn’t wait to tell her mom that she had gone all by herself, even though she weighed the possibility that she might get in trouble for it too. She’d just blame Becky. After all, she had asked her sister to come with her and she was the one who said no. Maybe she could find a way to get her sister in trouble and brag all at the same time.
Sarah’s plotting was interrupted when she glanced down the hall. She felt a pit form in her stomach as she realized she might get in trouble from her mom after all. Her ball was gone. Someone must have walked by and found it while she was in the bathroom. Busted.
Something hit her between the shoulders, not too hard but enough to scare her.
She little out a yelp and spun around.
It was her ball.
And there was no one in the hallway.
“Hello?” she called out. There was a soft echo in the hallway, a sound effect that made her feel very alone. She felt nervous, like someone was watching her. It was time to get out of there. She bent down to get her ball, but as she reached down, it started to roll down the hall.
Scrunching her eyebrows together, she watched as the ball came to a stop a few feet away from her. She stepped closer to it, but again it rolled away just out of reach. “Who’s doing that?” she demanded of the hallway. Nothing. Not even the echo this time.
Squish. Squish.
Footsteps on linoleum.
Right behind her.
Sarah turned around at the sound. But the hallway was empty in that direction too. Holding her breath from being so scared, she turned back and saw her ball rolling away from her. And it wasn’t stopping this time. In fact, it was speeding up as it went. Sarah stared, watching it go further and further down the hall, all the way down to the elevator.
Just as it was about to hit the elevator, the metal doors slid open and the ball shot inside and bounced off the back wall of the elevator.
Sarah stepped back against the side of the hallway, wishing she could blend right into the wall. Whoever was in that elevator would definitely tell her mom.
But no one came out. The ball bounced around, hitting the different walls, and then came to rest. Sarah knew the elevator doors usually closed after a while, but these didn’t. The elevator stayed open. The ball right in the middle of the compartment.
Sarah waited to make sure no one came out of the elevator. She looked back the other direction to see if she could spot whoever was responsible for the ball’s strange behavior. Still no one.
She took a few faltering steps down the hall trying to gather her courage. She looked over her shoulder again wishing there was someone else around. The hospital was never very busy, but usually someone was around. A nurse or a cleaning person. But there was nobody. The hall was empty. She thought about going to get Becky or Nurse Haddie. But part of her knew Becky was somehow responsible for all of this. Sarah pictured her sister hiding at the end of the hall, waiting for her to chicken out so she could call her a baby again.
The image of her sister was enough to get her feet moving. Thinking the quicker she moved the less time she’d have to get caught, she broke into a run and hurried down the hall as fast as she could, the squeaks from her sneakers the only sound in the dead air.
By the time she reached the elevator, she was out of breath. She stopped. Now that she was there, so close to the getting the ball, she started to get nervous again. Too scared to rush right in, she wiggled her toes right up to the edge of the entrance and peered in. Her ball was the only thing in the elevator.
Balancing on one foot and holding on to the side of the open door, Sarah stretched her other leg into the elevator compartment, trying to reach out for the ball. Her toe just barely touched the side of the ball. Shifting forward a little, she was able to get a better angle and place the side of her sneaker on top of the ball.
Carefully, she pulled her foot back toward her. It was working. The ball was rolling toward her. Suddenly, her foot slid off and the ball skidded to the back of the compartment.
Sarah groaned. The last thing she wanted was to go into the elevator. She couldn’t explain why, but the empty compartment scared her. Maybe she should just leave the ball where it was. She would get into a little trouble, but it wouldn’t be that big a deal.
But the image of her sister stopped her. Sarah imagined her laughing and singing;
Baby. Baby. Sarah’s a baby.
Sarah took a deep breath and wrung her hands together. She needed to get her ball.
Reaching out with her right hand, she wished as hard as she could that the ball would just roll to her. She imagined she could reach all the way to the back of the elevator. She pictured her arm stretching out until her hand hovered over the ball. In her mind, she lowered her hand until it wrapped around the ball.
To her surprise, she felt the pressure on her fingertips. She felt the texture of the ball. Carefully, she pretended to pull the ball toward her. Her eyes went wide.
The ball moved.
One rotation.
Then it stopped.
Another rotation.
Then it stopped again.
Sarah smiled. She was doing magic. She wasn’t sure how but she knew it was cool.
But then the ball was stuck. No matter how hard she tried, it refused to move. She concentrated but the ball not only wouldn’t roll toward her, but it went back the other direction one rotation.
She cocked her head to the side. It felt like something pulled at her hand when the ball rolled back. She tried to make the ball move again.
Nothing.
She relaxed her concentration.
As soon as she did, something wrapped around her wrist and yanked her arm.