Chapter 7
I get to know the guy in the bed next to me pretty quick.
But he’s really busy.
So busy that even though he’s in the hospital, he draws blueprints every day and writes stuff I can’t understand.
One time, I ask him what those squiggly marks on his scratch paper are.
He taps my head and says: “Little dummy! Those are mathematical notation.”
I don’t know what mathematical notation are. I can barely read regular letters.
The guy acts like I’m stupid, but he sits right next to me and explains everything bit by bit.
He says those mathematical notation are like the regular letters.
He’s writing math equations.
I ask him what his math equations are for.
The guy is quiet for a really long time, then says softly: “They can build rockets and missiles.”
They can… make sure our country doesn’t get picked on by other countries.”
My mouth drops wide open.
He doesn’t need to say more-I already know this guy must be really, really important.
Because my mommy and daddy who died did the same kind of work.
‘ll never forget when I was really really little, some army guys came to our house.
They said my parents were doing work that nobody knew about, but it was really important. They couldn’t tell me what it was because it was top secret.
Then they gave me my mommy and daddy’s stuff.
Later the Kane family told me they died from really bad radiation poisoning.
grab the guy’s sleeve and get so worried I can barely talk right.
warn him: “No…dangerous!”
This kind of work is really dangerous.
‘eople can die from it.
The guy doesn’t care at all and just flops back on his bed.
The moonlight shines on him.
He looks really calm and peaceful.
He doesn’t care if I understand or not, and says quietly with a little smile: “I want to be the person like Nathan Hale-I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
I try really hard to repeat after him.
I only regret that 1…”
The guy pinches my cheek and explains it to me really patiently.
“Little dummy. It just means I’m totally willing to sacrifice everything for my country.”
He really is a good guy.
A real hero.
Just like my mommy and daddy.
When I look at him, my eyes get all full of respect and amazement.
The guy is always super busy.
Not only does he not rest even though he’s in the hospital, but he works even harder than before.
The nurses tell him to stop like a million times but he won’t listen. Finally, some people wearing gray work clothes come to visit him.
They take away his pens and papers by force. He complains about it.
But there’s nothing he can do.
That’s when I find out the guy’s name is Ethan.
He’s like a real physics genius.
When he was just a teenager, he went to study in other countries and became the youngest PhD student there.
One of the ladies in gray work clothes tells me that PhD means you know everything about everything.
If he’s a PhD, that means he’s really really smart.
Now I think the guy is even more awesome.
But the guy seems to have trouble sleeping.
Almost every single night, he can’t fall asleep.
If you don’t sleep good, your body won’t get better. That’s why he’s in the hospital.
But one time by accident, he falls asleep with his head on my lap.
I’m humming little kid songs.
When I see he’s sleeping really deep, I move around carefully so he can be more comfortable, then I lean back too.
So now the guy found his perfect human pillow.
Every night he climbs into my bed and uses me as a pillow to sleep.
As payment, he tells me stories about when he studied in other countries, and about this amazing world I’ve never seen.
He also teaches me math, and teaches me how to read books and poems.
My brain is slow, so learning is really really hard for me.
Ethan is a genius, so he’s probably never met anyone as dumb as me.
I make him so frustrated he wants to scream, but then he still explains everything to me over and over again without getting tired of it.
Little by little, I fall in love with this kind of life.
I love being with Ethan and learning new stuff every single day.
So when he’s about to leave the hospital, I grab his sleeve and ask him all sad:
“I… I don’t have anywhere to go. Can you take me with you?”
“I can let you use me as a pillow every night.”
Ethan squints his eyes and thinks for a few seconds.
Deal made!
The only person who doesn’t like it is Marcus.
lle won’t let me go with Ethan.
