In which I learn more about John, if not about what's going on....

"Oh dear..." John fretted, looking at his laptop in dismay. "It looks like Pete Riley is on another case. I was hoping Dr. Morgan would send him here."

"How many of you are there?" I said.

"Three who report to Dr. Armitage - myself, Rich and my sister, Persephone. I need to ask your person if it would be all right if my sister joined us."

"It will be," Maddy said, coming in. "Are you guys ready to go see how Sparrow's doing?"


~*~

As it turns out, not much has changed, although she's been upgraded to "fair." They do expect her to recover. At the moment, she's being kept sedated, so John couldn't really talk to her.

After we left Hudson, Maddy said she had to make a stop at that place with the garden center.

"Do you get to go everywhere with her?" John asked as we looked around.

"Pretty much," I said. "Every now and again she doesn't bring me. Don't you go places with your person?"

"Not really," he admitted, watching the fish in the indoor pond. "I'm sent places on my own, of course, but I don't really associate with Dr. Armitage outside of the university. He's told me on more than one occasion that his wife finds dolls to be quite - disturbing - and doesn't wish for him to bring any of us to his home."

"Where do you stay, then?"

"I live in his office. He's got an old cardboard box up on one of his file cabinets that I've turned into a bed. I've got Rich and Percy with me, of course, but it does get a bit lonely sometimes."

It doesn't sound like much of a life, to be honest. Before I could say as much, though, Maddy came back.

"Hey you, smile!" she said, snapping John's picture before he could really react. I don't think he minded, though.



~*~

"My sister will be here tomorrrow," he was saying a bit later.

"Great. You did ask her," Maddy said, coming back from making a phone call. "They said they're bringing Sparrow out of sedation tomorrow. If all goes well, she might be released by the end of the week."

"That's good news," I said.

"Very," Maddy agreed, looking at John. "I see you never go anywhere without your towel."

"It's actually my blanket," he admitted. "Sometimes it's a good idea to bring your own. You can never be certain of where you'll be sleeping."

Not the highest-quality washcloth I've ever seen, I thought, but didn't say as much.

~*~

"You know he sleeps in a cardboard box on a file cabinet?" I said to Maddy when he was out of hearing range.

"He doesn't live with the Armitages?" She sounded surprised.

"No." I told her what he'd told me at the garden center.

"That's no life for anyone," she said, then looked thoughtful. "I wonder if we could convince him to stay here when this is all over?"

That is exactly what I was thinking, too....