Room_ A Novel - Emma Donoghue [63]
Like bees?
“The buzzer right by your bed?”
“We managed,” Ma tells her.
“I’m Noreen, let me get you a couple of fresh masks.”
“Oh sorry, I forgot,” says Ma.
“Sure, why don’t I bring them up to your room?”
“That’s OK, we’re coming down.”
“Grand. Jack, will I page an aide to carry you down the stairs?”
I don’t understand, I put my face away again.
“It’s OK,” says Ma, “he’s doing it his way.”
I go on my butt down the next eleven. At the bottom Ma ties up my robe again so we’re still the king and the queen like “Lavender’s Blue.” Noreen gives me another mask I have to wear, she says she’s a nurse and she comes from another place called Ireland and she likes my ponytail. We go in a huge bit that has all tables, I never saw so many with plates and glasses and knives and one of them stabs me in the tummy, one table I mean. The glasses are invisible like ours but the plates are blue, that’s disgusting.
It’s like a TV planet that’s all about us, persons saying “Good morning” and “Welcome to the Cumberland” and “Congratulations,” I don’t know for what. Some are in robes the exact as ours and some in pajamas and some in different uniforms. Most are huge but don’t have long of hair like us, they move fast and they’re suddenly on all the sides, even behind. They walk up close and have so many teeth, they smell wrong. A he with a beard all over says, “Well, buddy, you’re some kind of hero.”
That’s me he means. I don’t look.
“How’re you liking the world so far?”
I don’t say anything.
“Pretty nice?”
I nod. I hold on tight to Ma’s hand but my fingers are slipping, they’ve wet themselves. She’s swallowing some pills Noreen gives her.
I know one head high up with a fuzzy small hair, that’s Dr. Clay with no mask on. He shakes Ma’s hand with his white plastic one and he asks if we slept well.
“I was too wired,” says Ma.
Other uniformy persons walk up, Dr. Clay says names but I don’t understand them. One has curves of hair that’s all gray and she’s called the Director of the Clinic that means the boss but she laughs and says not really, I don’t know what’s the joke.
Ma’s pointing me a chair to sit beside her. There’s the most amazing thing at the plate, it’s silver and blue and red, I think it’s an egg but not a real one, a chocolate.
“Oh, yeah, Happy Easter,” says Ma, “it totally slipped my mind.”
I hold the pretend egg in my hand. I never knowed the Bunny came in buildings.
Ma’s put her mask down on her neck, she’s drinking juice that’s a funny color. She puts my mask up on my head so I can try the juice but there’s invisible bits in it like germs going down my throat so I cough it back in the glass real quiet. There’s anyones too near eating strange squares with little squares all over and curly bacons. How can they let the food go on the blue plates and get all color on? It does smell yummy but too much and my hands are slippy again, I put the Easter back in the exactly middle of the plate. I rub my hands on the robe but not my bitten finger. The knives and forks are wrong too, there’s no white on the handle, just the metal, that must hurt.
The persons are with huge eyes, they have all faces different shapes with some mustaches and dangling jewels and painted bits. “No kids,” I whisper to Ma.
“What’s that?”
“Where are the kids?”
“I don’t think there are any.”
“You said there was millions in Outside.”
“The clinic’s only a little piece of the world,” says Ma. “Drink your juice. Hey, look, there’s a boy over there.”
I peek where she points, but he’s long like a man with nails in his nose and his chin and his over-eyes. Maybe he’s a robot?
Ma drinks a brown steaming stuff, then she makes a face and puts it down. “What would you like?” she asks.
The Noreen nurse is right beside me, I jump. “There’s a buffet,” she says, “you could have, let