They walked the rest of the way without talking. When they got to
the nurse?s office, they told Mrs. Crane what had happened and
made sure to add that Helen had come to school with heatstroke
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that morning. Mrs. Crane had Helen lie down with a cool towel
over her eyes and went back into her office to call Jerry.
?Your father?s on his way, dear. No, no, keep your eyes covered.
Darkness will help,? Mrs. Crane said as she passed by Helen?s cot.
Helen heard her rush out to the hall to speak to someone briefly,
then come back in and sit behind her desk.
Helen lay under the towel, grateful that she was being left alone
and in relative privacy. She couldn?t think two coherent thoughts
in a row, let alone explain herself to anyone. What scared her the
most was that for some reason she knew that what she had tried to
do was right, or at least that it was expected of her. Deep inside,
she knew she would have killed that boy if she could, and she
didn?t even feel guilty about it. Until she saw her father.
He was a mess. Mrs. Crane told him everything that had
happened, explaining that Helen was suffering from a serious case
of heatstroke and that it may have caused her strange outburst. He
listened patiently and then asked Mrs. Crane for a moment alone
with his daughter, which she gave them.
Jerry didn?t say anything at first; he just sort of hovered over
Helen?s cot while she sat up and fidgeted with her necklace. Finally,
he sat down next to her.
?You wouldn?t lie to me right now, would you?? he asked softly.
She shook her head. ?Are you sick??
?I don?t know, Dad. I don?t feel right?but I don?t know what?s
wrong,? she told him earnestly.
?We?ve got to take you to the doctor, you know.?