“Are you now?” Dr. Harris’s smile widened, but I wasn’t really paying attention. I took a step toward my sister.
“She’s not having a great day,” I heard the doctor say to Travis. “I think most of her breakfast ended up on the floor. She hasn’t talked for a while, either. The new medication she’s been on was helping for a while, and I thought we were making some progress with communication, but she hasn’t said a word since yesterday.”
I moved away from the rest of them and went up to Megan. My skin felt like it was vibrating as I approached my sister. It was like all the hairs on my arm were standing up and pointing toward her, drawing me closer. She didn’t move or say anything, just continued to watch the ants.
Slowly, I sat down beside her on the ground and leaned close to her but not quite touching. I raised my hand and held my wrist near her ear. The ants continued their journey—half of them empty-handed and heading in one direction, the other half heading the opposite way with tiny white crumbs in their mandibles.
After a few minutes, Megan moved.
She reached out and grabbed my wrist, bringing it around to her face so she could see the dial of the watch I wore. At the same time, she leaned closer to me.
“This clock has Roman numerals,” Megan said quietly.
“How do ants tell time?” I asked her.
“They don’t have any watches their size,” Megan replied.
“So how do they know when to go home?”
“There are four clocks in my room.” Megan used her finger to trace over the smooth face of the watch on my wrist. “Four clocks.”
“Four clocks,” I repeated. “One is green.”
“My brother has green eyes.”
I froze and my muscles tensed. I felt heat on my neck and pressure behind my eyes. I could count the times she said the word brother on one hand.
“I’m right here,” I whispered. She didn’t say anything else, but we leaned against each other a bit more. The ants continued their tasks, regardless of timepieces. As the sky darkened, they disappeared into their holes, and I felt pressure against my shoulder.
“It’s time to go, Matthew.”
I looked up to see Travis. Behind him was Mayra with a strange expression on her face. I pulled my hand away from Megan slowly, and Megan’s hands fell away from my wrist.
“Megan has to meet Mayra,” I said.
Mayra took a step toward me but hesitated. I reached out and took her hand to guide her closer to my sister, then pulled her down so we were both sitting beside Megan.
“Megan, this is Mayra.” I took Megan’s hand with my right and Mayra’s hand in my left to bring them closer together. Megan noticed the watch on Mayra’s wrist immediately and latched onto it. “Mayra, this is my sister, Megan.”
“Hi, Megan,” Mayra said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Megan didn’t respond but focused intently on the watch around Mayra’s wrist. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth turned into a scowl.
“Not right,” she growled, and I felt Mayra tense up a little beside me. “Not right, not right…”
“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered.
“What is it?” Travis asked.
“I think she recognizes Mom’s watch,” I said.
Megan was clearly getting upset and began to rock herself back and forth, crashing her head against the bench at the same time and still repeating the same words over and over. Dr. Harris came over, and we brought Megan back to her room.
“Are you going to have to sedate her?” I heard Bethany ask.
“Hope not to,” Dr. Harris replied. “Maybe Matthew can calm her down.”
The aide moved away from Megan, where she was sitting on the edge of her bed. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and she continued to rock.