Music in the Night (Logan 4)

From that day forward, Lawrence looked at me differently. His eyes would linger on my face longer. He wasn't afraid to be caught staring at me, and if I did catch him, he simply smiled. Most important, he stopped shaking whenever he was with me. I saw he was growing stronger in small ways, eating better, participating more in the recreational activities, talking more to the others.

One visitors' day, he appeared abruptly in the art studio. Megan, Lulu, and I were the only ones there. Once again, Megan's mother hadn't appeared and Lulu's mother had written to say she had an important legal obligation. Megan told her it probably had to do with her finding another lover.

"She'd rather be with him than with you here in the nuthouse," Megan said.

I wished she hadn't said such a thing. Whenever Lulu had trouble with her family, she acted even younger, behaving like a baby, crying and sulking until she had to be taken to her room.

The moment I saw Lawrence in the doorway, I knew something dramatic and serious had happened. His face was flushed, but he stood firm, his eyes full of excitement. He hurried across the studio to me. I looked up from my needlepoint, a small, quizzical smile on my face.

"I did it," he bragged and strutted to the window. He looked out at the gardens, at the other patients and their families and then turned back to me. "I burst the bubble today. I risked falling through the ice."

He turned. I held my smile.

"She came without him again. This time it was supposedly because of some major company problem. It's Sunday!" he cried, raising his voice and his arms. "How can there be a major company problem? I told her she was lying for him and she couldn't deny it!"

The commotion caught Megan's attention. She left her mound of clay and approached, her tools still in hand. "What's going on?" she demanded.

Lawrence turned and looked at her and then at me. "Nothing," he said quickly.

She stared at him and then at me and then looked at him again.

"O00000h, I see," she said, "secrets. You two have secrets now," she said, smirking. Then her face filled with fury, her eyes blazing madly, her lips thinning. "So, keep your stupid secrets. See if I care. See if anyone cares."

"That's right," Lawrence said suddenly, surprising me by not backing down as usual. "We do have secrets. So mind your own business, okay?"

Megan's mouth dropped and she turned to look at me. I tried smiling at her, but she narrowed her eyes and shook her head. There was no retreat in her. A strange smile twisted her lips.

"You two have done it, haven't you?" she asked, stepping toward him.

"What?" He shifted his eyes to me and then to her, stepping back as she stepped forward.

"You've done it, haven't you, Lawrence?" she asked disdainfully, her smile sharper. "You and Miss Laura Perfect have joined at the waist."

"What? No," Lawrence said, shaking his head more vigorously.

"Sure you have," she pounced. "Where did you do it? In your room? In hers? In the grass? Where?" Megan screamed.

"What's going on over there?" Miss Dungan said, looking up from across the room. She had been helping another patient with his fingerpainting so intensely, she hadn't noticed what was happening in my corner of the room. She hadn't even seen Lawrence enter the studio.

He looked her way anxiously, his eyes full of panic.

"Well, go ahead, Lawrence. Tell Miss Dungan what's going on. Tell her where you two did it," Megan challenged.

Lawrence grew more terrified. He seemed unable to move. It was as if his feet had been nailed to the floor.

I started to sign to him, but he was beginning to tremble harder, faster. Megan laughed. Miss Dungan rose and started toward us. Lawrence looked at me helplessly.

"I'll tell her myself then," Megan said. "I'll tell her what you two have been doing. I'll tell everyone," she taunted and started to turn toward Miss Dungan.

Lawrence rushed at Megan. I raised my arms and managed a guttural noise, but it was too late. He grabbed Megan around the neck. Miss Dungan screamed as he pulled Megan back. Her face turned crimson and

she stuck her carving tool into

Lawrence's wrist, but he didn't relinquish his grip until Miss Dungan grabbed his arm and I rose to push him away from Megan. Then he charged out of the art studio.

"He's bleeding," I signed at Miss Dungan.

"I know. Megan, are you all right?"