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two?" he asked. and I turned red and nauseous at the

thought of it. I just shook my head.

"I don't know." I said.

He closed his eyes and periodically moaned

about the pain and how he wanted to turn over or get

out of bed. His whining seemed never-ending. Finally

Mommy came in and up to the room, and he directed

all of his complaints at her in shotgun fashion, "It hurts, I want to turn. I want to get out of bed.

I don't like peeing in a jar. How am I going to do

number two? Can I play with my trains?"

"Stubborn in, happiness out." Mommy said.

"No one told you to climb that tree. You should have

listened to me."

She checked his splint and looked at his toes. "I'm going to make you a cast." she said. "and

you're going to have to be like this for a long time.

Noble. If you don't listen and obey, you'll make it

worse, and you might never walk or run again

properly and certainly never run again. do you

understand?"

"It hurts." he said.

"It will hurt, and that is good because it will

remind you how important it is to listen to what I tell

you to do and not to do. I'm going down to make you

something to eat. Celeste will read to you to help you

take your mind off it she said, looking at me. "I don't want her reading to me. I want--" "What you want doesn't matter now." Mommy

said calmly. "Just do what I tell you, and we'll make

you better," she added and kissed him on the cheek.

"Read to him." she ordered.

At the doorway she paused to voice her own

thoughts.