CHAPTER FIVE
“Well,” said Jane, “in spite of everything they’re all in relatively good health. The cut on the boys foot was getting infected but we cleaned it and wrapped it. A few good meals and they’ll be just fine.”
“And their deafness?” asked Luke.
“It’s like Sutton told you. Her brother, Pip, is deaf to a genetic mutation but the mistreatment of ear infections as a child didn’t help. I have no way of knowing whether or not he could hear at all before then.
“It appears his ear drums were pierced by something more than once, most likely an old technique to drain fluid on the ears. Someone was ancient when they treated him,” she said with a sad expression.
“And the others?” asked Cam.
“Melvin, Samantha, and Eden were all born deaf. No explanation for it. Charlie? Well, Charlie is truly miraculous. He cannot hear, he cannot speak, and yet if I ask him to sing, he seems to understand and is able to belt out notes that Pavarotti would be proud of.”
“But if he can do that, he should be able to speak,” said Hex.
“I would agree with you and yet, he doesn’t. I have to think that it’s a choice but the lack of hearing, that’s something I can’t explain.”
“The little girl, Sutton?” asked Eric. “She’s normal?”
“As normal as you or I,” said Jane. “She is insanely protective of all the children and wants to have them in her sights at all times. We allowed the boys to shower together with her outside the door and then let the girls shower together with the boys just at the door, their backs turned.”
“Where are they now?” asked Luke.
“Where do you think?” she smirked. “Ajei, Kate, and Sophia Ann took them to the cafeteria. I’m worried they’re going to make themselves sick they’re eating so much.”
“We’ll go see how to help,” smiled Cam. “Thanks, Jane.”
“Of course. Oh, and boys, be nice. Those kids are scared and something happened to them in that hospital they were all in. I couldn’t get it out of them but maybe if we can get them fluent in ASL, they’ll tell us more.”
The men nodded at their friend and pediatrician. In the cafeteria, the children were seated together, eating spaghetti and meatballs as if it were their last meal.
“Whoa, whoa,” laughed Alec. He spoke and signed at the same time, knowing that it was the fastest way to get the kids to learn and speak using ASL. “There’s plenty here. You can have as much as you want but we don’t want you to get sick.”
“They’re not used to that much food,” said Sutton. “I mean, we’re not used to it. I tried but I had to steal. I’m not sorry for it. I needed to help ‘em.”
“We understand, Sutton,” said Luke walking up to the group, “but you don’t have to steal any longer. Whenever you’re hungry, we’ll give you food and snacks. In fact, Keith and a few others are placing snacks inside a small refrigerator in your dorm rooms.”
“You’re going to let us stay together?” asked the girl.
“On two conditions,” smirked Eric. The young girl rolled her eyes and looked at the others.
“What are they?”
“One, you don’t run, steal, or lie any longer. We’ll provide whatever you need but you all have to attend classes to learn sign language, and other necessary skills. Everyone here knows it, so you’ll be able to speak to everyone and the children will all be more independent.”
“Okay. I can agree to that,” she said. “I was tryin’ to learn but once I went to the hospital they said I wouldn’t need it. They promised they were going to help Pip but they lied.”
“Well, we promise to always tell you the truth,” said Luke, “as long as you tell us the truth as well.”
She stared at their faces, then turned to look at the faces of the five children in her charge. They didn’t bother to look up from their plates. They were clean, well as clean as they could be eating spaghetti, happy, and safe for the first time in more than a year.
Sutton knew that she couldn’t keep running with them. People would start to become more suspicious.
“Okay,” she said nodding. “D-do we have to give back the instruments? It makes them so happy.”
“I tell you what,” smirked Eric, “we’ll give the instruments back to their rightful owners, but we have others here they can use. How’s that?” The girl gave a big smile and nodded.
“Okay. Number two,” said Luke. “You need to tell us about this hospital that took these children and your brother. What was the name of it?”
“The Good Brothers Hospital,” she said. “Miss Farmer said they were known for helping children like Pip, so I thought we’d be okay. He wouldn’t cooperate with them unless I was there and I was always runnin’ away, so they finally let me stay with him.”
“You said they didn’t help any of the children,” said Luke.
“They did awful things to them. The sounds they made instead of crying or screaming,” she said covering her ears, “it was awful. I can still hear it at night. Pip, he won’t sleep by himself. He wants to be right next to me all the time.”
“Honey, can you tell us what they did?” asked Eric.
“Melvin, he got his head cut into. There were tubes coming out of it for weeks, draining all this yucky stuff. He just stared at the ceiling. He wouldn’t even look at me.
That’s when they said they were gonna do the same to Pip to figure out how he knew how to play the piano and couldn’t hear.
I just figured it was God givin’ him something since he took somethin’. ”
“That’s a very grown-up way of looking at it,” smiled Eric. “Our friend you met earlier, Keith, he was born unable to hear but he was given tremendous abilities in other areas. That’s cool, isn’t it?”
“Very,” she smiled. “Mister? How do you suppose Charlie is able to sing when he was born deaf but the fire that killed his family damaged his voice?”
“First, you don’t have to call me mister.
You can just call me Eric. Second, I’m not the expert in these things.
Jane, the doctor that examined all of you can find out more and she may even be able to help him restore his speaking voice.
It’s possible that he just doesn’t speak because of the trauma from the fire. ”
“I don’t get it,” she said frowning.
“Well, sometimes when horrible things happen to us, we try to block them out by avoiding speaking about them. The ability is there but we can’t seem to make things work. That would explain how Charlie can sing like an angel but not speak.”
“You think he’s fakin’ it?” she frowned.
“No,” said Eric, “no, absolutely not. I do not think he’s faking it. He was hurt and he can’t forget that.”
“All I ever wanted to do was make them happy and keep them safe,” she said. “Them doctors, they were evil.”
“Were there other children in this hospital?” asked Hex. The little girl nodded.
“Lots. I just didn’t know them as well. I overheard a nurse talkin’ about a girl who was fifteen, born without arms or legs but she could swim like a fish. All I could think of was them throwin’ her in the water and her havin’ to swim or die.”
The men all frowned at one another and something dark passed over their faces. Something that Sutton knew all too well.
“You’re gonna go back for ‘em aren’t you?” she asked. Luke took the little girls hand and notices the fingernails bitten down, most likely from fear and nervousness.
“We’re going to do everything we can to find those children and help them too,” he said. She looked at the other children, then back at the men.
“You better build a bigger place. There were way more than just us there.”