"Phil."
"Well, Prof, we thought we were getting our sleep!"
"No," Kane whispered. "I can't sleep. I'm asking you, you Phil, and all the rest of you, to let me sleep. I'm asking you to help me in that way, just for a while. I'm imploring you really to just tune yourselves out for a while and let me sleep."
There was something blank, uncomprehending in the way they smiled at him. Kane knew then that they could never allow themselves to try to understand his situation, because then they might question their own. For example, if they've taken refuge in one another from a terrible fear of insecurity, anxiety, and aloneness, then Kane could only represent the threat of reawakened fear.
What was the use?
"We'll turn the lights down low, how would that be, Prof?" Phil asked.
"We'd like that," Laura whispered.
"Don't be afraid, we're with you," Ben said.
"We'll sing you into dreamland," Jenny said.
"Don't be afraid. We're all together and our Gang is with you," someone else said. It didn't matter who really, Kane thought, because they all spoke not as individuals but as the Gang.