“Jeepers!” Jack exclaimed. “How do you like that!”
“We think he caught a freight train into town from the south. He did say he was going to Boston.” She sighed. “His parents must be worried to death.”
Jack looked thoughtful. “Polio catching?” he asked finally.
Jean shook her head. “No one knows. Why?”
“Oh, just wondered. This kid ... you think he was riding a freight? I mean, he looked sorta ... poor?”
Jean nodded. “He was dressed in very ragged clothes when they found him.”
She finished her breakfast and went up to bed. She felt defeated and lonely. She grinned wryly at herself, realizing that she was discouraged about the boy more intensely because she missed Ralph so much. Slowly she climbed into bed and pulled the light blanket around her shoulders. After fretting and worrying for an hour or so, she finally fell asleep.
Back at the hospital, Ted and Ingeborg were still trying to get information out of the boy. But after blasting them both with profanity, he merely turned his head to the wall and refused to say anything. Finally the phone rang, and Ingeborg reported that Mrs. Craig was calling.
“Jack has been talking to me,” Mrs. Craig said to Ted over the phone. “He wants to see your polio patient.”
Ted stared at the phone. “Why on earth?” he asked.