I had found my friend at last!
“Hush, don’t talk now,” he said, as I tried to speak; “lie quiet now, there’s a dear fellow.”
“Jack!” I said. I could not resist uttering his name, his old familiar long-lost name.
“Yes, it’s Jack,” he whispered, “but don’t talk now.”
“You forgive me, Jack?” I murmured, heedless of his injunction.
“Yes, a hundred times!” he said, brushing back the hair from my forehead, and putting his finger to my lips.
Then I obeyed him, and lay silent and happy all day. Happier with all my pain than I had been for months.
The doctor came later on and looked at my arm.
“He’ll do now, I think,” said he, “but he will very likely be feverish after it. You should have him taken to the hospital.”
“Oh no,” cried Jack. “He must stay here, please. I can look after him quite well.”