DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.

John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezac 
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 1: Shield, Staff, and Compass
Chapter 9

John wandered the hall of the burn unit carrying two books. The 
books had been delivered to him by the owner of the local 
bookstore that he visited almost daily. The owner gave him the 
books free with the promise that he would donate the rest of the 
series to the burn ward when he was able to locate them. John was 
about to protest, but the owner told him that it was a good tax 
write-off. John thanked him for his charity.

The day nurse, Nurse Betty, was at the other end of the hall and 
spotted him. She hurried to intercept him before he reached the 
children's ward. She was too late, but not late enough to see his 
reaction to the kids in the room. She was amazed to see that he 
took their appearance in stride, looking at them like normal kids. 
He burst out in a smile and stated, "Hi kids, I'm John Carter. Do 
you want to hear a story?"

He was greeted by silence as children tried to hide themselves 
from his sight. He ignored their discomfort and sat down in the one 
large chair in the room. He held up the two books, "I have Tom 
Swift and Nancy Drew. Which one would you like to hear?"

The kids slowly peeked at him. He was smiling and waiting for an 
answer. Nurse Betty entered the room. "Ah, Nurse Betty. Would 
you be so kind to introduce me to my audience?"

Nurse Betty went through the room introducing every child in 
there. With each introduction, John repeated the name, stated that 
he was pleased to meet them, and then made some comment about 
something that was special about each child. 

Sarah was holding a teddy bear and he praised the gentleness of the 
bear. Her burn covered her head and back. She had only a few 
hairs on her head and her left ear was almost totally missing. 

Jennifer had a pretty, pink nightgown. He told her it was a pretty 
color and that it was just right for her eyes. She was burned by 
grease from a pan that she had pulled off the stove. The burn ran 
down her right arm, along her right side, and partially down her 
right leg. 

Tommy had spider man pajama's and John told him that he had 
always wanted a pair just like that. Tommy had tripped and fallen 
into a campfire. His burns were mainly on his stomach and hands. 

Karla was drawing. Her burns were on both legs as though she had 
been dipped into boiling oil. She had tried to give herself a bath 
using only hot water. John asked Karla to draw him while he was 
reading because he really wanted a picture of himself drawn by 
such a talented artist.

The kids finally decided they would like to hear Nancy Drew. John 
sat down and started to read. He read with it with emotion. He 
made the characters come alive. Each character was spoken in a 
different voice. He spoke in a soft voice during the suspenseful 
parts and an excited voice during the exciting parts. The kids 
gathered around him and listened raptly. Dr. Hilbert entered the 
room and watched them for several minutes. He was there for his 
morning examination of the children, but decided to come back 
later. He didn't want to interrupt them.

When he finished the book, the kids all cheered. He was smiling 
and laughing with them. He talked to each child by name. When 
they would call him Mister Carter, he would correct them and tell 
them to call him John. Dr. Hilbert returned and asked him to leave 
the room while he did his examination. John smiled, "Sure Dr. 
Hilbert! Goodbye kids, I'll be back this afternoon and maybe we 
can play a game."

He had gone about ten steps down the hall when he heard a scream 
from the room. He raced back in to find Sarah in tears. Nurse Betty 
had just removed the bandage. John stepped up to Dr. Hilbert and 
tapped him on the shoulder, "Perhaps I can help."

Dr. Hilbert snapped, "Please leave."

"Please, I don't like to see people in pain. Allow me to help, at least 
while you are removing the bandages," John was not smiling now. 
He stared directly into the eyes of Dr. Hilbert as though daring him 
to suggest otherwise.

Sarah, sobbing stated, "Please let him stay."

Dr. Hilbert had never been so intimidated by anyone in his life. He 
wondered where this nice guy kept this side of himself.  He backed 
up and then stated, "Okay."

John knelt down next to Sarah and held her hand. Looking directly 
into her eyes, he started talking. His voice was low and calm. As 
he talked, she got a dreamy look on her face. He described hiking 
through the mountains and watching deer graze. He told about the 
time that he had spent a whole morning watching Mountain Goats 
climb up impossible cliffs. He turned to Dr. Hilbert. "Remove the 
bandages now."

Nurse Betty pulled the second bandage off and there was no sound 
from Sarah. She was listening intently to the story that John was 
telling her. The rest of the bandages were removed with the same 
lack of response by Sarah. Dr. Hilbert performed his examination 
and then Nurse Betty put new bandages on Sarah. When she was 
done, Nurse Betty stared at John as though he were some kind of 
marvelous new creature.

The other kids were examined in the same fashion. John would talk 
and their eyes would get dreamy. The bandages would be removed 
without any apparent pain. The doctor performed the examination 
and Nurse Betty would put on new bandages.

When last examination was completed, Dr. Hilbert told John, "It's 
your turn. Let's go to your room."

John smiled and waving to the kids, "Bye, I'll be back later. 
Okay?"

His departure was accompanied by many happy yells of okay. He 
walked down the hall carrying his two books. Dr. Hilbert and 
Nurse Betty followed behind whispering to each other.  Both were 
in a state of amazement at what they had just witnessed. 

When they reached the room, John jumped into bed and laid back. 
Lifting his robe out of the way, he offered, "Rip her off, Nurse 
Betty."

"There's no need. I just wanted to talk to you alone," stated the 
doctor. He thought about what he had seen in the children’s burn 
ward. As he walked towards the door, he stopped and turned. In a 
voice that conveyed deep emotion he said, "I had heard you were a 
hero. You know, I never believed in heroes until today."

"Dr. Hilbert. You, Nurse Betty, Ms. Smith and the rest of the staff 
are the real heroes. Every day you go in there and help those kids. 
Me, I'm just a diversion for a day or two. You are an integral part 
of their lives and you are helping to make their life better. I wish I 
could do a fraction of what you accomplish every day," replied 
John.

Dr. Hilbert left the room. Nurse Betty stood there with tears in her 
eyes. She patted him on the shoulder, "You are an amazing man, 
John Carter."

John smiled, "I appreciate you saying that to me. It means a lot 
coming from you."

Nurse Betty stood there for a minute thinking. She finally said, "I 
would appreciate it if you would stay in here for a while. It’s 
almost time for your bath and I would hate to have to hunt all over 
for you."

"Sure thing," replied John. He added, "I guess you’ll be using the 
wire brush?"

“I’ll use the big wire bristles, they dig in better.” Nurse Betty 
laughed and left the room. When she stepped out of his room, she 
looked around the burn ward. Somehow, it had taken a new 
meaning for her. She had never felt heroic or special for what she 
did here. Yes, there were times when she felt good about what she 
did. John's words had changed something inside her. When she 
noticed Dr. Hilbert leaning against the wall wiping his eyes with 
his handkerchief, she knew that he had been changed in that same 
way.  

News of John's morning had already spread through the hospital 
like wildfire. The only visitors that these children received other 
than their own parents were staff members and only a few of them 
could do it for long. The sight of a disfigured child was often too 
heart-rending to take for long. That John had not reacted in any 
negative fashion to the children was viewed as further proof of his 
hero status.

When Nurse Betty showed up in the hospital cafeteria, she was 
immediately surrounded by others that wanted to know what John 
Carter was like. The gathering grew silent as Nurse Betty repeated 
what she had seen. She told them about his delight in meeting the 
kids. She had no trouble describing how much they liked him; she 
was convinced that Karla was madly in love with him. She told 
them about how he read the story to them. She remarked that she 
hadn't had a single call from the kids the entire morning. She 
described how she was able to remove the bandages without 
hurting the children. Her eyes were filled with tears by the time 
that she finished the story. Knowing that she had everyone's 
attention, she added, "I'm looking for someone special to give him 
a sponge bath."

A number of nurses and even a few of the women doctors glanced 
knowingly around the room. Her statement would reach the right 
ears. She added, "Well, I better get back to my station."

John relaxed in his bed thinking about what he could do to help the 
children after he was gone. Sarah's scream had really upset him. 
He decided he was going to have to train someone how to divert 
attention away from the pain. It couldn't be a person of authority as 
the authority itself prevented the technique from working. That left 
out the nurses and doctors. Yet, who else would be here all the 
time so that they would be available when needed? That was real 
question.

His thoughts were interrupted by the cleaning lady coming into the 
room to empty the trash. He smiled, "Hello, I'm John Carter. And 
who might you be?"

The woman turned and looked at him with a funny expression. 
Most new patients hardly noticed her. They were usually so caught 
up in their pain, that the world would pass them by for weeks 
before they became aware of the surroundings. Those that did 
usually complained about how they were feeling. Only a few 
would actually engage her in conversation. Usually, it took a long 
time before the patients here really saw her. She answered in a 
strong accent, "I'm the trash lady."

"Hmmm, that won't do. I can't go around calling you the trash 
lady," answered John. He added, "Maybe I should call you 
Trinidad, since that's where you're from. I'd rather call you by your 
real name though."

She laughed, "I'm Mary, nice to meet you John Carter. You could 
tell from one sentence that I was from Trinidad?"

"Nice to meet you Mary. You have a very distinctive accent. I've 
heard that people from Trinidad are good storytellers. Is that true?"

"I don't know if it's true or not, but I can spin a tale that will have 
you laughing or crying in ten minutes."

"Tell me a story about Trinidad."

Mary shrugged. The staff didn't complain when she spent a little 
extra time with the burn patients. She told a story about growing 
up in Trinidad. She told about the times when the no-see-em's 
would infest the beaches. She described how tourists would show 
up to find an empty white beach and go down to it thinking they 
were going to have all the privacy they could want. Then they 
would discover that they were sharing the beach with thousands of 
biting insects. 

John enjoyed the story tremendously. He could visualize the 
beaches easily. He asked, "You go into all of the rooms up here?"

"Every room has a trash can. So yes, I go in them all," answered 
Mary, "Why?"

"Doesn't the appearance of the patients bother you?"

"Not at all," replied Mary in her charming accent. She added, "You 
have to learn to look at them the right way. You don't look at the 
outside; you look in them. You don't get evil people here. The fire, 
she burn the evilness out of them."

"So you like the patients here?"

"Sure, most don't see me for a long time though. Then one day they 
notice the trash lady and we talk."

"Mary, you are exactly what I was looking for!" John's excitement 
was quite noticeable.

Mary held up her left hand, "See the ring. I'm married and I'm a 
good Catholic girl."

John laughed, "As tempting as you are, that is not what I meant. I 
need a storyteller with a friendly face, nice voice, and great heart. 
That is you, Mary."

Mary's face wrinkled in disbelief. She asked, "Why do you need 
that?"

John knew he had her hooked, "You've heard them scream when 
they take off the bandages?"

"Oh it breaks my heart. I have to work a different ward when they 
do that."

John knew he had the right person, "How would you like to help 
end those screams?"

John gestured her closer and then stated, "Let me demonstrate 
something to you. Then I will teach you how to do it. Once you 
learn, you will help so many people."

She reluctantly agreed. She had heard of John Carter so she didn't 
quite fear what he was going to do. John sat up on the bed so that 
he was facing her. He took her right hand in his left hand. He 
stared into her eyes and started telling a story. As he wove the 
story, she got a dreamy look on her face. He stopped talking and 
she looked at him. She asked, "You're not a bad storyteller 
yourself, but what did you want to demonstrate?"

John smiled and said, "Look at your right hand."

Mary screamed when she looked down and saw that needle 
sticking through her hand. She reached down and pulled it out. 
Glaring at him, "Why did you do that?"

John smiled and folded his hands on his lap. He waited for the 
glare to diminish a little. When she took a deep breath and looked 
like she was going to yell at him, he stated, "Did you feel it going 
in?"

Mary stepped back. She turned her head to one side and looked at 
him out of the corner of her eye. She answered, "No, I didn't."

"That's what I wanted to demonstrate. That I could put a needle 
through your hand and you wouldn't feel it. I can teach you to do 
the same thing to me. When you can do that for me, then you can 
do that for people when they get their bandages removed."

Mary sat down in the only chair in the room. She shook her head, 
"You are a tricky one. You can teach me to do that?"

"Yes. I know I can."

"Then do it. I will enjoy sticking you with the little needle."

John laughed and pulled a fresh package containing a needle from 
the drawer next to the bed. He opened the package and handed her 
the needle. He then explained the process to her. He told her the 
signs that indicated a person was in the right frame of mind. He 
told her how to incorporate into the story some little element of 
pain in the hand that she was holding and to simultaneously pinch 
the hand. 

He then told her to try it on him. The first time through, he felt the 
needle go into his hand. He stopped her and told her what she had 
done wrong. They tried it again. He felt the needle again. He 
stopped her and pointed out different mistakes. After about the 
fifth time, he could tell that she was getting upset at hurting him so 
much. He talked her into trying it one more time and that, this 
time, she was to think about how she was going to take the pain 
away from him. She wasn't to rush or hurry in any way.

This time Mary told her story and incorporated more details. Little 
things that made the story live. She took her time and kept her 
voice calm and steady. She noticed the changes in John's face, yet 
didn't break eye contact. She went through the whole process 
exactly as John had told her. She inserted the needle and then 
stopped talking. 

John looked down and smiled. She had done it. He looked up at 
her to see her smiling. He smiled, "Now, do it again and take the 
needle out."

She went through the process again. The needle was removed 
without him being aware of it. When she stopped telling her story, 
he quipped, "You need to do it again. This time, you insert the 
needle, wait a minute, and then remove the needle."

Mary looked at his hand. It looked like a pincushion. She had lost 
track of how many times she had stuck him with the needle. She 
went through the process again. This time, she stuck him and 
pulled out the needle. Still telling the story, she stuck him again 
and pulled out the needle. She stopped talking. John smiled and 
stated, "That was very good. Now we need to do it again. Only do 
it twice."

Mary smirked, "Sorry, I got carried away last time and did it twice. 
I knew you were going to ask me to do that anyway."

"Mary, I'm shocked. You've only known me an hour and you know 
me too well."

Mary nodded, "I picked up on that pretty quick."

John answered, "That's great. I'll talk to Dr. Hilbert and we'll find a 
patient for you to try it on."

Mary laughed, "Oh, I doubt that will ever happen. You're a good 
man, John Carter, but you don't know doctors."

John laughed, "Oh, I've put more than one doctor in his place. I've 
even kissed one on the lips when he was being a bastard!"

"You're a crazy man!"

"Don't worry, I'll talk to the doctor. You probably need to get on 
your rounds."

"I'll be seeing you tomorrow, John Carter."

He watched Mary leave the room. He looked at his hand and wiped 
it down with alcohol. He didn't want it to become infected. He had 
to put a bandage on the palm and the back of the hand. He shook 
his head, he had been afraid that she was never going to get the 
knack down. 

He had just laid back down on the bed when the door to the room 
opened. He looked over and saw Betsy enter the room. She was 
wearing a standard nurses outfit, white pants, a white top, and 
comfortable white shoes. With her sandy brown hair cut short, 
green eyes, and cute nose she was very attractive. He greeted her 
with genuine joy, "Hello Betsy. I've been hoping that you'd come 
by to visit me."

Betsy smiled, "I'm afraid this isn't a friendly visit."

John faked a frown, "You mean you came here to hit me and beat 
me? I'm so disappointed."

Betsy shook her head, "No, it's nothing like that. You see, the other 
nurses are busy so I've been called in to give you a sponge bath."

John looked around nervously. It wasn't that he minded getting a 
sponge bath, but Betsy was really cute and he had entertained the 
idea of dating her. He stated, "I camp a lot and know how to give 
myself a sponge bath. No need to waste your time."

Betsy smiled at his nervousness. He really was cute. She cut off his 
objections, "Hospital regulations."

He tried to find some other way to get out of the sponge bath, but 
couldn’t. Reluctantly he agreed, "Okay."

Betsy went into the bathroom and filled a small tub with water. 
She came out and set the tub on the table next to the bed. Smiling 
she told him, "You need to remove the bathrobe. It's rather hard to 
wash you with you all covered up."

John stood and removed the bathrobe. He faced her because the 
hospital gown was wide open in the back. He lay down and 
watched as Betsy went about laying out the sponge and towel. 
Stepping back from her work Betsy looked around, "I'm all ready 
to start except for one little thing."

She started to remove the nurse over-shirt. John watched her a little 
confused. When she slipped it off, she laid it on the chair. Then she 
started to unbutton her shirt. She did it slowly taking her time with 
each button. John's body started to react to the show. John 
nervously cleared his throat, "Ah, what are you doing?"

Betsy smiled and unbuttoned the last button. She removed her shirt 
revealing a lacy blue bra. She answered his question, "Oh, don't 
worry. I always get so wet when I give a sponge bath. Sometimes I 
take my clothes off so that they don't get wet."

John averted his eyes. It was too late to prevent an erection though. 
Even looking the other way, just knowing that an attractive woman 
was stripping was enough to excite him. The hospital gown tented 
obscenely. Betsy giggled at his discomfort. "Hey, relax. It's just a 
sponge bath."

She bent down and removed her shoes and socks. John kept 
glancing in her direction. The way she was positioned treated him 
to a nice view of her breasts. She stood quickly and caught him 
looking at her. He quickly turned away. She took the opportunity 
to examine the tent in the gown. Her eyebrows raised at the size. 
She licked her lips. The sound of her zipper being lowered caused 
him to glance in her direction. She lowered the pants revealing 
French-cut panties that matched the lacy bra. She turned slightly 
away from him and removed the pants. Her position gave him a 
fine view of her ass. The panties displayed her assets perfectly. 
John's cock twitched at the sight.

Standing, she approached the bed. She stated, "Sit up, please."

John sat up. She reached behind him and untied the strings off his 
gown. With one deft move, she pulled the gown off him and tossed 
it aside. He blushed as his erection was revealed to her view. It 
dawned on him that this wasn't a normal sponge bath and he 
wanted to slap his forehead at his stupidity. With a giggle she 
stated, "Oh my. You must be very uncomfortable."

She reached over and grabbed a wash cloth. She dipped it in the 
tub and then wrung it out. With a very professional demeanor, she 
turned back to him and wiped his cock with the cloth. The warm 
water surprised him since he was expecting it to be cold. She 
looked at his cock and stated, "Oh my. That didn't help at all. It 
looks like I have to take more drastic measures."

She bent over slipping his cock into her mouth. John groaned at the 
wonderful sensation in his cock as her lips closed around the head. 
Her tongue quickly flicked around the head. It didn't take long for 
John to start groaning. He uttered, "I'm going to come."

He expected her to finish him off by hand, but she continued to 
suck. She took him even deeper. She deep throated him and he 
exploded. Rather than stopping immediately, she continued to suck 
his cum from his cock. Soon his cock became too sensitive and 
noting that he was now reacting with discomfort, she stopped. She 
stepped back as his cock deflated, "Now, that's much better."

John just said, "Wow, that was amazing."

Betsy smiled and shook her head. He had no idea what she had in 
mind. She started to wash the rest of his body in a fashion that was 
closer to how a nurse would normally do the task. She started at his 
feet and worked her way up his body. About halfway through, she 
stepped back and stated, "Darn, my bra is wet. Oh well, I guess I'll 
have to take it off too."

She stripped out of her bra and John openly admired her body. She 
was lithe and small breasted, but everything was firm. She leaned 
across his body to wash the far arm. The motion put her breast 
right in front of his mouth. He took a chance and kissed it. She 
only pressed her breast into him harder. He got the hint and started 
to suck on it. His other hand started to caress her body. After a 
couple of minutes, she stood up. John tried to follow her up. She 
stepped back and stated, "Oh my. My panties are wet. I have to 
take them off too."

She turned away from him and slid the panties down her legs. John 
got a very good view of her cunt. His cock was hard as a rock. 
Betsy noticed his arousal and stated, "That nasty little organ just 
won't give up. I guess even more drastic measures are required!"

Betsy climbed up on the bed and straddled him. She was careful 
not to touch any of his wounds or put pressure on his back. She 
slowly lowered herself on his cock. Her cunt was hot and wet. She 
started washing his chest in an up and down movement. This 
resulted in a rocking motion on his cock that was extremely 
satisfying to both. John started thrusting up into her. 

The sponge bath took a long time to finish, but by the time it was 
done, both of them had come. As Betsy climbed off him, she gave 
his cock one last wipe with the wash cloth. She leaned over and 
kissed him on the lips. "Thank you, John. I've wanted this for a 
long time."

"Thank you, Betsy. You are a wonderful young lady. I hope I can 
see you again in the future. Could I take you out on a date when I 
get out of here?"

"I'd love that." Betsy quickly dressed and exited the room taking 
the cart with her. John watched her leave in surprise. He was 
hoping to find out how to contact her, but she left before he had a 
chance to say good bye. 

Nurse Betty entered the room shortly after John had finished 
dressing in the new gown he found on the tray next to the bed. She 
smiled at him, "Did Betsy do a thorough job or should I ask 
another nurse to come in?"

John wondered how much Nurse Betty knew about his experience. 
He answered, "Oh, I would love to have her wash me every day."

Nurse Betty smiled, "Oh, that's not possible."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do a good job too. If you're too busy I can 
manage on my own."

Nurse Betty laughed, "Don't worry, there are another dozen 
volunteers on the list. Betsy was just so insistent that I bumped her 
up on the list."

John frowned, "I don't get it."

"You will."

John decided to drop the subject. He asked, "Can I see the doctor 
before he makes his rounds?" 

Nurse Betty nodded, "Oh, he said he was coming here before he 
was going to start. I think he wanted to know if you could go on 
his rounds with him. We were both pretty amazed by what you did 
with the kids."

John smiled, "Great. Could I also ask if you could have the 
cleaning lady, Mary, stop in here at the same time?"

Nurse Betty frowned, "Mary always works somewhere else when 
the doctor makes his rounds."

"Don't worry, I'm sure if you ask her, she'll come," replied John. 
He added, "She sure is a nice lady. Do you talk with her much?"

"Oh yes, she probably does the least work of all the cleaning ladies 
here, but the patients love her. Most of the staff won't come up 
here, so they don't ask her to work harder."

"Great," replied John. He was quiet for a moment and then asked, 
"Was there something that you needed?"

Nurse Betty slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, 
"Well, I was wondering if you could read to the kids right after 
lunch. There are some people here that want to visit you and I told 
them that you would be available about 3:00. Would that be 
alright?"

"Who on earth would want to visit me? I told my mom and the old 
lady that I rent a room from that I was here. I told them not to 
come down here because I know they are all busy. I don’t know 
anyone else."

"Well, there are about twenty people that have called. I've 
scheduled each one for about five minutes. They all work here at 
the hospital, so we've bent the visiting hour rules for them."

"They're all staff? Well, I'm happy to meet the staff. You guys are 
terrific," John agreed to meet them, not really understanding why 
the staff would want to meet him. He was just one patient among 
many.

Nurse Betty went to the door and opened it. She told him, "Lunch 
will be served in about ten minutes. When you are done, come 
down to the kids room. I'll let them know you are coming."

The nutritionist entered the room with a tray. There was a steak, 
salad, and potatoes with a glass of milk. He was about to make a 
joke about hospital food when looked at the contents. He whistled, 
"I should eat here more often. To tell the truth, I was expecting a 
bologna sandwich."

She laughed, "Hero's get the steak. We give the bologna sandwich 
to the villains."

"Well, thank you very much. You don't know how much this 
means to me. I usually only get to eat a good cut of meat once a 
week. This looks great."

"I heard you liked a good piece of meat occasionally. So John 
Carter, what I can make for dinner tonight?"

John had no idea where she could have heard that he liked meat. 
He decided he didn't want to know, "Gosh, I have no idea. Just 
give me what you make the most for the rest of the patients."

The nutritionist thought about it for a minute and then suggested, 
"How about stuffed pasta shells with a light tomato sauce and a 
nice salad on the side? Of course, you'll want garlic bread. I'll 
select an appropriate desert later."

John smiled, "That sounds perfect. By the way, may I know your 
name?"

"Sure, I'm June Anderson."

"I'm pleased to meet you June Anderson."

She smiled and inched towards the door, "Well, I better let you eat. 
I just wanted to thank you for helping my grandmother."

John wasn't sure about whom she was talking. He asked, "What did 
I do?"

"You suggested that a neighbor go in and check on her because she 
was always on the porch at that time of day. The neighbor went in 
and found that she had fallen and broken her hip. She had been on 
the floor for two hours and might have died if the neighbor hadn't 
checked."

There wasn't enough detail in the description for him to identify 
the woman. He often told neighbors to check on each other and 
more often then not there had been a problem. "Oh, I'm glad the 
neighbor went over."

She smiled, "You don't know who my grandmother is, do you?"

He frowned, "I'm not sure. I ask lots of neighbors to check on each 
other."

She nodded, "I know, we've had a lot of them in here telling the 
same story.  I just wanted to thank you. I'll be bringing your 
dinner. We'll talk some more then."

She left the room. John eyed the steak hungrily. He hadn't realized 
how hungry he was. It didn't take him too long to finish his lunch. 
He sat back for a moment enjoying the quiet and solitude. This 
much attention was at times hard to take. 

Sighing, he picked up the Tom Swift book and headed to the kids 
room. When he entered, the room was buzzing with excitement. 
Jennifer was bursting with happiness, "John, they delivered a 
whole bunch of books just before lunch. Look, there's Nancy 
Drew, Tom Swift, Curious George, and even coloring books."

"Wow, that's great. I guess we're going to have to get a book case 
to put them all in," replied John as he eyed the five boxes of books. 
The owner of the bookstore must have been busy this morning. He 
added, "Who's gonna help me put the bookcase together?"

All of the kids raised their hands and shouted, "Me."

John nodded wisely and stated, "Well, there is enough work to 
keep all of us busy. How about I read the story now and order the 
bookcase later. We can put it together tomorrow, okay?"

The kids gathered around and listened as he read the Tom Swift 
story. Jennifer and Tommy absolutely loved the story. John 
realized that both of them actually enjoyed the engineering 
component of the story the most. The adventure was just icing on 
the cake. Karla was busy working on her drawing. Sarah enjoyed 
the story for the adventure that it presented, but she had definitely 
enjoyed the Nancy Drew stories more. 

Nurse Betty had stopped by to check on his progress. When she 
saw that he was nearly done, she waited for the conclusion. As 
soon as he ended, she stated, "Okay kids. You know what time it 
is?"

Her announcement was not greeted with enthusiasm. Sullenly, 
Tommy answered, "It's nap time."

Whining like a little child, John asked, "Nurse Betty, do I have 
to?"

Nurse Betty smiled. She recognized what he was doing. In a very 
stern voice she answered, "Yes, John Carter. You have to take a 
nap now! No exceptions!"

John nodded and answered sullenly, "Yes, Nurse Betty."

He stood up to leave and then noticed Karla looking at him. He 
smiled and stepped over to her. He asked, "Did you finish the 
drawing of me? I want to hang it over my bed so that I can look at 
it while I fall asleep."

Karla beamed and then faltered. She was so afraid that he wouldn't 
like it. She slowly handed over the best drawing of him that she 
had made. In a scared, timid voice she stated, "Here it is."

John took it and looked at it. It was a nice picture, particularly for 
someone her age. The subject could have been any bearded man. 
He smiled, "This is outstanding, but you forgot something."

Karla paled, "What did I forget?"

"You forgot to sign it. I have to keep it so that when you get 
famous I'll be able to say that I own a genuine Karla picture."

Karla burst out in a grin and quickly signed her name. She handed 
it back to him and said, "I'll make another one for you if you want 
me to."

John answered, "Do you know what I would really like?"

"What?"

"I would love a picture of all you kids. Of course, that would be 
pretty tough because you'd have to include yourself in it. Can you 
do it?"

Karla nodded excitedly, "Yes I can. I'm sure I can."

"Great," he replied. He glanced at Nurse Betty and then stated in a 
stage whisper, "I better get to bed before you know who gets mad 
at me! Maybe you guys should do the same."

John left the room as the kids scrambled into their respective 
rooms. He walked down the hall enjoying the chance to move 
around tremendously. He wondered if they would get upset if he 
went for a walk around the hospital. He entered his room and sat in 
the chair. He placed the drawing on the table next to the bed. 

He called a furniture store to order a bookcase. He explained what 
he required and then requested that it be delivered to the burn unit 
in the morning. When the salesperson requested payment 
information, he realized that he didn't have a credit card with him. 
He asked if he could give the credit card number to them in the 
morning when he was able to get his wallet. The salesperson put 
him on hold telling him that he was going to have to talk to the 
owner.

The telephone was picked up by the owner of the store. John 
introduced himself and explained what he needed. The owner 
listened carefully and then stated that he didn't have to worry. They 
would donate the bookcase to the burn ward and that he would 
personally drop it off on his way home from work. He even said 
that he would assemble it, but John told him that he had plenty of 
young patients here who wanted to take part in its assembly. The 
owner understood. Before hanging up, John thanked him for his 
generosity.

After lots of thanks back and forth, the call finally ended. Glancing 
at the clock, John saw that he would have about fifteen minutes 
before the visitors arrived. He leaned back and closed his eyes. In 
less than a minute, he was sleeping soundly.

When the first visitor arrived, Nurse Betty entered the room and 
saw that John was asleep. She got out a blanket and covered him. 
She knew he would complain about not being awakened to meet 
his visitors, but the needs of his body came first. She looked down 
at the man as he slept. It was a peaceful sleep, which was rare in 
this ward. Most patients had nightmares about their experiences. 

Exiting the room, she told the people waiting that John had fallen 
asleep. Apologizing for bringing them up here needlessly, she 
agreed to schedule people at a different time. She knew this was 
important to them, but she explained that he had surgery less than 
eighteen hours ago.






