Leon had actually been about to stare blankly back at Claude. My book, dummy. The journal I carried around all yesterday? But their conversation was interrupted by nosy nurses ushering them off to lunch. Not together, of course. They seemed to think that Leon wasn't hanging around enough "kids his age." And of course this was because he wasn't even attempting to.

The sandwich he was given seemed rather plain and unappealing, but he hadn't eaten too much over breakfast and crying made him hungry, so he started munching on it anyway. It tasted only slightly better than it looked.