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know I’ll never forget you,” Tim said with a yawn, moving to his side and propping his head up on an elbow to face him.  “It’s gonna be okay, Brett.”
                  “Will you and Mike be nearby . . . like in the hallway or close by?”
                  “Promise.  Mike will be there for sure, and Stephen should be here any time.  I’m going to run down and visit Johnny, but I’ll be back.”
                  “Skip said Johnny’s mom is here.  She flew in late last night.”
                  “Just his mom?” Tim asked.
                  Brett nodded.  Neither boy commented, but they had the same thought.  Johnny’s parents must have split up, just like Ben’s and Ian’s did.  Their parents had shown up together, but before the two boys had left- Ben with his parents to St. Paul, and Ian with his parents to Des Moines- their parents explained that they had divorced.  It had saddened the boys, and even though their parents had explained that neither Ben nor Ian had anything to do with it, neither boy had believed them.  Two of the other boys, Cory and Patrick, had sent a text to Stephen that their parents were shaky.
                  “Know what I can’t get used to?” Tim asked softly.
                  “What?”
                  “That I can leave my room and go pretty much wherever I want.”  Tim paused and said, “That first morning here? Mike and I didn’t know if we could leave our room.”
                  “I can’t get used to wearing clothes,” Brett said with a laugh.
                  “I know,” Tim laughed. “That first night, Mike and I slept naked.”
                  Brett laughed.  “I was going to, but Skip said I might want to wear the hospital thingy in case the nurse came in to check me.”
                  “Those things don’t cover much anyway.  Our butts were always hanging out.”
                  The boys were still laughing as Mike came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel as Stephen came in from the hallway. 
                  “Your parents are coming up from downstairs,” Stephen said as he plopped in a chair by the side of the bed.  “They were just coming out of the conference room with Jeremy, Pete, Dr. Flasch and the other agent guy.”
                  Brett sat up and took a deep breath.
                  “It’s gonna be alright, Brett,” Tim said for the third time.
                  “I b-b-better get d-dressed,” Mike said disappearing back into the bathroom after grabbing his clothes off the back of the chair Stephen was sitting in.
                  “Need help?” Stephen asked.
                  “N-no, I g-got it,” Mike answered as he shut the bathroom door behind him.
                  “Is he getting any better?” Stephen asked in a whisper to Tim and Brett.
                  Tim made a face and shook his head.  Brett didn’t answer.  He just stared at the door to the hallway as if the two other boys weren’t in his room.
                  “Stephen, can you and Mike hang out in the hallway, while I go visit Johnny?”
                  Stephen nodded and looked back at Brett who seemed to be in another world, a shade whiter, licking his lips nervously. 
    He got up, knocked on the bathroom door and asked, “Mike, almost done?”
    In answer, Mike stepped out of the bathroom dressed except for bare feet.  He carried his Nike sandals.
    He walked over to the bed, put a hand on Brett’s good shoulder and said, “W-w-we’ll b-be i-in the h-h-hallw-way, ok-kay?”
    Brett nodded, but continued to stare at the doorway, expecting his parents any moment.
    Tim’s parents didn’t want Tim to talk about anything that had happened to him.  Stephen’s dad thought Stephen