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The door to apartment 33 was slammed open, halting conversations and games as each head turned to the sudden noise. It was Sam, and he was covered in blood, a terrified expression on his face.
The silence was deafening, with Sam looking across the apartment at the faces of his friends. He rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door before anyone could say a word.
Joel and Ciarán had been sitting on the couch, talking about their worries for the days to come, since today was supposed to be the last. With Sam bloody and the people he ventured with missing— Phillippe, Leigh, and Lyle— their worries switched and doubled.
“Where’s the others?” Joel looked up at anyone to answer him, but he was the first one to speak. Panineau shut the door and made a comment to himself.
Wordlessly, Hellen walked to the bathroom and stood. Cierán looked down with his remaining eye, as if staring at his hands in his lap.
“Do you think -hhh- Mister Sam’s okay?” Joel asked, the concern obvious and consuming.
“It was probably -ghhk- someone else's blood.” Cierán answered, almost mirroring Joel's emotions. “He would've asked for help if he was hurt.”
“Yeah, you're right.” Joel squeezed Fuzzy in one hand, then wrapped an arm around Cierán instead of it. Cierán followed in suit.
The both of their arms joined in, with Fuzzy between them, still wearing the tooth pendant that Cierán had given him.
Hellen knocked softly on the bathroom door. “Sam.” Maybe he wasn't okay. A shiver ran through the two tooth children.
They held on, even as Hellen continued to call Sam's name. They held on as she kicked the door down. They held on as she yelled at Joel, Cierán, and Sophie to get in Sam's room, if only breaking the hug to hold hands. They held hands as they ran into the room, as a screech rang out in the bathroom and as Hellen shouted back.
“Do you think Mister Sam -hhh-”
“We're okay.” Ciarán assured Joel as they re-entered the embrace.
Drool spilled from Joel's mouth— tears— and Ciarán remaining eye teared up.
Joel was thinking about many things that were not fit to speak of in that moment, while Sophie, the bully, was beside them.
Ciarán understood there was more on his mind. He would ask about it later, when it was safe, if Joel didn't approach him first.
Maybe Sam wasn't okay. Damnit.