The pain was sure getting worse. You got to hang on, he told himself. You can't yell or cry or anything. Brent clenched his fist under the covers.

After a few minutes, he heard the sound of sharp hard heels against the tile floor in the hallway. A nurse swung into the room. She was short and her white nurse's cap was perched on tightly curled dark hair.

"Who rang?" she asked.

"He did," Kirk said. "He wants a little juice for the pain."

The nurse came over to the side of Brent's bed. He could read her name tag. She was Nurse Rush, all right.

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes, please," Brent said. "The pain's pretty bad."

"Well," she said, looking at the clipboard at the end of his bed. "It says here that the night nurse administered a pain reliever through your I.V. tubing at five this morning."

"Oh, yeah?" Brent said. He figured that he must sound pretty dumb. "Could I have something anyway now? It really hurts pretty bad."

"Well," she said, "I don't think you should hurry your pain relievers too much. Suppose I check back later and see how you're feeling."

"What's the matter?" Kirk asked. "You afraid you're going to turn him into a junkie? I wouldn't worry about it. And I wouldn't sweat spoiling his breakfast seeing as how his three square meals all seem to be dripping into his arm."

"Now you keep out of this, young Doctor Hughes. This is a matter between this young patient and myself."

"I really would like something now, please," Brent said. He hoped that his voice didn't sound too desperate. He shifted his legs, but the pain was still there. "Dr.Matthias said all I had to do was ask."

"All right. Although there are certain minimum times between dosages of any pain reliever that Dr.Matthias should make you aware of. I'll be right back."

She left the room in a cascade of heel clicking.