As Sam waited, he sat. As he sat, he listened. He heard the ding of an elevator door, and then nothing. Nothing for a long time.
As he listened he heard a voice in the hallway say, "Yeah, Mom." And then, "okay." Then he heard the shuffling of someone walking up to the open door to room 816 where time seemed to stand still.
"Hello?" Sam said timidly. The shuffling pants stopped.
"Hello!? Said again, a bit louder.
"He looked out into the hallway where a 12 year old boy was inching by ever so slowly. It was Garrett. He thought he could remember Garrett. He had to remember Garrett because he knew the face. He knew the name. He said it out loud. "Garrett?"
Garrett, wide eyed, turned his face into the empty doorway. He stood still for a moment staring blankly through the seeming emptiness of the room. It was evident that he could see no one, but he was certain he had heard his name. His little brother stood before him, invisible to him. The voice was all he could hear.
"Garrett." Sam said again. "What am I supposed to do? Are Mom and Dad coming? What am I supposed to do?" Sam began to feel frantic. Desperately he needed to know how to move on from this place. Wanting to know where he was supposed to be. Needing to know how long he must wait in this place. Longing to find and see his parents once again.
But in that moment, he only saw fear in Garrett's eyes. Sam could see it in the way he was breathing. He didn't know why Garrett was afraid, only that he was. And as quickly as Garrett had appeared, he disappeared again. In terror, his older brother ran from the front door of the room, down the hall toward the elevator. In seconds, Sam heard the ding of the elevator. And with that sound, Garrett was gone. For a while. For a long, long while.
