Communication

Hazel was excited that Billy guessed her name right so he tried to strike up a casual conversation with her. He asked her why she was there since he had been wondering what inspired her to sneak out for so long.

She didn't seem to understand the question and answered with a series of hand gestures that took him a moment to decipher. This girl really needed to work on her makeshift sign language! Anyone less clever than him never would have understood that she couldn't talk and had nightmares.

He hadn't been asking her why she was in the hospital though he had wanted to know. Billy immediately tried to make her feel better by being casual about it.

"So you can't talk and you have nightmares. Are you the one who screams every night, then? I did wonder. You scream, the kid next door to me cries, and another one beats on the walls. We're all crazy here."