Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner

shuffled across the room and out the doors, headed toward his office.
    We all watched him, and finally, Sarah said, “He wasn’t like that before.”
    â€œDr. Gunther?” I asked.
    â€œNo. Trent.” She turned to Quentin. “Don’t you think he’s different?”
    Quentin shrugged. “I never talked with him that much.” He grinned at Sarah. “You kind of monopolized the guy’s time.”
    â€œBut he wasn’t like that.” She stared at the door as if the real Trent might come walking back through any second. “Trent was . . . goofy and fun. He liked the New York Knicks and those silly, stupid horror movies and . . . and
bacon
. Not all this
science
stuff.” She shook her head. “He always had a ton of energy. Even when he hadn’t gone through much treatment and he still had headaches and stuff, we shot baskets and played H-O-R-S-E, and he used to tease me about being so skinny, even though I always beat him.”
    â€œSounds like he got tired of you,” Ben said.
    â€œThat’s not it. Trent was . . . he was
nice
before. And funny. He’d make these volcanoes out of his mashed potatoes and gravy at dinner. One time we got laughing so hard, milk came right out his nose, and—”
    â€œSo, he used to act like a five-year-old?” Ben scoffed. “Sounds like his treatment’s working, and he’s not a doofus now.” He looked at Sarah. “No wonder he can’t relate to you.”
    The words stung
me
, so I could only imagine how Sarah felt. I couldn’t find the right words in my head to fix it, though, so I didn’t say anything.
    But Quentin did. “Come on, man.” He put a hand on Ben’s arm. “Ease up.” He turned to Sarah. “Trent’s probably tired. You spend a lot more hours in the lab with Phrase Three; I bet he’s wiped out.”
    â€œThen why does he have the energy to go off to some lab and do experiments? He never told me
anything
about wanting to be an engineer. I’m telling you, he’s
different.
”
    â€œBecause he’s not into you anymore?” Ben said, giving her a pointed look.
    â€œCome on, you guys,” Quentin said, standing. “It’s nice out. Let’s hang by the pool or something.”
    We all followed him out there. Sarah flopped down and kicked her feet in the water, while Ben and Quentin chose chairs in the shade of a table umbrella. I stood near the trunk of a big white pine next to the clinic. I’d noticed an osprey nest, a mess of sticks and grass way up at the top.
    The nest was quiet, but my insides were fluttering all over the place. What if Sarah’s crazy ideas weren’t so crazy? What if Trent’s treatment really had changed him somehow? He didn’t seem like a normal kid.
    When I looked over the pool, the sun flickered through palm trees, throwing diamond sparkles all over the water’s surface.
    Another perfect day. A state-of-the-art research facility and clinic with top-notch care.
    The best in the world, the brochure promised. And no waiting list to get in? When Lucy’s grandmother had cancer, she waited months to get into some elite clinic in New York City. If this place was the best of the best for head injuries, why were we the only ones here?

Chapter 7
    My schedule wasn’t much of a schedule while I waited for the next phase of treatment to begin. The rest of my day was empty, but I felt too muddled to work on a clay bird, and I didn’t feel like reading.
    Sarah had gone out kayaking with Quentin, and Ben had another MRI, so before dinner, I took my binoculars and headed for that narrow staircase off the dining room that led up to the roof.
    I was a little worried about the height, but Dr. Ames had promised on the first day it was all fenced in and safe, and I really wanted to know if there were babies in that nest. Maybe a mom or a dad would come to feed them. And maybe