Yeah. [His heart drops into his stomach.] Yeah, okay.
[He doesn't know what to say beyond that, so he just hangs up and comes to the infirmary. His footfalls feel astonishingly heavy, like his limbs are deader than usual; his face doesn't get drawn anymore, but he just looks tired, heavy-hearted, as though he doesn't know what to do.]
[Which is fair enough: he has no idea. What does a warden do without his inmate?]
[Poking his head into the infirmary, he spots Gene quickly enough, waves and comes in.] All right?
[It's a stupid question, but he doesn't know what else to ask.]
private
[He doesn't know what to say beyond that, so he just hangs up and comes to the infirmary. His footfalls feel astonishingly heavy, like his limbs are deader than usual; his face doesn't get drawn anymore, but he just looks tired, heavy-hearted, as though he doesn't know what to do.]
[Which is fair enough: he has no idea. What does a warden do without his inmate?]
[Poking his head into the infirmary, he spots Gene quickly enough, waves and comes in.] All right?
[It's a stupid question, but he doesn't know what else to ask.]