Chapter 3 Summary

When Georgie finally gains consciousness, a kind nurse is staring over him. Steve had beaten him with the leg of a chair. Someone in the building finally called the cops on Steve and Georgie's mother. She is dressing his leg and tending to a deep wound in his scalp. Also in the apartment are a young police officer and the janitor, who is cleaning up the mess that Steve left in the apartment. The officer tries to get Georgie to name Steve as the person who beat him, but all Georgie can remember are the threats against his life if he ever tells. Georgie begins to beg for his rosebush, which the janitor must pull from the garbage. Georgie takes no notice of the thorns in the bush as he presses his face into the rosebush.

While in the hospital, Georgie's wounds on...