tic tac teeth; part 6

“The next few weeks went by in a blur,” he continues, frowning at the memory. “I felt like it was my fault that they were gone…” Suddenly Simon leans forward, and I catch him before he falls to the ground. I realize that tears are spilling down his cheeks. “I made them leave!” he cries, his eyes wild. He clings to me and I drop to the ground because I can’t hold him. “It’s all my fault that they never found Layla.” Barney the concierge suddenly appears behind me.
“Mr. Keen!” he cries. I help him support the hysterical man to the counter. We lean him against the wood surface while Barney catches his breath. Finally he looks up with his face flushed. “Thank you,” he says in a wheezy voice. “We should probably take him up to his room.” I look at Simon, who is silent, and notice for the first time that he looks exhausted. There are dark, purple shadows under his eyes, and his face is bristly with unshaved hair. As I notice this, he leans his head against the polished wood surface and nods off. Deep snoring starts a minute later. I sigh.
“I guess we have to now.” I say with reluctance. I don’t really want to carry a sleeping man up who-knows-how-many flights of stairs.
“Let’s take him up the elevator.” Barney says, obviously thinking the same thought I was. I grab Simons arm, and Barney takes his other arm. As we pass the wall of spare apartment keys, Barney slides one off the hook and pockets the tiny card. When we enter the elevator Barney tells me to press the button for level five. I press my finger against the shiny, circular button, and it flashes under my touch. As the elevator slowly crawls up to the fifth level, Barney suddenly clears his throat.
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier, Ms. Gumby.” He gives me a sheepish grin. He holds up the tiny card he had grabbed earlier. “Here is your key card, apartment 310, level five.” He says while handing me the card.