“She doesn’t even want me to hold her,” he said.

“She just wants to be in my arms,” Lulu said. “I guess that’s a good thing. I understand what Seth said about being careful, but she’s not going to let anybody take her that she doesn’t know.”

We started up the path. There was no need to talk to the first people we passed because they were all Thais. Not my family, and obviously not little Blondie’s, either. We stopped at a counter just inside the main door. Behind it was a Thai woman in a white uniform—a nurse, I hoped.

“Can I be of assistance?” she asked.

“We’re looking for some people,” Ryan explained.

“We have lists, but they are very incomplete,” she replied.

“Even if they were complete it wouldn’t help. We don’t know the name of this little girl. We’re looking for her family. Has anybody reported a missing child?”

“Many people are missing children, but our list includes only the people who are here, and, as I said, it’s not very up-to-date. The best thing you can do is simply walk through the wards and ask. I wish we were more organized, but we’re all doing our best simply to cope with the scope of the tragedy.”

“We understand,” Ryan said. “Where should we start?”

“Start with the wards. There are three of them. The cafeteria has been converted to a fourth. Out back, under a large tarp, we have a fifth area. And, of course, look in the corridors as you pass and check out the smaller rooms. I think we have a few patients in the laundry room right now.”

“Thank you,” Lulu said. “We’ll start looking.”

“Ready or not, here we come,” Ryan added.

The nurse looked confused.

“Hide-and-seek…that’s what you say.”

She looked even more confused, but she nodded her head politely.

We started down the first corridor. Right away we saw people sitting on the floor. They didn’t look injured—no bandages or IVs or casts—but they did look exhausted. Maybe they were waiting for somebody who was getting treated or had been admitted.

Lulu would try to get the attention of a few people at once and then ask about little Blondie. If people spoke English they would answer, while others just shook their heads. Some people didn’t say anything—either they didn’t speak English or they didn’t understand it—but obviously they would have reacted if Blondie had been their relative or a child they at least knew.

I followed behind. For me it was easier. I knew who I was looking for, and neither of those people was there.

We entered a ward. This was more like what I had expected to find: rows of beds with bright white sheets and a shiny linoleum floor. A nurse in a clean, starched uniform was moving among the patients, and another woman in scrubs was pushing a man in a wheelchair. All the beds were filled, and I could see that almost all of the patients were foreigners.