His hair was lightly tacked to his forehead and his skin was glued to the mattress pad at every point of damp contact.
He sat up too quickly and banged his ankle soundly on the side bars. As he suddenly realized with a twinge of guilt and embarrassment that he was lying in the crib with a dish towel pinned on as a diaper, voices from beyond the room gradually invaded his consciousness. The diminishing quiet was then pierced by the sound of high-pitched giggling as the basement door opened and was rent by the thunder of its slamming closed. A bright triangle of electric light pooled under the door into the small room as the stairs quivered under a clatter of footfalls.