my hand. “So tomorrow, you can get back into the wheelchair, and I can even take you on a walk. Won’t that be exciting?”
It didn’t really sound that great to me, so I blinked no, but Mom went right on. “And I’m sure you’re curious about your surgery. Dr. Louis has been updated on how you’ve been doing, and he just needs to see your blood work before we schedule anything. He said maybe in a week or two,okay? Once we get your white blood cell count back down to normal, and that shouldn’t take long.”
A week or two sounded like forever; I’d already been in here a month. I wanted my old life back. I was ready to do this now, not in two weeks.
“Well, since we finished
Harry Potter
, I picked up that book Allie said your class was reading.” Mom reached into her bag and pulled out a paperback. Just the thought of Allie, of reading the same thing she was reading, made me feel terrible. I didn’t want to think about her, about school, about English class, my old friends, my old life. I didn’t even remember Mom finishing
Harry Potter
.
Allie dumped me. Mike couldn’t even look at me. The one person who actually seemed to get it had suddenly disappeared. Where was Olivia? Why hadn’t I seen her for days? She said she needed a friend, and I thought I was one. Guess I was wrong. My world had gotten really small, and it felt like it was getting smaller.
“Oh, your eyes are still so watery.” Mom leaned over me with a tissue and cleaned up my face. She assumed it was just from being sick that my eyes were watering, and I was glad for the excuse.
Mom started to read
A Separate Peace
, about an older guy who goes back to visit where he went to high school. He’s walking around remembering things that happened to him, and I could just tell this guy had a sad story totell—something bad was going to happen to somebody, and I didn’t want to hear it. I tuned out the words Mom was reading. Two more weeks, that’s the goal. I had to focus on that, on getting out of here, on the surgery being successful. Two more weeks.
Chapter 13
“West, wake up.” I heard a girl’s voice talking to me. “West.” Her hand was on my arm, just like in the dream, the little girl covered in blood.
“It’s just me,” Olivia said when I started. She was sitting on the side of my bed. “Are you better? I was worried about you.”
I blinked yes and she was visibly relieved. “I got a little busted myself.” She motioned to her feeding tube. “Infection. I guess a lady should wash her hands before pulling out an IV tube on a regular basis, huh?” She smiled and I felt something in my chest let go. Olivia was still here. She was okay.
“I wanted to come by, but they were checking you a lot, plus you were sort of out of it. But I was thinking aboutyou.” She sounded so serious, like a greeting card. “I couldn’t help thinking about you, especially when I was trying to read tonight and your friend was here blasting rap music.” She scowled at me. I was happy to have the sarcastic Olivia back.
“So.” She took a deep breath. “While you were busy being sick, I was busy being Harriet the Spy. Finally got a nurse on night duty who liked to smoke—a lot—so I had some time at the nurses’ station to do a little research.”
She scooted over on the bed, closer to me, and pushed the button to raise it up, so I was sitting looking at her. “Here’s the thing: I’m not sure you’re going to like what I found out.” She leaned in to me as she whispered. “Number one, I looked up the guy who was in this room before you, not a pretty picture. Remember how you told me you’re having bad dreams about a man?”
I blinked yes and she went on.
“Was he—I know this sounds gross—but was he, like, burned?”
No.
“Are you sure he wasn’t burned in a fire, or on fire or anything in your dream?”
Again I had to blink no. I had no idea where she was going with this.
“Hmmmmm.” This was obviously not
It didn’t really sound that great to me, so I blinked no, but Mom went right on. “And I’m sure you’re curious about your surgery. Dr. Louis has been updated on how you’ve been doing, and he just needs to see your blood work before we schedule anything. He said maybe in a week or two,okay? Once we get your white blood cell count back down to normal, and that shouldn’t take long.”
A week or two sounded like forever; I’d already been in here a month. I wanted my old life back. I was ready to do this now, not in two weeks.
“Well, since we finished
Harry Potter
, I picked up that book Allie said your class was reading.” Mom reached into her bag and pulled out a paperback. Just the thought of Allie, of reading the same thing she was reading, made me feel terrible. I didn’t want to think about her, about school, about English class, my old friends, my old life. I didn’t even remember Mom finishing
Harry Potter
.
Allie dumped me. Mike couldn’t even look at me. The one person who actually seemed to get it had suddenly disappeared. Where was Olivia? Why hadn’t I seen her for days? She said she needed a friend, and I thought I was one. Guess I was wrong. My world had gotten really small, and it felt like it was getting smaller.
“Oh, your eyes are still so watery.” Mom leaned over me with a tissue and cleaned up my face. She assumed it was just from being sick that my eyes were watering, and I was glad for the excuse.
Mom started to read
A Separate Peace
, about an older guy who goes back to visit where he went to high school. He’s walking around remembering things that happened to him, and I could just tell this guy had a sad story totell—something bad was going to happen to somebody, and I didn’t want to hear it. I tuned out the words Mom was reading. Two more weeks, that’s the goal. I had to focus on that, on getting out of here, on the surgery being successful. Two more weeks.
Chapter 13
“West, wake up.” I heard a girl’s voice talking to me. “West.” Her hand was on my arm, just like in the dream, the little girl covered in blood.
“It’s just me,” Olivia said when I started. She was sitting on the side of my bed. “Are you better? I was worried about you.”
I blinked yes and she was visibly relieved. “I got a little busted myself.” She motioned to her feeding tube. “Infection. I guess a lady should wash her hands before pulling out an IV tube on a regular basis, huh?” She smiled and I felt something in my chest let go. Olivia was still here. She was okay.
“I wanted to come by, but they were checking you a lot, plus you were sort of out of it. But I was thinking aboutyou.” She sounded so serious, like a greeting card. “I couldn’t help thinking about you, especially when I was trying to read tonight and your friend was here blasting rap music.” She scowled at me. I was happy to have the sarcastic Olivia back.
“So.” She took a deep breath. “While you were busy being sick, I was busy being Harriet the Spy. Finally got a nurse on night duty who liked to smoke—a lot—so I had some time at the nurses’ station to do a little research.”
She scooted over on the bed, closer to me, and pushed the button to raise it up, so I was sitting looking at her. “Here’s the thing: I’m not sure you’re going to like what I found out.” She leaned in to me as she whispered. “Number one, I looked up the guy who was in this room before you, not a pretty picture. Remember how you told me you’re having bad dreams about a man?”
I blinked yes and she went on.
“Was he—I know this sounds gross—but was he, like, burned?”
No.
“Are you sure he wasn’t burned in a fire, or on fire or anything in your dream?”
Again I had to blink no. I had no idea where she was going with this.
“Hmmmmm.” This was obviously not
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