Souls in Peril (29 page)

He hurried back to class, handing Em her phone right in front of Mr. Roberts. His head was three miles away at the hospital, imagining the wors
t
.

“Tell me that
’
s not what I think it is?” Mr. Roberts frowned.

“Please don
’
t report me, Mr. Roberts. I
’
ll put it away right now.” Emma clutched the phone to her chest as she begged.

“Mr. Roberts, it
’
s my fault. Izzy
’
s sick again. She
’
s in the hospital and I was worried. Em let me use her phone to call and check on her,” Max explained.

“That poor girl never gets a break. Is she alright?” Mr. Roberts asked.

“I hardly got to talk to her. She
had to go for
some tests. I
’
ll have to wait until after school to find out.” Frustrated, Max stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

“I
’
ll drive you there,” Em volunteered.

“Thanks,” Max nodded.

“Okay, let
’
s put the phone away and finish working on the edits.” He gave Max
’
s shoulder a squeeze. “I
’
m sure she
’
ll be fine.”

Max knew Mr. Roberts wanted to be supportive, but he also knew the truth. Izzy was very ill, and if someone didn
’
t find a way to help her . . .

He went through the motions, helping Em as best he could. By the time lunch period came, his stomach lay in knots and he couldn
’
t eat. Em invited him to sit with her again. He didn
’
t know if he could face everyone after yesterday with his worries about Izzy, but he decided to give it a shot. Maybe the drama would take his mind off his friend in the hospital.

“Hi, JD. Over here,” Em signaled as he entered the cafeteria. He waved self-consciously. Too warm to eat outside, the usual group had migrated to a table inside the cafeteria. Max hated eating inside. The smells from the kitchen assaulted his nose as he
footed
toward Em
’
s table.

Before he sat, Leo grabbed hi
s tray, sneered, and
stomped
away
.
Lisa
followed
. The other six or seven kids at the table greeted him with varying degrees of acceptance, Jeff
’
s being the warmest.

“Hey, JD.” He high-fived Max. “You coming to the game
Friday
?”

“I hope so. What a great team this year. You
r
RBI is pretty impressive,” Max said.

“You like baseball?” Jeff settled in next to Max.

“No.” Max grinned. “I
love
baseball.” Soon he and Jeff were talking shop. They discussed coaching styles, the different batting order the team wanted to try for the big game, and the cheerleader
’
s decision to do the pyramid for the game.

“I don
’
t think you should, Em. Too dangerous,” Jeff said.

She frowned. “Thank you, dad
dy
. I appreciate your support,” she snapped.

Jeff reached over, placing his hand on hers. Max couldn
’
t peel his eyes away. “I
’
m sorry, Em. I just don
’
t want to see that pretty little head of yours splattered all over the field.”

“I agree,” affirmed Max,
adding to himself,
and get your meat hooks off my girl.

“You two are ridiculous. Thousands of cheerleaders do the pyramid every year and no one gets hurt.” She jerked her hand away and bit into her sandwich.

“And how many
do
get hurt?” Jeff pressed.

“I
’
m not discussing this with you,” she
answered.

“Because you know I
’
m right,” Jeff insisted.

Em redirected the conversation. “JD, didn
’
t you bring any lunch?”

“Not hungry. My stomach is bothering me a little.”

Em leaned in close. “She
’
ll be alright. Don
’
t worry.” Max nodded. “I
’
ll meet you in the parking lot after classes. I might be a little late. I
’
ll be coming from cheerleading practice.”

**

Max knew Em would be more than a little late. With time to kill, he decided to straighten JD
’
s locker. He couldn
’
t believe all the junk he
’
d found. Old homework assignments, scratch paper left over from math class, scraps of wadded up blank paper, even candy bar wrappers. Max tossed the junk and organized the rest.

In the
back
right corner, Max found a pen. He drew it out and read the printing on the side.
Colonial Inn. Striving to make your life comfortable one night at a time.

“This can
’
t be the pen. Tim didn
’
t even pay for the thing,” Max muttered incredulously. But it was. As relief filled JD, Max
’
s anger boiled over. He shoved the locker door shut so hard it reverberated back at him. He took both of his hands and slammed it again.
JD got beat over a stolen pen
?
All the nightmares were for this?
The whole thing sickened him.

“Hey, JD. Sorry. I hurried as fast as I could.” Em still had her cheer outfit on. Max loved it, especially the short skirt. Em had the best legs and her cheer outfit showed them off very nicely. She had a weighted down backpack on her shoulder.

“No problem. I take it you have a ton of homework tonight.” He stuffed the pen in his backpack, and took hers as they walked to her car. He paced himself just a little behind to stare at her legs.

“Thanks, JD. Your mother would be proud.” She smiled. Max laughed silently, knowing his gawking would have earn him a smack from his mother if she knew. “And yes. It
’
s going to be a late night for me.”

They ditched the backpacks in the trunk and climbed into the hot car, unrolling windows quickly for relief. “She
’
s at Port Fare General, right?” Em asked, buckling her seat belt. Max noticed a scrape on her right arm.

“Yes. What happened?” He pointed to the scrape, frowning. He knew what happened. The stupid pyramid happened.

“Fell. It
’
s nothing.” She turned out of the parking lot, passing Leo and Lisa as she did.

“He still hates me,” Max said. “Lisa, too.”

“Lisa only hates you because Leo does. I swear the girl doesn
’
t have an independent thought in her empty head,” Em said, an edge of bitterness in her voice.

“You two aren
’
t friends?” Max asked, surprised at Em
’
s reaction to Li
sa. They always seemed to get a
long great whenever he
’
d been around the two of them.

“Nope. I can
’
t stand her. She had it bad for Max, and she flirted with him all the time. It used to drive me nuts.”

“It did? Did you tell Max?”

“No. Him and Lisa were friends long before I came along. I didn
’
t feel like I could diss on his friends,” she explained.

“But he loved you. Don
’
t you think he
’
d understand?”

“When we first started dating I didn
’
t want to say anything because I was afraid of coming across as a whiner. Then, after we fell in love, I didn
’
t want to say anything because I didn
’
t want to disappoint him.”

“But if that is how you feel, you should have said something. I
’
ll bet he
’
d have understood.”

“JD, when you fall in love, you
’
ll see. It
’
s like running. I hate running, but Max loved it, so I ran because he liked it.” At the next red light, she reached in the backseat and grabbed her water bottle, taking a long drink.

“You hate running?” She nodded to his question.
She hates running
and
Lisa, and she never told me?
He wondered what else she didn
’
t like that she never told him about. “Then why do you run now?”

“I feel close to Max when I do. Sometimes I even talk to him while running. Crazy, right?” She looked at him for what Max guessed was affirmation. Not that she was crazy, but that it was okay to talk to his memory.

“I think that
’
s fine. He doesn
’
t answer back
,
does he?” Max teased.

She laughed. “No. I wish.” She shrugged. “I miss him so much. It
’
s been nice spending the past couple days with you. I can talk about him without worrying that you
’
re judging me, and you have so many of his mannerism
s
, it makes me laugh.”

She pulled into the parking lot at the hospital.
Max wondered if Izzy would want him to stay for a while so he decided to bring his backpack
with him
just in case
.
They had to go to the
sixth
floor of the parking garage to find a spot to park.

“She
’
s in room 345,” Max said as they got off the elevator. They turned left and walked down a long hallway lined with doors.
Beeping monitors
,
chiming
call
bells
, and patients groans floated in the air. Nurses raced up and down, answering the call lights.

“There it is.” Em pointed to the room at the end of the hall. The door stood ajar. Max knocked softly.

“Come in,” said a strong male voice.

A chill shot up Max
’
s back. He and Emma entered the room. Izzy sat in the bed closest to the door. Another bed next to the window held a small, elderly woman. Her mouth hung open as she snored away.

Izzy
’
s face lit up. “JD, you never visit me here. Thanks for . . .” she stopped as Emma approached the bed.

“Hi, Izzy. Um, sorry to hear you
’
re ill.” Emma smiled weakly, obviously uncomfortable being there. Max admire
d
her courage.

“What are you doing here?” Izzy asked rudely.

“Now, Isabelle, is that any way to speak to guests?” Izzy
’
s dad stepped out from the corner of the room. The snake slithered his way out of his make-shift den over next to Em.
What
’
d she have to wear that short skirt for anyway?

“Oh.” Emma jumped back. “I didn
’
t see you there. You
’
re Izzy
’
s dad, right? You have the same eyes.”

“Yes
.
Kevin
Thurston,
and you are?” He held out his hand and shook Em
’
s. Max cringed
.

“Emma McKay. I go to the same school as Izzy and JD.” She tugged her hand away. “How are you doing, Izzy? Oh, I already said that. Sorry.” She blushed.

“Are you in pain?” Max stepped
forward
in an attempt to wedge himself between Em and the snake.

“I
’
m fine.” Izzy
’
d shut down.
Max knew s
he had no intention of speaking in front of Em, and maybe even her dad
,
he
didn
’
t know for sure.

Emma made several attempts to draw Izzy into a conversation, but Izzy lay in her bed, stoic, offering only short, abrupt answers. Her eyes, however, held tight to Max.
S
he wanted to talk to him, alone. Which meant both Emma and the snake had to leave. The snake, he could care less about, but Em was another story.

Max took a deep breath, “Em, thanks for bringing me by. I know you have a ton of homework, so you don
’
t have to stay.”

“How will you get home?”