Chapter 4

The Magic Ring

When we arrived at Fogville Hospital, Becca was immediately rushed into an exam room. I stayed hidden in Tyler’s jacket pocket while Mr. and Mrs. Silver told the ER doctor what had happened.

When they were finished, the doctor stared at them in shock. “Is this some kind of joke?” he asked. “Are you in on it with the other family?”

“What do you mean?” Michael asked.

“What I mean is that your sister is the second girl to come in tonight with these symptoms,” he explained. “It seems that someone in Fogville has been selling rotten fruit to people.”

The doctor turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Silver. “We’ll have to pump Becca’s stomach and hope it helps,” he said.

“What do you mean, ‘hope it helps’?” Mrs. Silver said. “What happened to your other patient? The girl who came in earlier tonight?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” the doctor said. “The other patient seems to be okay. But the thing is . . .”

“The thing is what?” Mrs. Silver asked, sounding alarmed.

“Well, it seems that she’s unable to recognize her family,” the doctor said. “She looks at them and smiles, but it’s like she doesn’t really see them.”

I listened to everything from my hiding place inside Tyler’s jacket. “I knew it!” I muttered. “I knew something was wrong. ‘Poor old lady’ my foot!”

“I’m sure your daughter will be okay,” the doctor assured the Silvers as a nurse whisked Becca away. “Don’t worry.”

They made us wait outside the emergency room for an hour. When they brought Becca back out of the room, Mr. and Mrs. Silver dashed toward the doctor, desperate for information. Michael and Tyler and I followed the nurse, who was pushing Becca, in a wheelchair, into another room.

As we entered the room, I stuck my head out of Tyler’s pocket to take a peek around. They’d put Becca in the same room as another patient. A very skinny little girl with short hair sat on the other bed. Her legs were stiff and she was staring blankly into the distance. I figured she must be the other girl the doctor had mentioned earlier.

“Psst!” Tyler whispered to Michael.

“What?” his brother replied.

“That girl is giving me the creeps,” Tyler whispered, nodding toward the other bed. “Look at her eyes!”

“Hi!” Michael said, trying to get the girl’s attention. “I’m Michael. What’s your name?”

The girl slowly turned her head and barely smiled at him. Then she went back to staring off into the distance silently.

“Nice. A girl of few words,” Tyler commented, turning back to his brother.

Just then, my foot snagged on something in Tyler’s pocket. “What on earth?” I said, trying to yank free. Tyler quickly fished me out of his pocket. I was holding a small ring with a red stone.

“Echo, you’re a genius!” he yelled, giving me a quick hug. “I couldn’t find that anywhere!”

“What’s that supposed to be?” Michael asked.

“It’s a magic ring, my present for Becca,” Tyler explained. “I meant to give it to her for her birthday.”

“But her birthday was three months ago,” Michael said.

“Okay, so I’m a little late,” Tyler said. “It’s the thought that counts, right?” As I watched, he walked over to Becca’s hospital bed, where she lay with her eyes closed, and slipped the ring on her finger.

Suddenly, Mr. and Mrs. Silver came back with the doctor. Tyler couldn’t put me away in time.

“What’s that . . . that . . . thing?” the doctor stuttered, pointing at me.

“He’s not a thing,” Michael said defensively. “He’s a bat!”

“Well, I can see that,” the doctor said, “but it shouldn’t be in a hospital!”

Luckily, Mrs. Silver stepped in. “Echo is part of the family and one of Becca’s best friends,” she told the doctor.

“He and Becca are always together,” Mr. Silver agreed. “They’re practically inseparable.”

“Well, they won’t be able to stay together tonight,” the doctor replied. “Only one parent can stay with her. Tomorrow —”

Just then, a very alarmed looking nurse poked her head into the room and interrupted us. “Doctor, you’d better come quickly!” she said. “It looks like another girl ate one of those rotten apples.”

“Unbelievable!” the doctor said. “Is this some kind of epidemic?” With that, he dashed down the hall, his coat flapping at his sides.

The family decided that Mrs. Silver would stay overnight at the hospital with Becca, and Mr. Silver would take Michael, Tyler, and me home. Before leaving, we all leaned down and kissed Becca goodbye. She didn’t even stir.

When it was his turn, Tyler whispered something in Becca’s ear, as if she could hear him. But before I could ask what he’d told her, we were quickly ushered from the room.