42

 

Nana was going to be sleeping most of the night, so my parents decided it was time to take me home so I could get some sleep.

When we stepped into the hospital lobby, I saw about five cameras, ten reporters, and twenty people. I wondered who they were waiting for, and then realized they were waiting for me.

I saw Lucy Fleck and her mother. I saw Leo, Cathy, and Baxter Billows.

Cathy came running up and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You’re awesome,” she whispered.

I’ll take “awesome” over “kind of funny” any day.

I saw Larry, the huge bearded guy who’d helped Nana when she collapsed. He waved.

The reporters ran toward me. Shaina Townsend reached me first.

“How’s your grandmother?”

I gave a thumbs-up. “She’s going to be okay,” I said, and everyone cheered.

“And what about you, Jack?” asked Shaina. “Are you going to be okay? What about the strike? What’s your plan?”

I looked straight into the cameras. “I’ve decided to end the strike. My family and I worked it all out. I can’t wait to get back to school and my friends and doing the things I love.”

The crowd started chanting something, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying at first. Then I could.

They were chanting, “Jack! Jack! Jack!”

I gave another thumbs-up and started walking toward the car, but Shaina stopped me.

“Someone wants to say something to you,” Shaina said. I saw Mrs. Fleck emerge from the crowd. Lucy was next to her, and she had some flowers in her hand.

Mrs. Fleck nodded at her daughter, and Lucy gave them to me.

“These are for your grandmother,” Lucy said.

I leaned into them and inhaled. They smelled amazing. “Thank you, Mrs. Fleck. Thank you, Lucy.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said to me.

Mrs. Fleck handed me a gift. I opened it—it was a CD of music by Pablo Casals, the amazing cellist who had almost certainly never dropped his bow.

“I look forward to hearing you play again,” Mrs. Fleck said.

I shook her hand. “Me, too,” I said. “Me, too.”

I hugged Lucy. Then I shook hands with Larry, high-fived Leo, accepted another kiss on the cheek from Cathy and a punch on the arm from Baxter, and waved to everyone else. Then I got in my parents’ car and drove back to our house.

And back to real life.