Katie

"And what did Mr. Spence say?" Dad asked. I sat on the edge of his bed filling him in on what had happened that day.

"I don't know what he said, but the guys all got suspensions."

"Devan too?"

I nodded.

"Are you nervous about seeing Shane again?"

For some reason, I wasn't. Mr. Spence knew, now. Thanks to Devan, everyone saw Shane for what he was just another kid. An angry kid, but still just a kid. I still couldn't believe Devan did that ... for me.

"Well, it's great to know there are good people out there who do the right thing," Dad said.

"Speaking of the right thing," I pushed myself out of the chair and walked to the door. "I have something I've been meaning to do for a long time."

Dad smiled. He knew where I was going. Will's room.

We weren't going to be in the hospital many more days. Dad's cancer was in remission. This morning the doctors told him he'd be going home in a day or two. But I'd still come and visit Will. If he'd have me.

I knocked on the door to room 242, relieved and kind of nervous to finally be getting this off my chest. No one answered, so I let myself in. Will deserved to know that I was sorry, that I cared about him as a friend and nothing was going to stop me from telling him that now.

The room was empty. The bed, stripped. Oh God!

I ran down the hall to the nurse's station. "Maureen! Will's bed is empty—he's not in his room!" Panic rose in my voice. An empty bed usually meant one thing for a patient who was not ready to be discharged.

"Katie," Maureen waved her hands to calm me down, "Honey, it's okay. He's okay. His dad got a job transfer." "What?"

"They're moving, to his hometown university. I thought you knew."

I shook my head. "When?"

"They left two days ago," she put her hand on my shoulder, "for England."

"Did he leave a note or anything?" I asked. She shook her head. Even after all that had happened, I couldn't believe he'd just left without saying good-bye. But maybe I deserved it, after what I did to him.

I never told him, not while he was awake anyway. I never apologized. I never let him know how much our friendship really meant to me, or that someone cared.

And now he would never know.