“He’s awake,” Dr. Bennington told me. “You can go in.”
Kurt was propped up in bed. This time he didn’t have a tube shoved up his nose. It was good to see him smile. I sat down on the edge of the bed, almost afraid to touch him—afraid that if I did, I might injure him in some way.
“I knew you’d know where to find me.”
“Yeah. That’s our place.”
“Except it wasn’t supposed to be like that. I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “You made a mistake, you big goof. Why’d you leave like that?”
Kurt held out his hand and I took it. For once it felt almost normal. “I didn’t believe all they were telling me. Laying around all day was making me feel lousy. I figured if I could just get out of here—even for a little while—I’d feel better.”
“I know,” I said. “Have they told you everything?” I asked.
“God, I hope so. All they say is that I am to stay hooked up to all of this and stay here until a better option comes along.”
“A transplant?” I wanted to be sure he knew.
“Yeah, a transplant. Like in the Frankenstein movies.” He looked tired again and real bummed out.
“I always kind of liked Frankenstein,” I told him. “He was my hero for a while. A very misunderstood character.”
Kurt tried a brave smile. His energy was fading. “Tina, when I woke up and they told me you had tracked me down, I got thinking. I can’t believe I’ve put you through all this. I think you better just leave me alone for a while and see what happens.”
“Oh sure,” I said. I was angry he was even saying this. It was just like Kurt to try to tough things out on his own.
“No. Really. I’m not much fun like, well, like this.” He pointed down to the wires and tubes going under the sheets. “It’s been rough on you and it’s my fault. So just forget about me until it’s all over one way or the other.”
This made me so angry I almost smacked him in the face. I took a deep breath instead. “Right,” I said with a smirk on my face. “Give up a chance to hang out with Frankenstein? No way.” I did something just then that shocked him. I kissed him on the cheek for the first time ever. And then I got up to go.
I should have kept my mouth shut, but I thought Kurt should know. “Kurt, Jason got himself messed up on his new motorcycle. He’s downstairs.”
Kurt leaned up in bed. “How is he?”
“I don’t know,” I told him. “I don’t know.”
“There goes the season,” Kurt said. What a weird thing, I thought, to think about soccer after all this. But then Kurt hadn’t seen what I had seen.
“Coach will be really ticked off,” I said, backing off from saying what I really thought. “I hope Jason is all right.”
As I walked out the door, I had to pass Kurt’s parents. Mrs. Richards grabbed my sleeve. “You had it all planned, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” I closed the door solidly behind me. I didn’t want Kurt to hear.
“You could have killed him with your little rendezvous,” she said.
“It wasn’t my idea,” I pulled away and walked on. I didn’t need to take any of their crap.
Mr. Richards stalked behind me. “I’ve talked with the administration. This time, they assure me, you won’t be allowed back in the hospital. I’ve explained the problem to them.”
I stopped and spun around. How could they have it all so wrong? I didn’t even know where to begin. So I said nothing and walked onto the elevator.