It was hard to think about going back into Sunday’s hospital room. He was expecting a party, and he deserved one. The kid was about to have a bone marrow transplant, and yet he was the most cheerful person in the whole hospital. So I made myself go find the spoons I had promised, and I also found a smile before I walked into his room.
“Is everything okay with Diane and Rusty?” he asked, while he spooned big orange glops of sherbet into his mouth.
“Yes,” I said. “God answered a prayer for them.”
“I am so happy,” he said. “Today is full of good news.”
Flip and Fawn came back in the room, this time with Sunday’s parents, Kiano and Ajia, and Sunday’s three sisters, Faith, Grace, and Hope.
Little Hope jumped onto Sunday’s bed. “Yum, ice cream!”
Now I knew we had too many people in the room.
“Riley,” Sunday asked, “Please pull open Joshua’s curtains. He is welcome to join.”
I didn’t know if I was allowed to do that, but hey, we were going to get into trouble anyway as soon as a nurse walked in. So I figured, why not? I grabbed the edge of the curtain and walked it around the bed where Joshua lay, hooked to all kinds of strange machines. A kid with no hair and black circles under his eyes grinned at me.
“Hey, you’re that shoe-girl from the magazine,” he said. I noticed on his end table that he had an Outdoor Teen Magazine, and it was open to Girl vs. Rock. “When I get well, I’m going to climb Half Dome like you did.”
Kiano came over to speak with Joshua. “Yes, you can climb that mountain, no problem. I will pray that God will make it so.” Then he smiled that huge Kiano smile that comes from inside.
Joshua pointed to my hand. “What happened?”
“Oh, uh . . . a little collision with a rock when I was river rafting. You’ll probably read about it in the next issue.” I looked around at the IV bags that hung above his head, and all of a sudden my hand being broken didn’t seem like such a big deal.
“That sounds kind of exciting.” Joshua smiled. “What are you gonna do next?”
I shrugged. “I’d actually like to go home and start the eighth grade.”
Joshua scrunched up his nose. “That sounds boring.”
“I think she should train to run a long distance race,” Kiano said. “What do you think, Joshua?”
Again, somebody mentioned me running more than just bases during a softball game. “What are you talking about? I don’t know anything about running.”
“I’ve offered to take you all on a trip to Kenya,” Kiano said. “My people can teach you how to run.”
Well, I just about fell over.
But Joshua sat up a little straighter. “Wow. Isn’t that in Africa? Are they going to do another article about you in the magazine?
Kiano winked at me and then turned to Joshua. “The project is still in the planning stages.”
“Yeah, and I have a broken hand,” I said. “Plus, Africa is . . . far.”
“Yes.” Kiano smiled.
By this time, Grace and Hope were jumping around me and tugging on my clothes.
“You can sleep in our bed, and we can play kickball!” Hope jumped a little too close to my hand.
“Oww.”
“I am sorry, Riley.” Grace grabbed her little sister away from me.
Hope frowned and looked down. “I did not mean to.”
I patted her on the shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s just that my hand is still a little sore.”
“Will it feel better when you are at our house?” Hope rubbed my cast.
“I guess that depends on when we’re going to your house.”
“I hope you go soon,” Joshua said. “I want to read more articles about your adventures.”
“It will be soon,” Kiano said. Then he winked at me again.