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Levi
“Good morning, young man!” The doctor sounded happier than he looked.
At least Levi assumed he was a doctor. He could be a nurse. Or the cook, for all Levi knew. Whoever he was, he was really excited about the hand sanitizer.
When he’d finished rapidly massaging the goo into his skin, he pulled a clipboard out from under his arm. “All right. Your scans look good. We don’t see any skull fracture or bleeding.”
Levi looked at his mother. They’d thought he’d fractured his skull?
“Which, frankly, surprises me, given the amount of swelling.” The doctor stared at him, and Levi met his eyes. “You are one lucky young man. But you most definitely have a concussion. So! It’s important to rest, both physically and mentally, while your brain heals. Not that you’re going to be able to do much with that ankle.” He chortled. “And even after the surgery, it will take a few days before you’ll feel like moving around.”
Levi looked at his mother. “Surgery?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking sad. “You ripped your ankle to shreds. They need to pin it back together again.”
Absurdly, Levi thought of Humpty Dumpty.
“Nothing to worry about, though. We’ll have you shipshape soon. But you’ll be right here for the next few days, so get comfortable.” He waggled a finger at him. “For now, rest. Really try to relax. No stimulation. Limit your screen time.”
The thought of his phone made Levi’s chest ache. How good it would be to get his phone back! Where was it now, anyway? Still in Kendall’s backseat? The doctor scurried out of the room, and Levi looked at his mother. “I have no idea where my phone is.”
She chuckled ruefully. “I found it in a field.”
“In a field? Where?”
“Clark Cove Road.”
What? Why? That was nowhere near where he’d been. “They threw my phone into some random field?” he said quietly. The more he thought about that, the more it hurt.
His mother nodded sadly.
Levi chuckled. “I guess it’s a good thing the cops came to talk to me before I found that out.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I made sure the cops knew that detail.” Her jaw clenched. She hadn’t forgiven his friends yet.
Yet another knock at the door. He groaned, thinking they should shut and lock the door. But when he looked up, his heart filled with joy. At first he wasn’t even sure who he was looking at and why he was so joyful, but then his tired, wounded brain got the puzzle pieces into some kind of order: he was looking at his rescuers, the “they” his grandfather had promised. He smiled broadly, both excited to see them and suddenly feeling a bit shy.
The girls walked in slowly as if they were feeling a bit shy too.
His mother had hopped up. “Here, have a seat.”
None of them sat, though.
Jason DeGrave, never shy, stepped up and held out a hand. “You look great, bud.”
Levi accepted his handshake, wondering when they’d become buds. He looked at the girls one at a time. “I don’t know your names.”
The tall girl said, “Zoe,” and the younger girl chirped, “Emma!”
Levi nodded. “I’m not sure how to thank you all.” He frowned. “Where’s the other guy?” He’d barely finished the sentence before he panicked. Had there been another guy? Had he imagined the Christmas music? His cheeks got hotter and hotter until he feared they were going to burst into flames.
But then Jason said, “His name is Derek. We don’t really know him, and we were going to invite him, but we couldn’t find him.”
“You don’t know where he lives?” his mom asked.
Jason shook his head, looking regretful. “We’re going to find that out. How are you feeling?” He seemed in a hurry to change the subject.
“Like I’ve been run over by a train. Three times.”
They all laughed, and much of the nervous tension in the room vanished.
“He’s going to be okay, though,” his mom hurried to say. “He has a bad concussion and a broken ankle. He was hypothermic and badly dehydrated but is recovering nicely from all that.”
Jason nodded sagely.
“You were so cold,” Emma said. “I was scared you were too cold.”
“I was scared of that too,” Levi said.
They all held still, awkwardly staring at one another until Zoe said, “Well, we should probably get out of your hair. We just wanted to check on you. Let us know if you need anything. And when you bust out of here, let’s do something fun, and like, wicked safe.”
He laughed. He liked this girl.
“Safe and toasty warm,” Emma added.
He nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Thanks for coming by,” his mother said. “And also, you know, for saving my son’s life and all.”
“You bet,” Jason said, as if it had been nothing at all.
Levi couldn’t remember clearly, but he had a feeling it hadn’t been nothing. He thought he remembered a lot of straining, pulling, and groaning.
Jason and Zoe turned to leave, but Emma stepped up to his bed and tucked something into his hand. “I don’t know if this is yours, it looks kind of old, but I found it where you were lying. So just in case I thought—”
“Let me guess ...” Levi glanced at his mother. “A wood carving.”
“Yeah!” Emma sounded elated. “So it is yours! Oh, I’m so glad I grabbed it then. I almost didn’t.”
Without looking at his hand, Levi said, “Let me guess again. It’s a dove?”
Emma scowled a little. “I don’t think so. I think it’s supposed to be a monkey.” She smiled again and then turned on her heel and bounced out of the room.
Levi lifted his hand and uncurled his fingers to take a look. Sure enough: that was a monkey.
