Souls in Peril (31 page)

“I thought family could stay,” Izzy said. “JD
’
s my brother.”

“Oh, I
’
m sorry. Of course.” She smiled. “Is your stomach bothering you, sweetheart? Would you like something for the pain?” Izzy nodded and the nurse left.

“Izzy. No more pact. You can stay with me. I
’
ll talk to my mom, tell her about what
’
s—”

“Here you go.” The nurse came back and injected something into Izzy
’
s IV. “It
’
s probably going to make her sleepy. The chair reclines if you want to stay,” she said to Max.

“Thanks,” he said as she left.

“You said you wouldn
’
t tell anyone, JD. You promised!”

“I won
’
t. I
do
promise. But we need to find someone who we can trust.” She
shut
her eyes at his words. “What about the surgery? I think you should get it, if it will help.”

She shrugged a shoulder as she continued kneading her belly. “My dad doesn
’
t want me to get it. He thinks the whole idea is disgusting.”

“That
’
s because he
’
s a selfish pervert,” Max said, then an idea hit. “You know, Izzy, if he thinks it
’
s disgusting, maybe he
’
ll leave you alone, if you know what I mean.”

“I
’
ve thought about that too. But with the pact and all, I still don
’
t see the need to go through the pain of surgery.”

“No pact, Izzy. Forget it. We can do this,” Max insisted.

Tears rained down Izzy
’
s cheeks. “I can
’
t take this anymore. It
’
s too hard. I feel empty inside, like I have nothing left. My own mother doesn
’
t want me, JD.”

“But I do, Iz
zy
. I do. Please, for me, don
’
t give up.” Max batted the tears from his
own
face.

She sobbed harder at his words. “Please hold me, JD.” She scooted to the side of her bed. “Just till I fall asleep.”

Max nodded and carefully climbed in next to her, gently guiding her onto his chest, twisting his arms to avoid her IV. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “Please don
’
t take the Percs, Izzy. It will get better, I promise. We just need to find someone we can trust.”

She didn
’
t answer. She made no promises. Her tears soon ended and her breathing went from rough and sharp to slow and deep. He
held
her for a while, rubbing her arm and whispering words of encouragement. “We
’
ll get through this, Izzy. I promise. Don
’
t give up.”

Max stayed with her until almost midnight, sitting silently by her bed. Watching over her as she slept. Wishing he could take away the pain and sorrow that overwhelmed her. So much of her suffering was because of others and it wasn
’
t fair. He tried thinking of a way to help her, but his mind drew a blank.

JD worried about her also.
Burdened
with the added weight of JD
’
s anxiety over Izzy
,
e
xhaustion ruled
Max
. He gathered his backpack after the nurse assured him she
’
d most likely sleep through the night and headed home. Hopefully
Mel
would be there. Maybe she could help, though how he could ask her for advice and not betray what Izzy shared in confidence would be tough.

But it didn
’
t matter. Neither
Mel
nor Tim were home, just a note telling him his dinner, a burger and fries, were in the microwave. Max tossed the cold food into the garbage and made himself some toast before going to bed. His head hurt again and he knew what was coming. Another random nightmare about Tim. Max closed his eyes and tried focusing on Izzy, on Em, on school, on anything but Tim,
only
his thoughts were pushed aside as he drifted into a restless sleep.

“Where
’
s my pen, fat boy?” Tim kicked JD in the hip.

“I
’
m really sorry, Tim. I promise I
’
ll find it tomorrow,” JD vowed.

“JD, wake up. This isn
’
t real, it
’
s just a dream,” Max begged. JD
’
s dreams made him feel oddly trapped, as if in a hard shell. He had no control
over what played out in front of him. He could only watch.

“You said that yesterday,” Tim yelled at JD before kicking him in the ribs.

“JD, wake up!”

Tim punched and
kicked
JD over and over. JD
’
s screams ate at Max. He continued
to
beg JD to wake up, only
he
wouldn
’
t.
“JD, I found the pen today, remember? Tell him.”

Max stood helpless as the
nightmare continued
. Tim grabbed a handful of JD
’
s hair and jerked
him upright, shoving him toward his bedroom. “Listen to me, you fat momma
’
s boy. Your mother
’
s spoiled you rotten, and I
’
m sick of it. If she won
’
t teach you responsibility, I will. Now get in the room and find my pen!” Tim shoved him hard toward the bedroom door
.
JD lost his
balance and fell, hitting his head on the doorframe. A twelve inch section of the frame split off and shot into his bedroom.

Max bolted upright, again dripping with sweat. He went to the bathroom and rinsed his face with co
ld
water. “JD, you need to stop worrying about Tim. I found the pen,” he said to the blanched face in the mirror.

Max stretched out his back and did a few toe touches to relieve the str
ess, along with some push-ups.
He padded into the kitchen and took some aspirin for his headache before dropping back in bed, exhausted, begging JD yet again to stay calm one last time before falling back asleep.

Only it didn
’
t work.
He
relived JD
’
s fear two more times before finally giving up. He pulled out one of JD
’
s notebooks, and escaped into his writings, rereading
The
P
rincess Emma
, his favorite
one so far
.

Chapter 1
8

“JD, how
’
s Izzy doing?” Max, trying to focus on the open document on the computer monitor, didn
’
t hear Em approach. His mind still boggled with what Izzy told him yesterday. He turned to Em, already forgetting what she
’
d asked.

“I
’
m sorry. What?”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “You
’
re
exhausted. I take it Izzy
’
s not doing very well.”

“Nope. Not good at all.” Em had a new shirt on,
yellow
with little white buttons on the sleeve. He loved her in
yellow
, but today he barely noticed. He couldn
’
t get what Izzy said off his mind.

“I
’
m sorry. Is she in a lot of pain?”

“Yes, but it
’
s not just physical, it
’
s emotional too. She feels like she
’
s alone and unloved. Hopeless.” Max closed the report he
’
d been editing and removed the jump drive.

“I take it her home life isn
’
t so good.” Em pulled a chair over from the next desk and sat.

“Her father is a full-on creep,” Max bit out. What he wouldn
’
t give to be alone with the guy, just him and a baseball bat.

“Yeah. I sort of got that impression yesterday.” She shuddered. “I have to leave class early for a dentist appointment. Maybe I
’
ll stop by and bring her some flowers. Do you think that
’
d be okay?”

Max smiled proudly at Em. “That would be perfect. She doesn
’
t think anyone but me cares about her. If you
bring
her flowers, that
might
help. Thank you.”

“No problem. I can take you to see her after school if you
’
d like,” she offered. “And I
’
m sensing you don
’
t want to work on the report right now.”

“
It
’
s okay. We can work on it.”
He went to put the jump back in when she covered his hand with hers. He
’
d forgotten how soft they were.

“We can finish the report tonight after you see Izzy if you
’
d like. Mr. Roberts said I could email it to him later.”

“Thanks, Em.”

“No prob.” She
leaned
back
in her
chair
. “How long do you think Izzy will be in the hospital?”

“Not sure. If she has the surgery—”

“Surgery?”

“Shoot. I
’
m not supposed to say anything. Please don
’
t tell anyone,” Max all but begged her.

“I won
’
t, I promise,” she assured him softly. “JD, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Sure, anything,” Max promised.

“Remember how you told me you needed motivation to run? Well, so do I. I
’
ve come up with an idea
.
”
S
he smiled
.
“
H
ow about you and I run together? We can meet at Applegate Park, and we can motivate each other to keep running. What do you think?”

“Sure.” It took all Max had not to shout
yes
. “I
’
m not very good, but I
’
d love to. Of course, after you see how slow I am you may change your mind,” he warned.

“Not a chance. This will be great. My parents have been on my back to stop thinking about Max. This way I
’
ll get my exercising in, and I won
’
t be daydreaming about Max. Although I may mention him every once in a while.” She laughed. “You don
’
t mind, do you?”

“Not at all. This is great. Thanks,” Max beamed. He
’d
be spending more time with Em. He could hardly believe his luck.

“I
’
d better get going. I
’
ll meet you in the parking lot after school.” She snagged her backpack and left.

Max settled back in his chair.
This is perfect. Em befriends Izzy, and I get to run with her.
Things looked better already. He reinserted his jump drive into the computer and finished all the proofing for Mr. Roberts, except for Em
’
s report. That he
’
d finish tonight. At her house. After they went running together.

**

Lunch didn
’
t suck
completely
.
No one tried to hit
him at least
.
Em still hadn
’
t returned, and Jeff, along with a few of the players on the baseball team decided to get in some extra practicing instead of eating. Max took his lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and sat on the bleachers to watch. Three obnoxious sophomore guys, trying to impress a couple of the
cheerleaders who
’
d come to watch the practice—well, to watch Jeff—decided to have some fun at JD
’
s expense.

The tall
gangly
one took a can of soda and shook it, popping the lid.
He
aimed the explosive spray at Max, covering him in sticky-sweet root beer. The girls giggled, the sophomore boys celebrated the juvenile prank with high-fives all around.