Souls in Peril (32 page)

Max cleaned himself up the best he could in the locker room bathroom, running into Leo on his way out the door.

“Move it, Lumpy.” He shoved past Max, knocking the backpack off Max
’
s shoulder as he did.

“Excuse you,” Max snapped.

Leo came flying across the bathroom and pinned Max against the wall. “Don
’
t ever speak to me, got it?” he sneered. “If the building is on fire and I
’
m sound asleep in the corner, don
’
t even wake me up. Capiche?”

“Is there a problem?” Jeff and Michael, the second baseman, stood in the doorway. Leo turned to him, letting go of Max.

“No. No problem. Just letting Lumpy here know the rules.”

“His name
’
s JD,” Jeff corrected.

Leo rolled his eyes and pushed past them, leaving the bathroom without another word.

“You okay? Did he hit you?” Michael asked.

“No. I
’
m fine. Thanks.” Max left and went to his next class, making sure to avoid the hallways he thought Leo might be in. He didn
’
t fear him, he only wanted to give him some space. Max hoped
he
would heal soon. It killed him to see Leo in so much pain.

Em met him right on time after school and they drove over to the hospital. “I dropped some flowers by after my dentist appointment,” Em said as they strolled into the hospital.

“How did it go?” Max pressed the elevator button. The doors opened and they stepped in the small cubical. “Did she talk much?”

“It went pretty well, at least I thought it did. My mouth was still numb from the dentist and it was pretty funny when I tried to talk. She had me say
red wedding ring
, or at least try to, but I couldn
’
t do it to save my life.” On the third floor, they went to Izzy
’
s room. The nurse was taking her vital signs so they waited in the hall for her to finish.
One of the nurses at the desk sat complaining about the smelly dressing change she had to do for Leroy in room 323.

“The pus was a greenish
-
yellow, and it oozed everywhere. And the smell! ” A shiver rippled up his spine. Thankfully, Izzy
’
s nurse came out and they went inside her room before
the nurse at the desk
started telling the others about
, in her words
“
the worse part
.”
Max beat back another shiver.

“Hey, Izzy.”
He
smiled,
stepp
ing up to the bed.

“JD, you stopped by two days in a row. I
’
m impressed.” She reached for his hand, playfully tugging it.

“I
’
m a new man, what can I say,” Max
s
aid dramatically, smiling at the inside joke only he got.

“Hi, Em. Thanks again for the flowers.” Izzy nodded toward the bright orange Gerber daisies on the nightstand. “They make the entire room
appear
happy, which is a miracle in and of itself.”

Max agreed, glaring at the dull gray walls. “They really should paint these walls a bright happy color. No wonder you feel down when you
’
re here.”

It didn
’
t take long for the conversation to drag. They made small-talk about the weather and mid-semester exams coming up. When the conversation turned to the
baseball team and a possible
championship game, Izzy became oddly silent, picking at the fuzz on her blanket.

Emma seemed to sense something was up. “JD, I have to call the other cheerleaders about an extra practice I
’
ve planned. I
’
ll be in the waiting room when you
’
re done. No rush.” She turned to Izzy. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“That was nice of her to stop by,” Max said as Em cleared the door. “She
’
s really making an effort to be your friend.”

“I know. But why, JD? People like her don
’
t hang around people like us. If they did, there wouldn
’
t be people like us. It
’
s unnatural. It upsets the balance of the universe, you know?” It took Max a second to realize she was kidding, about the balancing part anyway.

“I like the flowers she brought.”

“Yes. They
’
re nice,” she agreed.

Max shifted back and forth on his feet, wondering how to broach the subject of suicide with her. He swallowed hard and cut straight to the chase. “Are you still planning on taking the pills after the game?”

She shrugged, her gaze held st
ea
dy on her blanket.

“Izzy, you can
’
t give up. Things are getting better.” Max stepped closer. “Emma
’
s dad is a cop
. M
aybe—”

“No! I
’
m not going into foster care.” JD agreed with Izzy on that. Clearly the two of them had talked about
it
before. Max
knew
the decision was definite. Foster care—not an option.

“Okay. No foster care. What about extended family?” Max dropped into
a
chair.

“My dad
’
s family is a bunch of psychos, so forget it. My mom only has a brother, and he and his wife are in the middle of a divorce. They
’
re not going to take on a sicko like me.” Izzy lowered the head of her bed.

“I think I
’
m going to have the surgery, JD. My dad is dead set against it, so that
’
s a plus, and maybe if I
’
m not sick all the time, I won
’
t feel so overwhelmed all the time.”

“Your dad.” Max frowned. “I could castrate him for you,” he offered, straight-faced.

Izzy laughed. “Great! I
’
ll spike his coffee with some Percs. He
’
ll never know what hit him.”

“Perfect. Maybe we could tattoo the word
pervert
on his forehead also.”

“He hasn
’
t bothered me since he started dating the lady from his office, but my main reason for having the surgery is to keep him away from me.” Izzy tugged the blanket up to her chin and shuddered.

“Th
at shouldn
’
t be why you do this
. This is to make you better. Besides, I
’
d rather castrate him,” Max said, only half kidding.

“Thanks. You
’
re the best,” she said through a yawn.

“I
’
d better get going. You need sleep and I have a ton of homework.” Max held out his
finger
. She looked at it for a moment. “New code,” he said. “This one is:
Never give up.”

She chuckled. “Keep to the code,” they said in unison.

Max found Em sitting in the waiting room at the end of the hall. “She
’
s tired,” he said as Em stood. “Thanks for coming to see her earlier. She appreciates it, I know she does.”

“No problem. She
seem
s a little better today than yesterday,” she said on the way to her car.

“
S
he
’
s agreed to the surgery. I
’
m glad. It should help her to not
be in
pain all the time,” Max said as they drove to Em
’
s house.

“Since I
’
m not supposed to know about it, I won
’
t ask what kind of surgery she
’
s having, but I
’
m glad
you
’
re glad
.” Em turned onto her road
and up into the driveway. They gathered their packs and went inside.

“Mom, I
’
m home,” Em called.

“You
’
re late, Emma,” she called from the other room. Her voice grew louder as she approached the family room. “Please tell me you weren
’
t at Max
’
s grave again. You know your father—oh, hi, JD. How are you?” Red-cheeked, Bev smile
d as she stepped into the room.

Max nodded soberly, offended that they didn
’
t want Em visiting his grave. Did they expect her to forget he ever existed?

“We have to finish a report for the school paper then we
’
re going over to Applegate Park for a run.” She led Max to the computer.

“Maybe after your run you can bring JD back here for dinner,” she suggested.

“Sure. Okay with you, JD?”

“Yup. Sounds great. Thank you.” He
took
the jump drive from his bag and handed it to Em.

“I have to get your brother from karate, and pick up a few things from the store. I
’
ll be back in a bit.” Bev pocketed her keys from off the small brass hook near the door and left.

“Your mom won
’
t let you visit Max
’
s grave?” he asked as her report loaded.

“See what I mean? They expect me to forget about him. It
’
s ridiculous. I
planned on
spend
ing
the rest of my life with him. I can
’
t just erase all my memories.” She shook her head. Anger wasn
’
t the only thing he saw on her face. He saw pain, a lot of pain. She turned to the screen and busied herself with the report, no doubt to keep from crying.

It took about an hour to finish it up and email it to Mr. Roberts. “You are amazing, JD. I never would have gotten that done without you.” She wrapped her right arm around his shoulder and gave him a side hug. It took all of Max
’
s self-control not to lean over and kiss her.

“I need to run,” he said, looking too closely into her sky-blue eyes.

“I thought you were going to stay for dinner,” Em said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“I mean run, as in at the park on the trail.”

“Oh,” she laughed. “Let me change, then I
’
ll take you by your house to change.”

**

While she got her running clothes on, Max called the hospital to check on Izzy. Both he and JD
’
s ire rose when her dad answered.

“She
’
s sleeping, JD. The doctor wants to do the surgery day after tomorrow. I
’
ve tried talking her out of it, but she and the doctor think it
’
s the best plan.”
Kevin
lowered his voice. “Do you think you could stop by tomorrow and try and talk some sense into her?”

“Why are you against this? Do you enjoy seeing Izzy in pain?” Max snapped.

“No. Don
’
t be ridiculous. I just think the whole idea is disgusting. She
’
ll be solely responsible for emptying and changing the bag. I can
’
t do it.
”

Max gnashed his teeth
at Kevin
’
s selfishness
.
A million smart-mouth responses fought to burst from his lips, but he held back.
“As sick as Izzy has been lately, I
’
m
hop
ing
this surgery will help ease her pain,”
you selfish disgusting perv
.

“Yes. Pain. You
’
re right. She
’
s gone through two bottles of Percocet over the past two months. That
’
s a lot, even for her. Maybe the surgery is for the best. I
’
ll let her know you called.” He hung up without another word.

Em came down the stairs in a ratty old t-shirt and a stretched-out pair of jogging shorts. Not what he expected. She always wore color coordinated running clothes when they ran in the past.

“Let
’
s go.” She jiggled the keys and he followed her out.

“New outfit?” he teased as they drove over to his house.

She laughed. “They
’
re comfortable for running in.”