Chapter 6.
I walked down the hall of the hospital, on my way to meet Dr. Lamar for another day of shadowing. As I turned the corner my stomach dropped as I saw a small blonde woman striding quickly toward me.
"Emily!" I called, running my hand quickly through my hair.
She didn't respond, just continued to stare ahead. When she had gotten within three feet of me she suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me into an open janitor's closet.
"What the--"
"Don't speak!" Emily glared up at me. "Are you my boyfriend or not?"
I did a double take. "Boyfriend?"
"Yeah, because I don't know about you, but I feel something around you, and it's not annoyance like I feel with other guys. Tell me if you feel the same."
I was at a loss for words. All I could think was what?
She stared expectantly at me. I'll admit I did feel something whenever I was around her. Was it fear? Or was it love?
"Yeah," I said. "I feel something."
"So are you?" She demanded. "Because I'm a busy woman. I'm trying to get on with my life. I don't need someone who is going to waste my time."
I felt myself nod. Immediately I wanted to take it back. She was still a TV star. There was no real way I could ever have a chance with her.
Emily stepped back, clearly not having expected me to actually agree. "You--you really want to be my--"
The door was flung open to reveal the custodian's perturbed face. Emily turned and ran out before I could say another word, blushing furiously. The custodian turned to glower at me.
"What're you doing in here, Boy?"
*****
"Steve," my teacher called to me as I packed up my backpack to leave the lecture hall that next day.
I turned. "Yeah?"
She walked over to me, holding what I recognized as the finished report I had turned in the day before. Oh, no. I bet she was coming over to tell me I'd failed and that she had never been more disappointed in a student.
She tossed the stapled sheets of paper onto my desk. "I was very impressed with your work, Mr. Bates."
My jaw dropped. "Oh, uh, thanks."
"I was wondering if you would like to submit a lengthened version to the school journal. It would look good on your resume when you start applying to medical schools."
I barely heard her. "You thought my paper was good?"
"Yes," she assured me. "I especially loved the straw analogy."
I stammered my thanks and agreed to write the longer paper. As I left the lecture hall I called Emily.
"Hey, Babe!" She answered.
"Hey."
I explained about the paper. She was silent when I had finished.
"So you are selling it," Emily said slowly after a moment.
I groaned, having forgotten about my promise. "It's not that big of a deal. Only a couple people in my school will see it."
I imagined her frowning. "Okay, just...be careful."
"I will," I agreed.
An hour later I walked across the freshly mowed grass toward a couple of picnic benches. Emily was supposed to meet me, but she was nowhere in sight. These were the only benches I knew of. Maybe she wasn't here yet.
I sat down and looked around. It was a nice day. The sun was shining and kids were all around playing.
"Do you really have magic powers?" I heard a little girl ask.
"Oh, yeah," a familiar voice answered. "How else do you think I defeated Myzarag?"
I glanced over to the swing set, where Emily was sitting signing an autograph for a couple girls. The kids ran away, flustered over meeting their favorite celebrity. Emily glanced up at me and waved me over.
I joined her, moving her oxygen cart out of the way.
"Sit down," she invited, pointing toward the swing next to her.
"I didn't know you had magic powers," I teased.
Emily shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Stevie."
"That's true," I realized. "I don't know anything about you."
"You know I'm an ex celebrity," she stated. "That's all there is to me, really."
I smiled. "Surely not. What's your favorite color?"
She thought for a moment. "I like to look at blue, like a nice turquoise, but I like to have stuff that comes in pink."
"I like orange. Okay, what's your favorite holiday?"
"Christmas," her eyes lit up. "Giving presents is my love language."
I tried to think of another question to ask. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"
"I want to see all the frozen people at Pompeii."
I laughed.
"What about you?" She asked. "What is your dream?"
I thought for a moment. "I want to learn a new language. I think languages are so fascinating."
She gasped. "Let's learn one together! Then we can communicate in secret and no one would know what we were saying!" Emily pushed off the ground and began swinging. "Let's learn Swahili."
I smiled and shook my head. "You're crazy."
"So, let's get on with the interview," she said as she kicked higher.
I took out my notes. "What does a typical day look like?"
"Well, I wake up, then I hook up to this vest that shakes me around and knocks all the mucus off my lungs. While I'm shaking I do respiratory therapy with nebulizers, and then I take my medicine and eat. I go about my life and then in the evenings I take more meds, do more treatments, and go to bed."
I wrote that down. "Are you hospitalized a lot?"
"Not often," Emily was now so high the chord of her nasal cannula was struggling to reach her, "every couple months or so."
"Is it scary not being able to breathe?"
She looked at me. "Is it scary for you?"
"Okay," I conceded, "dumb question. Sorry."
"Let me ask you a question." Emily stopped swinging, allowing herself to gradually slow down. "Are you embarrassed of me?"
"Embarrassed?" I frowned. "Why would I be embarrassed of you?"
She shrugged. "Because--"
She began coughing. I wondered if there was something I should do.
Finally she continued wheezily, "Because of that. I'm disgusting, always hacking mucus and making everyone worried my coughing will get them sick. No wonder I can't get anyone to love me."
"I love you." The words were out of my mouth before I had even thought them. I gasped, blushing.
Emily smiled weakly. "You think I'm insane."
"In a good way," I said quickly.
She laughed so hard she began coughing again. "I don't believe you, but thanks."
"I think you're pretty cool," I insisted.
"You too, for a nerd."
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