Revenge Of A Band Geek Gone Bad

  I turned and saw that Maya and Lenny had now joined us. Madeline finally looked me in the eyes. "Look, I know you're worried, but we have rules here for a reason," she replied. "We're just trying to ensure the patients' safety."

  "Seriously, do I look dangerous?" I asked.

  "Well, no, but..."

  "Then give me some information. Now." I demanded. I reached in my bag and showed her my school ID card. "Or perhaps I can ask my father —- that's Hank Rhodes, Chief Of Staff —- if he can get answers from you. I really don't want to have to bother him while he's working, which is why I'm asking you, but I just might have to. And I'm telling you, he's gonna be pissed if he has to stop what he's doing for something like this."

  Madeline sighed again, but with less panache. "Okay," she said quietly. "I'm going to bend the rules just this once and let you in. But just you," she said, giving everyone else a dirty look. She wrote down a number for me. "He's in Room 315. But be very quiet," she warned. "No cell phones. And don't say that I'm the one who sent you."

  ###

  Josh suffered a concussion, a broken ankle, a busted tibia, a broken femur, a fractured wrist and collarbone, and several broken ribs. Turns out that the people upstairs were much more accommodating than Madeline had been —- though I lied that I was Josh's fiancee for good measure -- and were willing to fill me in on his condition. When I got to his room, Lily was just leaving.

  "Lily!" I called, darting over to her. Her jaw was clenched and her hands were balled into such tight fists, her knuckles were white. She looked a lot older than the last time I'd seen her. I reached out to embrace her.

  "Melinda," she sobbed. "Oh, Melinda, Melinda."

  I stood back, but kept my hands on her shoulder. "How is he?" I whispered. "Is he awake?"

  "He was before," she said quietly. "But he's really groggy from the painkillers. He looks awful." A few tears ran down her cheeks. My eyes welled up.

  "He asked for you," she went on. "He said your name a couple of times."

  My heart skipped a few beats. "That lady downstairs wouldn't let me up at first," I explained.

  Lily wiped her eyes. "I'll make sure they don't give you a hard time in the future. You will come back, right?"

  "Of course. I'll be here every day."

  "Good." She blew her nose. "Because Joshy is probably going to be here for a while." She stared over me at the busy nurses' station behind us. "I still don't understand what happened," Lily said. "Why on earth was Josh in the middle of the street, anyway? What was he doing?"

  "I don't know," I admitted. "I'm trying to get some answers myself."

  Her face crumpled. "It's my fault," she said. "I'm obviously not a good parent. If I were around more, he wouldn't be doing stuff like this. He wouldn't be in the hospital."

  "It was an accident," I reminded her.

  She sighed. "I think you should go see him now. I was just — just going to go to the ladies' room." She now started crying in earnest. "I don't ... don't want him to see me like this if he wakes up again, and I thought if I splashed some cold water on my face ... I don't know what I'm doing," she finished.

  "It's alright," I said, feeling positively calm next to her. "You do what you have to. I'll stay with him."

  She hugged me again. "Thanks. I'm glad I'm not alone."

  ###

  I crept into Josh's room, bracing myself for the worst. When I finally saw him, I gasped. Josh was swathed in casts and bandages; the parts of him that were visible were covered in cuts and bruises. Tubes stuck out of his nose and hand, and he was also hooked up to a heart monitor. He looked so vulnerable -- and young. Not at all like the person who'd ruled the stage at the Dew Drop Inn or had no fears about joining a mariachi band on the subway.

  I stood in the doorway for a moment, willing myself not to freak out, then made my way over to his bed. I gently took his one un-bandaged hand in mine and brushed a stray lock of his hair off of his forehead. He stirred.

  "Mel?" he rasped, opening an eye.

  "Yeah, it's me," I said, softly. "Don't try to talk. You were hurt badly. You need to take it easy."

  "I'm so glad you're here," he murmured. "A car hit me."

  "I know, I was there." I stroked his hand.

  "What about the concert?" he worried. "You're missing it."

  I looked down at my watch and was shocked to see how late it was. I guess I was missing it, I realized. Then again, Mr. Francis and pretty much the entire wind ensemble were in the waiting room, so it probably didn't matter.

  "I think the concert's been canceled," I said.

  "Oh." He began to fall asleep, then suddenly grabbed my arm. "Valentine's Day!" he said. "Our date..."

  "It's okay," I assured him. "We'll just go on it when you're feeling better. You're gonna be alright soon enough." I was having enough trouble convincing myself of this, but I refused to let him see how upset I was.

  "It's better with you here." He was falling asleep again. "It's always better when you're with me."

  "That's right, go to sleep," I whispered. "Just relax."

  "That car that hit me -- what kind was it?" he asked, dreamily. "The cats outside are dancing."

  "Whatever they gave you must be strong." I said. "I don't remember what kind of car it was."

  "I feel like I'm floating ... " he muttered.

  "Go to sleep," I urged again. "I'm going to take care of you and get you through this. I promise."

  He clutched my hand in his. "Mel, please don't leave me. Please stay. I need you." He closed his eyes.

  "I'll be right here," I said, kissing him softly on his lips and forehead. "I'm not going anywhere."

  As I sat there holding his hand, I feared that he'd never recover. I promised myself that if he did, I'd be more open with him about my feelings and I'd also try to make some changes for the better. If he survived, I thought -- no, when he gets better, I corrected -- I'd tell him the truth: that I was in love with him and had never felt that way about anyone.

  "I love you, Josh," I said out loud. But he was too out of it to even hear me.

  CHAPTER 19

  The next morning, I awoke to find my dad shaking me. "Mel, Mel," he whispered. My eyes flew open and I realized I'd fallen asleep in the chair next to Josh's bed. "I asked if you could stay," my dad explained at my puzzled expression. He helped me up. "But you should go to school now. I think getting out of here for a few hours will do you some good."

  I nodded and stretched, then lingered by Josh's bed for a moment. He was still dead asleep. I debated kissing him, but didn't want to wake him. Instead, I crept out of the room as softly as I could. My dad was waiting for me. "I'll drive you to school," he offered, slinging his arm around my shoulder. He handed me a granola bar and a clean change of clothes. "But make sure you eat something."

  "Thanks," I said, leaning against him. "And thanks for arranging for me to stay there. That woman Madeline wouldn't even let me see him yesterday until I threatened her with you." I looked up at my dad. "Sorry. I hope you're not mad that I used your name."

  "Please, don't worry about it," he sniffed. "I know Madeline. She's such a hardass."

  ###

  The rest of the day went by in a blur. Everywhere I went, people stopped to share their concern or check up on Josh. By the end of the day, I was so exhausted, I almost fell asleep in my history class. I appreciated that so many people wanted to be there for me, but felt obligated to stay strong and give everyone hope. Trying to keep up the pretense of being cheerful and optimistic took a lot of concentration.

  When I got to band, Mr. Francis was waiting for me. "How you doing, kiddo?" he asked. "You holding up, okay?"

  "I feel like I'm drowning," I admitted. The words came out in a rush. "I don't think I've stopped talking about Josh all day. And of course, I can't stop thinking about him." Whenever someone asked me about him, I flashed back to him in his hospital bed. I tried to remind myself of other images of him —- like him kissing me for the first time in Central Park —
- but my mind always returned to the image of him hooked up to tubes.

  Mr. Francis plopped down in the seat next to mine. "Well, please don't stress yourself out in this class," he said. "Just relax, don't play if you don't feel like it." He smiled. "You can even take a nap."

  I couldn't help giggling. "You know, I never though I'd hear you say that in your class."

  "I'm just full of surprises this week, huh?"

  "But what's going to happen with our concert?" I asked. "It didn't happen last night, did it?"

  "No," he said. "Everyone worked together to make some emergency calls and explain that it wasn't going on." He shrugged. "Postponing it won't be too big of a deal. We could use the practice, anyway."

  "I think I can use some practice," I told him. I began to put my flute together. "It'll be nice to get my mind off of everything, even for a little while."

  A few minutes later, Kathy arrived. She looked a lot better than she had the day before; the dark circles under her eyes had disappeared and the color had returned to her cheeks. She was even wearing a new outfit: tight, tan pants and a blue sweater.

  After she put down her music, she hesitated for a moment, then turned to me. "Hey," she said softly. Her voice sounded different to me and it took me a second to figure out what it was: it was laced with sincerity. "I'm sorry about what happened to Josh. That really sucks."

  "Thanks," I replied. I paused for a minute. "Well, I'm uh, sorry about what happened with Ken."

  She winced for a second, but then regained her composure. "Oh yeah, that," she said. "I'm probably better off."

  "Probably," I agreed. I could see that she wasn't eager to discuss Ken, especially not with me, but I still needed to ask her one thing. "Kathy, do you ... do you know why he and Josh were fighting over that camera? The one Josh ran into the street to get?" I really didn't want to revisit the incident, but was haunted by the vision of Josh getting hit by the car.

  She sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, Mel, I have no idea," she said. She shook her head. "But to tell you the truth, I don't think I understand anything about guys anymore."

  ###

  That afternoon, Lana and Lenny joined me when I went to visit Josh. This time, thanks to Lily and my dad intervening, we had no problems getting past the front desk.

  "I hate hospitals," Lana said as we walked toward the elevators. She wrapped her arms around herself. "They're so cold and impersonal ..." She shuddered. "... and dead."

  "Dude, I know what you mean," Lenny said, taking her hand. "But like babies are born here and stuff, too, so that's a good thing."

  "I guess you're right."

  "I don't like hospitals, either, but Josh needs us," I told them. "Lily thinks that seeing his friends will help; that it'll cheer him up, make things seem a little more normal. So we have to try to be strong, act like we're at least okay," I finished. "You guys can do that, right?"

  "Sure," they agreed.

  Once upstairs, I walked right into the room where Josh was sleeping, but Lenny and Lana lingered in the doorway. Lana had tears in her eyes. Lenny looked like he was going to throw up. "Whoa," he whispered to me. "Mel, I don't know if I can do this. Dude, he looks so bad."

  Josh did look pretty awful. His face was thin and drawn and the number of tubes stuck in him seemed to have doubled overnight. I knew, though, that we'd make him happy.

  "He needs us," I repeated, practically dragging them over to the bed. Josh awakened at the commotion.

  "Hey," he drawled, raising his head so he could see his visitors. With his good hand, he patted the bed next to him. I sat down, trying not to jostle him.

  "How ya doin' Humpty Dumpty?" Lana asked, feigning cheerfulness. She reached over me and tussled Josh's hair.

  Josh giggled, then clutched his side in pain. "Owww. Laughing hurts. I don't know. They're giving me some powerful stuff, so I can't feel much. I'm almost entirely numb."

  Now it was Lenny's turn to fake a laugh. "HA-HA, Josh, man, we're just happy you're alive."

  Josh grinned. "Do you really think I'd die at school? Give me some points for creativity."

  "Dude, I know what you mean," said Lenny. "When I die, I want it to be surfing an awesome wave or flying around in a tornado or running from a bull..."

  "Oh my God, guys, can we please stop having this morbid conversation?" Lana said. "Let's talk about something, anything else!" She took Lenny's hand. "Len, why don't you tell Josh about the video game you borrowed from Chaz?"

  "Cool." Josh looked from Lenny to Lana. "You? And you? When did this happen?"

  "Christmas break." "Yesterday," they answered at the same time.

  "Well, we kissed at Jan's party, but we officially decided to date last night," Lana explained. She looked at me. "Mel, please don't be angry with me for not telling you. I just figured you were, you know, busy." She nodded to Josh.

  "Oh, that's okay. I'd figured you'd hooked up at Jan's."

  "Okay then." Lana shifted. "Um, so how long do they expect you to be here?"

  "Not long," Josh said. "A few weeks. But I'm gonna be out of school for a while. Then, I'll have to use a cane for a bit." He sighed. "I'm gonna look like a little, old man."

  "Or Mr. Peanut." Lana said.

  "Nah, Mr. Peanut uses the cane as a fashion statement," he said. "If he really wanted to, he could boogie down as well as any of us. In my case, I won't have that option." He frowned. I squeezed his hand.

  "Is there anything we can do?" Lana asked quietly. "I mean, can we bring you any books or food or ... anything?"

  "You wanna help me use the bed pan?" Josh teased. "It'll be the thrill of your life."

  Lana grinned. "I'll let that go because I know that was the drugs talking."

  Josh turned to me. "I'm counting on you to give me my sponge baths." He smiled.

  "Of course," I said. "And if you're good, I might even give you one after you've recovered."

  Josh beamed and winked at Lenny. "See, Lenny? What can I say? Being an invalid has its perks."

  ###

  We left the hospital when Lily arrived; she'd switched shifts at the diner so she could stay overnight. After, Lenny, Lana and I headed to Steam Dreams for a snack.

  "Ladies, this is on me," insisted Lenny as he set down three lattes. He slumped into one of the oversized chairs. "Man, the hospital -- what a drag," he sighed. "It's amazing how one place can just suck out all the fun."

  "Josh was happy to see us, so it was worth it," I said.

  "Yeah." He stared into space. "Mel, did Josh ever tell you about the time we crashed the wedding in New York City?"

  "No," I answered. I didn't really feel like talking, but Lenny seemed so eager to keep the mood light. I gave in. "Go ahead. What did you guys do?"

  Lenny spoke in a low voice, as if he were telling a campfire story. "Well, it was last summer and we had nothing to do. So, Josh and I put on our best suits and went to the city. We figured if we dressed up, we'd have an easier time getting into places."

  "Does that really work?" Lana asked.

  "Hell, yeah. Plus, you know, Josh is a good-looking guy, so ladies usually do what he wants." He gave me a guilty grin. "Of course, he always does what you want, Mel. Anyway, Josh, suggested that we go to the Waldorf Astoria." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Man, talk about a nice hotel. They were having a wedding there ... and the bride, whoa, she was smokin'. Not as pretty as Lana [Lana stuck out her tongue], but definitely hot. So, Josh listens in and learns this old guy's name is Bert and is related to the bride. He's all, 'Bert, hey, don't you remember me? I was a little boy when you last saw me.' And Bert's, like, all confused now and doesn't want to feel stupid, so he's like, 'Hey, yeah, I remember you.' So now these people don't know us, but totally think we're members of the family and don't want to admit they don't know us."

  I was getting a headache but nodded at Lenny to go on.

  "So Josh and I, of course, took advantage of the open bar. Not to mention the women folk. ["Women folk?" Lana interru
pted. She playfully slapped him and Lenny continued]. "About an hour later, everyone's like, drunk off their asses. One guy -- he was like the CEO of some company -- he's totally wearing his wife's bra on his head and dancing the hora. It was a great party."

  "Sounds wonderful," I said, barely masking my sarcasm.

  "It's gets better," Lenny promised. "It was dinner -- which was awesome. It was filet mignon with truffles and these little sculpted potatoes -- and people started making toasts. Well, Josh –- he makes one! He stands up on his chair and is, like, wasted, but he's all, 'You two are so in love, I love being a part of this lovely family ... love and happiness forever.' I was so sure we were going to get nailed at this point, but these stupid people are, like, eating this crap up with a spoon. Then, you know how Josh lugs his trumpet everywhere?" I nodded. I knew all too well. "Turns out he brought it here. To this wedding that we crashed. So he gets up, marches over to the band, tells their trumpet player, 'Get off the stage, I can do better,' and starts playing with them! And, dude, these rich people are applauding and begging for more. So, Josh plays a couple more tunes, and the real trumpet player's pissed at this point, 'cause this kid is showing him up. Then, Josh, who's really drunk now, actually confesses that we crashed. He confesses! I'm sitting there like, 'Dude, we're so going to get arrested,' but everything turned out all right. They loved Josh so much that they cheered him for the performance. They freakin' cheered him for coming in uninvited and stealing their food. It was the best day."

  I laughed. It was so like Josh to make everything work to his advantage, even when he was so clearly in the wrong.

  Lenny suddenly turned serious. "Hanging with Josh is always a blast," he said softly. "I don't know what I'd do without him. He's a great friend." He looked down and I saw that tears were in his eyes. "Seeing him like that, all bandaged up in a hospital bed, it was too much," he whispered. "He's a good friend. He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve to be in pain like that. Not at all."