Clementine for Christmas

by Daphne Benedis-Grab

  At that, Oscar shook his head. “How about the Superhero Super Agent?”

  Josie winced. “Um, what about Santa’s Secret Agent?”

  Oscar considered, then nodded.

  “Awesome,” Josie crowed. She took a pair of felt antlers out of the folds of her costume and positioned them on Clementine’s head, transforming the small dog into a miniature reindeer. Clementine seemed fine with this, pausing to sniff the table for any tasty crumbs and then giving herself a shake, as though readying for the work ahead. “Let’s go perform.”

  That was when Oscar realized his pulse was skittering and his mouth felt like he’d just chewed up a big ball of cotton. He wasn’t much of a singer. What if people laughed at him?

  “It’s easier in a costume,” Josie said, like she’d just read his mind.

  When he looked at her, he saw that she was pulling at a lock of hair. “People always ask me why I’m shy everywhere but here on the peds ward,” she said. “And part of it is the kids and how it’s not a big deal to sing for just a few of them and they’re so happy and stuff. But the other part is the costumes. It’s like you’re kind of hiding when you wear one.”

  That made a lot of sense. Oscar pulled the cap down and slipped on the sunglasses. His mouth was still dry, but it did feel safer behind the dark glasses and hat. “Let’s do this,” he said.

  Josie gave him a thumbs-up, passed Oscar Clementine’s leash, and led the way into the hall. Thankful to have the dog with him, Oscar took a deep breath and followed.

  “Looking good, Oscar,” a doctor called as he passed. Oscar hadn’t realized any of the staff knew who he was.

  “Thanks,” he said, grinning. The colored lights strung along the hall were blinking, covering them in splashes of red, gold, and green as they walked. The Christmas tree at the nurse’s station glittered with tinsel and bright ornaments, and they passed a room where a family was laughing together over a story a little boy was telling. This hospital had its share of bad things, but Oscar was starting to see that it could be a happy place, too, at least in some ways.

  One of the nurses was pushing an empty wheelchair, and she cheered when she saw Oscar. “I knew our girl Josie would get you dressed up,” she said. “You go, Oscar.”

  Oscar had to laugh at that.

  “See, costumes are fun,” Josie said.

  Oscar had to admit that they kind of were, at least cool ones like his.

  Freddy was clearly not in as much pain today. When they walked into his room, they found him sitting up, his brown cheeks glowing. Clementine jumped right on his bed, making Freddy grin.

  “Whoa, you’re a spy!” Freddy shouted when he saw Oscar.

  Oscar grinned and reached out to give Freddy a high five. “I’m Santa’s Secret Agent,” he said.

  Freddy’s eyes widened. “That’s awesome,” he said. “Do you go on missions?”

  Oscar nodded solemnly. “All the time,” he said as seriously as he could.

  Freddy was looking at Oscar like he really was a secret agent, and a superhero, too. This whole costume thing really was okay. If only he didn’t have to sing.

  “Ready?” Josie asked Oscar quietly.

  Oscar gulped, then nodded.

  And so they began.

  Oscar messed up some of the words to “Jingle Bells,” and he didn’t know all the verses for “Deck the Halls,” but it didn’t matter. Freddy shrieked and clapped the whole time, and his mom, who still had dark circles under her eyes, smiled and cheered. It kind of made Oscar feel like a rock star. A rock star who sang carols, but still.

  “You loved it,” Josie said when they were done and on their way to see Rosie. It wasn’t a question.

  “It’s not so bad,” Oscar admitted. He had loved it, though he wasn’t quite ready to admit it.

  Josie smirked. “Right, it was just okay.”

  “Hey, Oscar, you’re going undercover,” Ed called as he and Jade passed dressed as Christmas trees. “I like it.”

  “Looking good,” Jade agreed, giving him a thumbs-up with her green-gloved hand.

  “You’re a hit,” Josie said, smiling as they came up to the nurse’s station.

  “A snickerdoodle for Santa’s Secret Agent,” Nurse Joe said, passing Oscar a tray.

  “How’d you know what my costume was?” Oscar asked, carefully selecting a cookie that looked extra crusted with cinnamon and sugar. He took a big bite, the thick, buttery cookie melting in his mouth, the sugar and cinnamon sweet on his tongue.

  Nurse Joe winked. “Word travels fast here on the ward,” he said. “It’s kind of like the Wild West, only we battle illness instead of outlaws.”

  Oscar did his best not to roll his eyes at how cheesy Nurse Joe was, but he did thank him for the cookie that he wolfed down in three bites.

  “He’s goofy, but the kids love him,” Josie said as Nurse Joe headed down the hall. She popped her last bite of cookie in her mouth, licked the sugar off her lips, and brushed a few cookie crumbs off her hands.

  Oscar guessed that there were worse things than being cheesy, especially when you worked with little kids. Not that he planned to be talking about the Wild West anytime soon.

  Just then, Clementine gave a short bark and began wagging her curlicue of a tail so hard her hindquarters swayed. Coming toward them was a man walking a shaggy black-and-white dog who barked back in happy greeting.

  “Hey, Charlie,” Josie said as the two dogs began to sniff each other enthusiastically. “This is Oscar, otherwise known as Santa’s Secret Agent.”

  “I like it,” Charlie said with a grin. “I’m guessing you get trusted with some pretty high-level jobs for the old man up north.”

  Oscar laughed. “Yep, all the time.”

  “Charlie, I was hoping we’d see you,” Josie said. “Can you and your friends perform in the Christmas Festival again this year?”

  “I wish I could, but we have family coming to town,” he said, sounding genuinely disappointed. “I’m going to be real busy the week leading up to the holiday.”

  “No big deal,” Josie said. She was slumped down in her costume, and Oscar could see that it was clearly a very big deal. He remembered her talking to Nurse Joe about it a few days ago and realized he’d better change the subject fast or she’d think to ask him to help out. And while Oscar might be up to singing to a patient or two, there was no way he was singing in front of an audience.

  “Let’s go see Rosie,” he said, leading the way to her room.

  Rosie had a cast around her hips where she’d had surgery, but her face lit up when she saw them. “Mama, it’s Santa’s Secret Agent!” she cried.

  “At your service,” Oscar said with a grin.

  “Gabby, Gabby,” her brothers squealed as they barreled into her room and jumped onto her bed.

  “Niños,” Gabby’s father scolded, but Gabby was laughing.

  “It’s okay,” she said, wrapping one arm around Luis while Paco bounced happily at the end of the bed. He could never stay still for very long.

  “How was school?” she asked her brothers.

  “Boring,” Paco said, wrinkling his nose.

  Gabby usually told him how important it was to study, but today she just felt sympathetic. “The hospital is boring, too,” she told him.

  “No one came to play with you?” Luis asked, his brow creasing.

  “Not one person came to play,” Gabby said in mock sadness. Her brothers always brought out her silly side. “But someone did come to take my blood.”

  Her brothers shrieked in delight as she’d known they would.

  “A vampire?” Paco asked, leaning forward.

  Gabby made her eyes wide, like she did at home when they played Dragon Tag. “I think so,” she whispered, glancing behind her like she was worried a vampire might leap out. “She had really sharp teeth.”

  “We need a stake and some garlic,” Paco announced. “I can’t believe we left the monster weapon box at home.”

  “We’ll have to m
ake a new one,” Gabby said, feeling better than she had in days. “There’s a toothbrush in the bathroom that would make a great stake.”

  Paco raced off for the toothbrush while Luis slipped more slowly off the bed. Gabby lost track of him as Paco returned and began running around the room to show them how he’d tackle a vampire if one arrived.

  Gabby was about to ask if this technique would work on zombies as well, because they all knew that wherever there were vampires, there were always a few zombies. But then the door opened, and Nurse Joe came in, followed by Luis and two other people. When Gabby realized who they were, she sat up with a gasp, her whole body rigid as adrenaline coursed through her. This couldn’t be happening.

  “I brought friends for you,” Luis said proudly, gesturing to the quiet girl from Gabby’s English class and Oscar Madison, the boy who’d recently been suspended for fighting. The girl was wearing an elaborate getup involving yards of red and green satin, a ton of bells, and a big Santa hat while Oscar wore a baseball hat and sunglasses and was petting the fluffy tan dog that was with them. The dog snuggled against him for a moment but then came over to sniff Gabby’s hand, its tightly curled tail wagging.

  Normally, Gabby loved dogs, but right now she was frozen in horror, unable to move or even think. How was it possible that two kids from school were here, in her hospital room, on the verge of finding out the thing that would destroy Gabby’s life?

  “These are some of our hospital volunteers who I told you about yesterday,” Nurse Joe said, happily oblivious to Gabby’s dismay. “They’ll sing or maybe do a short skit for you while you play with Clementine here.” Nurse Joe bent down and gave the dog a vigorous rub on her back. The dog rewarded him with a lick on his cheek.

  “Careful, they might be vampires,” Paco whispered, brandishing the toothbrush.

  Gabby wished they were vampires. That would be a million times better than what was actually happening.

  “Hello,” Gabby’s dad said, standing up to greet the two volunteers.

  “Hi, I’m Josie, and this is Oscar,” Josie said, smiling at him. “We’re happy to meet all of you. And we’re in Gabby’s class at school.” She hadn’t actually looked at Gabby once since coming into the room.

  “Wonderful,” Gabby’s father said, clearly thinking this was a great coincidence instead of a complete disaster.

  Paco marched up to them. “A vampire came and took my sister’s blood,” he announced. “So you need to be really careful around here.”

  Why wouldn’t her brother stop talking? And how could she get Oscar and the girl out of here? Sweat prickled on her palms, and Gabby took a deep breath, trying to think of a way to end this.

  Josie laughed. “The vampires here help people get better,” she said. “They’ll have your sister fixed up in no time.”

  “Actually, she—” Paco began, obviously about to spill everything. And that finally spurred Gabby to action. She put up a hand and coughed.

  “Thanks for coming by,” she said, a little too loudly. “But I’m really tired and I’m sure you have lots of other kids to see, so I don’t think I need a show today.”

  “But I want to see them sing.” Paco moaned like Gabby had just suggested he give up his entire LEGO collection.

  “Paco, maybe we can watch them sing in another room,” Gabby’s dad said. “We don’t want to disturb your sister.”

  “Sure, come with us,” Josie said.

  This wasn’t good, either. But Paco was talking about Christmas carols and Luis was asking Oscar if he could try on the sunglasses, so it seemed like the danger of them telling Gabby’s secret had passed, at least for the moment.

  Gabby sat back as the group of them pushed through the door of her room out into the hall. The door closed halfway and then stopped. Nurse Joe hadn’t gotten anyone to come look at it yet.

  She sighed. She didn’t want to be lying here with the door partly open so that anyone could look in. Who knew if anyone else from the sixth grade might walk by? Now that she’d seen Oscar and Josie, it seemed possible that her entire class could be here. She stood up to go push the door shut, and a sharp pain zipped from behind her left eye through to the back of her skull. She paused and then it was gone. She started for the door again and the pain came back, this time with a blinding flash. And then there was nothing.

  GABBY WAS AWARE of something soft under her. Something soft that was licking her hand. Her eyes flew open, and she saw that she’d fallen, but somehow the dog, Clementine, was under her. It seemed like she had gotten there fast enough to break Gabby’s fall because nothing on her body was hurting.

  “Are you okay?”

  “What happened?”

  Gabby looked up. There in the doorway stood Oscar and Josie, their eyes wide as they looked at Gabby in a crumpled heap. Gabby pressed at the floor and her hospital gown frantically, but both were dry. So at least the very worst thing hadn’t happened. But this was still a disaster. Her head was pounding and her body was shaky and weak.

  “I—” Gabby began, but her father and Nurse Joe were rushing in.

  “Gabby, you had a seizure,” Nurse Joe said, crouching down next to her while Gabby’s father eased his arm carefully around Gabby.

  “Clementine jerked her leash out of my hand and ran in,” Josie said, like she couldn’t believe what had just happened. “I’ve heard that dogs can sense seizures, and I guess it’s true. She got to you just when you fell and she stood under you so you wouldn’t hit your head or anything.”

  At this point, Gabby kind of wished she had hit her head and been knocked out cold so that Oscar and Josie would have to leave.

  “Don’t worry,” Nurse Joe said, putting an arm around Gabby so he and her dad could help her back to the bed. “It’s normal for there to be some glitches as we work on getting your meds balanced.”

  “Right,” Gabby said. It hurt to talk, but she needed to say something, anything to make Josie and Oscar leave before someone said the dreaded word that would seal Gabby’s doom. “And I—”

  “We’ll call Dr. Klein, let her know what happened,” Nurse Joe went on. “But I’ve seen a lot of kids with epilepsy, and this happens, so don’t be scared. We’ll get you sorted and have you out of here in no time.”

  Gabby stopped listening because nothing he said mattered now. The only things that mattered were the way Josie’s mouth fell open and she grabbed Oscar’s arm. And the way Oscar’s lip curled up. They were both disgusted. It was obvious. And it was just a question of time before they told everyone at school.

  And then Gabby’s life would be over again.

  “Ready for pancakes?” Josie’s mom asked, sticking her head into Josie’s room. Every Sunday morning, Josie and her mom went to Danny’s Diner for brunch.

  “Yeah, I just have to brush my hair,” Josie said. She was already dressed in a pair of green corduroys and the bright red reindeer sweater her grandmother had knit for her this year. She wouldn’t dress like this for school, but on weekends, especially when she was going to Danny’s with her mom, she liked getting festive.

  Her room was pretty festive, too. Her sky-blue walls were normally decorated with animal posters, but every Christmas she pulled out the prints her grandmother had ordered for her: pictures of Christmas scenes by famous artists and a poster from Elf, her favorite Christmas movie. On her dresser were photos of family Christmases past, little Josie on her dad’s lap while her mom helped her open presents, then later years with her grandparents by the tree they decorated with homemade ornaments. Strings of white Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, completing her holiday theme.

  “Want me to do a French braid?” her mom asked, coming into her room.

  Josie grinned and nodded. Her mom was a French-braiding master, plus Josie loved when her mom brushed her hair. It made her scalp all tingly.

  Her mom stood behind her, and Josie closed her eyes as her mom gently pulled the brush through Josie’s hair.

  “How’s school?” her mom asked.


  “Everything’s good,” Josie said, opening her eyes and looking at her mom’s reflection in the mirror. “I got a ninety-five on my last math test, and Ms. Keller liked my essay on The Outsiders in English.”

  “Nice,” her mom said with a nod, her eyes focused as she began dividing Josie’s hair into sections. “And how are things at the hospital?”

  “Good,” she said, thinking of Oscar, Santa’s Secret Agent. “Great, even.”

  “And the Festival?” her mom asked. “It’s getting close to the big day.”

  Ever since Charlie had said no, Josie had vowed she’d start asking non–peds ward volunteers to sign up. She’d even walked part way into the OB-GYN ward to ask one of the doctors there. But her heart began thumping, her face boiled, and she worried she might be having a heart attack right there in the hall. So she’d headed back to safety and made a sign, which she’d posted on the staff bulletin board. It had seemed like a good idea, but so far no one had responded. “I have two acts set,” she said. “And nine days to find eight more.” Saying it out loud made Josie’s stomach twist up like it was her insides being braided.

  “What have you done to get volunteers?” her mom asked. She was weaving the locks of hair snugly, pulling on Josie’s scalp and making her wince slightly. But Josie knew the braid had to be tight or it would start coming loose in less than an hour.

  “I asked some people who performed in the show last year,” Josie said, tugging at a stray piece of yarn on the cuff of her sweater. “And I put up a sign.”

  “Maybe you could get a list of people who performed in the past three or four years,” her mom suggested. “I bet there were people last year who couldn’t do it but would like to now.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Josie said, letting go of her sleeve as she thought about it. There was a good chance some of the peds staff had been away last year but performed in years past. In fact, she vaguely remembered Dr. Scott playing the saxophone one year. She’d email Ms. D’Amato for the lists as soon as they were home from Danny’s. And maybe she’d get away with not having to approach the non–peds staff at all.