Mortal Danger

“Her mom told me she’s in the hospital,” Allison confided.

This news should be coming from Cameron, still her boyfriend so far as I knew. But apparently his interest didn’t stretch past a bad skin condition. He wore a bored look, one that rekindled my desire to see him suffer. I wondered if he’d bothered to return Brit’s texts or visit her, though I guessed probably not.

“What’s the matter with her?” Jen asked.

Russ smirked. “She’s got a serious case of butterface. I think it might be terminal.”

Allison hit him. “This is serious. She had some kind of skin infection, probably caused by bacteria, but Brit’s mom said the doctors aren’t sure, because the cultures weren’t like anything they’d seen. And now, she has, like … meningitis or something.”

“That’s potentially fatal,” I said, before I realized how it sounded.

Allison burst into tears and Cameron shot me a daggered look as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Way to go, dumbass.”

Her tears dried immediately. From my point of view, she looked a bit too pleased to be cuddled up with her best friend’s boyfriend, but I shut up. I was still an outsider, even if Russ and Jen liked me. The others talked quietly about putting together a gift basket and sending it to Brit’s room, but nobody mentioned checking on her, like, because she had a disease, and hospitals were gross, full of sick people and disgusting germs you could catch. Listening to them, I decided to go see Brittany after school.

I got the information from Jen and took the T to Park Station, then transferred to the Red Line. A few minutes later, I hopped off at Charles/Mass General station and walked the rest of the way, all while wondering to say when I saw Brittany. Nervous, I stopped by the gift shop and while I was browsing, my phone buzzed with a text.

Where are you? I came to pick you up but you never showed.

Aw. I’d run out much faster than usual, eager to break free of Blackbriar and the stultifying atmosphere. Last year, I’d loved my classes but hated my classmates. This year, it felt as if there was something wrong with the whole campus.

Deciding on a bear in a tiny hat, I paid for the plushie, then replied: I’m visiting someone at the hospital. Didn’t know you were coming to get me. Maybe you could work on your communication?

Funny, Kian answered. Unless I say otherwise, assume I’ll pick you up, okay?

Just like a real boyfriend, I sent back. That shouldn’t make me so happy because he came with a boatload of baggage, but it didn’t stop me from smiling as I pressed the elevator button. That silenced him, or maybe it was lack of signal. Remembering the rules from when Great-Aunt Edith died, I shut down my phone and put it away. After stepping off the elevator, I went to the desk. Jen had given me Brit’s room number, but I should probably make sure she wasn’t asleep or receiving treatment.

“Is it all right if I go see Brittany?” I named the room number, and the nurse nodded.

“I’m glad someone’s here. She seems pretty down. It’s so tough when they’re young.”

“Her parents aren’t with her?” I’d braced for an awkward moment, where I showed up and they stared at me because I wasn’t actually one of Brit’s friends.

The woman shook her head. “Her mother filled out the paperwork and took off. I figured she was running home to get some things, but she just … never came back.”

This was definitely gossip territory, and I wasn’t sure if it was against the rules or what. Probably, it was poor judgment, at least, but I encouraged her. “Between you and me, her mom is kind of a bitch.”

“I definitely got that vibe.” She lowered her voice. “It was like she couldn’t even stand to look at her.”

“Poor Brit. I’ll head in now. Thanks for your time.”

The desk nurse was smiling when she went back to her paperwork. I went toward the end of the hall, last room on the left, and opened the door without knocking. My heart thudded like components hitting the side of a centrifuge. If Brit was dangerous or contagious, she wouldn’t have let you come in. There would be quarantine procedures in place. Right?

The bed curtain was drawn, even though she had a private room. This was nice, as far as hospitals went. Nervously I set the stuffed bear on her table, next to her pitcher of water. I was tempted to run but I told myself it would be stupid to come all this way and not speak.

“Allison?” she said in a small voice.

Crap. Obviously she expects her best friend.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “No, sorry. It’s me, Edie.”

“What are you doing here? If you’re here to gloat, go ahead.” She waited, as if expecting me to say something horrible. “If you’re here to kill me, make it quick.”

“No, I … I just came by to say get well soon. I brought you a bear.”

Her tone when she finally spoke was grudging. “That was nice of you. You can … hand it through if you want.”

I pushed the stuffed animal through the curtain and caught a glimpse of her ravaged features. What we’d seen a few days ago was nothing compared with how she looked now. Part of her nose was just … gone, and there were holes in her cheeks. I tried my best not to react but it was tough.

“Anyway, I said what I came to, so—”

“Could you stay for a while? You can watch TV if you want.”

Her miserable, lonely tone was too much for me, so I watched an hour of the news while she slept and then I crept out, feeling awful. I couldn’t imagine the damage I’d seen healing without extensive plastic surgery for the scarring, and the people in her life were ass**les who made my parents look warm and emotionally supportive.

It was close to six by the time I let myself into the apartment. My dad had dinner on the table and he looked pissed, though with him it was micro-expressions rather than overt indications. “You’re late,” he noted. “And you didn’t text me.”

I wanted to snap at him. “Yeah, I was visiting a classmate at the hospital.”

He asked a few questions, likely testing my story, but since it was true, there were no inconsistencies to find. “I wonder where she contracted the infection. Make sure you always wash your hands, Edith.”

I sighed. “I do.”

My mom came home a few minutes later and took up his attention with more talk about the grant project as we sat down to eat Brussels sprouts and poached halibut. For the first time, I paid attention to the project they were trying to fund. “We’ve ruled out cosmic strings as possibilities for time travel. The laser research is promising, though.”