Free 4 You Say Tomahto and I Say You’re Dead by Gale Borger Page A

day."
    The nurses giggled. Spaz wanted to melt into the floor. She mumbled to herself. "Dang, is everyone smokin' crack this morning or what?"
    The old man did not turn around. He hummed a tune and rocked on his heels. The elevator stopped on the second floor. He stepped off and turned toward the open elevator door. He took off his hat and bowed again. He was rising and stopped when his face got even with Spaz. "Never smoked no crack little girl, but me and the missus did go to Woodstock."
    "I—er—uh."
    The man smiled and his whole face crinkled. "You lovely ladies have yourselves a beautiful day now, ya hear?"
    Spaz sucked in a breath. The nurses burst out laughing, and the old man smiled and winked. The doors.
    Spaz let out a breath. "What the heck just happened?"
    One of the nurses dabbed her eyes with a hanky. "That was Mr. Hamm. Jake Hamm. He's going in for his final cancer treatment today. The doctors don't expect him to live until Christmas, so he makes the most of each day he has left."
    "Oh." The door opened on the third floor. Spaz stepped off the elevator. "Thank you."
    "Take care."
    "I will." Spaz thought about Jake Hamm only having months to live. He wasn't a creeper, just an old man spitting death in the eye. How could that geezer be so damn happy? Her eyes stung and she looked at the nurses. She raised her hand to the nurses. They smiled back. They twiddled their fingers and the door swooshed close.
    Spaz let out the breath she was holding. She rubbed the tears from her eyes. "Hoo-wee, weirder and weirder. I don't think I've talked to this many people in the last six months. Who am I all of a sudden, Prom Queen of the week?"
    Spaz stepped into the hall. She read the sign on the wall. The arrow pointed to the right. She headed toward Room 349. Spaz turned right again, made another right, and turned left. "I'll need Map Quest to find my way outta here." Halfway down the hall she finally found a sign saying "341-350" with an arrow pointing to the right. Spaz took a deep breath and zipped around the corner and bounced off a very large body.
    One of the biggest women she'd ever seen glared down at her from a height only a linebacker could brag about. "Oh! Excuse me, I didn't see you."
    The nurse laughed. "Didn't see me? Child you're either blind or dead!"
    "I—I didn't mean . . . never mind. I'm sorry."
    "Where you goin' in such an all-fire hurry?"
    "To visit someone. In 349. Ryan O'Sulliv—"
    "Oh sure, I know Ryan. Sweet boy."
    "Is he okay? I-I mean can he have visitors yet?"
    "Sure. He's got lots-o-friends. Specially girls. We had to limit the visits."
    Spaz looked at the floor. "Oh, well I guess I'll come back."
    "Wait, are you friend or family?"
    Spaz looked at the floor. "Friend, I guess."
    "You guess? Little girl, only family members and close friends are allowed in to see Mr. O'Sullivan at this time."
    Spaz looked the nurse right in the eye. "Then I guess he's my boyfriend."

 
    Chapter 2
     
     
    The nurse eyed her. "Boyfriend? You've got to be the sixth or seventh girl claiming to be his girlfriend. Let me see here, I have a list Ryan and his mother gave me."
    The nurse picked up a clipboard. Spaz fidgeted. She glanced behind her. She took a step back. The nurse ran her hand down a list of names. Spaz gripped her backpack. She shuffled her feet. She felt small. She felt like a liar and a cheat. She knew the nurse saw she was a ho and now she wouldn't get to see Bean. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. Tears again, Spaz? Is this some kind of rotten PMS thing or what? Shewas about to turn and run when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
    "Why yes, Evie is Ryan's girlfriend, is she not on your list, Nurse—uh . . " She squinted at her name badge. "Williams?"
    Spaz bit her lip and watched Ollie gently bully the nurse. She sniffed back the humiliating tears. She tried not to smile as the large nurse backed down from itty-bitty Ollie Boothe.
    The nurse shuffled backward through the list. "I have your name, Miz