Free Sharing Sam by Katherine Applegate Page B

his motorcycle.
    I put on my helmet. “What do you mean, another?”
    Sam looked a little hurt. “The … you know. The flowers.”
    It took me a second, but it finally clicked.
    They’d switched the flowers. Duh.
    “Damn,” I said. “That’s all Izzy needs.”
    Then I felt something awful: relief. The flowers had been for me after all. And I was glad.
    “A simple thanks will do,” Sam said.
    “Thanks,” I said. “But why couldn’t you have put my name on the front of the card?”
    “What’s wrong, Alison?”
    “It’s not your fault, Sam. It’s mine. Let’s go see Izzy, okay?”
    As we rode to the hospital all I could think of was Izzy’s gloriously happy face as she’d clutched that bouquet.
    How could I ever, ever tell her the truth now?
    Lauren and Miguel were already there by the time we arrived. “She’s fine,” Lauren said. “Just too much too soon, and areaction to the medicines she’s taking. I knew I shouldn’t have let her go back to school.”
    “She insisted,” Miguel reminded her.
    “Can we see her?” I asked, breathing in the smells of disinfectant and sickness.
    “They’re moving her to an upstairs room,” Miguel said. “You can see her there. Room 402, I think. We’re going to talk to the doctors, then we’ll be right up.”
    “But stay for just a minute,” Lauren said. She gazed at the white carnation I was still holding, then at Sam. “You’re Sam, right? We met at the party.”
    He nodded.
    “She said something about some flowers you … It was nice, it meant a lot to her. Thanks.”
    “Actually—” Sam began, but I tugged on his arm.
    “We’ll see you upstairs, okay?” I said quickly.
    By the time we were out of earshot he was shaking his head. “They screwed up the flowers, didn’t they? Since you were right there in the lunchroom when I bought them, that guy said, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, I’ll just walk them on over now.’ But then Steve came by, and I have a feeling things got messed up.”
    “Look,” I said, “just play along, okay? She was so thrilled, Sam. You should have seen her face.”
    “But they were for you.”
    “I know.” I touched his shoulder. “I’m glad.”
    We headed toward the lobby, a cheery area painted in primary colors. “I’m going to call my mom and tell her what happened and that I’ll be here for a while. Can I bum a quarter?”
    Sam fished in his jeans pocket. “Here. Alison, I can’t just let Izzy think I’m interested in her—”
    I held up a finger, then called the clinic and told Janet, the receptionist, what had happened. Sam leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, looking distracted and a little annoyed.
    Just as I hung up, Steve and Gail bolted into the lobby. “She’s upstairs,” I said. “She’s okay, just a reaction to her medication.”
    “Thank God,” Gail said.
    “Who’s the flower from?” Steve asked as we herded into the elevator.
    “Flower? Oh. You.” I thrust the carnation at Steve.
    “Misdelivered. They’re as bad as the post office.”
    When we got to the fourth floor I pulled Sam aside. “I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but trust me, okay? If Izzy brings up the flowers, just go along with it. Shrug and say ‘Aw, shucks’ or something.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Alison. She’ll get the wrong picture.”
    “I know that. But this is the wrong time to give her the right picture. You didn’t see her lying there on the floor, Sam.”
    Sam stared at the ceiling.
    “Look, she’s bald, she’s got a mile-long gash in her head, she just passed out, and to top it all off, she had the tuna supreme at lunch. Give the girl a break.”
    He grinned reluctantly. “I’m a lousy liar.”
    “Yeah, but you’re good at keeping your mouth shut, and that’s the next-best thing.”
    “You are one very interesting girl, Alison,” he said. “A little weird, but very interesting.” He reached over and gently caressed my cheek. I wanted