him, so he smiled back.
'Will he go to school here, at Huntington House?' a woman he couldn't see asked.
He was holding her hand, but she was out of sight above him. Shane felt very tiny, forced to crane his neck up to see the pleasant woman with the acne.
'Yes, school will be here at Huntington House until the sixth grade and then, depending on how Shane does, we'll arrange for him to attend either St. Augustus Elementary School, which is just a few blocks away, or he can go across town to Havenhurst. '
'Well, then, it's all settled,' the invisible woman said.
'Fifty over ninety and falling' a man's voice said, piercing Shane's consciousness. A siren was somewhere behind him.
'Hit him with another A-shot, fifty cc's,' a voice commanded.
'Come on, Shane,' the pleasant woman with acne said. 'We'll show you around. ' He held her hand, but he had never felt so alone. He was becoming agitated, even frightened. He could feel his heart begin to beat hard in his chest. What would happen to him? Who were these people?
'Heart rate and BP up again, but he's leaking inside. We're gonna need to get him typed, stat.'
'Here's the playroom,' the pleasant woman said. 'Look at all the nice toys. '
Shane tried to move toward the toys, but a hand pulled him back. 'No, not now. It's not a play period yet. '
He looked up at her but could no longer see her, either. He could now only hear her voice: 'Play period's at three in the afternoon. '
'Stand by with a crash unit. We've got a Code Blue coming in. ETA four minutes.'
They were walking along a corridor where the walls were getting narrower and higher, until Shane felt overwhelmed and dwarfed by the place. It was getting dark, too. The lights suddenly dimmed.
'We'll show you where you're going to sleep, ' the pleasant woman said, but she now seemed far awaySuddenly Shane was wandering alone in the dark and narrowing hallway. He was getting smaller and smaller with each step. But a bright light, beautiful and pure, was coming from a crack under a doorway down the hall. Then he heard Jody.
'A fireman? Really? You wanna climb through a window with a hose? What kind of bullshit job is that?'
'But Jody, wouldn't it be neat to save somebody's life?'
'A fireman? Shit, I don't wanna be a fireman. '
'What do you wanna be?'
'I don't know. I never know. '
'This guy's in de-fib! Hit the paddles! Clear!'
He felt a sharp pain in his chest.
They were at Ryder Field in their Little League uniforms. Shane was rubbing the sore place on his chest.
'Jody, when I give you the curve sign, don't throw the fastball. You hit me in the chest. I wasn't ready, ' Shane said. It was almost dark, and the park ranger hadn't turned on the field lights yet.
'Just the heater. 'Jody grinned. 'I'm gonna stick with the heater.'
'Outta the way; hit him again! Clear!'
Something buzzed. A jolt hit his chest.
They were in Jody's bedroom with the lights out. Night music.
'A cop?' Jody sneered. 'I thought you were gonna be a damn fireman. '
'If you're a cop, you stand between right and wrong. You'd really get a chance to count. '
'You believe that?'
'Hit it again!'
Sharp pain. A buckling explosion in his chest that for a moment brought the lights back on in Jody's bedroom.
He was looking at Jody in the other bed, propped up on an elbow, staring at him speculatively.
'We'll be friends forever,' Shane told him, glad the lights were back on.
'No, we won't, Hot Sauce. It's not in the plan!'
'But that can't be, Jody. I'm like your brother,' Shane pleaded.
'I'll give you something 'fore you go-something so you won't forget me. '
'What is it?' Shane asked. 'When do I get it?'
'When it's time. It's a secret, 'Jody grinned. 'A special gift. '
'I'm losing him' the man's voice said.
The towering walls disappeared, and Shane was bathed in a light so white and pure that he marveled at it. Then, almost as if he were being lifted by an invisible hand, he was flying fast and low, but rising quickly. Up… Up… He went.
'My God, what fun,' he laughed, banking into the light, streaking toward it until he almost reached its center. But then, without warning, he pulled up and hovered there, bathed in its radiant beauty. He glanced over and saw the Dean family floating somewhere beyond the light. Fred and Marge waved at him' Shane, we're so glad you're here, ' they told him.
He looked down and saw Alexa and Chooch below him.
Jody was there, too, standing on the pitcher's mound, frowning down at the rosin bag in his hand.
Suddenly, a woman he didn't know was floating toward him, smiling. She was beautiful, with rich, chestnut hair and his same blue eyes. She reached out to him.
'Come with me, son. We're together now. ' Her voice was soft, like music. 'I never meant to leave you, but I couldn 't help it. It was an accident. '
'Are you my mother?' he said, thinking this was perfect. He wouldn't have to stay at Huntington House with strangers. Now he could finally have a real home with a real family.
'Yes, I'm your mother, ' she said. 'You have to believe I always loved you. I wanted to keep you, darling. I had to leave, but I was always here waiting, and now you've finally come to me. Now you 're finally-'
Without warning, everything ended.
Chapter 52
WHEN SHANE CAME to, he was in ICU and it was two weeks later. They told him he'd been in a coma produced by a gunshot wound to the head. Jody's bullet had entered his scalp just above the hairline at the parietal bone and had traveled a scary, improbable path, hugging the subcutaneous connective tissue between his scalp and scull. It cracked the bone over the cerebellum in three places, then exited the back of his head at the base of his neck at something called the lamdoidal suture, without ever entering his brain cavity. Shane had suffered multiple concussions, and his head had to be opened to release the pressure of built-up cerebrospinal fluid inside his skull.
They had kept him sedated for two weeks so he wouldn't thrash around and possibly cause more discharge inside his cranium.
When he finally regained consciousness, nurses and doctors swarmed over him. Shots were given, blood pressure taken, and strict orders posted: NO VISITORS.
The wall opposite his bed in ICU was all glass; he looked up and saw Alexa and Chooch with their noses pressed against the window, like children watching a glassed-off exhibit. He stuck his tongue out at them weakly, and they both waved and laughed.
Later that day, when he woke up again, Alexa was holding his hand.
'Alexa,' he whispered. 'I… I…'
'Shhh,' she said. 'I had to raise hell to get in here. If you set off that heart monitor you're hooked to, I'll never get back in again.'
'What happened?' Shane asked. The last thing he remembered was sitting in the backyard, telling Chooch he
