Fabulous Five 011 - Hit and Run (3 page)

Jana drifted in and out of consciousness. She felt strong
hands lift her off the floor and place her on a gurney. Next she heard the
rattle of the gurney's wheels as it moved along the hallway, then the hum of
the elevator. Finally, she was in her bed again, and Gorgeous was there beside
her.

Opening her eyes, she saw another face looking down at hers.
She blinked to focus and realized that the face belonged to a doctor and that
he was bending toward her, concern showing clearly on his face.

"Now she's awake," he said as if it were a big
event that he had been waiting for. "Hello, Jana. I'm Dr. Vermillion."
He turned on a tiny flashlight no bigger than a ballpoint pen and held it near
her face, shining the light into first one eye and then the other. Every once
in a while he would say, "Um hum," to himself and nod. Finally he
switched off the light and straightened up. "No harm done," he said, "but
I must insist that you remain in bed for the time being."

Jana could see Mrs. Foss standing behind the doctor and was
relieved that she didn't shake her finger and say, "I told you so."
Instead she smiled sympathetically, then turned to the doctor and said, "I'll
see to it that she eats a little breakfast and then rests."

For the next hour people paraded in and out of Jana's
hospital room, leaving her little time to think about Randy. Mrs. Foss brought
in her breakfast tray and stood tapping her foot impatiently while Jana drank
her orange juice and milk. After the nurse left, she totally ignored the
poached egg and only nibbled at the toast. This is worse than the food in the
Wakeman cafeteria, she thought, wrinkling her nose.

An orderly cleared her tray a little while later, and then
Mrs. Foss stepped back into the room and announced in a singsong voice, "Bath
time!" Pulling the curtain around Jana's bed, she proceeded to help her get
cleaned up for the day.

"You're going to be getting a roommate in a few
minutes," said Mrs. Foss.

Jana blinked. "A roommate?"

"Sure," replied the nurse. "A little girl.
She was in an automobile accident, too. They'll be bringing her up in just a
few minutes."

After the nurse left, Jana looked at the empty bed beside
hers. She hadn't thought about having a roommate, even though it did make
sense. She wondered if Randy had a roommate in the intensive care unit or if he
was in there all by himself. That would be awfully lonely, she thought.
Especially at night after his parents went home. She frowned, not wanting to
imagine him all alone in that dark room, hooked up to all those monitors she
had seen through the window, but she couldn't help it.

She lay there thinking about Randy again for what seemed
like ages. If only she had been able to see him in the intensive care unit. She
tried for the millionth time to remember the accident, but she couldn't. All
she knew was that Randy had tried to save her without thinking about himself,
and now he was badly hurt.

Just then the door opened and her mother came in.

"Hi, sweetie. Pink had to go on to work, but I thought
I'd stop by for a little while," she said, bending down and kissing Jana
on the cheek. "How are you feeling this morning? The nurse said you got up
when you weren't supposed to and fainted. Is that true?"

Jana nodded. "I'm okay, though, but what about Randy?
Nobody will tell me anything!"

Her mother shook her head. "First tell me what
happened. Why did you get out of bed?"

Tears welled up in Jana's eyes. "I wanted to see Randy
for myself. I went to the intensive care unit, but they wouldn't let me in.
Please tell me. Is he awake yet?"

Mrs. Pinkerton's expression was troubled. "I haven't
seen his parents yet. I'm sure they're with Randy. The hospital still isn't
giving out much information. All they would tell me when I stopped at the desk
downstairs was that his condition hasn't changed."

"That means he isn't awake yet, doesn't it?" she
whispered. She wanted to add,
and that he might die
, but she couldn't
make herself say the words out loud.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. The doctors are wonderful
here, and they're doing everything they possibly can."

Jana nodded. She knew her mother was trying to make her feel
better, but nothing could do that except news that Randy was finally awake and
getting well.

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you're okay. I have some
news," her mother added brightly. "First, I ordered a telephone for
your room so that I can call and check on you from work. How does that sound?"

"Terrific," Jana said. And I can call the
intensive care unit and check on Randy, she thought.

"Also," her mother went on, "the phone rang
off the wall last night. Everybody wanted to know how you were, including all
of The Fabulous Five. They not only called to ask how you were, but they're all
coming to see you today after school. They sent messages, too. I wrote them
down, but it will take a minute to dig them out of my purse."

Jana sighed. It did make her feel better to know that her
friends were all concerned about her, and she was glad that they had sent
messages. But just as Mrs. Pinkerton began looking through her purse, there was
a sharp knock on the hospital room door.

It's probably my roommate, thought Jana as her mother set
her purse down beside her chair and called, "Who is it?"

"The police, ma'am," came a husky voice. "I'd
like to talk to Miss Morgan about the accident, if I may, please. It will only
take a few minutes. I just need to get some information."

"The police?" Jana cried, looking questioningly at
her mother.

"It's all right, honey," replied Mrs. Pinkerton as
she opened the door and ushered the policeman into the room.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," said the officer. He
was a big man with graying hair, and his kind smile made Jana relax a little. "However,
we're investigating the accident, and we need anything you can tell us about
the car that struck Randy Kirwan. The driver still hasn't come forward, so we're
hoping that witnesses can give us the clues we need to find him. I'd appreciate
anything you can tell me."

Jana lowered her eyes. "I didn't see the car," she
admitted. "I didn't see anything. I just heard the tires squeal and felt a
shove . . . I guess that was Randy pushing me out of the way." Her voice
rose to a tiny squeak as she choked back tears. She had never felt so helpless
in her life. "The next thing I knew, I was here."

"It's okay, miss. Don't cry. You just lie there and get
well. We're doing everything we can to locate the driver. And you can bet we'll
find him, too. In fact, I'm going to interview all of the kids who were at
Bumpers when the accident happened. Maybe one of them saw something."

"Oh, my gosh, look at the time," said Mrs.
Pinkerton as soon as the officer had gone. "I didn't realize it was
getting so late. I'd better get to work." She paused, looking lovingly at
Jana. "I really hate to leave you."

"That's okay, Mom," Jana assured her. "I'm
not on my deathbed or anything, and you do have a job."

"Thanks for understanding, sweetheart. I didn't even
get time to find the messages from your friends. I promise to find them and
call you during my lunch break. How's that?"

"Super," said Jana. Then with a smile she added, "I'll
be right here in this bed. I promise."

Jana stared at the door after her mother had gone. She
couldn't stop thinking about Randy. She had known him for practically her whole
life, and even before she had liked him as a boyfriend, she had liked him as a
friend. He was kind and sincere and he would never hurt anybody on purpose.
That was what made the accident so terrible. How could anyone hurt him?

She smiled to herself, remembering that when she was in Mark
Twain Elementary she had kept a small notebook hidden in the toe of an old
bedroom slipper in the back of her closet. In that notebook she had written
down every single thing she ever found out about Randy. Things such as: His
full name is Randal Spencer Kirwan. His birthday is January 31. His father is
an electrician, and his name is Robert. His mother sells real estate, and her
name is Helen. He has an older sister, Kathy, who is in college, and a
registered keeshond dog named Heidi. The license plate number on his father's
car is RK 4097.

There were a lot of other things she knew about him, too.
Things she had found out after they started dating. Mainly, they were things
the two of them had in common such as favorites. Deep-dish, pepperoni, green
pepper, and mushroom pizza. Amusement parks and riding the roller coaster.
Going to the beach and watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. But now maybe
they would never get to do any of those things together again. Never eat pizza
together or ride a roller coaster or watch fireworks.

Wiping a tear from her eye, Jana suddenly felt very sad. She
longed to be home in her own familiar bed instead of here in the hospital where
nearly everyone who came into her room was a stranger. But more than that, she
wanted things to be back the way they were before. She wanted to roll back the
clock to yesterday afternoon before the accident. Maybe even to lunch period
when she was alone in the yearbook room.

If I could just be back there, I wouldn't even listen to
people talking in the hall, she promised herself. And if I heard Laura talking
about Randy, I would just ignore it. And I'd ignore it when I saw them together
at Bumpers. And I would never,
never,
never run out into the street. If
I could go back and do all that, then right now Randy wouldn't be lying in a
hospital bed two floors below hurt so badly that he hasn't awakened since the
accident. "It's all my fault," she murmured over and over again.

Her head was beginning to throb again, and the dizzy feeling
she had just before she fainted was back. Burying her face in Gorgeous's round
body, she was crying softly when she heard the door to her room open and a
child's voice shriek, "I won't stay in here! You can't make me! I want my
mommy and daddy!"

The first thing Jana saw when she looked up was a gurney
being wheeled in by the same orderly who had taken out her breakfast tray an
hour or so earlier. In the middle of the gurney lay a tiny little girl about
five or six years old with an enormous cast on her leg. Her eyes were red from
crying and she was propped up on one elbow, making a terrible face at Mrs.
Foss, who was leading the gurney into the room.

"I
said
I want my mommy and daddy!" the
little girl screamed, shaking her long blond curls violently.

"I know you did, sweetheart," said the nurse in a
soothing voice. "Your mommy and daddy can't see you right now. They're in
a room just like this one in another part of the hospital, and just as soon as
the doctor says it's okay for them to have visitors, you'll get to go see them.
I promise. I'll take you myself."

Mrs. Foss tried to ease the child off the gurney and onto
the bed while she talked, but the little girl pounded the nurse with both fists
and made loud, snuffling sounds. Finally, after succeeding in getting her into
bed and tucked under her covers, Mrs. Foss turned to Jana and said, "This
is Lisa Pratt, Jana. She's going to be your roommate for a while. She's had a
terrible experience, and she's very frightened right now. Maybe you can talk to
her and make her feel a little more comfortable."

Poor little girl, Jana thought, but before she could say
anything, Lisa looked straight at her and stuck out her tongue. "I want my
mommy and daddy!" she demanded. Then her eyes grew large. "Bear!
Bear!" she cried excitedly. "Give him to me."

Instinctively Jana drew Gorgeous closer to her. "I'm
sorry, Lisa," she said gently. "You can't have him. He's my bear, and
he's very special. Maybe the nurse can find you another bear in the toy box in
the playroom."

Lisa began to wail and point to Gorgeous. "Bear! Bear!"
she shouted between sobs. "I want
that
bear."

Mrs. Foss bent close to Jana and whispered, "Could you
let her borrow it for a few minutes? Her parents were hurt badly, and the
family is from another state. They were traveling across country when another
car crossed the center line and hit them head-on a few miles outside of town.
So you see, there isn't even anyone to visit Lisa until some of her relatives
can make the trip here. Your bear might make her feel better."

Jana looked at the nurse in horror. "But . . . I couldn't
. . ." she sputtered. She didn't know how to explain that she absolutely
could not let some strange little girl borrow Gorgeous. Not the bear that Randy
had given her, and not while he was lying in the intensive care unit in
critical condition. She needed Gorgeous more than Lisa ever could.

She tried to look away from Lisa, but she couldn't. The
little girl's red-rimmed eyes held her fast, pleading with her. Lisa had
stopped crying now, but her chin quivered and every few seconds a hiccup shook
her frail body. "Please," she said in a tiny voice. "Can't I
just hold him?"

Jana looked helplessly at Mrs. Foss, but the nurse's face
remained expressionless. I know she wants me to give Gorgeous to Lisa, Jana
thought, even if she won't say it.

Gorgeous was looking up at her. His black eyes glistened
brightly and his heart-shaped mouth smiled softly. He would make anyone feel
better, Jana thought. Sighing deeply, she released her grip on Gorgeous and
held him out to the nurse. "I guess she can hold him for a little while,"
she said reluctantly. A lump swelled in her throat as Mrs. Foss took Gorgeous
out of her hands and gently placed him beside Lisa.

"His name is Gorgeous," Jana said in a voice
crackling with tears. "Be very, very careful with him. Okay?"

Lisa nodded and drew Gorgeous nearer, hugging him tightly. Then
she put her cheek down next to his and closed her eyes as a fluttery sigh
escaped her lips. A moment later she was snoring softly.

Jana watched her sleep, thinking how sorry she felt for the
little girl. It must be awful to be separated from your parents in a hospital
in a strange city, and I'm glad Gorgeous made her feel better. But why can't
anyone understand how much I need him myself? she thought miserably.

To Jana's amazement, Lisa slept through the rest of the
morning with her arms wrapped tightly around Gorgeous. She did not open her
eyes when the nurses and aides made rounds checking charts and refilling water
bottles. And Lisa barely stirred when the table between the two beds was moved
aside so that the telephone could be plugged into the wall. Jana glanced at the
sleeping child as she picked up the phone.

"Main desk. May I help you?" asked a woman on the
other end of the line.

"Yes, thank you," said Jana. "I would like to
check on the condition of Randy Kirwan. He's in intensive care."

"One moment, please." The woman was gone from the
line for only a few seconds. "Yes, ma'am. His condition is unchanged. Is
there anything else I can help you with?"

"By 'unchanged,' do you mean he hasn't awakened yet?"
Jana asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid you'll have to check with his doctor on
that," said the woman. "The only information that I have is what I
gave you."

"Thank you," Jana murmured. Hanging up the phone,
she looked helplessly at the ceiling. "What am I going to do?" she
whispered. "What
on earth
am I going to do?"

Lisa clung tenaciously to Gorgeous, refusing to give him
back no matter how Jana brought up the subject, and she was still hugging him
tightly when Mrs. Foss came bustling into the room after lunch and announced to
Jana that she had visitors.

"Now?" asked Jana. It was too early in the day for
her friends to be here. School wasn't out yet. And she had just gotten off the
phone with her mother, who had called to give her the get-well messages from
The Fabulous Five. "Who is it?" she asked.

Before Mrs. Foss could answer, a man and a woman appeared in
the doorway. The man was tall with dark, wavy hair, and the woman was very
petite with soft brown hair and big blue eyes. Jana recognized them
immediately, and she drew in her breath in surprise. It was Mr. and Mrs.
Kirwan, Randy's parents.

"Hi," Jana said shyly. Then she put her hand over
the left side of her face, trying to hide her ugly bruises.

"Hello, Jana," said Mrs. Kirwan as the two of them
came toward her. "How are you feeling?"

"That's a nasty bump," said Randy's father. "I'll
bet it hurt a lot."

"It feels better now," she assured them. She tried
to smile, but a question was burning in her mind. "How's Randy? Is he awake
yet?"

The Kirwans exchanged guarded looks, and Mr. Kirwan put an
arm around his wife's shoulder.

"No, dear," said Mrs. Kirwan. "But the
doctors are very hopeful. They're convinced that he'll regain consciousness
soon."

"The reason we came up to see you was to tell you that
no matter what happens, we are very proud of Randy for what he did yesterday,"
said Mr. Kirwan. "He cares about you very much."

"That's right," said Randy's mother. She leaned
forward and tenderly brushed Jana's bruised cheek with her hand. "You
mustn't blame yourself. It was just one of those terrible things that happen
now and then. An accident. It was no one's fault."

"But it
was
my fault," Jana insisted. "I
shouldn't have lost my temper and run away from him. And I should
never
have run into the street without looking. It was dumb! And stupid! And I'd give
anything if I could make things like they were before it happened." She
blinked hard to keep tears from rushing into her eyes.

"Of course you would, dear," said Randy's mother. "We
all would. But it's important that you realize that everyone loses their temper
now and then and says or does things they're sorry for. That still doesn't make
you responsible for Randy's condition."

Jana looked away for a moment. She was puzzled. Why were
Randy's parents insisting that she wasn't to blame? And how could they know how
she felt? She hadn't told anyone that she believed the accident was her fault.
The idea was just too awful to say out loud.

"It was sweet of you to send the card, just the same,"
Mr. Kirwan assured her. "Did your mother mail it for you on her way to
work this morning? It came up on the afternoon mail cart."

"What card?" Jana asked in amazement.

"This one," said Randy's mother. She opened her
purse and pulled out a greeting card, which she handed to Jana. "It is
from you, isn't it?"

Jana took the card and stared at it. On the front was a
bouquet of roses with a bright yellow butterfly perched on one flower and the
words "Get Well" printed across the top.

"I've never seen this . . ." she said as she
opened it, but she stopped in midsentence when she looked inside. There was no
verse, only a picture of a single red rose, and no signature. But underneath
the rose and written in a delicate handwriting it said, "I'm sorry. Please
forgive me."

She looked at Randy's mother in astonishment and slowly
shook her head.

"Then who could have sent it?" whispered Mrs. Kirwan.

Looking flustered, Mr. Kirwan took the card from Jana's
hand. "I apologize," he said. "We thought it must be from you
since you were with him when the accident happened. It seemed likely that you might
blame yourself." Squinting at the card again, he added, "and it
certainly looks more like a girl's handwriting than a boy's."

"Oh, Jana. I'm so sorry," said Randy's mother. "I
hope we didn't upset you too much. I just can't imagine who sent it, but whoever
it was must feel responsible for the accident. There wasn't anyone else around
when it happened, was there?"

For the hundredth time, Jana tried to bring back the memory,
but she couldn't. Shaking her head she answered, "No. At least I don't
think so."

"We'd better go and let her rest," said Mr. Kirwan.

His wife nodded and squeezed Jana's hand. "I know Randy
will want you to visit him as soon as he's feeling better," she said. "And
we'll tell him that you're going to be fine just as soon as we can talk to him."

They said good-bye and left the room. Jana watched them go
with thoughts spinning wildly in her head. Whoever had sent the card to Randy
believed that she had caused the accident instead of Jana. There was only one
person who that could be. One person who was trying to come between Randy and
Jana. A person named Laura McCall.