in the hospital. She hated being away from home. Lily was so glad to have her best friend with her. Whenever she was with Malaya, she felt like she was home.
“I’m so glad you’re okay! I thought I might never see you again,” Malaya said nearly crying. Malaya never cried. Ever. Malaya straightened herself and went to retrieve the basket.
“Deep down I knew you would be okay, but I was still awfully worried. School has been torture without you. Well, life in general really. I’m so glad you’re going to be okay. So how long are they gonna keep you trapped here?”
“Probably a few more days, but I’m hoping to convince them otherwise,” Lily said smiling.
“Well, I thought you could use some amusement and nourishment. Hospital food is rubbish. I’ve got cheese crackers, tangerines, and chocolate chip cookies. I know they’re your favorite. Of course, who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies?” Malaya pulled the food out of the basket as she spoke and placed it on the swing table at the side of the hospital bed.
“So are your aunt and cousins coming today?”
“Not until later this afternoon. They were here yesterday. As soon as Aunt Jenny saw me she was crying. It made Ruthie sad to see her mom crying so then she started crying. Then I started crying. Yep, it was one big cry fest last night. It was good to see them though. You’ll never guess who else was here yesterday.”
“Who?”
“Actually he was there when I woke up. Hmm, now that I think of it, the last person to see me was also the first. Weird.”
“Slade?”
“Yeah, it seems like he feels really bad about the whole thing.”
“Well, yeah, anyone with a beating heart should, even if he is a jerk. Anyway, I’m not surprised he was the one here when you woke up. He sure spent enough time here. I think he was here more often than I was.”
“He’s coming back today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m not really sure why though. He said he was sorry yesterday, I don’t expect anything more than that.”
“Maybe he wants to make it up to you somehow,” Malaya offered.
“I don’t really want to see him, but you know me, I’m too nice to say no.”
Malaya nodded. Lily was one of the nicest people she had ever met, and it was unlike her to be outright rude to anyone.
“Anyway, I don’t really want to think about it right now. Let’s play a game. Do you have any card games in that basket?”
Over the next couple of hours they played almost every game Malaya had brought, a couple of them multiple times. They were about to begin the last one when the door creaked open. Both girls turned to see Slade standing awkwardly in the doorway.
“Oh, I see you already have company,” he said. “I’ll come back tomorrow after school.”
“That’s all right, you can join our game, if you want,” Malaya offered.
Lily gave her a “what do you think you’re doing” look. She didn’t want him to join them. She wanted him to leave them alone forever.
“Sure, sounds fun. As long as it’s alright with you,” Slade said looking at Lily for approval. Lily gave a barely distinguishable sigh, and then said, “It’s fine with me. Pull up a seat.”
“Oh, um, I never actually learned your names,” he said a little embarrassed.
“I’m Malaya and this is Lily.”
“I’m Slade. Well, at school my name is Slade, but that’s not actually my real name.”
With raised eyebrows the girls stared at him, their jaws dropping slightly. Malaya beat Lily to the question that they both wanted to ask.
“So what is your name?”
“It’s Landon, Landon Turner,” he said then he pulled a chair over to the end of the bed.
“If you don’t mind me asking” Malaya said cautiously. “Why do you go by Slade?” Of course Malaya would dare to ask. It didn’t seem like she was afraid of anything. Lily would have asked had it been anyone else, but she still wasn’t sure if the pleasant person Slade had suddenly turned into was actually real.
“Back in freshman year after I first moved in, I met the group of guys I hang out with now. We just decided one day to change our names to names we thought were cooler at the time. I actually really like my real name, but Slade stuck and my friend’s won’t call me anything else. For the past three or four years only my mom and teachers from school have called me Landon.”