Page 9 of Sure, Pal

Rob held out my EpiPen and asked, “Where do I put it?”

“In my leg.” My breathing was ragged. “You have to do it hard.”

Rob hesitated, and Evan set me on the ground and ripped the EpiPen from Rob’s hand. Without waiting for another second, Evan jammed the EpiPen into the side of my thigh. I groaned and lay on my back in the dirt. “I need to go to a hospital.”

Evan pulled out his phone and yelled, “Shit! I don’t have a signal!” He turned to Rob. “Help me get her back to the cars.”

???

My dad paced back and forth in front of my hospital bed, with his dark eyebrows knit together in anger. “You need to be more careful, Sienna! You could have died!” He stopped to glower at me like it was my fault I was deathly allergic to wasps and like I’d stepped on it on purpose. “And those EpiPens are expensive! And this hospital stay! We haven’t met our deductible yet, so this is all out of pocket!”

He continued pacing, and I shrugged and said, “Well, the next time I almost die, it should be on the house.”

“What is wrong with you?” he snapped. “This isn’t funny, Sienna! You get this from your mother, you know — making jokes at inappropriate times.”

I sighed and picked at a loose thread on my hospital blanket. “Where is she?”

“I haven’t called her yet.” His voice was flat. “There’s a reason that I’m your emergency contact.” It was no secret that my dad was getting increasingly frustrated with my mom’s “free-sprit” vibe. I could hear them fighting almost every night after they thought I’d gone to bed.

I rolled my eyes. “Where’s my phone? I’ll call her.”

“It’s at your campsite.” My dad folded his arms across his broad chest. He let out a long agitated sigh. “Look, I have to get back to work if I want to keep a roof over our heads.” He worked long hours as a scheduler for a home building company, but he hadn’t seen a raise in years. And my mom hadn’t sold any sculptures recently, either. Money was tight, per usual, and despite my sarcasm, I did feel insanely guilty for costing my parents so much money.

My dad ran his hands through his dark thinning hair and continued, “I’ll call your mom on my drive home, but who knows if she’ll answer.” He turned to leave and then said, almost as an afterthought, “You’ll be all right here by yourself until you get released in the morning?”

“Yup,” I almost whispered.

My dad nodded and walked out of the door.

I rolled my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. Then, when I was sure he was gone, I deepened my voice, pretending to speak for my father. “Sienna, I’m so glad you’re okay! I love you, and I’ll stay with you as long as you want. Can I get you anything?” In my regular voice, I said, “Aw, thanks, dad! I’d love some Dr. Pepper and a big juicy cheeseburger!”

I closed my eyes against the tears that threatened to fall and leaned against my pillows.

“Hey, girl.” Ava stood in the doorway of my hospital room, holding up a bag of gummy bears — my favorite.

I grinned at her. “Hey, girl. Sorry I ruined our trip.”

Ava rolled her blue eyes and laughed. Then she crossed the room and climbed into bed with me. “Scoot your giant swollen foot over and let me love you, Si!” Ava wrapped her arms around me, and tears rolled down her cheeks. “You scared me so bad! Like, shit! What would I do without you?”

I tore open the package of gummy bears and popped a red one in my mouth. I threw a green one at Ava’s face and laughed. “You’d probably be driven to the streets by your grief and then spend your life as an escort.”

Ava rolled her eyes.

“You’d be a high-class escort, no doubt. I think you’d make pretty good money, honestly. Aves, with that ass and those tits…” I tapped my chin with my finger. “Whoa, wait a minute. Maybe you should do this anyway! You’d be so fucking rich! Why haven’t we thought of this yet?”

Ava shoved a handful of gummy bears into my mouth and said, laughing, “Shh, you crazy bitch.” Then she leaned her head on my shoulder and said, “Please don’t die. You’re the only real friend I’ve ever had.”

“Okay. I promise I won’t die.” I wrapped my arms around Ava. “Can I be your pimp, though?”

Ava snorted. “You could make just as much money as me. Why the hell don’t you know you’re hot?”

Maybe I was pretty, but not like Ava. Ava got the guy. I tried not to choke on my jealousy. “Where are Rob and Evan?” I asked.

“They went back to clean up the campsite. Evan said he’d drop your stuff off at your house later tonight.”

I sighed. “Evan saved my life today. Rob was too freaked out to stab me with the EpiPen, so Evan took over.”

“Aw!” Ava gushed. “That’s my boy. I’ll have to make sure I thank him properly tonight for saving my best friend.”

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