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.Zelia listened as politely as she could muster but onlybecause of her love for Jonathan.She was annoyedwith his fervor for education, especially when shehadn t seen him for two days and now had him in herliving room all alone.But Jonathan s enthusiasmcould not be swayed and Zelia listened to each detailas she watched the seconds pass by.Finally, the homework was taken care of andthere was no more to discuss.Jonathan looked atZelia and she at him and they smiled, both thinkingthe same thing.Jonathan was the first to say it. I ve really missed you.I know it s only been twodays but I have. Zelia smiled in return. I know.Me too!They leaned towards one another to stealanother kiss.It still felt strange, Zelia thought, for- 129 -them to kiss.They d known each other practicallytheir whole lives.They d spent countless nightstogether, days together, been in the same class for aslong as she could remember.They knew everythingabout one another.They were as close as two peoplecould be.And here they were kissing.It just felt wrongsomehow, like when she kissed him, she suddenlydidn t know him.He was new and different each timetheir lips met and unnerved her.But it also excitedher.Just as their heads came together, a noisebehind Jonathan startled them.Zelia s dad stumbledinto the doorway, too sick to notice anything unusual. Oh, hi Jonathan, he mumbled and went to thekitchen for some juice.They nervously and Jonathan waved at theempty space. That was close! Zelia said as they watched theopen door recently vacated by her father. No kidding! Jonathan agreed wholeheartedly. What do you think he d have said if he d caught us? Zelia, you re grounded forever? Zelia ventured. Oh come on, he wouldn t say that, would he? Imean, it s me! I guess maybe he wouldn t ground me.I don teven know if he d be upset.But I know he d beworried and he probably wouldn t let you come overany more.I know he wouldn t let us spend nightsanymore.- 130 - He can t honestly think that s a problem.I mean,come on! We wouldn t go that far.Zelia blushed.Honestly, the thought had nevercrossed her mind.She wondered if it would cross herfather s.Suddenly, there was a huge crash from thekitchen.Zelia and Jonathan looked at each other insurprise and then leapt of the couch.Jonathanskidded into the kitchen first and spun around to astop Zelia.He caught her in the middle and they bothnearly toppled to the floor. Glass he explained pointing at the floor andthen Zelia s bare feet. What happened? Zelia asked and glancedaround the kitchen.A plate and a jar of mayonnaisewere shattered on the floor.A cutting board had fallenfrom the counter and lay against the cupboard.Thefridge was wide-open and letting cool air into theroom.It gave Zelia a chill, and, for a moment, she feltsick again.Next to the cutting board was a loaf ofbread that had several pieces spilling onto the floor.The mayonnaise and something red that Zelia at firstthought might be catsup were spread liberally aroundthe base of the fridge and counter.In the middle ofthe mess was a lump.It took Zelia a moment toregister what the lump was.Then she ran forwardheedless of the glass, yelling,  Dad!Zelia s dad lay in the middle of the floor.His bodywas slumped against the counter and his legs were- 131 -sprawled at uncomfortable angles out from under him.His head, which rested against the cabinet drawer,spilled forth a steady stream of blood.Zelia realizedwith a start that that was what was covering andmixing with the mayo on the floor.Jonathan grabbed Zelia around the middle andbodily lifted her and carried her from the room.Shetried to come back in but was stayed by his stern lookand strong arms.When he was convinced she wasn tgoing to try to run across the broken glass, hestepped back into the kitchen and towards Mr.Sinclairto see if he could help.Mr.Sinclair was breathing, shallowly and withsome difficulty, but he was breathing.Jonathan calmlyinstructed a shattered and traumatized Zelia to call911.It took her precious moments to figure out how todo so.When he finally got someone on the phone,she was so hysterical that she couldn t beunderstood.Jonathan had to leave Mr.Sinclair andtake the phone from his upset friend. Yes, we re at 9313 West Street& No; I m notsure what happened.He just kind of fell down.He sbreathing.Um& hang on.Zelia! Zelia! he walked toZelia and put his hand on her arm.She wouldn t lookat him but stared instead at her father, still limp on thefloor.In Zelia s mind he wasn t breathing, wasn tmoving and no one was doing anything to help him.She tried to get to him, found she couldn t move, andcontinued to panic.- 132 -Jonathan moved his hand from her arm to herface and held it firmly.He looked right into her eyes,standing only a few inches away and blocking outeverything else from her view. Zelia. He said softlyand determinedly.She focused on him and seemed tocalm down for a minute. How old is your dad? Zeliathought for a minute, trying to make sense of thequestion.The words didn t seem to fit together andshe wasn t sure what exactly Jonathan was trying toget her to do.Finally, feeling kind of fuzzy, she heard herselfrespond,  He s uh.He s 37.Jonathan! Help him! shelooked over Jonathan s shoulder and tried to push herway past him.He held her back as he repeated herfather s age into the phone.Then he answered aseries of questions with yeses and nos and finallyhung up the phone. The ambulance is going to be here in just acouple of minutes.Until then, they said not to movehim.Zelia! he said when he noticed her eyes hadreverted to the scared, distant look that meant shewas panicking. Z! She looked at him again,breathing hard. Go to the bathroom and get me adamp towel.Go. He pushed her towards the door.She took one last look at her father and then tore hereyes away and went towards the bathroom.It tookher a long time to remember what she was supposedto get and even longer to think of returning toJonathan and asking him what he wanted again.- 133 -When she returned, Jonathan was crouched overher father with another towel pressed firmly to hishead.The towel had been white and was now soakedthrough with blood.Jonathan s hands were wet andred.When Zelia walked into the room, he jumped upand ran to her.Trying to keep her from looking toolong at the state of the kitchen, he grabbed the toweland pushed her gently from the room.Thinkingquickly, he asked her to retrieve another towel and abowl of room temperature water. It needs to beexactly room temperature he said seriously, thinkingthat it would take her a while to fill this new request.He didn t want her anywhere near the kitchen if hecould help it.Zelia left again, not wanting to be away from herfather s side, not wanting to be alone, but terrified ofnot getting whatever Jonathan thought they neededfor her father s condition [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]