Chapter 1 continued

Jacob sat, as calmly as possible, dabbing at his nose with a wad of tissue, as his parent's station wagon bounced around the freeway. His father was sitting in the passenger seat watching a TV show on a laptop, oblivious to his surroundings. Jacob's mother was frantic, weaving through traffic, honking and yelling at cars.

"Get out of the way! My son's life is in danger! These drivers are terrible!" she screamed, looking over at Jacob's dad. He didn't flinch.

"Oh yeah, honey," he mumbled, without looking up from the laptop.

"Mom, I don't think the other cars can hear you." Jacob whined from the backseat, annoyed at the noise.

With that, Jacob tuned out and stared out at the landscape and the bridges they had to cross to get downtown. He imagined that a huge, rusted robot came out of the water and began picking up cars, asking for directions to Matterhorn Mountain, Jacob's favorite water slide theme park. Jacob imagined witches, flying on brooms, weaving through traffic like his mom did now, casting spells on cars, changing them into frogs or rocks, or whatever. Jacob didn't need TV like his dad, or...anything. He just needed imagination.

"Hey buddy." A voice playfully came from beside Jacob.

Jacob whipped his head across to look beside him, surprised at the unfamiliar voice. Jacob clawed at the seat, pushing himself as far away from his...unexpected visitor.

"Jakey? What's wrong? Is everything ok back there?" His mom called, sensing Jacob's unease.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Jacob whispered back, eyes locked on the person who sat next to him now.

"Sorry I scared you. I'm Davey Hart, put 'er there," Davey stuck his hand out to Jacob.

Davey sat, slumped in the seat next to Jacob. He wore red high-tops, tight blue jeans, a button up shirt and blue rimmed glasses that poked out from his mussed blond hair. Jacob pondered Davey's unusual arrival and his weird attire a little before thrusting out his hand to meet Davey's.

Their hands met, and they shook.

Jacob looked at the hands, then at Davey.

"How did you get in our car?" Jacob whispered, peering up at his mom, who was looking for a parking spot near the hospital.

"Easy peasy my new friend. I jumped in a few streets back, when you were stopped at some lights," Davey explained.

"Oh. I never thought of that. So you are real? Not some superhero or anything?"

Davey laughed, "Nope. Just reg'lar old Davey Hart, at your service."

"What are you doing here?" Jacob asked.

"Well, who's gonna keep you company at the hospital? Your imagination? Ha!" Davey slapped his knee at the comment.

Jacob turned away from him, noticing his shirt had become bloody. In his surprise, he let the blood drip down from his nose onto his chin and his shirt. He dabbed at his nose with the clogged tissues he clutched. What is going on here? Is this guy for real? Jacob's head raced with a hundred other thoughts.

The car stopped abruptly.

"Alright, get outta the car! We're here! Jakey! Don't forget your tissues. Freddy, honey! Are you coming?" Jacob's mom screeched into the car as she opened the door and exited the station wagon.

Jacob's dad didn't look up.

"Oh! For Chrissake Fred! Stay in the Goddamn car. You can't watch TV in the hospital anyways!"

Jacob's mom scowled as she grabbed Jacob's arm and yanked him out of the car. Davey followed, his hands in his pockets.

***************************************
The Doctor's footsteps echoed through the hallway, and into the room where Jacob sat upright in a white hospital bed. He felt groggy from being knocked out by some sort of sleepy drug. Gauze and tubes were shoved in his nose from his visit in the Emergency room. The hospital said they wanted to keep him overnight for tests. His parent's had long gone to work, promising to visit later.

Davey lounged in a chair beside the bed.

"Jacob Carlisle?" The doctor asked, flipping sheets around on a clipboard.

"Yeff, bat's be." Jacob said, trying to talk as clearly as possible.

"Hmm. I'll be back."

The doctor turned swiftly, and marched back out of Jacob's room.

"Well, that was fun," snorted Davey, "This place sucks."

Jacob snickered a little, but was stopped short with pain. He didn't know much about hospitals, but the nurse said they caterized his nose. Jacob liked to think that he had undergone a radioactive treatment in his nose that would help transform him into a mutant cat one day, like in the books he read.

Jacob had had a terrible headache ever since they tried turning him into a cat. The nurse gave him pills for the pain, but it still hurt.

"Bavey, whaks wong wiff be?"  Jacob asked. He was scared. Hospitals were scarier than he thought they'd be.

"I don't know, Jake. That doctor guy can probably fix you though," Davey said, confidently. His leg swung like a pendulum over the arm of the chair and he looked at the machines next to Jacob's bed.

"I wonder what this stuff all does," Davey said, thinking aloud.

"Bavey, bon't toush abyfing. Pwease." Jacob choked.

Davey reached out with his foot at a big red switch, smiling.

"Bon't eben yoke, Bavey."

"What are you gonna do?"

The I.V's in Jacob's wrist wouldn't allow him to move much, so he just glared at Davey.

The two sat in silence for a while, Davey moving around the room examining machinery, and Jacob sat, watching his odd new friend.

Jacob's mom burst into the room.

"How is my baby!" she yelled, rushing to Jacob's bedside for a hug.

"I'b OK bub," Jacob croaked.

"Where is the doctor?! He pulled me out of work to tell me something."

Jacob's mom ground her hands together nervously. She didn't look very good.

"I cab bush dis putton ab sobeone will cobe?" Jacob motioned his mom towards the help button. The doctors said to only push it in an emergency.

Jacob's mom pushed the button and sat at the edge of Jacob's bed. She washed her face in her hands and groaned.

Almost immediately, nurses and doctors rushed into Jacob's room, expecting disaster. They all stopped when they noticed nothing was wrong.

The doctor from before was there, and he came forward.

"What is the meaning of this? That button is for emergency only!" He said sternly, finger pointed at Jacob.

"I'm sorry, doctor, it was my fault. I'm very concerned about my baby, Jakey," Jacob's mom said, rising from the bed.

"Well, its just for emergency...for future reference," the doctor stammered.

"OK. What news do you have?' Jacob's mother asked, stepping closer to the doctor.

Davey walked back towards Jacob's bed and started touching machines. Nobody noticed.

"Well Mrs. Carlisle, I'm afraid that Jacob might have a malignant tumor in his brain. We believe that it may be the cancerous type. We also think that it is located in Jacob's Prefrontal Cortex. Nosebleeds this severe are often indications of a brain tumor."

Jacob's mother dropped to the floor. Only once the doctor approached her, did she awake from her short stupor and scream and kick in a fit on the floor of Jacob's hospital room.

"HE'S ELEVEN! HE'S ONLY ELEVEN!" She screamed, sobbing on the floor.

Jacob looked over and saw that Davey was flipping switches and pushing buttons on the machines that were next to his bed. All that Jacob could hear was the "bleep" and "bloop" that he thought the machines made. His mother's screaming drifted away to white noise, and his head sunk into the pillow. He saw Davey look over him as his eyelids drooped closed. Sleep came without effort.