Double-Crossed (16 page)

As he reached down to put the magazine on the table next to his bed, I saw him wince with pain. I realized we hadn't talked at all about the surgery.

“How are you feeling, Oscar?” I asked him.

“It hurts,” he said. “But that's okay. It will take a while, but before too long, I will be healed. The doctors say my leg will be almost normal. Do you know what that means, Sammie?”

I shook my head.

“It means that I can throw away that stupid boot. It means I won't limp anymore. It means I will be able to dance with you. Will you dance with me, Sammie?”

“Sure, Oscar. But I have to warn you, I'm a pretty lousy dancer.”

“I don't believe that. I think you can do anything you want, just like Wonder Woman.”

I couldn't help but smile. This guy had a crush on me, and it felt really nice.

“Let's make a date for our first dance,” he said. “One year from today.”

“I just so happen to be free one year from today.” I smiled. And when he smiled back at me with those gorgeous white teeth and dark, shining eyes, I have to confess my heart did a little happy dance. I had no idea what the next year would bring. Oscar would go home to El Salvador to get better. Maybe he'd come back and visit. I hoped he would. But at that moment, the future didn't matter. All that mattered was the way I felt right then and there.

Happy. Loved. Beautiful. And, yes, even thin.

Or at least, not fat.

There was a knock on the door and Doug came back in.

“Here's your snack,” he said. “Knock yourselves out.”

So it was that Oscar Bermudez and I sat there in Room 407A, laughing and talking and eating red Jell-O together.

And let me tell you this, my friends. No Jell-O ever tasted so sweet.