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“Believe or not, I’ve had worse first dates.” Rosa teased.

Andrea’s eyes widened. “If that’s true, I definitely have to hear about it later.”

“Listen, man.” Kevin sat down in the pink guest chair, looking chagrined. “I’m sorry I gave you a hard time about skipping practice yesterday.”

“It’s not your fault,” Josh said. “I should have been straight with you and told you I was sick instead of trying to act like a tough guy.”

“You should never try to act like a tough guy,” Jim teased. “You can’t pull it off.”

“Thanks a lot. And these are my friends,” he told Rosa.

“Your mom asked me to grab some clothes and stuff from your room,” Andrea told him. “I threw it all in your bag.”

“Thanks, Andy.”

“No problem,” Andrea replied. “So what’s the diagnosis? Are you going to survive?”

“I seems that way. Even though I wasn’t too sure last night,” Josh said.

“Things got pretty ugly, huh?” Kevin asked.

“You have no idea,” Rosa told them with an obvious shudder.

Josh had to live through the mortifying details of everything that had happened at the arcade for a second time as Rosa filled them in on their disastrous date. Jim and Kevin snickered more than once, but Andrea only looked worried. Afterward, they chatted about more normal things, like the upcoming dance, the wrestling practice Josh had missed, and the history report that was due. After about an hour, Jim, Kevin, and Andrea gathered up their things to leave.

“I’ll stop back later,” Andrea promised, giving him a hug as she stood from the bed.

Jim and Kevin had already disappeared down the hallway when Andrea started toward the door. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and she very nearly collided with the candy striper that was just coming into the room with a covered lunch tray. Andrea opened her mouth to apologize until she realized who the candy striper was. They glared at each other for a moment then shouted out in almost perfect unison.

“What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” Elena said, gesturing to the red and white uniform she wore. It hung just below her knees, and was by far the longest skirt Josh had ever seen her wearing. “But you . . . Oh my God! Josh? Are you sick?”

“No, he just enjoys hanging out in hospitals,” Andrea said with a roll of her eyes. “And the gown is a fashion statement.”

Elena put the tray down on the table in the corner and looked Josh over with concern. The concern flickered to annoyance and just a little anger when she noticed Rosa was beside him. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Andrea snorted. “Like you care?”

“Listen, he might have pissed me off, but I don’t want him to die or anything!” Elena retorted.

“Please, no catfights in my room,” Josh interrupted when he saw two sets of feminine eyes begin to flash dangerously. “Yes, Elena, I’m fine. It was just food poisoning. I’ll be out of here in a day or two.”

Elena appeared relieved. “That’s good. I mean, I’m glad that you’re going to be okay.”

“Thanks,” Josh said, surprised that she really did seem to care. “Hey, I didn’t know you were a candy striper.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me!” she snapped. Then she collected herself and turned professional. “So, do you need anything? Water or towels or something?”

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“All right. Then I have to get back to work. I’ll see you later. I hope you feel better.”

Elena went back to her lunch deliveries. Andrea shook her head, gave Josh a kiss on the cheek, and darted down the hall to catch up with Jim and Kevin. Josh was glad to be alone with Rosa again, so they could get back to their previous discussion. Only seconds later, Josh’s father, Steven, stalked into the room with a frown on his face. It wasn’t a frown of concern either. He just looked annoyed, as usual.

“Barium carbonate.” Mr. Hanover flipped through some lab results and looked up at Josh in anticipation of a response.

“Come again?” That was the best Josh could manage. “Was that even English?”

“That’s rat poison,” Rosa whispered.

His father looked Rosa over with mild surprise. “Exactly. Barium carbonate is a form of rat poison. Luckily, there were only were only very small traces found in your blood. The question is, how did it get there?” Josh’s father narrowed his eyes.

“Why are you asking me? You’re the doctor.”

Josh’s father continued to glare at him with a combination of barely contained fury and annoyance. Aside from that expression and the obvious age difference, Josh was an exact physical replica of his father, from the thick black hair to the dark brown eyes. But he failed to inherit his medical knowhow, a fact that he was reminded of at least once a week.

“The most common form of barium carbonate is a white, odorless powder,” his father continued, tight lipped. “Does that help refresh your memory?”

“I don’t know what you think I’m supposed to remember.” Josh fumed. Why was his dad giving him such a hard time? Couldn’t he cut him a break when he was sick? He felt like everything he did was always wrong in his father’s eyes. Then he remembered something that he thought might be the answer. “Wait a minute,” Josh blurted out. “The codeine.”

“What about it?” His father asked. “You’ve been taking that for years.”

Josh shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. “The last couple times I took them I noticed some white stuff on my fingers afterward. I didn’t really think anything of it until now.”

“Where are they?” his father asked.

“They should be in my bag.”

When it was obvious that his father had no intention of moving, Rosa climbed down from the bed to get Josh his backpack. Digging to the bottom, Josh pulled out the little bottle and handed it to his father. Mr. Hanover twisted off the cap and emptied the pills into his hand. Sure enough there was still white powder all over the pills. His father sniffed the residue on his hands and inside of the bottle and his ever present frown deepened.

“Josh,” Steven said, after he put the pills back in the bottle and washed his hands off in the bathroom sink. “I think we have a serious problem here.”

“Tell me about it!” Josh agreed. “Someone tried to poison me.”

“You don’t actually expect me to believe that, do you?” His father asked angrily. “First your car, now this. Plus your grades have been slipping. What is this really about? Some kind of twisted way to get attention?”

Josh was too surprised to even stutter a reply. His dad had always been hard on him, but this was taking things to a completely different level. Josh had to the fight back the ridiculously juvenile urge to burst into tears.

“Dad, I didn’t. . . .”

“Do you realize how serious this is?” his father demanded, shaking the bottle in Josh’s face, not even caring that Rosa was listening to every word. “You could have killed yourself! Is that what you wanted?”

“Steven, that’s enough!” Josh’s mother appeared in the room just in time. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pressed into a fight frown. She was back in her white robe with her blonde hair pulled into a tight French braid.

“Robin, you know what this could have done to him!”

“I know that your son is in the hospital. He’s sick and in pain, and he needs his father, not the chief of staff!” she retorted hotly. “He certainly doesn’t need you screaming at him like a wild banshee.”

His father grunted and tossed the chart down on the bed, but took the bottle of codeine with him. “Then you handle him.”

Once he was gone, Rosa excused herself. Josh couldn’t blame her. He wished he could run away too. Instead, he leaned back into his pillow and flinched. His head and his stomach were starting to hurt again. Whatever drugs they had given him were wearing off. After what had happened with his migraine medicine, he would probably never take any kind of medication again. Not even an aspirin.

His mother sat on the edge of the mattress and patted his knee sympathetically. “Your father is a little gruff sometimes,” she explained. “But he really does love you. He’s just worried. That’s all.”

“He has a funny way of showing it,” Josh said sullenly.

“He has a good reason to be upset,” she said. “If you really did do this intentionally. . . .”

“God, Mom, not you too!” Josh exclaimed. “Does my whole family think I’m a suicidal nut job? I didn’t poison myself! Someone else did this to me!”

“What do you mean, Josh?” His mother asked, looking confused. “Who would want to do this to you?”

“Forget it. Never mind. You wouldn’t believe it anyway.”

“You can tell me anything. I’m your mother. I just want to help you.”

Yeah, help me right into the mental ward, Josh thought uncharitably. “Mom, I don’t feel good at all. Can we talk about this later?” It wasn’t a lie. He really did feel lousy.

“Of course.” She heaved a heavy sigh and rose from the bed. “Try to eat something though. You can’t leave this place unless you hold down a meal. And I’m sure you’d like to get out as soon as possible.”

“Definitely.”

“If you need me for anything, have the nurse page me. I love you, Josh,” she added. “Your father and I both do.”

“I know, Mom,” Josh relented. “I love you guys too.”

Rosa came back in with a soda a few minutes after his mother left. He hardly knew what to say to her. It was bad enough that she had seen him pass out and vomit in the last twenty-four hours. Now his father had completely humiliated him and made him look crazy. He almost wished he hadn’t told her about the note. She might agree with his father.

“Is it safe?” Rosa asked as she inched her way into the room.

“Yeah, the fireworks are over,” Josh told her. “Sorry you had to witness that. My dad is a little uptight.”

“Just a little,” Rosa agreed sympathetically. “He was pretty hard on you.”

Josh waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m used to it.”

“Okay then. Let’s forget about him. How about we check out what’s under that lunch tray Elena brought in?”

Josh twisted his face into an expression of feigned horror. “It’s probably a severed head.”

“No,” Rosa observed as she lifted the lid. “It’s just chicken soup and a buttered roll. How about it?”

Josh groaned and put a hand on his stomach. “I might throw up on you again.”

She laughed. “I can handle it. I have a strong stomach.”

“No, really.” Josh felt his face turning chalk white as he got a whiff of the soup. His stomach did one massive somersault. “I can’t handle it. Not yet.”

Rosa covered the tray and narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re still feeling bad, huh?”

Josh shrugged. “I’ll survive.”

“Well, you have to at least drink a little water. You’re going to dehydrate.”

Rosa poured some of the ice water from the mustard yellow pitcher into the matching yellow cup on the side of the bed. Josh humored her and took a few sips. Then he yawned and stretched out his arms.

“Are you tired?” she asked. “Do you want me to leave?”

“Not unless you want to.”

She shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “I have nowhere else to be.”

Josh flipped on the television, finding some old nineties adventure movie that was just starting. He patted the side of his bed and gestured for Rosa to join him. She crawled up next to him and he rested his head on her shoulder. He was really glad to have her there. She made him feel better, physically and mentally. Josh felt his eyes growing heavy as he tried to concentrate on the movie, but he was quickly losing the battle. Rosa had a long night as well, and before long, they had both fallen asleep in the shelter of each other’s arms.

True to her word, Josh’s mother let him go home on Sunday when he was able to keep down both a light breakfast and a meager lunch. He was relieved to be out of the dank and depressing hospital room, surrounded by beeping monitors and the smell of disinfectant. At least at home, he had access to cable and the Internet to keep himself occupied. As a bonus, he didn’t have to spend the time alone. Rosa drove him home and spent the entire evening with him. They played a few board games and watched a few movies. With little sympathy for his recent recovery, Rosa even forced him to study chemistry and work on his history report. She still fussed over him and offered multiple backrubs, which he was more than happy to take advantage of. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

When Monday rolled around, Josh disregarded his mother’s advice to take it easy for a while longer and decided to go to school, even though he still wasn’t feeling one hundred percent. His father had actually taken the day off from work, and the last thing Josh wanted was to spend the whole time hiding in his room avoiding him. He’d rather be with his friends.  Andrea had already left without him, assuming he’d be home awhile longer, so Josh jumped into his father’s Mercedes and stopped to pick up Rosa along the way.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Josh leaned over to kiss Rosa’s cheek as she slipped into the passenger seat. She lifted her braid onto her lap to avoid catching it in the door. “I guess you must be feeling better if you’re starting the day off with corny lines.”