Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes. “Haven’t I been trying to tell you that for the past ten minutes? Geesh!”
“Don’t get cocky, mister. Come on.” I motioned for Jeremy to go ahead of me, but he didn’t need much persuading. He was heading out of the ward faster than I could register.
“Oh, blimey,” I said as I started walking towards the door.
“Have a good time!” Rachael shouted from behind me.
“We will. Thanks, Rachael.”
“Anytime!”
I was running for the door as quickly as I could to try and catch up with him. For someone who looked so pale and skinny, he could run pretty fast. “Hey, hey,” I shouted after him. “How do you know where you’re supposed to be going?”
Jeremy stopped for a moment and spun round to look at me, a sad expression on his face. “I’m not sure where you’re taking me, Tyler. I just want out of this hospital, even if it is just for a few hours. You can understand that, right?”
He looked at me with his tired blue eyes and, right then, all I wanted to do was hug him. “I totally understand that. You go as fast as you want to, but you better be ready for a race. Starting from…” I didn’t even finish the sentence. I was off, laughing as I went.
“Hey. That’s cheating!” he shouted from behind me, but he was soon gaining on me. I didn’t mind. I secretly wanted him to have this.
Soon, we were side-by-side. Then he was past me, heading towards the lift. Jeremy managed to squeeze into it at the very last moment, waving his fingers at me as the door shut.
I didn’t waste any time. With a smile, I huffed and headed straight for the stairs. I hurried as fast as I could without bumping into anyone. The last thing I wanted was to bash into a sick person. That wouldn’t look too good.
I got to the bottom floor so fast that the lift doors were opening as I passed. Jeremy spotted me and, with an intake of breath, rushed out to catch up. I was almost at the door when I saw Jeremy out of the corner of my eye. He zoomed past me and, within an instant, was out the door.
Stopping momentarily, I shook my head, smiling. This boy never failed to amaze me, even in this short period of time we had known each other. Jeremy was quickly becoming like the little brother I never had.
Once I pushed the door open, I spotted Jeremy hunched over, trying to catch his breath. I instantly cringed, feeling guilty for pushing him too hard.
I rushed over to him. “Jeremy, are you all right? I’m so sorry. I never should have...”
Throwing his hand up, he looked at me reproachfully. “Don’t you take this away from me, Tyler. Please. I’m fine, honestly. Just treat me like you would any other day. Treat me like a regular sixteen-year-old about to embark on an adventure. Please, just give me that.”
Trying to fight the tears, I nodded. “Of course,” I replied, grabbing his shoulder.
With a smile, Jeremy looked down at my hand. “You just can’t keep your hands off me, can you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Jeremy, do you ever quit?” I shook my head with a smile.
“I’ll quit when I’m dead. Now, I have two questions. First, where are you taking me?”
I stood there motionless, waiting for the other question. When he didn’t respond, I waved my hands for him to continue. “And the other question?”
Jeremy gave me a cocky grin. “Well, this is the most important question of all. Have you brought me some Twiglets?”
Laughing, I dug into my bag and pulled out the Twiglets. “Okay, your most important question is answered, but as far as the first one is concerned, you will just have to wait a little longer.”
Jeremy didn’t have the most amused expression on his face, but I wasn’t going to let him badger me. This little gem of a surprise would just have to wait. “Come on, Jeremy. Let’s get going. We have a timetable to keep. We can’t be late.”
Jeremy shook his head, but followed me to my car. “Is this yours?” he asked, heading around to the passenger’s seat.
I nodded my head. “Yep. This is my baby. I saved for ages to buy this.” It was only an Alpha Romeo Spider, but she was my baby.
As we both got in, Jeremy hummed his approval. “You have good taste for a chick.”
I chuckled. “Gee, thanks.” I started the car and we were on our way.
Jeremy just kept on gazing out of the window, watching everything like it was the first time he had ever seen it. It was hard tearing my gaze away from this boy who seemed so strong underneath his fragile body. He looked the happiest I had seen him and, of course, it made me feel great that I aided to his happiness in some way.