I didn’t know how to find the hospital where Dan had been sent without calling every one of them in the county. Not that there’s that many, only five, but there should be an easier way. Then I remembered that I had Dan’s home phone number, so I checked the contacts on my phone, found it, and dialed. It rang about six times and I almost ended the call, but I heard a woman say “Hello?”

“Uh, this is Mark Lanstrom. I’m a friend of Dan’s —”

She interrupted me. “Mark? You’re the one who saved Dan’s life, aren’t you. Oh, I’m so glad you called. We didn’t know how to get in touch with you to say thank you and how grateful we are that you know exactly what to do when Dan was bitten by that spider. He has done nothing but talk about you and I know he’d love to have you visit him in the hospital if you have the time. I’ll come and pick you up and take you to the hospital. I’m Dan’s mother, Denise Covington. Before I forget, let me get your address and phone number, if that’s alright with you?”

It sounded like she said everything without taking a breath, so by the time she wound down I had a hard time to keep from laughing so I could answer her.

“It’s okay with me. My address is 59 Sweetwater Court in Sanitaria Springs, and my phone number is 555-8827. I called to find out if Dan is still in the hospital, so I guess he is.”

“Yes, the doctor wants Dan to stay overnight. He’s at Binghamton Health Center. I can pick you up at your home and drive you there. I’ll drive you home after you visit Dan.”

“Actually, I’m still at school. I would like a ride to the hospital and back, so I’ll accept your offer. It’ll take me about ten minutes then I’ll be right out front where the school busses pick up kids after school. Oh, yeah, I have Dan’s backpack with his books and clothes that I can give you.”

“Then I’ll see you in about ten or fifteen minutes. I came home to pick up Dan’s little sister and bring her to the hospital to see Dan. If I hadn’t come home I wouldn’t have gotten your call and you’d have a lot of trouble finding out which hospital Dan’s at.”

“I would have just called all the hospitals around here, I guess starting with the one that’s closest to school.”

“They wouldn’t tell you anything unless you’re a parent or guardian. They do that for patient privacy and security. Well, we’ll see you in a little while. I’m so eager to meet you and thank you in person. So for now I’ll say g‘bye.”

“G’bye, Mrs. Covington. See you later.”

I went to my locker and got the books I needed for tonight’s homework and put away the ones I didn’t need. I pulled out Dan’s backpack to give to his mother so she could take it home with her. I didn’t need my gym bag so I crammed it back into the locker and closed the door and made sure it was locked. Then I walked out to the front of the school and phoned my mom.

First, I told her what happened at school today, then continued, “Mom, Dan’s mother is going to pick me up and drive me to the hospital so I can visit him. She said he wanted to see me. Is that okay?”

“Of Course, Mark. How are you going to get home?”

“Mrs. Covington said she’d drive me home.”

“Alright. I’ll see you when you get here. If you think you’ll be later than six o’clock, call and let me know.”

“I will Mom. Bye.”

“Bye, Mark.”

I waited about ten minutes for Mrs. Covington to arrive. A black SUV pulled up. A young girl in the front seat opened the window and called out to me.

“Hi, are you Mark?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Kaitlin, Dan’s sister. Come on, get in!”

I did and we introduced ourselves. His mom was nice and we chatted about what happened to Dan and how it was terrible that a bully would put a spider in another boy’s pants, even if that boy wasn’t allergic.

Kaitlin had lots of questions for me. How did I like going to Columbia High and did I like living here, and where did I live now, and when did we move here, and where did I live before, and did I like it in Chicago, and where did I go to school there, and was it bigger than Columbia, and did Chicago get a lot of snow in the winter, and did I ski, and had I been to Binghamton yet, and had I been to Metro Center to go shopping, and am I on the football team, and what are my favorite classes... and I started laughing.

“Too many questions all at once, Kaitlin!” I told her.

She laughed, then said “I’m sorry. I’m just so nervous about Dan and excited that you saved his life and I want to find out everything about you.”

“Hey, I just used his EpiPen and gave him the shot. It’s the epinephrine that saved Dan’s life.”

“Huh,” she mumbled then turned to her mother. “I still think Mark saved Dan’s life no matter what he says about it.”

“I agree, dear,” Mrs. Covington told her. Sheesh!

The drive to Binghamton Health Center took about ten minutes. When we got there Mrs. Covington said she had to go to the billing department and give them Dan’s medical insurance information. Kaitlin wanted to come to Dan’s room with me, but Mrs. Covington told her to let me go up by myself so Dan would have a chance to talk to me alone.

“By the way, Dan’s in room 206,” she said. “You know, they won’t give out room numbers of patients, especially minors, to anyone who’d not a relative.”

I took the elevator to the second floor and followed the signs that told me that rooms 201 through 229 were to the right. I didn’t check with anyone to see if I could visit Dan. I’d always read that only family could visit, but I didn’t have any problem. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to check in with to see a patient. So much for security and patient privacy! I found room 206 and walked in. Dan saw me and shouted, “Mark!”

I grinned and walked up to his bed where he sat leaning against several pillows. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed my right arm and held on.

“How you doing?” I asked.

“Good enough to go home, except for the doctor who thinks I need to stay overnight. Hey, meet my dad! Dad, this is Mark Lanstrom. Mark saved my life.”

I hadn’t noticed the man standing on the other side near the foot of Dan’s bed. He was tall and very professional looking, wearing a nice suit, dress shirt, and tie. He smiled and walked over to me with his hand extended. I retrieved my right arm from Dan’s grip, and I shook hands with his dad, who then pulled me in a hug. He pulled away and looked me in the eye.

“Mark, I’m so glad to meet you. I’m Paul Covington. Dan’s been talking about you non-stop. Thank you for knowing exactly what to do. You probably saved Dan’s life. Dan’s mother and I don’t know how to thank you enough for what you did.”

“I’m glad I knew what to do.”

“How did you know what to do? Not many people know about EpiPens and how to use one.”

I told him about my cousin and her bad allergies to bee and wasp stings, and how my uncle showed me her EpiPen and how it would be used and would save her life if something had stung her.

“That’s something they should do at the middle and high schools, train all of the staff so there won’t be a tragedy,” he said. “Well, why don’t you chat with Dan until Denise and Kaitlin arrive. You two won’t be able to get a word in edgewise once they get up here.”

“That’s true!” Dan said. “Come and tell me what happened at school after they took me to the hospital.”

I pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed. “Well, I’m pretty sure fourth period Gym was cancelled because there was no one around when I finished dressing and left the locker room. I went to Mrs. Barker’s classroom and we were able to rescue Oscar from your khakis. She put him back in the terrarium and he seemed to be a happy tarantula. I guess he was glad to be back in his home. I have Computer Lab fourth period and it was almost over so I spent part of the time watching Oscar. He seemed to be in a lot better shape than you were!” I grinned, and Dan started laughing.

“Just my luck! I get bitten by a tarantula and he’s caught inside my pants and he comes out without a scratch and I have to be in the hospital eating hospital food.”

“How is the food?” I asked.

“The lunch they gave me makes me wish I was eating cafeteria food.”

“Oh man. Bad, that’s bad.” We laughed about that.

“So what else? Did anyone ask you about what happened to me?” Dan asked.

“After babysitting Oscar I went to lunch,” I replied, “and it was totally crazy. I could barely get into the cafeteria there were so many people around me. Someone bought me my lunch and brought it over to a table where others had me sit down. Then it was questions, so many that I almost didn’t get to eat any of my lunch. Everyone wanted to know what happened and who did it and if you were going to be okay. Trying to walk through the halls and the rest of my classes were the same, and it took the teachers a lot of time to get everyone to quiet down so they could do some teaching. Dan, the main thing is that everyone asked about you and were very concerned about you. The first thing they’d ask me was always, ‘How’s Dan?’ and they seemed sincere about it.”

“What happened to Lamper and Walland?”

“I have no idea. I remember Coach Parks telling Barry to call the ambulance and the State Police, but I never saw any police and I didn’t see either of those guys once you were taken out to the ambulance.”

“I heard a woman yelling ‘stop’ real loud. Who was that and what was that all about?”

“That was the athletic director, Ms. Lynch. She kept yelling at me that I couldn’t use the EpiPen on you, that it was against school regulations, that I had to stop, that I had to wait until the school nurse got there. I yelled right back that if I didn’t use it immediately you might die because I knew that an anaphylactic shock can close the bronchial tubes and cut off air. I said all that while I prepped the EpiPen and when she saw I was going to use it on you anyway, she started yelling for me to stop and after it was a done deal she screamed at Coach Parks to give her my name and that she’d have me expelled.”

“She said what?” Dan’s dad shouted.

I turned to where he stood. “Ms. Lynch said she’d have me expelled. I told Mrs. Barker and she said she’d talk to people at school including my other teachers and the principal and stop that from happening.”

“If there’s any, and I mean any, attempt to expel you, or suspend you, or give you detention, because of what you did to save my son, I want you to phone me immediately.” He handed me a business card. I looked at it and saw that he’s an attorney.

“Thanks, Mr. Covington. I will call you if any of those things happen to me.”

“Good. I can’t believe that Principal Benson would agree to anything like that, but it’s always better to be prepared. Right, Dan?”

“Sure thing, Dad. Like me having an EpiPen and Mark recognizing that I went into anaphylactic shock and knowing how to use the EpiPen.”

That’s when Dan’s mom and little sister walked in. The room turned to chaos for a while. Dan’s mom hugged me, his sister hugged me, his mom hugged me again, they both hugged Dan, and they asked all kinds of questions and I tried to answer all of them the best I could. Finally a nurse came in and said there were too many of us in Dan’s room and we were too noisy. I said I had to get home anyway, and I would call my mom and she’d come and pick me up. Mr. Covington said he’d drive me because it was too late and it would take a lot longer if my mom had to drive all the way to Binghamton and back. That sounded good to me.

I said goodbye to Mrs. Covington and Kaitlin, then to Dan who reached out and we hugged.

“Thanks, Mark,” he said. It looked like he was a bit teared up.

“I’m glad I was there to help. I sure wouldn’t want to lose my first friendly at Columbia High.” I grinned and Dan smiled.

Mr. Covington and I walked to the hospital garage and to his car. Somehow I saw him driving a fancy car like a Mercedes or Audi, but he led me to a Prius. He asked me for my address, and I told him how to get there.

“Mark, is it okay with you if I meet your parents when I get you home?”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. My mom will be home. My dad usually gets home from work at around six, but he had to go to Albany for a meeting so I don’t think he’ll be home until later. He’s the new Medical Director at the Binghamton Health Center. If he’d been here instead of Albany I could have gone home with him.”

At first neither of us talked during the drive, then Mr. Covington broke the silence.

“Dan likes you a lot, Mark.”

That seemed a bit strange for him to say.

“I like him, too.”

“I’m sure Dan would be upset if he heard what I’m going to tell you,” he continued. “He doesn’t seem to have many friends at school. He never has friends over, and I don’t think he ever goes to a friend’s house. You’re the first kid who he seemed to get excited about.”

“That’s strange. He’s real friendly, and I’d think he’d have lots of friends. I know that I’d like to be friends with him. Everyone at school today seemed real concerned about Dan and how he’s doing.”

“Well... there’s something about Dan. When he attended middle school he told one of his friends that he’s gay. That boy spread the story around school, and from then on Dan was shunned by most kids. We hoped that would fade away once he got to high school, but if anything it seems worse. Dan seems to avoid most kids. I think it’s because he thinks they won’t like him because he’s gay.”

“I don’t get it. What difference does it make if he’s gay or straight? Is he being hassled about it at school?”

“I don’t think so, at least he hasn’t said anything about it. But kids don’t tell their parents stuff like that, do they, Mark?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I know how kids don’t want to talk about those sorts of things. We like to keep things to ourselves, like we should be able to handle them ourselves. I like Dan, and I don’t care if he’s black or white or asian, or gay or straight, or left-handed, or has green eyes, or red hair, or anything like that. I want us to be friends.”

We stopped at a traffic signal, and Mr. Covington turned and looked at me.

“The fact that you saved his life and that you’ve been friendly with him means so much for Dan, Mark. I’m glad to hear that you’re willing to be friends with him. I think it’s something that’s very important for him right now. Maybe he can start coming out of the shell he’s built around him.”

“You can count on me, Mr. Covington. I judge people by what’s in here,” I pointed to my heart, “and here,” I pointed to my head, “that’s what counts.”

I thought for a few seconds. “You know, everyone who came up to talk to me at school today, the first thing they did is ask about Dan. They thanked me for giving him the EpiPen injection, but the main thing is they wanted to know was if he’s okay. If Dan thinks people don’t like him, I think he’s wrong. I talked to lots of kids today, every one of them said they hoped he got well real soon and wanted to know when he’d be back at school. That sure doesn’t sound like they don’t like him. I think knowing that will help him pull out of that shell you say he’s built around himself.”

“Mark, I thought Dan might be wrong about the kids at school. Maybe he’s the one who’s been doing the shunning, doing it because he has this preconceived idea that they don’t like him because he’s gay.”

“Could be. I haven’t been there long enough to know about something like that.”

“You and your family just moved here, I understand.”

“Yeah. My dad got the Medical Director job with the Binghamton Health Center so we had to move here.”

“Why did your family move out to Sanitaria Springs?”

“Mom wanted a house with a big yard. They found a house here that they liked. Sort of liked, because they’re fixing it up.” I sort of snarled the next part, “They like to fix up houses.”

Mr. Covington picked up my attitude about fixing up houses. “Sounds like you’re not thrilled with the fixing up part, Mark.”

“Someday I’d just like to live in a house that’s all done and we can move in and there’s nothing to be ripped out and replaced. It gets old living in a construction site all the time.”

“Well, that’s certainly something I can agree with. Do you help with the renovating?”

“In the past, yes. Not the last time, and not this time either. When we moved to Chicago last year and they picked the house I told them I could either get good grades or help fixing up the house, but not both. They said get good grades. So last year I pulled straight A’s for the first time ever.”

“They were renovating your house in Chicago?”

“Yeah. They finished it a few months before we moved here. Dad got the offer to take this job in Binghamton and we’re living in a construction site all over again. I painted my bedroom and we agreed that’s all I’d have to do.”

We drove on the expressway for a while and didn’t say much until we got to the Sanitaria Springs exit. Then I started giving him directions.

“Turn left at the end of the exit ramp, then turn right where it dead-ends at Hunt Hill Road, and keep going.”

I saw our road coming up. “Take the left next to the black mailbox, then keep left at the Y and go straight. Our house is at the end.”

Mr. Covington drove up the road toward our house.

“You’re rather isolated here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, we are. There’s two houses if you take the right turn just before you get to our house. Then there are some houses if you turn left on Pleasant Hill Road back at the exit ramp. You turn right and it’s Hunt Hill Road, you turn left and it’s Pleasant Hill Road.

“Do you like living here?”

“I guess. We haven’t been here very long. There’s a whole forest up in back of where we live. I’ve done some hiking and exploring in there and that’s fun. My mom’s gotten to know our two neighbors. My dad likes it here because we’re close to the on and off ramps for the expressway so it’s easy for him to get to work.”

He stopped in front of our house and I opened the door and got out, then grabbed my backpack from the back seat.

Mr. Covington got out and stood looking at me across the roof of his car.

“Is it okay if I come in and talk to your mom?”

“Sure,” I replied. ‘Like, why not? You already asked me!’ I thought.

I started up the path to our front porch and got out my key. Before I could put it in the lock Mom opened the door. She smiled at me and Mr. Covington.

“Mom, this is Mr. Covington, Dan’s father. He wanted to meet you.”

“Mr. Covington, I’m Maria Langstrom. I’m so pleased to meet you. Come in and sit down, and please call me Maria.”

“Thank you, Maria. Please call me Paul.”

Mom led us into the living room, one of the few rooms that wasn’t under construction. Yet. We sat down, Mr. Covington on the sofa, Mom on one of the chairs next to the fireplace, and I sat in the other chair.

“I want to tell you how grateful my family and I are about the way Mark stepped in and saved Dan’s life today.”

 “All I did was use Dan’s EpiPen and let the epinephrine do what it’s supposed to do,” I protested.

“You’re much too modest, Mark,” he said. He turned to my mom. “Mark showed leadership qualities in what he did for Dan. As a result, Mark and Dan have become friends. I’m especially pleased that has happened.”

“That’s nice to hear. Mark’s father and I know that moving to a new area and a new high school is complicated. One of those complications is making friends. Mark had to leave a group of good friends in Chicago when we moved. I’ve been worried about him finding friends here because we haven’t seen any teens his age living near us. That will make it difficult to get together with friends when he’s not at school. Where do you live, Paul?”

“Our home is about five miles west of here, in the town of Fenton, southwest of the settlement of Port Crane. To confuse things even more, our post office address is Binghamton.”

Mom laughed. “We live in Sanitaria Springs, but our post office address is Port Crane.”

“Mark tells me you’re remodeling your house.”

“We’re doing a lot more than remodeling. This house has two bedrooms and one bathroom. We’re remodeling the kitchen, and adding a new master suite with a bathroom. When that’s finished we’ll completely gut the existing bathroom and bring it up to date. Then we’ll add a family room and an office for my husband, Brad.”

“That sounds expensive.”

“It is, but compared to our house in Chicago this house was a steal. We paid $85,000 for the house, and estimate that we’ll put about $120,000 in the remodel. Would you like a short tour and see what we’ve done so far?”

“Yes, I would. We’ve remodeled our home over the past few years, the latest being the addition of a second bathroom, off the master bedroom, so now we have two and a half baths. We have three bedrooms, a den, an office, and a partially finished basement.”

“Uh, Mom, is it okay if I start on my homework?”

“Certainly, Mark.”

“Thanks. Mr. Covington, it was nice meeting you, and thanks for the ride home.”

“My pleasure, Mark. And remember, if Ms. Lynch gives you any trouble, you phone me immediately. I assume that you have a cellphone.”

“I do, and I will call you if there’s any problem at school tomorrow.”