A Heartbeat away from You by Ann M. Miller

Author:Ann M. Miller [Ann M. Miller]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sword and Silk Books
Published: 2022-03-16T00:00:00+00:00

At lunchtime the next day, I went to the office, where I found Karen on the phone. She held up a finger and mouthed One second. I sat in one of the three chairs lined up in a row across from her desk and glanced at Mr. B.’s closed office door, hoping against hope he was in.

I rubbed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall. Ali hadn’t texted me back the night before, but I’d been so consumed with my research I hadn’t given myself much time to think about it. I’d read up on pacemakers and their functions, and researched both adolescents and athletes with pacemakers. While I’d unearthed only a couple of articles about professional athletes with the device, I’d found some resources warning against playing contact sports if you had been fitted with a pacemaker, as collisions and physical contact could damage the system. Baseball wasn’t a contact sport per se, but what about throwing yourself across the field to catch a ball? Or running into another player? Or even sliding head first onto a base? Would those kinds of impacts dislodge Ali’s pacemaker or shift the wires in her heart? Mr. B. certainly seemed to think so. I’d tried corroborating his opinion, but the rabbit hole that was the Internet wasn’t much help. By midnight, with my eyes burning, I’d crawled into bed.

At least if I talked to Mr. B., he could shed some light on the situation and tell me exactly what kind of heart condition Ali had.

Karen hung up the phone. “You okay, Max?”

“I need to talk to Mr. B. It’s important.”

“He’s in a meeting. I’m not sure when he’ll be finished with this one. You might want to—”

“That’s all right,” I said quickly. “I’ll wait.”

She nodded. “Okay then. I know better than to try to talk you out of something when you’ve made your mind up.” She slid open a drawer in her desk and held up an open package of Twizzlers. “Want a snack while you wait?”

She didn’t have to ask twice. I vaulted from my chair and pulled out two strings of strawberry licorice. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, honey.” She resealed the package, eyes trained on me. “Girl troubles?”

I almost choked on a piece of licorice. “Wh-what?” I sputtered.

The crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes crinkled as she smiled. “I saw you and Miss Benton leaving school together yesterday. Now here you are, with a glum look on your face, a look I’ve never seen on you before…” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “So I just wondered.”

She saw us? I twisted the strap of my backpack, the tips of my ears burning. Oh, this was bad. This was very, very bad. If Mr. B.’s secretary had seen us locked in a kiss together, I was a dead man.

I coughed. It still felt like a piece of Twizzler was caught in my throat. “I, um…”

Karen laughed. “I’m only teasing. I saw her get in the car with you. I figured you were being nice and offered her a ride.

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