The PAN

Chapter One

"I get to go home when you're finished with tomorrow's tests, right?" Vivienne assumed, feeling hopeful for the first time since she had been admitted to the hospital.

"I'm afraid not," the doctor said, adjusting the glasses on his nose. "Your diagnosis is still inconclusive."

She slumped against the pillow and picked at the surgical tape surrounding the IV on the back of her hand. The four other doctors in white coats and stethoscopes muttered their agreement.

On her way to school on Monday, she had felt a bit light-headed. Nothing new considering she had skipped breakfast. She'd felt anxious as well, but that was because she had only spent twenty minutes cramming for her history test. Halfway through first period, waves of dizziness and nausea had crashed over her. Before she could get to the school nurse, her world had gone black.

Now she was sitting in a stuffy hospital room being stared at like she was an exhibit at the zoo. The rotten smell from the wilting flowers at her bedside was turning her stomach, and if the doctors didn't stop scribbling on their clipboards and tell her something, she was going to scream.

As if he heard her mental freak-out, the doctor in the glasses told her that he was sure she had nothing to worry about. Then he escaped with the rest of his colleagues.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Lynn burst through the curtains, reeking of perfume and cigarettes. She collapsed onto the chair and dropped her purse on the floor. "Sorry it took me so long. Traffic was nuts," she said, shrugging free from her coat and brushing her permed hair back from her face.

"Is that a new coat?" Vivienne asked. It wasn't the faded brown one her foster mother usually wore.

"Got it at Goodwill." Lynn picked some lint out of the faux fur-lined hood. Her neon-pink nails did nothing to distract from the nicotine stains between her fingers. "It was too cheap to pass up."

The coat she had bought Vivienne three years earlier had a broken zipper and was too short in the arms. "New purse too?"

"They were both on sale. Nice, huh?" Lynn returned Vivienne's nod with a gap-toothed smile. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I haven't puked since yesterday. So that's a win."

"It sure is. I talked to the doctor on my way in here. They said you're going to be staying for a little bit longer."

The last thing Vivienne wanted was to discuss her health with Lynn. "How's Lyle?" Her foster brother had texted a few times, but hadn't made any effort to see her.

"He's fine. Maren's good too."

Vivienne's foster sister was probably too busy with cheerleading practice or organizing homecoming to realize she was even in the hospital.

They chatted about nothing for another ten minutes before Lynn claimed she needed to get home to cook dinner. Which was crap. It was bingo night. She would probably leave straight from the hospital for the church hall.

Vivienne didn't mind. She preferred being alone to making idle conversation. Once Lynn was gone, she tried taking a nap. But sleeping was impossible with people coming in and out of the room like it was an airport.

When she opened her eyes, there was a dark-haired teen lounging on the other side of the dividing curtain. His black hoodie and dark jeans stood out like an ominous shadow against the sanitary white walls.

The door opened, and a nurse came in wearing the same sympathetic smile as every other nurse.

"Someone was awfully thirsty," she said cheerfully, refilling the jug of water on the rolling tray table. Her dark ponytail swung from side to side as she moved around the bed.