Evan's Puzzle

Evan’s Puzzle

A Kaye Cole Short Story

         

I stared out of the window as the rain pounded the pavement. I ran my fingers through my hair. I could hear Evan’s laughter as he worked on the puzzle Mum gave him in the living room. Mum was helping him with it. It was a 100-piece puzzle of Evan smiling. I couldn’t take it anymore. Evan had a tumor in his brain. The devil called cancer. He was slowly dying, day by day. He was only eleven. My little brother was dying, and there was nothing I could do about it. I got up and walked to the door. Mum looked up at me.

         “Where are you going?” she asked. I sighed as my hand froze on the doorknob. I didn’t turn around.

         “I’m going to Denver’s house,” I mumbled. I opened the door and grabbed an umbrella. I got into the car and drove to Denver’s house. Denver was my best friend. He was 18 and I was only two years younger. He had his own place and everything. He loved my little brother too. He knew about the cancer and was just as devastated as I was. I took off my jacket and put down the umbrella as I walked into his house. I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. He sat next to me and I laid my head down on his shoulder.

         “What am I going to do?” I asked him. He put his arm around me. He turned the TV on the news.  We watch the news, not really having anything else to do. I was almost asleep when I heard it.

         “Breaking news!” the news lady, Sandra announced. “A cure for cancer has been found! Researchers in America have found a vaccine that kills tumors anywhere in the body. With only a couple shots of this cure all the cancer seem to just disappear.” I sat up and looked at the screen. Finally, hope.  I smile at Denver. He shook his head.

         “How are we going to get there? And when we get there, how do we find it? There’s only one vaccine,” he tried reasoning. 

         “We should at least try,” I begged. “Please, you know how much Evan means to me. I wouldn’t be able to take it if I knew he… died and there was something I could do about it.” I sighed and thought for a minute.

         “Fine, go home and pack. I’ll buy the tickets for the plane ride. I’ll come pick you up at midnight. Got it?” he said. I smiled and nodded.

         “Thank you,” I whispered. I hugged him tightly before I let go. “I’ll be ready.” I left and ran up to my room as soon as I got home. I immediately pulled out my suitcase and started to pack. I made sure I had everything. Evan came into my room a few minutes later.

         “Adalyn, where are you going?” Evan asked. I turned and faced him.

         “Nowhere, are you feeling okay?” I asked trying to hind the suitcases. He walked all the way in and sat on my bed.

         “I’m okay,” he said. The lump in his head was getting bigger. I sighed and decided to tell him.

         “Evan, sweetie, there’s a… cure in America for your booboo. I’m going to go get it for you so you can get better,” I explained. He nodded. I sighed and kissed him on the cheek. He hugged me. I sighed.

         “Go get some rest, okay?” I whispered. He nodded and headed out. “One more thing,” I stopped him. “Don’t tell Mum where I’m going. She doesn’t need to worry anymore.”

         “Peanut butter lock,” he smiled. Peanut butter lock is something we started when he was five. He loved how sticky peanut butter was. He couldn’t talk with peanut butter in his mouth so we called promises peanut butter lock. He smiled at me before he closed the door behind him. His smile melted my heart. He was so happy but he had nothing to be happy about. He loved life, and if I didn’t get this vaccine, his would be lost. The thought made tears spring to my eyes and it encouraged me pack faster.



         Midnight came sooner than I thought it would. A rock hit my window. I drew back the curtain to see Denver. My house had an alarm system on it, so the only way out was the window. I opened the window quietly.

         “Heads up, my luggage is coming down, then me!” I whispered down to Denver. He nodded and opened his arms. I threw it down quickly. “Here I come.” I smiled and swung my legs over the edge. It didn’t help that I was two stories up. I jumped anyway. I trusted Denver with my life. He caught me and put me down on my feet. He grabbed my bags and we drove to the airport. Once we were in the plane, a wave of exhaustion swept over me. I yawned and shivered. The plane was freezing cold.  Denver saw me and took his jacket off. He draped it around my shoulders.

         “Get some rest. It’s going to be a while till we get to America,” he whispered. I didn’t have enough energy to argue with him. I leaned over on his shoulder and quickly fell asleep.



         The roar of the plane landing woke me up. I slowly blinked my eyes open. Denver was asleep still. I leaned over and peeked out the window. We were here. I shook Denver awake. He looked out of the window.

         “We’re here,” he mumbled. I nodded. We grabbed our bags and a rental car. We landed in Washington D.C. The A.M.B, Army Medical Building, wasn’t far from here. Denver researched it, and they keep a copy of every medicine ever created. We were going to sneak in, grab the vaccine, and hurry back to Australia so Evan can get better. We got to the A.M.B around noon. We explained our situation and the security guards and they were in tears by the end of our story. They talked to the doctors and got back with us after a couple of hours. Instead of taking the copy of the vaccine, they just made us another one. They gave us enough vaccine to cure Evan, for good. He would never have that horrid disease again. Tears sprung into my eyes at how understanding and nice the Americans were. We thanked them and hurried off.

         “We saved Evan!” I yelled on the car ride to the hotel. I zipped up the vaccine in a zip lock bag and tucked it away in my bag. I dropped my bags in the corner when we got to the hotel. Denver was right behind me. I grabbed my nightwear and jumped into the shower before I went to the vacant twin bed.

         “Thanks for coming with me Denver,” I smiled back.

         “I wasn’t going to let you go by yourself. I know how much you love your little brother. I love him too,” he answered. My cell phone rang. It was Mum. I wasn’t going to pick it up. We would be back soon; I didn’t feel like explaining right now. I turned onto my side and fell asleep.



         The next morning, we took the first plane back to Australia. The plane ride was quiet. We talked enough last night. We talked about how the cure was going to save Evan. And about how things were finally looking better. He intertwined his hand in mine.

         “We saved Evan,” Denver sighed. He  smiled. I leaned against Denver. My eyelids fell heavy and I was slipping deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

         “I’m glad you came,” I mumbled. He gave a little chuckle and hugged me.

         “Get some rest, mate,” he whispered. I closed my eyes and stayed asleep. The plane flew steadily back to Australia. I couldn’t wait to get back. I could see Evan, and he would be cured. We could go play on the beach and do puzzles. Evan’s favorite thing was to do puzzles. I woke up in Denver’s car. I yawned and stretched my legs out a little bit.

         “What happened?” I asked sleepily.

         “I didn’t want to wake you up, so I carried you to the car. After Evan’s better, we can go picnicking on Jessler’s Cliff. I hear it has an amazing view of the ocean, but we would stay further back from the edge. A girl died because she tripped and fell over the edge. We’ll have a lot of fun,” he tried to be positive. I smiled and got out of the car when we got back to my house. I grabbed the vaccine and rushed inside. Mum was sitting on the couch as I walked inside. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She looked up and gave me a sad smile.

         “Mum I got the vaccine. Evan can get better. I’ll go get him,” I smiled. I ran upstairs into his room. He wasn’t there. His puzzle of himself lay unfinished on the floor. The only pieces left were the smile. He never left a puzzle unfinished. We were too late. I finished the smile on Evan’s puzzle face. Now he wasn’t hurting anymore, he really could smile. Tears stung my eyes as my body went numb. The vaccine fell out of my hand and my eyes closed. I couldn’t be too late. This couldn’t be happening. He was only eleven. My body shut down. My legs couldn’t hold me anymore. I fell to my knees. Denver came in behind me.

         “Your mum told me. Adalyn I’m sorry, Evan’s… gone,” he whispered. I numbly walked downstairs and into the car. Denver got in the passenger seat and I drove to Jessler’s Cliff. I couldn’t bear the pain anymore. I got out of the car and stood on the edge of cliff. Denver grabbed my arm in an attempt to stop me.

         “What are you doing?” he asked panicked.

         “Goodbye,” I whispered. He let go and I jumped off the edge. I plunged head first into the frigid cold water. I let myself sink slowly. Suddenly, I wasn’t sinking anymore; I was floating. I floated up into the clouds with a smile on my face. Evan ran up to me and hugged me tight. I smiled and squeezed him tightly. “I love you Evan.”