"STEVIE! STEVIE! NOT MY SON, STEVIE! I'LL BE THERE NOW!" Mr. Lake threw the phone on the floor and threw on his jacket.
"Daddy, what's wrong?" Stephanie asked worriedly.
Her father turned to her with a stern, cold look. "Your brother Stevie…your brother…" He stopped mid-sentence and just shook his head. A few tears rolled down his cheek, something Stephanie had never seen happen to him before.
She ran over to him. "What about Stevie, Daddy? What happened?" she asked, shivering crazily.
Mr. Lake picked Stephanie up and dashed out the door. He threw her into the back seat and turned the ignition on.
"Daddy! TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" Stephanie screamed. "What happened to Stevie and where are we going!"
Mr. Lake backed out of the driveway and pushed the speed limit. He took the exit towards the hospital, and Stephanie knew what was wrong.
Stephanie and her father slammed the car doors and sped into the hospital. "Okay, where's Steven Lake? Where's my son?" Mr. Lake demanded when he reached the clerk.
"Sir, only family members may see him now. He's in critical condition," the clerk answered, filing her nails absent-mindedly.
Stephanie pounded her fists onto the counter. "STEVEN IS MY OLDER BROTHER! STEVIE IS MY BROTHER AND WE WANNA SEE 'IM NOW!" Stephanie screamed.
The other people in the lobby glanced over at her, startled. "O-okay, he's in room 201, on the second floor!" the clerk replied, scared of the nine-year-old. Stephanie grabbed her father's hand and the pair ran up the stairs.
" 'Ey, Stevie," Mr. Lake said quietly. Stevie was breathing through a mask. Tubes were fixed in his nose, arms, and legs. He turned his head towards his father and managed a smile.
"Hi, Stevie. How ya feeling?" Stephanie asked. She reached out to hold her brother's hand, but her father grabbed her extended arm.
"Stephanie, no. You aren't s'pposed to touch 'im," he warned.
Stephanie drew her hand back. Father and daughter watched the brother/son as he fogged up his mask. "Aww, man, Stevie! You know I…I d-don't like having to get your homework from your stupid friends all the time…you know that…I don't wanna hafta now…" Stephanie sniffed. Stevie made a strange noise that seemed to be a chuckle.
Mr. Lake handed his daughter a tissue. "Well, Stevie…We'll go out an' buy you a ton o' presents, 'kay? We'll be back, I promise!" So with that, Mr. Lake grabbed Steffie's wet hand and the pair left to speak with Stevie's doctor.
"Well, Mr. Lake, I can tell you that his chance to live is pretty grim," Dr. Clooney(heh heh heh…)said.
Stephanie's dad was discussing what had happened to Stevie with the doctor while Stephanie sat, waiting impatiently outside the room.
"Doctor, mate, please tell me what the heck happened to my son already!" Mr. Lake pleaded.
Dr. Clooney sighed and nodded. "Well…we received a call from a young man named Douglas Finch that his friend had been pressured into an alcohol drinking contest. Your son Steven won, as I was told, by consuming 15 cans of beer in a row."
Mr. Lake turned pale. "Doug and Stevie…drinking?" he asked himself.
The doctor continued. "We rushed over to the place where Steven was said to be and brought him here as quick as possible, but…" Dr. Shih-Tzu wiped his brow nervously. "His liver was damaged by the alcohol. There's only a slim chance that he'll live." Stephanie, who had been listening, fell out of her chair and onto the floor and ran to Stevie's room. She had to be there…to say goodbye.
"STEVIE!" Stephanie cried. She burst the door to his room open, but…
"Stevie…"Stevie whispered.
Stephanie looked at his heart monitor. The lines that showed his pulse were in a race-a race at cheetah-like speed. "Stevie, why did you do it? Why are you leaving me?" Stephanie pleaded.
"I'm not a loser…I had to prove myself…Stevie," Stevie murmured. The monitor was going faster than ever.
Stephanie looked at it and smiled. "Look Stevie! Your heart rate is going up! You'll be okay!"(Hey, she's only nine years old!)
Stevie let out a weak laugh. "No, I won't be, Stevie…"
Stephanie growled. "YOU WILL! YOU WILL! AND STOP CALLING ME STEVIE, STEVIE!"
Stevie just laughed again. He took his sister's hand. "I'm going to see Mom…you've got to be Dad's friend while I'm gone, Stephanie. You've got to be like I was. You've got to be Stevie." The heart monitor gave a low, eerie beep, but Stephanie-Stevie- knew he had been dead long before then. She walked out of the room, wearing a tear-stained face, a new name, and a head full of ideas. Ideas on how to make life better.