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Jujube was right. The aliens had come, like she’d said they would. Andthey were carrying me toward a spaceship with red and white flashing lights.
    Then everything faded out like the end of a movie, and there was just darkness.

Chapter Nine
    When I woke, I was lying flat on my back in a small room. The bed had steel rails around it, and there was a TV over my head. I could see another girl lying in a bed on the other side of the room. She was watching the TV above her head.
    I was in a hospital. And it was the middle of the day. I could tell because sunlight was pushing through the window as if nothing could keep it out. It was giving me a headache.
    “Well, it’s good to see you open your eyes, kiddo,” said a voice.
    I tried to turn my head to see who was talking, but I couldn’t. Something was holding my neck in place. And I could feel something else, down between my legs. It hurt. Then I realized it was the tube for a pee bag. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even pee on my own. What was wrong with me?
    “Don’t try to move your head,” said the voice. “We’ve got a brace on you.”
    A nurse’s head showed up where I could see it — right over my face. She smiled down at me and straightened my blankets.
    “Why can’t I move?” I whispered. My heart was pounding — I mean really pounding.
    “Don’t worry,” said the nurse. “You’re going to be all right. Your neck and back need complete rest so they can heal. We want you to rest in this brace for a few days. Then you’ll be fine, just like before.”
    “Oh.” I almost started crying, I was sorelieved. For a minute I’d thought I was going to be in a wheelchair.
    “Now that you’re awake, I can go tell your friend,” said the nurse. “She seems to have moved into our waiting room for good. Won’t go to school or anything.”
    With another smile, the nurse left the room. Then I heard running footsteps, and a different face poked itself over mine. When I saw Jujube, a grin took over my whole face.
    “Oh, Froggy,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re not dead!”
    “Thanks, I guess,” I said.
    Something splashed onto my face and I realized Jujube was crying. “Well,” she mumbled, “when your eyes closed like that…”
    I didn’t want to think about it, so I tried to joke her out of it. “When they stuck me in the ambulance, I got the weirdest feeling,” I said. “As if it was a spaceship, and your aliens were finally taking me to outer space.”
    Jujube didn’t even smile. “Froggy,” she said, “your mom and dad are here. They went to get something to eat. I think your dad’s kind of mad. Ms. Lee said they can’t see you unless she’s here too.”
    I just stared at her. My dad? What was I going to say to him? And why wouldn’t Ms. Lee let him see me? “What am I going to do?” I whispered.
    “I dunno,” Jujube said. “Maybe you should tell somebody what happened. Like … maybe Ms. Lee? She seems nice.”
    “I can’t,” I said. What was Jujube thinking? I couldn’t go blabbing things to Ms. Lee. If I did, my dad might hurt my mom to get back at me.
    Jujube leaned over me and stared right into my face. Her green eye was very green. “Why can’t you?” she asked.
    I closed my eyes. I was so scared, all I could think about was how hard my heart was pounding. Then the nurse came back into the room. She hooked a tray over thesteel rails on my bed and said, “Time for lunch, kiddo. Someone’s going to have to feed you.”
    I stared at her. Someone had to feed me? Why? Then I remembered the brace on my back.
    The nurse grinned at me. “You’re just going to have to lie there like a baby. Nothing to do but open wide.”
    “Let me do it,” Jujube said. “Let me feed her.”
    The nurse smiled at me and asked, “Should I trust this kid with your life?”
    My life but not my lunch , I thought.
    “This is service,” said Jujube, picking up the spoon. The nurse laughed and left the room.
    “Open wide,” said