Weekend by Christopher Pike Read Free Book Online Page B

sheets. As she approached, it was as though she were treading through a thick liquid, with effort being required for every few steps. Shani told herself that this could not be her dear friend.
    She had deteriorated rapidly in these last four weeks.
    Robin was the best of them. Since they had both been adopted, it should have been no surprise that Lena and Robin bore no similar personality traits. Nevertheless, it was hard to believe they had grown up together in the same house. Robin never asked for anything, never complained. Not that she worked at being a saint. An inborn lack of egotism had her naturally more interested in others' cares. However, she was not perfect. A follower, prey to everyone's idle influence, she seldom asserted her personality.
    Fortunately, Lena - a leader at heart -never tried to dominate her. But Robin's greatest fault was her laziness. Though no moron, her grades at school had never risen above a "C". What Robin could do today, she put off till next year. Yet maybe that bad habit was passing. From what Lena said, she appeared to be trying to get the most out of her time off the dialysis machine. Maybe because she might not have a next year.
    Of all the people in the world, Shani loved Robin the most.
    Shani hugged her, feeling Robin's ribs. "I missed you," she said, fighting to keep her voice easy.
    "I missed you more."
    Shani took a short step back, still holding her shoulders. "But you're so skinny. Aren't you eating?"
    "I'm dieting," she joked, fingering a tiny gold eagle pendant that hung from a tiny silver chain around her neck.
    "Hello, Robin," Park said at Shani's back.
    Robin's lower lip quivered before she could hide it with a smile. "You look well, Park."
    "I feel okay. How are you?"
    "Good, great."
    "Give her a kiss, you bastard," Lena said.
    Robin laughed, spreading her arms. "And a hug, too. I'm not contagious."
    Park took her in his arms, and only because she knew him so well was Shani able to see that he, too, wanted to weep. "It's good, real good, to see you again," he said.
    "Really?" Robin sighed doubtfully. But she quickly chuckled to lighten the mood, undoing his embrace.
    "But I'm forgetting my duties as a hostess. You must all be thirsty. Was that Angie's voice I heard? How many have arrived?"
    "Sol's coming up the road," Shani said. "Bert and Kerry're with him. Other than that… Oh, Flynn's here."
    Robin brightened. "Flynn! I'm glad; he's such a sweetheart. I'll get plenty of drinks, then. Don't any of you go anywhere. I'll be right back."
    "I'll help you," Shani said.
    "No," Lena said firmly. "She can handle it herself."
    When Robin had left, Park leaned against the wall as though suddenly weary. "She looks terrible," he said.
    "She has looked better," Lena agreed.
    "Why has she suddenly lost so much weight?" Shani asked.
    "She's been depressed, hasn't been eating," Lena said. "Ten days ago we got a letter from Stanford Medical Centre. It was nicely phrased, but essentially it said that they had her at the bottom of their transplant-candidate list."
    "But why?" Shani cried, taking the bad news hard. A transplant was Robin's only hope for a normal life.
    "Robin only has one kidney now, and it's ninety per cent failed. Who could be more needy?"
    "Morethan ninety per cent failed," Lena corrected. "But you would be amazed at the number of people in her predicament. Stanford figures she had one transplant, and rejected the organ, and is therefore not a prime candidate. In other words, they feel that they gave her a chance, and now they have to give someone else a chance. Plus, she has another strike against her. You might have seen in the news, there's been a big backlash against rich people being able to buy organs and get transplants sooner than poor minorities. All those human rights fanatics are watching the Carlton name closely to make sure Robin doesn't get any special favours. Stanford's got paranoid, and Daddy's offer of a big donation hasn't eased that paranoia. It's