I Live in Your Basement Read Online Free PDF Page A

your breath,” her father instructed her.
    “I’ve been holding it for ten days!” she grumbled.
    Several hundred hiccups later, the nurse led Mom and me into Dr. Bailey’s office. As I stepped inside, I saw that his
office was blue and green too.
    The doctor was a cheerful, chubby man. He had a round face, a shiny, bald
head, and he wore a bow tie under his green lab coat. The bow tie bobbed up and
down on his Adam’s apple when he talked.
    He came around the desk to shake hands with me. Then he used his thumbs to
pull up my eyelids so that he could examine my eyes.
    “Hmmm… looks okay,” he murmured.
    He ran his thumb gently over the bump on my head. “Does that hurt, Marco?”
    “A little,” I confessed.
    “It’s healing nicely,” he told Mom. “Very nicely indeed. Now what seems to be
the problem, Marco?”
    I hesitated. Should I tell him about Keith? If I do, will he think I’m crazy
too? Will he send me back to the hospital or something?
    Should I tell him I don’t remember anything about being in the hospital?
    Dr. Bailey gazed at me patiently, waiting for me to begin.
    Finally, I decided, okay, I’ll tell him everything. He’s a doctor, after all.
He will understand.
    So I told him I couldn’t remember the hospital. And then I told him about the
boy who said he lived in our basement. And I told him about actually seeing
Keith. And locking him in my room. And finding Tyler.
    The whole story. I told him everything. It felt good to tell it.
    Dr. Bailey sat behind his desk and kept his eyes locked on me the whole time.
His bow tie twitched on his Adam’s apple. But he didn’t say a word until I
finished.
    Then he leaned forward and sighed. “It doesn’t sound too bad,” he said.
    “Oh, thank goodness!” Mom exclaimed.
    Dr. Bailey scratched his bald head. “But do you know what I would like to do
just to make sure everything is okay?” he asked.
    “What?” Mom and I said together.
    “I’d like to remove your brain and examine it under a microscope,” Dr. Bailey
said.

 
 
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    “Huh?” I gasped. I nearly fell out of my chair.
    “It isn’t a difficult operation,” Dr. Bailey said, flashing me a calm,
reassuring smile.
    “But—but—” I sputtered.
    “Once I crack the skull open, the brain slides out easily,” the doctor
explained.
    “I—I don’t think so,” I protested.
    He shrugged. His bow tie hopped up and down on his throat. “I can’t really
see the brain clearly unless I remove it.”
    My heart was pounding. My hands were suddenly icy cold. I studied Dr.
Bailey’s round face. “You’re joking—right?” I demanded. “This is some kind of
a sick joke?”
    Mom nudged me in the side. “Listen to the doctor,” she said. “The doctor
knows what he’s talking about. If he says the brain comes out, it comes out.”
    Dr. Bailey leaned farther across the desk. His face loomed so close, I could
see tiny beads of sweat on his forehead. “It won’t hurt much,” he said.
    I turned to Mom. “You’re not going to let him do it—are you?” I demanded.
    She patted my hand. “Whatever the doctor thinks is best. Dr. Bailey is a very
good doctor, Marco. Very experienced.”
    The doctor nodded. “I’ve removed a lot of brains,” he told me. “I don’t mean
to brag, but—”
    “Can Mom and I talk about this?” I asked, stalling for time. “Can we come
back tomorrow or something? I feel fine. Really, I do. In fact, I feel excellent !”
    Dr. Bailey scratched his bald head again. “That’s a good idea,” he replied to
my mom. “Why don’t you call me tomorrow? We can schedule the de-braining then.”
    The what?
    The de-braining?
    I jumped up from my chair and darted for the door. I didn’t wait for Mom. I
didn’t say good-bye. I just ran.
    Mom followed me into the waiting room. “Marco, that was really rude of you!”
she scolded.
    “I’d like to keep my brain,” I replied angrily, and kept walking to the
office door. As we passed, I said