In a Heartbeat Read Online Free PDF Page B

cheek and left.
    “Time for you to get ready for school,” Mom said. “Why don’t you wear your new outfit?” Her voice was light and happy, not at all mad, as if the mommy from last night was just a bad dream.
    I got dressed and put my new Barbie in my bag for show-and-tell. She had long hair pulled back in a ponytail like mine. Mom never bought me the Princess Barbie. I had Astronaut Barbie and Gymnast Barbie, and a Barbie doll dressed in a little gray suit with a miniature cell phone and a briefcase, driving a sporty convertible.
    I gathered up the crumpled wrapping paper from my presents and went downstairs to throw it away. When I opened the lid of the garbage can, there, on top of the garbage, was my cake. The double-layer chocolate with white frosting and purple balloons drawn on top stared up at me. A couple of unlit candles still stuck to the balloons.
    How could Mom throw away my cake? Was I that bad? My name trailed down the sides of the plastic garbage bag in runny purple frosting. I’d had my heart so set on eating the chocolate layers that it tore me up inside to see it mixed up with the potato peelings and coffee grounds. I felt like that cake, all smashed up and forgotten.
    I reached down and grabbed a chunk of chocolate cake and stuck it in my mouth, smearing purple frosting on my new sweater. The cake was delicious. I jammed another large hunk of cake into my mouth, making more of a mess on my face and clothes. I ate more, smashing swirls of chocolate and white and purple into my mouth.
    Mom came into the kitchen then. She folded her arms and stared at me, covered in chocolate crumbs and purple and white frosting, with smears on my face and new sweater. I waited for the outburst, the screaming, the spanking. But her face was calm, not like the face of the mom from last night. All she said was, “Go change your clothes, Eagan. Those are dirty.” She didn’t even say it in an angry way. She said it like she was saying to wash my hands or get my coat on, like it was no big deal.
    Last night’s mom had a harsh voice and looked at me with angry eyes. Today’s mom had kind eyes and a soft voice.
    That afternoon, when I got home from school, there was another cake on the table: a store-bought cake, bigger and fancier than the one she’d thrown away. This cake had a figure skater drawn on top and pink trim around the top and sides. My name was written in fancy letters, and the candles were set in little yellow candleholders.
    Mom put her arm on my shoulder when I saw the cake. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she said with a sigh. Next to the cake were two tickets for the ice show where I could see Michelle Kwan in person.
    We sang “Happy Birthday” at dinner, and I blew out the candles. Mom smiled at me and opened a pint of chocolate swirl ice cream to put on top of the cake.
    “I want an extra big piece,” Dad said as he winked at Mom, and I knew that everything was right again.
    That cake tasted good. But the cake in the garbage tasted better. It was the best cake I ever ate.

8
    Amelia
    Mom missed the exit to the hospital. She never misses the exit. Never, ever. But that day, the day we were going to get my new heart, she did.
    “Oh, no!” Mom banged her hand on the steering wheel when she realized what she’d done. “I can’t believe I missed it.”
    “There’s another exit half a mile up,” I said, pointing toward the sign above us. “You can just get off there.”
    Mom shook her head. “I’ll have to turn around and go back to that exit. That’s the only way I know how to get there.”
    She clutched the steering wheel. The veins in her hand stuck out like ridges on a potato chip. It was as if a rubber band was holding her together and it was ready to snap.
    I wasn’t much better. My hands were clammy, and I felt like puking even though I hadn’t eaten all day. How would I feel with someone else’s heart beating inside me? I wasn’t sure I’d still be me.
    And what if I died? I