The Anatomical Shape of a Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

when I saw him waving at passing cars on the corner.
    â€œHey, Will,” I called out from a few feet away. He sometimes got startled, so I didn’t want to give him any reason to freak out on me.
    His head turned, and he surveyed the sidewalk with a confused look until he spotted me. “Sad Girl! Why are you wearing a tie?”
    â€œIt’s part of my work clothes,” I told him, holding out an Alto Market bag. “I brought this for you.”
    â€œMe?” He warily took it and peered inside. “What is it?”
    â€œMeatloaf, potato salad, and a cupcake.” The least froufrou stuff in the deli counter; I didn’t think I’d be doing him any favors by giving him imported olives and spicy noodles. “But don’t get too excited. It’s a bribe. Do you remember when I saw you last night at the bus stop across the street?”
    He sniffed inside the bag before looking up at me like he’d already forgotten I was there. “When? Last night?”
    â€œYou were talking to a boy who knew you. His name’s Jack.”
    Blank face. This might’ve been a bad idea.
    â€œHe called you Willy,” I added.
    â€œMonk!” he said with a grin.
    â€œMonk?” I repeated, wondering if we were on the same page.
    â€œHe’s religious,” Will explained.
    â€œOh, the Buddhism thing?”
    Will brightened. “Yeah.”
    â€œThat’s him,” I said. “How long have you known him?”
    â€œOh, I’m not sure. Years, probably. I see him two or three times a week.”
    Years. That meant he wasn’t just visiting a patient who’d had surgery. “Does he work here or have family that works here?”
    â€œHe comes to see his lady friend.”
    I pictured Jack cuddling up with some busty candy striper, and my heart sank a little—which was silly, because the boy was a criminal, not my potential soul mate.
    â€œDo you know anything else about him? Like his last name? Where he lives?”
    Will sniffled and wiped his nose. “I know he takes the N.”
    â€œOutbound?” I asked. “Like the bus we were getting on last night?”
    â€œNo,” he said, pointing in the opposite direction. “He takes it that way.”
    Okay, that was something. He must’ve specifically taken the Owl bus to paint the BLOOM graffiti piece in the park. Which meant he didn’t live in my neighborhood. But where he did live was anyone’s guess. The N line stretched across the city and connected to a billion stops.
    â€œIs there anything else you know about him?” I asked.
    Will shrugged. “He’s pretty funny. Tells a lot of good jokes. Some of them are over my head. But you know, sometimes people smile when they’re sad. And sometimes girls who look sad are really smiling.”
    He pointed at me and winked like he’d just handed me the secret to life. And that would be nice, but it was more likely he’d recently scored pain pills from one of the patients leaving the ER. And when he started whistling what I suspected to be the theme to The Brady Bunch , I knew I’d coaxed all I could get out of him, which wasn’t much.
    And unless I wanted to camp out with Will until he happened to see Jack, I didn’t hold out high hopes of seeing him again. The medical campus is a busy place.
    Just not as busy I thought.
    Two days later, I headed back over for my second chance with the anatomy director. It sometimes seemed like the only times I really needed the train to be on time were the times it was late, so I was already ten times more anxious than I wanted to be. And maybe that’s why I wasn’t paying attention.
    Someone bumped my arm, and my portfolio flew from my hand. “Ow!”
    â€œMy bad. I thought you saw me.”
    A jacket bent over in front of me and picked up my portfolio. When the jacket stood back up, it grew arms and legs and a face that probably competed