Page 174 of Pride High 2: Orange

“He’s got Warrant!” Omar said, reaching over to grab the tape. “Is this the one with ‘Cherry Pie’ on it?”

“Sure is,” Diego said from the front seat. “Give it here.”

“No, wait!” Anthony said, sounding just as panicked as Omar had ten minutes ago. “He has Pink Floyd. Let’s listen to that instead.”

“Too mopey.” Omar passed the cassette to Diego.

Scant seconds later, Diego was belting out the lyrics while Omar banged his head. He glanced over at his best friend, whose nostrils were flaring in disdain. Omar nudged him and made the sign of the horns while sticking out his tongue until Anthony laughed.

They kept rocking their way down the interstate, although Omar sobered up when they took an exit and the hospital came into view. Then all he could think about was Silvia and how much he wanted to help her. The car pulled into the parking garage. When they reached the third floor, he saw her waiting by the door, her face lined with worry.

“Let me out here,” he said.

“This isn’t your mom’s minivan,” Diego replied as he kept driving. “Two doors means you wait until the driver gets out.”

He felt like he was going to lose it while Diego parked. As soon as he could, Omar launched himself from the backseat and ran over to her.

Silvia hugged him and didn’t let go. “This whole thing is a stupid mess,” she sobbed. “I don’t know what to do. I hate it!”

“It’s going to be okay,” Omar assured her. “We’ll figure it out.” He felt her stiffen and pull away as the others approached. “I didn’t tell them,” he whispered. “They think he can’t afford to pay his bill.”

Her forehead crinkled before she seemed to accept this decision. Then she put on her customer service face and turned around. “Diego!” she said. “Hi!”

“Hey.” Diego jerked his head toward Omar. “Don’t tell me you’re dating this idiot.”

“What can I say?” Silvia replied. “I love a guy who comes running when I call.” She shot Omar a grateful expression.

He would have kissed her, right then and there, if the situation wasn’t so serious. “So what’s the plan?” he asked.

Silvia explained that she had parked close to the door and showed them the wheelchair she’d found. “We only need to get him out without anyone seeing, but it’s hard, because there are nurses and doctors everywhere. And he has a roommate.”

“If it’s a distraction you need,” Omar said, puffing up his chest, “I’m your man.”

“I’ll also need help getting him into the wheelchair,” Silvia said.

“Then it sounds like you need some muscle.” Diego put an arm around her. “Show us his room.”

They went inside together. Omar stared in disbelief before he hurried to catch up. Silvia shrugged off Diego’s arm, because she was awesome, but he was still way too close to her. Omar shouldered his way between them. Diego feinted like he was going to elbow Omar in the face before he laughed and made room. Which gave him an idea as they turned a corner.

“That’s it,” Silvia said, nodding farther down the hall. “The second door on the left.”

Which was near the nurses’ station. She wasn’t kidding about there being too many people around. Not just the staff but visitors and the occasional patient in a hospital robe. Doing this would be like trying to sneak into a beehive and out again.

“He’s so close!” Silvia said in frustration. “But I can’t get him out.”

“You will,” Omar said. He looked over at Diego. “Bar fight.”

Anthony groaned.

Omar kept his attention on Diego. “Do you remember?”

Back when they were going through their wrestling phase—as Anthony called it anyway—they liked putting on performances of their own. As a prank, they’d show up separately at the same place so people didn’t know they were together. Then they would get into an argument. And a fight.

“Yeah,” Diego said. “I remember.”

“Are you up for it?”

Diego sniffed. Then he shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”