I parked my truck in front of the hospital and left it in L2. I loved not having to look for a parking spot or to parallel park. The pediatric oncology ward was on the fourth floor of the hospital and I made my way over there with an uneasy felling in my stomach. For some reason, I felt sure that Evan had died while I was away and that I’d walk into his room only to find an empty bed.

As I turned the corner into the corridor with Evan’s room, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Evan’s parents sitting on either side of his door, like guardian lion statues protecting the entrance to the treasure room. Evan was still alive! I’ve never been so happy that clairvoyance wasn’t my ability. My premonition of his passing was just my imagination running away from me.

Both heads swiveled in my direction as I came closer and I could see the wary expressions on their faces relax. I wasn’t a doctor or a nurse come to prod their son further and maybe give them more bad news. I was just the friendly volunteer who played with their son. I gave them a small wave as a greeting and asked them how Evan was.

“He’s doing much better than the doctors expected, but he’s not doing great. He barely has the strength to get up out of bed for a few minutes every day. He’s tires easily and he sleeps a lot. I expect he’ll be completely bedridden in a few days. After that, the doctor says that he’ll only have a week or two.”, Evan’s dad said. His voice was flat and it sounded like he’d given that speech a few times already.

Despite their sorrow, Evan’s parents sat with me and told me of all the funny moments that I’d missed during my trip. They told me about Evan never complaining to them or crying about his sickness and how hard he had worked to cheer them up after each piece of bad news that the doctors had brought to them. We sat there and they talked about him for half an hour before Evan woke up and we all went in to see him.

“Abby! You’re back. How was your trip? Did you find anything?” Evan asked me as soon as he saw me. Although he sounded strong, he didn’t look it at all. He looked tired and worn out, like he’d just finished running a marathon. He’d also lost more weight since I’d last seen him and he had large circles under his eyes.

He was sitting up in his hospital bed, propped up by pillows on all sides. He’d probably fallen asleep that way after lunch. I walked up to his bed and he slowly lifted a clenched fist for me to bump. I could tell that it was an effort for him.

“Hey Evan. I like the new hair style. Stubble is all the rage these days.”, I said.

“Yeah, without the chemo I’ll have long hair down to my waist before you know it. How was your trip?”, Evan repeated.

I told him all about my trip, about going into the mines, camping and riding out to do my own survey. He hung on every word and his eyes popped when I told him about the dinosaur.

“A real T-Rex!?”, he asked.

“Yup. Only I haven’t told the owner about it yet, so keep it quiet. I need to negotiate with him before I tell him where it is. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be allowed to name him. Got any ideas for a good name?”

“The Evanator!”, he shouted, shortening his arms into mock t-rex arms and moving them slowly from side to side. We all laughed at that and Evan started suggesting a bunch of other names.

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“Sorry. I’ve already decided. I’m naming him after the fiercest and bravest person that I know. My dinosaur will be called, Evan.” Evan let out a whoop at that and turned to his mom and said, “Abby’s naming her dinosaur after me! I’m going to be famous.”

A nurse I didn’t recognize from my shifts at the hospital walked in then to check on Evan. She tried to shoo us all out to let Evan rest some more, but Evan wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I’m not tired. I just woke up a few minutes ago. Abby’s been away and he have a lot to catch up on. She’s going to show me some new magic tricks.” Evan said this firmly. He wasn’t asking for her permission. He was telling her. The nurse took one look at his determined face and decided to back down.

“Can I stay and watch?”, she asked.

“Sure. Abby does great magic tricks. But you can’t ask her how she does her tricks. It’s a secret.” Evan looked at me as he said this and I nodded my head.

“How did you know that I’d have a new magic trick for you?”, I asked Evan.

“Because you always have a new trick when you come to visit.”

“Huh. You’re right. Pretty smart kid. Well, this one took me awhile to figure out and I need a bit more of a set-up than usual. Hmmmm, let’s see. I’ll need one of those mobile privacy screens.”

I turned to the nurse raised my eyebrow enquiringly. She left the room and came back less than a minute later with one. We set it up between Evan’s bed and the window and I made sure that the screen wouldn’t show my silhouette behind it by draping a blanket over it. A final check to make sure that no one could see me behind it and I was ready to go.

“Ok. All set. Now Evan, do you want me to appear behind the screen or do you want me to disappear from behind the screen?”, I asked him.

“Uhm. Appear!”

“Great. And do you remember the magic words?”

“Of course! I love choc...”. I stopped him there.

“Hold on Evan. Not yet. I’m going to leave the room. As soon as the door closes behind me, I want you to say the magic words out loud. But don’t yell. We don’t want to disturb anyone.”

Evan nodded his head and I passed by Evan’s parents and the nurse, all with quizzical expressions on their faces.

As the door began to shut behind me, I shifted to R2 and raced back into the room. I passed through the nurse and the screen and came to a stop behind the privacy screen. I got there just as Evan finished saying ‘cookies’ and phased back to reality. I was about to pop out with a giant ‘Ta-da’ but thought better of it. Let them doubt first.

After a few seconds, the nurse asked, “What’s supposed to happen now?”.

Evan whispered, “Abby’s supposed to reappear behind the screen.”

“I don’t think her trick worked this time”, Evan’s dad said.

And that’s when I burst out with my ‘Ta-da’.

The nurse nearly had a heart-attack and Evan’s mom jumped about a foot in the air. I may have overdone my entrance by just a wee bit. Evan didn’t seem to care though. He started laughing and clapping and for just a few moments, he seemed like his old self. Full of life and energy. It didn’t last long, but his parents saw it and I noticed their eyes start to glisten.

The nurse got her nerves calmed down and asked, “How the fuck did you do that?” Her hand immediately rose to her mouth in shock and embarrassment. She looked appalled at having sworn in front of a child and she immediately began to apologize to Evan’s parents. Evan’s dad started laughing and reassured her that it was ok. “I was wondering the same thing myself. If you hadn’t of asked that, I was about to.”

Throughout all this, Evan’s eyes had gone huge in amazement at the swear word used by the nurse and he tried to hold in his laughter. He didn’t succeed and soon we were all laughing. After the laughter died down, Evan wanted to see some of my old tricks and I obliged him for the next half hour before the nurse put her foot down and shooed us all away to let Evan rest and to take his vitals.

As I gave Evan a hug goodbye, being careful not to inadvertently crush his emaciated frame, he whispered to me, “I loved your new trick, Abby. Thank you for showing it to me. It’s too bad you can’t make cancer disappear.”

I vaguely remember leaving the hospital room and having Evan’s parents hug and thank me for visiting and brightening up Evan’s day. My mind was stuck on Evan’s parting words to me. “Make cancer disappear.” All the way home, those words echoed in my ears on the way and my brain struggled to come to terms with the suggestion. Why couldn’t I do that?