Claire is such a wonderful, caring person, Mark thought. She shouldn't have to spend the night here alone. What if one of her friends were here with her?
The fuzz in Mark's head had been dissipating along with the pain, but now he felt it briefly pulse, just as he had a few minutes ago.
Just then, the room door opened. Mark turned his head to see Tina walk into the room carrying several candy bars. The curvy Latina teenager sat in the chair next to Claire and whispered, "Here's your Butterfinger."
"You don't have to whisper, I'm still awake," Mark said.
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Jibs," said Tina. "Um, would you like a Snickers or a Three Musketeers?"
"Tina!" Claire playfully whacked her friend on the sleeve of her black leather jacket. "He needs to eat what the doctors say he can eat."
"I'd want a Butterfinger anyway," Mark said.
Claire had just bitten into hers. "Mine," she said with the hunk of peanut butter flake in her mouth.
Mark realized he'd been distracted by the candy situation. "So, uh, Tina, I didn't see you here earlier."
"You were unconscious earlier," Tina pointed out.
"No, I mean..."
Tina shrugged and said, "I've been here all day keeping Claire company."
"Yeah, Dad, you've been pretty out of it," said Claire. "Tina's kind of hard to miss -- maybe not as much as Martha..."
"Didn't you say all your friends got home all right?" asked Mark.
"Everyone who was going home," Claire insisted. "They all wanted to stay with me, but the hospital people told them only two people could be in here with you. But they'll be back for visiting hours tomorrow. Now come on, Dad, I think you need to sleep -- real sleep, not hit-by-lightning, knocked-out sleep."
"Okay, okay, meanie," Mark joked. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He could hear one of the girls trying to unwrap her candy bar as quietly as possible.
Obviously I was out of it, he thought. I could have just missed that she was here. But that really seems like a super coincidence, that I was thinking about a friend showing up, and then she does, saying she'd been here the whole time. Maybe it's not a coincidence...
With that thought, sleep overtook him.
Hours later, when he awoke...
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
