Author's Note—It was feeling a bit quiet in my other fandoms, so…I decided to do another chapter just now for laughs, but no lashings. Hope it's a good one.

3

Oh, dobby, I thought to myself, watching that girl stick her head in to spy on us. You again. What's the matter, couldn't read a book while you waited?

I didn't like the way she tried smiling at me or Em, even if there was something about us that she somehow wanted a part of. I would have liked it just fine talking to my mother by myself, and not having to face any unwanted interruptions. Unfortunately, things weren't working out so well for me this morning.

"Well, hello there."

And now she wanted to talk to me, or was it Em she was interested in? With one of us unable to hear and the other unwilling to speak, would she end up having a conversation or a monologue?

"Er…is this your mum? How are you two doing today?"

I started to bite my lip and turn my head away on purpose, but Em had other ideas for the both of us. She pinched my left hand and then pointed to the girl, insisting that I answer her and sign at the same time so she could get a kick out of a little eavesdropping.

There goes my peace and quiet, I thought, tossing back an edge of the blanket so that my hands would go uncovered for a while.

"We've been better," I answered slowly, talking and signing at the same time. "I'm supposed to stay in this room for two weeks while they feed me up and treat a cold that's coming to me any minute. How are you doing?"

The girl just blushed and muttered something under her breath, which in turn just made me feel a bit more bothered than I'd originally felt.

"I can't hear you when you don't raise your voice, Miss…?"

Another mumble, and this time I had to ask nicely for her to repeat herself, because I wasn't quite sure what it is that I heard her say.

"Georgina Green, if I haven't said it already."

Georgina. Why did her name have to be Georgina…?

"Is that so? I thought I heard you get called Gigi earlier."

"Oh, that's because of my initials. G.G., get it?"

Some part of me wished I hadn't, or better yet, that she got named Jane or Lily or some other name besides that. Why did her parents have to pick that name…?

"All right…Georgina it is. Now, back to business, uh…what was it you said earlier?"

I found myself staring a bit too long at those dark brown eyes, that reddish-brown hair, and that pale complexion, and I made myself turn my eyes away before she noticed. The look of her was too familiar for my own comfort as well, and all because something about it screamed Writer's Wife, Writer's Wife.

"I said I forgot that you said your mum was…that she couldn't hear or talk. You told us all in the white room, and well…it slipped my mind really fast. I should pay attention more often."

Some of my annoyance faded right then and there, and I found some little part of myself wanting to hide under a rock for at least an hour over my own rudeness. I'd heard people whisper behind their hands about my Em before, and sometimes give us pitying looks, or sometimes even mutter dirty things under their breath about the both of us.

She was as different as my Pee had been different, and until the time of my fifth birthday, they'd handled those differences together without ever bringing me into it. Afterwards, it had been just the two of us, and so I'd learned real skorry about what it was that some people didn't appreciate about either of them. I'd also learned all about how to give them dirty looks and how to act sensitive whenever the D-word was brought up on purpose, and so I had prepared myself for the same treatment from this Miss Georgina.

Quite surprisingly, that same treatment had never arrived, either in word or in expression. Curious.

"Hmmm…maybe, if there aren't any distractions…"

She was a distraction, all right. I'd snuck another look at her, and this time she'd noticed it without a doubt, because I'd seen her grin and raise both eyebrows.

"…Distractions?"

"Oh, you know, someone getting sick and nervous and the like…"

She was on to me. We'd talked for barely five minutes, and she was on to me. What on earth would I do next to fudge this up, peek at her groodies instead of her glazzies…?

"Is that so? Do I make you nervous, Mr.…?"

My turn for introductions. I hadn't done it when the two of us shared a car with Greg's little gang, so I had to share my name with her right now.

"Pete."

"Pete as in Peter?"

No, Pete as in Pete's Dragon. Shall I breathe a little fire for you and prove it?

"I guess…"

I half expected her to get bored and tell me goodbye before walking out the door…but again, she had to go and surprise me.

"Well, I promise not to forget that any time soon," she giggled, fixing those dark eyes of hers directly on me. "We'll be seeing each other again, did you know?"

"We?"

"Oh, yes yes yes. Greg said we'll be leaving shortly so you can have some time with your family, but we'll be back. It's always good to visit patients who are lonely, isn't it?"

"Who said I'm lonely?"

"Who held my hand in the back of Greg's car?"

This time, it was my turn to blush, because both Em and Georgina got a laugh out of this.

This? This wasn't natural. I'd been infamous on the streets because I'd never complained, protested, or cursed about anyone under my breath. I'd never yelled at the others in my shaika, or for that matter, talked out of turn to them either. Come to think of it, I'd never really spoken up to them at all until Alex's temper made him cane Dim across the knee.

Neither, also, had I dared to talk to any devotchkas on the streets, or any ptitsas either. They had always been Alex's territory, like he claimed, because he was the only one they'd ever want to talk to or put their hands on.

So…why was this devotchka so eager to talk to me, and how was it that she got me to answer her every time?

"Told ya so," Georgina teased, flipping a bit of hair over her shoulder. "We'll come and check up on you the night after next, all right? We might even bring you a little Christmas candy if John doesn't eat it all."

I wasn't sure what to say at that point, so I just nodded and attempted to look pleased with the idea of a visit. That must have been enough for Georgina, for I saw her smile in approval…and then come straight to my bedside, where she wasted no time in putting her arms around me.

"You'll take care of yourself until then, hmm? No drinking any more funny milk, right?"

"Right right…"

"What?"

"Sorry, habit. I meant sure, I'll do that."

With one last smile for us both, she was out the door, leaving me feeling dazed and my old Em with a curious look on her face.

Now what was that all about, Petey? She asked me, a bit of mischief flashing in her eyes.

I wish I knew, Em, I signed back, listening to Georgina's footsteps fade down the hallway into silence.