The next day, Casio was on his way to see Corda. When he walked into her room, she looked at him with a look of amazement. "You.. you actually made it this far?" she asked, sitting up the best she could.
"Of course I did." he said.
"But how..?"
Casio shook his head. "it doesn't matter. What matters is I'm here and I did it on my own. Now, you need to rest." He said, and left the room.
For the next few days Casio would pop in once or twice a day to check on Corda until she was moved to a regular hospital room. Each day she would tell him more about her sister, May, who had always had a soft spot for him. She told him how May had been sad when he left, and how she had eventually found a beau, a felind named Michael, and started a family. She told him that May had a son now, a felind named Clark, and that the little one seemed to be growing fast.
One day when Casio went to check on her, she wasn't there. He went to ask for a room number, but Tanya said that it would be better if he asked the doctor who was in charge of Corda. So he went to speak to Dr. Mortell. Dr. Mortell was a blonde-haired, green-eyed human doctor with tan skin, who was in his early forties.
"Excuse me, Dr. Mortell?" Casio asked.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering where Ms. Romaro got placed?"
"...I see... So they didn't tell you?"
"No sir."
"Corda Romaro is dead. She died overnight during an emergency surgery."
"I...I see." Casio said. He was shocked. Corda Romaro was tougher than nails, and she could pull through anything it seemed like. He couldn't believe she had died in surgery.
"I'm sorry, Casio. I know you seemed to have a friendship with her."
"Yeah.. It's fine. Everyone goes eventually." he said, and walked away.
Later, as Casio was about to leave and go to his apartment, Tanya stopped him. "Hey, Cas, wait up!"she said. He stopped, and she caught up to him. "You leaving?"
"Yeah. I figure I may as well go home and rest while I can."he answered with a nod.
Tanya giggled a bit. "Yeah, that's true."
He smiled.
"So, mind if I walk with you? We live in the same apartment complex after all." she said.
"Sure, that's fine."
She giggld. "Awesome! Hey, if you want you can come over to my place for dinner."
"That sounds great. I think I will." he said with a smile.
Tanya opened the door to her apartment, which had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen, that was mapped out the same way as Casio's apartment. She sat her stuff down and headed to the kitchen, closely followed by Casio. "Make yourself at home." she said, smiling. Casio nodded, then sat his stuff down.
"Do you want any help cooking?" he asked.
"Oh, if you want to." she said. She was glad for the dim lighting of the room, as it hid the fact she was blushing. However, she did not know that Casio was also blushing.
"Tanya... There's something I'd like to ask you..."
"Hmm?"
"I... I've liked you for a while now, but I've been scared to tell you. And I... I was wondering if maybe... Maybe you'd like to go out with me..?" Casio asked. His face was red, almost as red as the tomato sauce Tanya was cooking.
Tanya smiled. "I'd like that." she said, hugging him.
He smiled. "I'm glad." he said, then remembered they were cooking. "We might want to pay attention to the food." he chuckled.
"Ah! I almost forgot!"