Thank you guys all so much for the lovely reviews(:

Meg Haddox: thanks so much for the direct quotes, I actually just found my book yesterday, haha…I'm gonna get started on the next chapter & then I'll go back and try to switch stuff around. Thanks again! :)
Justblaire: thanks for the review, it actually did make my day :D haha I think I'm gonna twist it up a bit, if you know what I mean ;) –and Jodi PiCoult really is amazing, I agree (:

damn. i'm such a hypocrite…(tense change into present, my bad, guys)


I scramble off the bed, launching myself into the empty chair beside Kate's bed.

"Hey, Mrs. Fitzgerald," I say, as if five seconds ago, I was not lying on Kate's bed, I was not cradling her daughter's head in the crook of my arm.

Before she can say another word, Kate leans over the side of her bed and throws up into the bucket. Mrs. Fitzgerald runs to hand Kate a tissue as I take the bucket and exchange it for a new one. How many times had I seen my own mother doing the same thing?
I set the clean bucket down beside her bed, and Kate looks up at me, her face flushed pink.

"Sorry," she mumbles, looking down, and I lift her chin up with a finger, so her eyes are locked with mine.

"For what? Tomorrow it could be me." This is honest, true, and yet it strikes at the heart.

Kate smiles, more at herself than at me.

"I'm some fun date," she says, almost apologetically.

I grin at her. "Fries. For lunch," I tell her, and wink when her head snaps up and our eyes meet.

She hits my shoulder lightly, but she laughs.

"Well," she starts, and her voice trails as she looks at the bucket beside her bed and then back at me, "I owe you one."

"You do," I agree, smiling.

"I would've shared my French fries, but…"
The mischievous flash in her eyes brings her back to me, the girl I first met.I tilt my head, taking in her slight, pale figure silhouetted against the sunlight, and I realize that I'd follow this girl to the ends of the earth.

"Alright, I know what you can give me instead."

She looks up, biting her lip to hide a smile. "Sexual favors?"

I grin at her. "Gee, I don't know. Should we ask her mom?"

The blood rushes to her face. "Oops."

Mrs. Fitzgerald intervenes. "Keep this up," she says, "and your next date will be during a bone marrow aspiration."

Kate flushes, again, grinning apologetically.

"So…" I start, turning her attention back to me. "You know the hospital has this dance, right?" I'm nervous, and I set a hand on my knee to keep it from bouncing around. Force of habit.

"It's for kids who are sick. There are doctors and nurses there, just in case, and it's held in one of the conference rooms, but it's just like a regular prom. Lame band, ugly tuxes, punch spiked with platelets." I winces, and backtracks. "I'm kidding. Well, I went last year, stag, and it was pretty dumb, but I figure…since you're a patient and I'm a patient, maybe this year, we could go together?"

I breathe. Kate straightens up.

"When is it?"

"Saturday."

Kate smiles at me. "As it turns out, I don't have plans to kick the bucket that day. I'd love to."

I can't help but smile back. "Cool. Very cool."