The Sunday after the Winter Ice Festival, Kendra decided she would just hang around the house and watch a football game. But as she was settling in on the sofa, she heard a familiar voice coming from the front entrance area.
"Spin, why are we going to watch this? You know I don't know much about football."
"Because it'll be fun. Plus you owe me after I had to watch that 'chick flick' with you the other night."
"I didn't pull a gun on you and make you watch it."
"Sure, but what would've happened if I had left early?"
Kendra knew by the voices that Spinner had brought Paige over to spend some time with him.
"Great." Kendra thought to herself, "Now I get to listen to her call a touchdown a homerun."
Kendra decided, however, that she was going to be nice to Paige.
"Move over loser." Spinner said to Kendra, indicating that he wanted her to make room on the sofa for him and Paige.
"Yes sir, 'Captain Boxer-Shorts', sir." Kendra replied in her most serious voice. That was the nickname she used for Spinner to remind him of what J.T. had done to him in the hallway at school.
"Captain Boxer-Shorts!" Paige said with a laugh.
"Come on. Why did you have to bring that up again?" Spinner asked Kendra.
"You started it." Kendra replied. She then got up from the sofa and moved to a large chair in the living room and made herself comfortable.
That afternoon, the trio watched the game as Spinner explained to Paige the intricacies of NFL coaching strategy.
"So the Bucs had a 4th and 5, why did they punt the ball instead of going for the 1st down like last time?" Paige asked.
"Because, Honeybee, the Bucs had the ball on their own 23 yard-line. If they went for the 1st down and didn't make it, the Panthers wouldn't have far to go to score a touchdown." Spinner said as he put his arm around her.
"Plus, the Bucs act like they don't know how to 'stop the run'." Kendra added.
"Oh, I think I understand now." Paige replied.
"I told you that you would get it in no time." Spinner said as he reassured Paige.
"That's because I have such a wonderful teacher." Paige replied as she gave Spinner a thank-you kiss.
"Here they go again." Kendra thought to herself. She made up an excuse to go to the kitchen for a while, so she asked if anybody else wanted a soda or some more chips. But Spinner and Paige were too involved in their lip-lock and didn't hear a word Kendra said. As Kendra rummaged through the fridge, the telephone rang and she finally got to it after the fourth ring.
The sound of the telephone interrupted Spinner and Paige's show of affection and they started watching the game again. Spinner noticed that Kendra had been in the kitchen for an awful long time, so he called out her name. He waited for a response, but she didn't answer him.
"I'll be right back, my love. Kendra's missing the best part of the game." Spinner said as he got up from the sofa. As he entered the kitchen, he saw Kendra sitting at the kitchen table with the phone in her hands and an unusual expression on her face.
"Hey, you're missing the game." Spinner said to his sister, but she didn't respond.
"Earth to Kendra. What's the matter?" Spinner asked her.
"I knew something was wrong, but she kept telling me that she was okay." Kendra replied, staring off into space.
"Okay, I'm lost. Who and what are you talking about?" Spinner asked her.
"That was Nadia's Mom on the phone. Nadia was admitted to the hospital last night and she's undergoing some kind of surgery right now." Kendra revealed to him.
"Hospital? What's wrong with her?" Spinner inquired.
"Something about her lungs. Her Mom didn't give me many details. She just said she would call me when the surgery was over and let me know when I could come and visit her."
"Spin, did everybody decide to move the party in here and forget to invite me?" Paige asked as she came into the kitchen from the living room.
"No, Kendra's friend is sick and in the hospital." Spinner told her.
"Is there anything we can do?" Paige asked, with concern in her voice.
"There's nothing to do, but sit and wait. We might as well be comfortable while we do that." Kendra said as she walked back to the living room. Spinner and Paige followed her and sat back down on the sofa. There was a great game on the TV, but Kendra hardly noticed. All she could think about was her best-friend.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Nadia woke up in her hospital room and wasn't quite sure how she got there. She remembered she was sitting on the sofa watching television in the family room and she started feeling dizzy. She had vague memories of her parents helping her into the family van and the sensation from feeling the van moving. She also remembered being brought into the hospital on a stretcher and the worried looks on her parents' faces as they talked to some doctors in the emergency room. As she continued to try and piece together the vague glimpses in her mind, she felt an intense pain on the left side of her body. As she lay there, a nurse came into her room.
"I see you're awake now. So how you feeling, sweetheart?" the Nurse asked her.
"I've been better. My side is starting to hurt." Nadia told her.
"The pain medication must be wearing off. It's time for another dose anyway." The Nurse told her as she put something into the I.V. that was attached to Nadia's arm, "It'll take a little while before the medicine kicks in."
"Okay. How long have I been out?" Nadia asked.
"Today is Monday. You were in surgery for most of yesterday and spent most of the night in intensive care." The Nurse said as she looked at Nadia's charts and walked back out of the room.
Nadia realized it must already be Monday morning because she could see the sunlight from the window outside. As she stared at the sunbeams coming into the room, a lady in a white coat came into her room.
"Hello Nadia, my name is Dr. Mackenzie. I'm the doctor that performed your surgery yesterday."
"So, am I going to get better?" Nadia asked, worried about what the doctor was going to say.
"I expect you to make a full recovery. We corrected the problem with your lungs, but you had developed a lung infection. We drained the fluid from your lungs and now we have you on antibiotics to help." Dr. Mackenzie replied.
"Where are my parents at?" Nadia asked.
"They're in the waiting area. I've just finished talking to them and told them we expect to release you by the end of the week. They should be here in a few minutes. I have to make some other rounds, but I'll be back to check on you later."
Dr. Mackenzie walked out of the room, leaving Nadia to wait for her parents to come in.
The rest of the day was more of the same routine. Doctors, nurses, and her parents were in and out of her room, all asking her how she was doing. By that afternoon, traffic in and out of her room had slowed down. That's when she got a different visitor.
"So how are you feeling?"
"A lot better, Kendra." Nadia answered.
"I came to visit you yesterday, but you were still groggy from the anesthesia. So I told your Mom and Dad that I would be back to visit today. And I brought you this." Kendra said as she handed Nadia an envelope.
"What is it?"
"It's a get-well card from all your friends at school." Kendra answered.
"That's so sweet." Nadia replied, "So anything interesting happen at school today?"
"Not really. Everybody's busy getting ready for the Holiday show." Kendra answered.
"And how is your contribution coming along?"
"Fine, I guess. There's not a whole lot for me to do. J.T.'s doing all of the introductions, so all I get to do is watch." Kendra revealed to her, "I wonder if I should even go?"
"You have to be there. Kyle volunteered to help you, the least you can do is be there to show your appreciation." Nadia told her.
"I know, I know, it was just a thought." Kendra said, agreeing with her.
"Besides, you have to be there to keep Heather Sinclaire in line and make sure she doesn't try to steal the show." Nadia said, joking with Kendra.
Just then, Kendra remembered something.
"Nadia, I completely forgot. You have another visitor." Kendra told her.
"Who is it?"
"Lee. He wouldn't let me out of his sight after school, he was determined to come and see you today." Kendra revealed to her.
"I don't know why he wants to see me after all of this time." Nadia wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure what exactly happened between you two, but he does seem concerned about you. But if you don't feel like seeing him, I'll tell him to leave." Kendra promised her.
"No, it's fine. I'll talk to him." Nadia replied.
Kendra went out to the waiting area and told Lee that Nadia was ready to see him.
"Hi Nadia." Lee said as he stood at the doorway, "Are you doing alright?"
"I'm feeling okay, everything considered." Nadia replied.
Lee could still hear the hurt in Nadia's voice. But he was determined to say what he had wanted to tell her for a few weeks.
"Look, I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now."
"Gee, why would you think that?" Nadia said in a sarcastic tone.
"I know I hurt you by what I did, or rather, by what I didn't do. But I just want to apologize." Lee told her.
"Why do you want to apologize, all of a sudden?"
"All of a sudden? I've been trying to apologize for weeks now, ever since the night of our date. But every time I got near you, you would just turn and head in the other direction." Lee insisted.
"I guess my question should be, why do you want to apologize at all?" Nadia asked him.
"Because I realized how much of an idiot I was. I've felt horrible since that night. When I heard you were in the hospital, it made me realize how stupid I was to worry about what my friends might think." Lee said, trying to make up for his actions.
"That sounds nice and everything, but why should anything you say make a difference now?" Nadia questioned him.
"Because…" Lee paused for a moment trying to say the right thing.
"Because, what?" Nadia asked.
"Because I love you. I don't care who knows and I don't care what they do or don't think of me. I'll do whatever it takes to convince you that I mean it. I've missed you so much, I just wanted to know if you still felt the same way about me?" Lee confessed.
"I don't know. You're going to have to give me some time to think about everything." Nadia told him.
"That's fine. I'll give you all the time you need." Lee said, trying to prove that he was serious.
"Well, while I think about it, you can come over here and sit next to me." Nadia said, inviting Lee to sit on her bed next to her.
Lee sat down on Nadia's bed beside her. He took her hand and kissed it. It felt good to just be sitting next to the girl that he loved.