- 2 -

"Well, what do you think?" I ask steeping back from the full-length mirror in our bedroom. Adam doesn't reply so I turn to look at him. He's just staring at me and I ask him the question again. Adam shakes his head slightly and blinks a couple times. "You look.. amazing Jane." I smile, then glance back at the mirror at my blue scoop necked sweater, black pants and low riding golden belt. Adam sneaks a look at my reflection again, and then heads out to the kitchen to check on the food.

I adjust the belt a little bit, and then run my fingers through my freshly waved hair. I head out to the living room as I hear a knock at the door. I cross the short length of the living room and open it. "Hey." Anna says, smiling. "Hi, come on in." I say, opening the door wider to let the 4 of them in.

"Your place looks more amazing every time I come." Anna comments, taking off her coat and going to look out the window at the streetlamp lit sidewalk. "Thank you." Adam replies.

Tara stands and looks at the mirror collage in the hallway as she always does. "This is such an odd mirror. Why do you keep it up?" She asks, like always. I smile and come to stand beside her. "Because, my husband made it. So don't you be dissing it." I say trying to sound offended.

The memory of being in Adam's shed the day I saw the collage for the first time still feels fresh in my mind. It was back in high school and Adam made it as his project for my mom's art class.

It's a good-sized brown trimmed mirror framed with metal shapes, pictures of Adam and I in high school and thick green-yellow wire trimmed ribbon.

I hadn't seen it for years, until Adam brought it out of storage when we moved in together. It's about as wide as the wall in the hallway, so we thought it would go perfect. Whatever's going on in the space between the corner of the couch and the edge of the kitchen counter is reflected in the mirror.

"Hey, Jane could you help me for a second?" Adam calls from the kitchen. He looks flushed all of a sudden and it's not from the heat of the stove. "Are you okay?" I ask touching his cheeks, which are slightly warmer then normal to the touch. "Yeah Jane, I'm fine. I just need you to help me." Adam replies. "Are you catching my cold or something?" I ask. "No." he answers. I look at him for a moment more, and then I take the pot of water that he's holding. I start to break the dry pasta in half.

The garlic Alfredo sauce in back is starting to heavily simmer at almost boiling point. Adam reaches over me to turn the heat down and I notice that he's sweating. "Are you sure you're okay?" I ask again. "Yes!" Adam replies, seeming almost mad that I asked. I blink a couple times and look at him again. "Sorry for being concerned about you." I turn back to my pasta as it starts to boil.

"Is there anything we can to do help?" Matt asks from the couch, a glass of white zinfandel in his hand. "No." I reply.

I'm very tempted to ask Adam if he's okay again, because he's starting to not look all that great.

All of a sudden, Adam drops the knife in his hand that he had been using to cut up the vegetables for the salad and collapses to the floor. I quickly catch him and Tara helps me lower him to the floor. "Someone! Quick call 911!" I yell as I start to panic. "Adam? Adam?" I say gently shaking him, feeling that I am about to lose it. Anna comes to sit beside me on the floor to see if she can help. "We've had a man collapse and we need an ambulance..." I distantly hear Chris say on the phone...