The nurse did some basic checks on me: blood pressure, temperature, could I walk, etc. He wrote something down on a clipboard and left the room, promising that a doctor would come in as soon as he could.

My mom sighed and sat beside me on the bed. "Now, I want one of you to explain what happened!" she said, in her "ordering" voice.

"Well," Finny began, "we were skating around, nothing special, and at the end of this song, I told Gene that he was doing a lot better, or something to that effect. Then he started to get really pale and he wasn't focusing on anything. I asked him if he was oh-kay, and then he just fell on the floor. He almost fell on this little boy who was skating by, but the boy skated out of the way just in time. Then, everything stopped. The music stopped, the people stopped. I called 911 on my cell phone and then all the people were trying to find out what had happened. Then, Gene woke up, and the ambulance arrived, and that's how we ended up here. In a nutshell."

My mom thought for a minute, and then said, "I feel like I'M in a nutshell." She turned to me. "Do your feel all right? Are you sure?"

"I'm fine!" I exclaimed. "I promise. I just went around in circles too much I guess."

She stared at me for a long time, before saying, "As long as you're sure. Now, where is that doctor? Why does it always take so long?"

Finny grabbed the scrubs again. "I'll be the doctor. Give the patient three quarts of morphine and send him home," he said, trying to make his voice sound deep.

I smiled. Phineas was so beautiful. I couldn't believe I had never noticed it before. His smile, his face, his body...every bit of him was radiant and beautiful.

I loved him so much in that moment.

I know it had to have been over an hour before the doctor finally arrived. My mom had suggested leaving on our own more than once, but I declined. I wanted to spend as much time as I could in Finny's company.

At about eight thirty, a female doctor came in. "Hello..." She paused to look at the chart. "Gene. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I responded, truthfully. I had felt fine ever since I had woken up to see Finny's beautiful features. I wasn't about to tell her THAT, though.

"What brings you in today?" she asked me, sitting in a rolling chair by a desk.

"I fainted," I told her.

"And you were out for ten minutes, I see..." She pulled out a stethoscope and put it on my chest. "Take a breath in...now out...in again...good." She wrote something down on her clipboard. "Well," she said, turning to my mom, "he should be fine. There's nothing physically wrong as far as the tests have shown. I'd consider staying home from school tomorrow, though, just to be safe. We wouldn't want you passing out in math class, now, would we?" She stood and walked towards the door. "You're good to go. Have a nice evening."

"Well, I guess we should do what the doctor wants," my mom mentioned.

"But, I feel fine!" I protested.

"No buts!" she exclaimed. "You have to stay home. I'm gonna go warm up the car. You boys hurry up so we can go." She left.

I was alone...with Finny.

I looked over at him. He was staring, as if in a trance at the doorway.

"What is it?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his face.

He blinked. "Are you kidding?" he demanded, standing up and throwing his hands into the air. "That doctor was soooo hot!"

I shook my head in disbelief.

"Did you see her skirt?" he asked. "It was on! You're so lucky! She touched you and everything!" He sighed and fell beside me on the bed. "I'd contract pneumonia just to have her take care of me."

"You're a sad, sick person," I said, flatly. "We should go..." That was a lie. I wanted to lay there beside him forever.

"All right," he agreed. He jumped off the bed after I did. "Maybe we'll see her again..."

"Yeah, yeah," I groaned, pushing him toward the door.

After we dropped Finny off at the skating rink so he could get his car, we went home. I was getting quite accustomed to the idea of staying home. I could always use a good day of staying home and sleeping.

My mom made me go straight up to bed and told me that she'd bring me some soup later. I once again mentioned that I was fine, but she wouldn't have that.

It was about ten o'clock when I finally made it up to my room. I considered getting on-line to see if Finny was there too. But, when I got to my computer, I felt a sudden tinge of exhaustion for some reason. So, I turned around and got into bed.

I listened as I heard my dad come in downstairs. My mom was explaining to him what she had been through.

He peeked in through my door. "Doing oh-kay, Gene?" he asked.

"Fine," I assured him. "No one listens to me, but I'm fine."

"We'll be downstairs if you need anything," he said, closing the door.

I sighed and rolled over. Why didn't anyone listen when I told them I was fine?