Disclaimer: I don't own it. Duh.
The poor girl just stood there for a few minutes, looking as if she knew us, but didn't know where from. She asked if we knew Tom and Roger broke into laughter, not the ha ha funny joke laughter, but the mocking laughter that I received to often after Maureen dumped me. Obviously he hadn't heard Collins referred to as professor in a while. Yet she still stood there. So I did the only humane thing I could do. I introduced myself. Offering her a seat next to me on the vinyl couch I told her that I was the one who had called and introduced the rest of us. In a matter of minutes of talking, (and a bit of integrating) we had learned that Collins was her adviser in an individual study program and that she knew him for a few years now, all through his firing and rehiring at various colleges. Though he never spoke of her to us he defiantly knew her.
"I could talk to him about anything. He would always just listen, and then offer stoli, advice or a hug. I wanted to go to Angel's funeral, I met her a few times when she came to visit Tom, but I was abroad at the time." She then looked up from her folded hands, and staring at all of our faces she asked, "What's wrong with him? Is he going to die?"
I tried to start but was (thankfully) interrupted by an intern telling us that we could visit, two at a time. She got up, grabbed her little bag and started after him without a look back at us. Roger and Maureen wanted to stop her but Joanne, Benny and I stopped them. Shrugging my shoulders I followed her.