Chapter 17

Jo

"She's WHERE?!" Jo cried.

"Grace developed a brain tumor overnight. I'm at the hospital with her right now," Shun explained over the phone. "Jo, I promise you, she'll be OK."

Jo sniffled. "She better be."

"I'm not going to let her die," Shun muttered. "You have my word she will survive."

"Why should I trust you?!" Jo snapped. "I don't even like you!"

"Because I love your sister, Jo!" Shun snapped back. "She's my best friend and we're helping each other through a tough time. She needs me, I need her, and you need her. And that means that you need me to help her. Are you opposed to that?"

Jo frowned. I should be helping her. But Shun is right. I guess I can let him save her... "Listen, Shun. I'm not happy that it's you over there with her for the next couple of weeks instead of me. But I'll let you protect her. As long as I get to visit."

"Of course." Shun chuckled. "You're her baby sister. She'll want to see you."

"I'm no baby!" Jo whined. "You're annoying. That's why I don't like you."

"That's fine with me." Then Shun hung up.

Jo closed her cellphone and waited for the tears to start falling. But no matter how hard she tried, her much-less-emotional side had taken root after her discussion with Celeste last night, and she couldn't bring herself to shed even one tear over the possibility of Grace's death. So instead, she decided to visit now.

"Hey, Grace," Jo said quietly, holding her sister's hand. She'd never seen her sister hooked up to machines like this, and the experience was frightening. But still, she had insisted on visiting with her sister. Shun, who had been in Jo's place on the chair by Grace's bed, gently caressing Grace's hand, had got up and left when Jo entered, expecting that the two would want some privacy.

"Hmm...Jo?" Grace moaned. Her eyes were closed, but Jo knew she hadn't been sleeping.

"Yeah, it's me," Jo whispered, close to Grace's ear. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Grace said as brightly as she could. "Much better. I haven't felt nauseous in a while."

"Has...has Shun's presence helped a lot?" Jo asked. "Do you want me here?"

"No, it's OK. You stay at school and Shun will take care of me." Grace's eyes opened and Jo saw them full of life. She grinned. Grace looked almost the same as she had when Jo had last seen her, now. "He's really not so bad once you get to know him. He's sweet. Really sweet."

"He's a jerk," Jo countered. "You said so the first day you met him!"

"That was before I knew him," Grace said softly. "Before we were roommates, best friends...and each other's fire."

"Do I need to know?" Jo asked. Grace shook her head. "Then I won't ask."

"Jo...I think I'm in love with him," Grace said feebly. "I realized it when he tended to me last night. When we cried to each other about our moms."

"You WHAT?!" Jo snapped. "W-what about Blue?! You kissed Blue!"

"I was wearing Lip-Guard," Grace said, a sneaky smile spreading across her face.

Jo sighed in relief. "Good girl." Jo remembered when Lip-Guard had first been created. It was basically a thin film of plastic that formed to your lip shape and stuck on your mouth. The plastic was clear and unnoticeable, and when kissed while wearing it, it was like you'd never been kissed at all.

I should have known. When Grace sets her mind to something, she gets it done, Jo thought proudly.

"Jo...if I don't make it...tell him I said that. Tell him that he's the best friend ever, and...just make sure he knows how important he is to me," Grace requested.

"And...don't I get a big speech?" Jo asked.

"Of course, you baka," Grace chuckled. "I thought of it last night but I couldn't remember the whole thing so I wrote it down." She took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Jo. "Read it back at the school. Not here, not now."

Jo took that paper gratefully and smiled sweetly. "Thank you. I love you very much, you know that?"

Grace struggled a bit but managed to sit up. "Yeah. I really love you too. Do well in school, OK?" Quickly, she gave her sister a quick kiss on the cheek in a goofy fashion.

Jo blinked and wiped at her face a bit. "OK...?"

"You know that I do that to you sometimes. Because I'm an even bigger baka then you."

"Yeah...I know. It's a family thing. So, should I stay here tonight?"

"You aren't aloud. I was only able to get Shun to stay by getting him to help me with an apparently convincing act about him being my beloved only child."

"He was your son? And wait a second...earlier you said he cried. AND I MISSED IT?!"

"Settle down, Jo!" Grace laughed, which immediately sent her into a coughing fit.

Jo frowned. "I'll go get a doctor."

"No need," Grace insisted hoarsely, coughing again. "I'll miss you. Get all As for me, and show Celeste who's boss!"

"Actually...Celeste and I are friends now. After I got around her jealous-like diva façade, she's actually really nice," Jo explained.

"Oh...you're friends?" Grace echoed. "Glad to see my hearing is back. That's really nice. So, you should go home and get some rest—it's kinda late—and I'll see you...when I get out of here. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Jo agreed. "Bye, Grace. Get home soon!" Giving her sister one last hug, she stood and gently squeezed her sister close for a moment before hustling out the door.