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31: Annie, the Superhero.

"Finals are done," I set the first glass on the coffee table. "My first internship is done," I set the other one down. "I think it's time to get hammered and watch some good old fashion blood and guts."

"You mean, like we do every month?" Amanda laughed slightly and she kicked her feet up on the couch.

I laughed too as I poured vodka to the one third point in the cups, then topped them both off with orange juice, "No, this time we don't have responsibility looming over our heads." For that I was thankful. Christmas was just a week away. Life was good. School was done for a month. I could finally breathe again.

"I'll drink to that," she held up her glass. Something was off about her today. Probably the lack of sleep from studying, nothing to worry about.

"So what are we feeling like? Monsters or zombies?" I asked knowing full well the answer.

"You really have to ask?" she downed her first glass and poured herself another one.

"Zombies it is." I lipped through the DVDS and held up Dawn of the Dead. "Dawn?"

"That sounds perfect."

The carnage had barely begun when I saw that Amanda was crying. Crying? She never cried. I picked up the remote and pressed pause, "What aren't you telling me?"

She wiped her face off, "Oh nothing. It's just the stress." She reached for the remote but I held it out of her reach.

"You honestly think you can lie to me?" Something about her expression hinted that whatever it was, it wasn't just bad. It was beyond that. "Maybe I can help?"

"It's my grandma."

"Is she okay?"

Amanda shook her head.

"What happened?" Amanda barely talked about her family, but when she did it was always about her Grandma Chi-Chi.

"Something called Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma." I subconsciously winced at the words, unfortunately she noticed. Cancer was always bad, but cancer of the blood? That was worse. "Is it that bad?"

I didn't say anything for a minute until I remembered an article I read about it a while ago, "Bone marrow transplant." Her face gloomed, "Are your parents matches? Or anyone? It doesn't have to be family."

"They aren't. And I'm too scared to take the test myself. They said it's painful."

"They give you anesthetic."

"Still, what if… What if I'm not a match?"

"It might get you a few more years with her though."

"That's easy for you to say," she finished her next drink, "You aren't the one being poked with giant needles."

I laughed, "If it makes you feel better I can get it done, too?"

"You'd do that?"

"Only if you do. Besides, what if one of us can help her? It would be more than worth it." I knew the chances weren't all that great, but I have never been one to care for odds.

She snatched the remote from my hand and pushed play, "So, when a zombie outbreak does occur do you think they'll be stupid and slow, are genius rage monsters like in 28 Days Later?"

I laughed. She was always dead set on the end of the world. I mean, I enjoyed a good zombie flick, or twenty, but I wouldn't want that to actually happen. I didn't have that killer instinct which meant I had like, zero chance of survival. Besides, I knew too much of science to think that the dead could really reanimate. Amanda, she was a firm believer. "I hope it would be the slow ones. Then I might stand a chance."

She laughed, "You'd stand a chance either way. You're smart, and you're going to be a doctor. Useful."

"Well, I'm not stupid enough to use the mall as a fortress," I motioned to the TV, "Worst idea ever."

"Where would you go?"

"Home, I guess. Or be a nomad or hideout in the woods or something. Low key, you know how I am."

"Annie on the road… I can picture that."

"What about you?"

She thought about it for a minute, "I'd go home first, get the family, and then probably head to some island somewhere. Or a military base? I don't really know, just someplace safe." She finished her next drink. The girl was a total fish tonight, and I couldn't find it in myself to blame her. She turned the volume up a few notches, "One things for sure, I'd want you on my team."

-o0o-

"What if I'm not a match?" Amanda had been continuously wringing her hands since I had picked her up form her apartment.

"Then at least you tried. It's not like you can control it, ya know?" I had to admit, I was nervous, too. I had been nervous since we had gotten the aspiration and biopsy before we went home for break. That knot in my gut had been there when I opened up presents. It was there when Joey and I attempted to make a snowman. And today it had tightened to the point that I could barely breathe. I couldn't even imagine what Amanda was going through right now.

A familiar looking nurse came up to us, "Annie, I thought your internship was done?"

"Oh it is. I'm just here to get some test results."

"Well, it's good to see you. You better come back if another position opens up. I know the nurses miss having you around."

"I miss you all too." She waved at me as she walked over to some man. Something about the way he was sitting stood out as overly arrogant, and when I heard him utter a racial slur towards the nurse my nose cringed. Bigots, though becoming rare, seemed ever-present in the hospital. I had a theory about it. People are normally in the hospital when they're sick, and when people are sick their true colors come out. Hence the swarms of ass-holes.

"What a dick," I whispered to Amanda.

"You're the one who wants to help people like that," she smiled for a split second.

I shook my head, "I want to help the people who need it." I poked her side, "Anyways, we both know I think just about everyone is an asshole… Except us, of course."

"Annabelle Lee and Amanda Wakahisa?" I snapped my head up to the doctor and then back to my friend.

I saw the fear in her eyes as she looked up at the bald man in the lab coat, "That's us," I stood up and held out my hand. Thankfully he shook it. Most doctors refuse to handshake these days, or maybe it was just me.

"Hey, don't you work here?"

"I was an intern."

"Oh, well follow me." Amanda stood up and we followed baldy through the snaking the pale hallways until we were finally taken into his office, "Have a seat."

"Am I a match?" Her voice was almost a whisper, but he must have heard it because he began to flip through some papers.

"Ms. Wakahisa… Yes, it appears you are a match for your grandmother Mrs. Chitose Matsushita."

We both breathed a huge sigh of relief, "That's great news."

"So what do I do now? How do I donate?" Excited urgency flooded her voice.

"In good time, Ms. Wakahisa. I need to talk to Annabelle for a moment. If you can wait out—"

"She can stay." I needed her to stay. I might have still been new to the whole medical field, still studying, still an undergraduate, but I knew enough to know that when a doctor needs to speak to you alone it is almost never a good thing.

"Alright then. Ms. Lee, there were a few anomalies in your biopsy."

Amanda's hand flew to mine in an instant. I squeezed it back, "What kind of anomalies?" My minds usual murmurings went silent.

"We don't think it's anything serious, but we would like to do some blood work on you. Get a DNA swab. Run a few tests. Nothing to worry about."

"What kind of anomalies?"

"It's very hard to explain."

"Try me…" There was no time for nicety. Not now. This was my marrow we were talking about. Abnormalities usually meant cancer in these case.

"Well, from what we've seen so far, the white blood cells that your marrow would produce are significantly stronger than say, the ones we would find in your friend here."

"What does that mean?"

"How often do you get sick?"

"Once every few years."

"And do you know how long you're sick for? A week, a day?"

"A day or two."

"As expected. Your immune system is, well it's what we'd all like to have."

"Alright. Then why do more tests?"

"Just precautions. We think there might be more to the picture. And frankly, it's better to be safe than sorry."

I just nodded.

"Now back to Ms. Wakahisa." He went over what she was going to have to do, but honestly it was all just noise. Anomalies. Me. I had anomalies. I was some freak of nature, or something. And what was my super power? The ability to fight off the sniffles in record time. Whoop-dee-freaking-doo.

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