Karma and her dad made their way to her mom's room. "What did the doctor say?"

"Well there were no problems during the surgery," he said, "so that's good." Karma was sensing a "but" coming. "But it's spread enough that that they're going to have to start chemo."

A lump was rising in Karma's throat. "When? She asked.

"Tomorrow morning," he replied.

Karma wiped away the tears that we're starting to fall. She had to be strong for her mom.

"Hey," her dad said as they both entered. "We're here to keep you company."

"Two of my favorite people," Karma's mom said smiling.

"And Zen is on his way. He just went home to get some of your stuff." Jody nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Karma asked.

"A little tired, but I'm okay," she answered, "don't you worry about me."

"Mom..."

"I mean it Karma. I don't want you cooped up in this hospital all summer long. It's not good for you. You need your sunshine." Karma smiled. Her mom was still very much her mom. "Really, you go on now. Go see Shane or something. You can come back tomorrow."

Karma obeyed, but mostly because she didn't want her mother to see her break down.

As soon as Karma left the hospital she went straight to the juice truck so she could be by herself. She wanted more than anything to go to Amy's room. But she couldn't bring herself to be seen by anyone at the moment even Lauren. So she plopped herself onto her makeshift bed, curled up into a ball and let go.

She sobbed loudly. She began to lose her breath and feel nauseous. Sure, she'd cried like this before. But never alone. She'd always had Amy's reassuring voice. Amy's arms around her shoulders, anchoring her.

She knew she shouldn't. Because she'd ask more than she was entitled to. But she couldn't help it. She picked up the phone and called.

It rang.

Amy knew Karma's mom was having surgery today.

And rang.

Karma knew she remembered because she even sent Lauren.

And rang.

Why wasn't she picking up?

Karma should've been angry when the phone finally went to voicemail but she was too hurt and upset and scared to be angry.

"It's Amy. Leave a message and I'll get back to you." The recording was followed by a loud beep, that almost made Karma jump.

"Hi Amy," Karma began, trying to hold back tears so she'd actually be able to get words out of her mouth. "Thanks for sending Lauren today." The tears started streaming. "But I wish it were you. Because I need you here. My mom is starting chemo tomorrow and-" now the sobs had begun again, forcing her to pause. "And I need you here. Please Amy. I know I'm the worst person for asking but," Karma paused trying to gain control of her breathing, but had no success. "Please come home."

She hung up the phone. And sitting there, all by herself, she suddenly realized what it must have been like for Amy to deal with the heartbreak by herself. She ached at the thought of Amy feeling that alone.

Guilt began to flood over her.

She heard Shane's voice in her head saying, "Be careful. She has a fragile heart."

She heard Amy's voice saying, "I don't want to get back on track. I can't keep getting back on track. The track is just a loop that runs straight through my heart. Over and over and over again." Was she being too selfish? Was she falling apart because of her mom? Or was she falling apart without Amy? She couldn't distinguish anymore. Realistically, it was some combination, but she wanted to parse it out, make sense of it. And that just wasn't possible.

"Fuck," Amy said. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
She repeated, holding her phone up to the sky. "There's no fucking service."

"Chill out," Meg responded. "You're so dramatic."

"Meg," Stacey scolded and shot her a glare. All the other girls remembered that Karma's mother was having surgery today.

"Oh shit," Meg said, realizing her mistake. "I forgot, Amy." She whipped out her phone and looked at the screen. "Here, I actually have service. Why don't you try calling her on my phone."

"Who actually knows anyone's number anymore," Aubrey commented.

"Oh, she knows it," Meg teased.

"Thanks," Amy said as she took the phone from Meg's hand.

Amy dialed the number she knows by heart. She wondered if Karma will pick up the unknown number. She did.

"Hello?" Karma answered. Amy could sense the confusion in her voice.
"Hey, it's Amy. I'm using my friend's phone because mine doesn't have service. How did everything go?"

"So you didn't get my voicemail."
"No, I'm sorry. I don't think I've had service for the last hour or so. I just didn't notice."

"Oh," Karma said, thinking over her options. "That's okay," she said quickly pulling herself together. "The surgery was fine but it wasn't enough. My mom has to start chemo tomorrow." She said it almost emotionlessly. She could act well when she needed to.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry, Karma. How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Karma lied. "I had a bit of a meltdown when I found out and I left you a suuuuper emotional voicemail but I want you to ignore it okay?"

"Okay?" Amy answered uncertainly.

"Promise me," Karma said, "promise me you won't let it change your mind. I mean don't even listen to it. You know how over dramatic I get."

"Karma, it's okay. I can handle whatever you left on my voicemail. That should be the least of your worries."

"Promise it won't change your mind."

"Change my mind about what?" Amy asked.

"Just promise," Karma insisted.

"I promise," Amy said, wondering if she was going to regret it.

There was an awkward silence.

"Sooo do you want to talk about it?" Amy asked.

"Not really," Karma admitted.

"Was Lauren a tolerable substitute?" Amy asked.

"Quite pleasant, actually."

"Really?"

"And she brought Twinkies."

"Well, that was all me."

"I figured," Karma laughed. Another silence fell between them. "Well I'm going to go," she said. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay, love you."

"Love you too."

Amy handed the phone back to Meg. "You making promises you can't keep, Raudenfeld?" Meg asked, taking back her phone.

"I guess we'll find out when I get service again," Amy replied nervously.

Amy's eyes were glued to her phone and after about 45 minutes of waiting, she finally had service again. She just hoped two bars would be enough. She saw the voicemail icon pop up and pressed play. She listened once through and her friends sat trying to assess her facial expressions. They were waiting for her to fill them in. But she just ignored them. She pressed play again and listened one more time. The sobs were already tearing her heart but those words, "please come home," just did her in.

"Laura," Amy shouted to her in the driver's seat. "I need you to drop me off at the airport." She looked at the map. " There should be one in Phoenix that's not really out of the way."

"Are you sure?" Laura asked.

"Yes." Amy confirmed. Laura nodded.

"You owe me 20 bucks, Stacey!" Aubrey shouted.

"Dammit, Amy, you couldn't have made it 3 more days?" Stacey exclaimed.

"You had a pool going?" Amy asked.

"If it helps, you outlasted my bet of 3 days," Meg offered.

Amy sighed. "And Laura?" She asked.

"I stayed out of it," she explained. "I was hoping you'd stick around. But I understand."

"Thanks," Amy said. Already feeling relieved by her decision. It'd been weighing on her even more than she had realized.

She may have promised Karma that she wouldn't change her mind. But this felt like a promise that was made to be broken.