Daria on the Sideline

by dmsfanman

This story takes place a few months after Daria has returned to Lawndale after several years in New York City. Daria has settled into her new job and things are going well. That is things are going well until they are not. You will read about Daria's experiences over a crucial period of seven weeks. This story follows my first story, "Daria in the Ring."

2. What About Daria?

1. What About Daria?

Wednesday Morning

Daria liked a glass of wine with dinner or maybe a beer when sitting outside. Sometimes she would even order a mixed drink. Only a couple of times in her entire life had she had a hangover and that was back in college. On both occasions she woke up on the sofa in Jane's apartment. For that matter the party had been at Jane's apartment. This time it seemed different, though.

Mustering all the strength she could Daria opened her eyes. She was staring at the ceiling. But, this ceiling was not the ceiling in her bedroom at home or the one at her parent's house. This ceiling was a drop ceiling with florescent lights in it. What was going on? Despite being terribly near sighted, she recognized the angular face with the square chin, gray eyes, and sandy hair that was now leaning over her.

"Hello sweet love of mine," Tom said in a quiet voice. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see those big brown eyes looking at me again." Tom leaned over, moved a little of her auburn hair aside, and gently kissed her forehead. He then spent a moment looking at her oval face.

"Hey," Daria managed to say. Things were racing through her mind, but she barely had the strength to get the one word out. She paused for a minute and then said, "Where are we?"

"We're at Cedars of Lawndale Hospital. You were in a car accident yesterday and you were injured," Tom said.

"That explains why I feel like I was hit by a bus," Daria managed to say.

"Actually, it was an old pick-up truck," Tom replied.

Daria swallowed and then managed to say, "How bad is it?"

"Dr. Prasad just walked into the room. I'll let him tell you," Tom said.

Daria's heart raced as the face of a man with gray hair and a dark complexion came into Daria's field of view. This was obviously Dr. Prasad. Daria was just starting to notice that she couldn't move her head or much of anything else. She thought she could move the fingers on her right hand.

"Hello Dr. Sloane," Dr. Prasad said with a lilt in his accent that clearly indicated he was originally from somewhere in India. "I am Dr. Prasad. I'm your attending physician. You have had quite an accident. The good news is that I expect you to fully recover. It will take time, however. You need to heal and you will need some physical therapy. You are really very fortunate. That said, I want to go over your injuries with you. Is it alright if your husband is here while we discuss your medical condition?"

Ugh. He wants an answer, Daria thought. Once again she had to summon the strength to say something. She answered, "Yeah."

"Very well then," said Dr. Prasad. "On your left side you have a broken leg and a broken arm. Your leg was broken in three places, but they are simple fractures. Your leg has been set and is in an initial cast, which will make it impossible to walk. I expect you to be in a wheelchair for about three weeks. Then we will change the cast and you will get some therapy to help you start walking again. You were lucky in that it was not necessary to put metal rods or screws in to reconstruct your leg."

Dr. Prasad continued, "Your left forearm is in a cast. It was broken in two places, but again we were able to set it without rods or screws. I expect that you will be in the cast for six weeks. Right now you are wearing a hard neck brace to stabilize your neck. This is mostly to give the muscles time to heal without having to work to support your head. You do not have any injuries to your neck bones or spine. Other injuries include some small cracks in your pelvis. Those will heal with rest and staying off of your feet for a while. You are not currently pregnant and there should be no long lasting problems with childbearing."

Shifting her eyes to Tom Daria deadpanned very weakly, "Good. If I was pregnant, then I would want my money back from the pharmacy."

Tom smiled at his wife. He injected, "That's a good one, Daria."

Dr. Prasad went on, "You are very lucky. All of the airbags deployed properly and I am certain that is what saved your life. Unfortunately, airbags are not soft like pillows. The driver's side airbag broke your nose and blackened your eyes. You also have some additional bruises and scuff marks on your face. Your nose has been set and it won't change shape. The side airbags have left some bruises on your left arm and torso. Luckily there was no damage to your internal organs."

Dr. Prasad finished by saying, "Everything will heal in time. In that way you are a very fortunate young woman. The trauma team here is very good and they did an excellent job with you. I have kept you sedated and you are receiving pain medication through your drip. I expect to continue that for another day. Then, we will wean you off it and give you oral painkillers. You should be ready to be discharged in three days. Just so that you know, I have taken you off of all other medications. You will only be taking what I prescribe for the next six weeks. If you have any questions, then just let me know. I will be back in the morning when I do my rounds." With that Dr. Prasad turned and left the room.

Daria was sure that she had questions. However, she was too tired to ask. After Dr. Prasad left Daria managed to say to Tom, "Talk to me about what happened. I don't remember anything."

Tom began telling his wife the story of the accident. "Don't try to force yourself to remember anything right now. The doctors have said that it is normal not to remember an accident. You were driving to the university yesterday morning when a guy who was both drunk and high ran a stop sign and hit you broadside just at the front of the driver's side door. Luckily, the car absorbed most of the energy of the crash, but there was still enough to injure you. The other driver was not wearing a seatbelt. He hit the windshield and as the vehicles were sliding he was ejected from the truck. His head hit the curb and he died at the scene. My Dad's personal attorney is dealing with the guy's insurance company and the police."

"Wow. Too bad the guy died," Daria managed to say.

Tom stared at her a moment. Her straight nose with the slight upturn at the bottom was all swollen now. He tried to lighten the mood by saying, "I'm just glad that you will heal completely. Right now my poor wife looks like a raccoon that has had an unfortunate encounter with a baseball bat!"

"Thanks for the complement," Daria said.

"You are the one that looks at things in the cold light of reality!" Tom said with a playful note in his voice.

Daria smiled at him.

Daria's smile really lifted Tom's heart and mood. "When you are discharged we will take you to your parents' place. For about three weeks their dining room will be your bedroom. Your Dad and I will rearrange the furniture. Also, you will have a wheelchair, power chair, and a private nurse."

Daria didn't say anything. She just drifted back off to sleep.

...

Thursday Afternoon

Daria opened her eyes and found herself more or less sitting up in bed. The head of the bed had clearly been raised. Dr Prasad had said that he wanted her to sit up and try to interact with the people around her. It was mid-day. The man sitting in the room with her – tall, thin, brown hair (now about half gray), kind of a rectangular face, and seemingly a bundle of nerves – was clearly her father.

"Hey kiddo," her dad said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was hit broadside by a pick-up truck," Daria replied in her characteristic total deadpan voice.

"Well, I guess that is reasonable, since you were," he replied.

"What time is it and what day is it? I've completely lost track since the accident," Daria asked her father.

"Let's see, it is one in the afternoon and this is Thursday. Your accident was on Tuesday," he said.

"No wonder I am feeling a bit hungry. I literally haven't eaten in over two days! Do they feed the patients around here or simply hope they don't starve to death before being released? Also, where are my glasses?"

Jake Morgendorffer got up and said, "Your gIasses pretty well got destroyed in the accident. I am fairly certain that Tom has them. I'll go out to the nurse's station and see what we can get for you." He walked out of the room.

Daria found that the neck brace was really confining. Of course, she knew that it was supposed to be confining. She couldn't move her head side to side. She was stuck looking forward. Without her glasses the world was pretty fuzzy anyway. She lifted her right hand and held it in front of her face. It seemed to work alright. Next she held up her left hand. She could certainly see the cast on her left forearm. Next she wiggled the toes on her right leg. She could feel that and she could move her leg, though she didn't try to do that much. Her left leg was another matter. She could wiggle her toes, which hurt. She could move a little at the hip, which hurt. It hurt when she tried to move her hips. That was probably due to the pelvic fractures.

The nurse came in followed by Jake. She said very cheerily, "I'm glad to hear that you have an appetite Mrs. Sloane! Would you like some ice cream? We have a freezer with ice cream right here on the floor."

"Sure," Daria said. "Also, when am I supposed to get my next pain medication? I'm feeling pretty sore right now."

"First have something to eat and then I will bring you a pain pill. You got your last pain meds through the drip this morning. Dr. Prasad has prescribed an oral painkiller for you. But, it is best not to take it on an empty stomach. I see I need to change your bag as well," the nurse said.

"Gee, my IV bag looks pretty full," Daria said. Her IV tree was one of the few things she could actually see.

"Oh no, not that one. I'm going to change the one your catheter empties into!" the nurse said.

"Well, I guess I now know why I don't have the urge to pee," Daria said. "It also explains why other areas are sore. I kind of doubted that anything hit me there."

"Eeew," Jake said and took this opportunity to check out the ceiling for any discolored tiles while the nurse did her work and went off to get Daria's ice cream.

…...

Daria was sitting up and awake. It was six in the evening and when she saw Tom came through the door to her room. Even without glasses she easily recognized his five foot ten inch frame and gait. He walked up to her bed, kissed her on the forehead, gently stroked his wife's thick auburn hair, and said enthusiastically, "Good evening sweet love of mine. How are you feeling this evening?"

"Like I was hit by a truck," Daria responded.

"Well, you were hit by a truck," Tom said.

"So now that I am awake and not in total agony, tell me more about what happened and what happens next," Daria asked. "Oh, my dad showed me the flowers from the English Department, so I am guessing someone has called Jerry," Daria added. Dr. Jerry Culbertson was the chair of the department.

"I called him," Tom said as he sat down in a chair at the right side of Daria's bed in a place where she could see him easily. He held her right hand and said, "Well, you know that you were broadsided by a pickup and that the other driver was killed in the accident. The Fire Department had to use the "Jaws of Life" to pry you out of the car. You were conscious and in pain when the ambulance brought you here to the emergency room. They were concerned about you going into shock. Fortunately, your phone had my number with ICE [auth., In Case of Emergency] in front of it, so they called me at work and I came right over. You were in serious but stable condition when I arrived. I did see you and you were an absolute mess."

"So much for you thinking of me as your 'hot' wife," Daria said with her usual sarcastic note.

"What would I do without your smart mouth? You are beautiful my love - no matter what. But this time you were covered in blood, bruised, swollen, and broken. It was all I could do to not scream, weep, and vomit all at the same time," Tom said. "I met with the doctor, signed papers, and then they took you for x-rays and into the operating room. You were almost one big ice pack at that point. They put you under to set your bones, nose, and put in the catheter. They also cleaned you up."

Tom went on, "The good news is that they did not have to do surgery to fix you. You also didn't have cuts that required stitches. You were battered, but there were no severe injuries."

"Gee, it's good to know lying here that I am not severely injured, though you could have fooled me," Daria said. "What about my classes? We are a third of the way into the semester! What about the car?"

Angier and Kay Sloane, Tom's parents, walked into the room just as Daria was asking about her classes and the car. Kay tried to suppress a gasp when she saw Daria.

"Hi Daria, how are you feeling?" they said almost in unison.

Recognizing the voices of her in-laws Daria responded, "Kind of like I have been hit by a truck. I think that the worst thing at the moment is that with this brace on my neck I can't turn my head. The only way I can see you is if you stand in my field of vision."

Angier came into Daria's field of view. He was the same height as Tom and a similar angular face, but his hair was jet black, which may have meant he used something to color it. He said, "Well, you were hit by a truck. Go on Tom. Sorry to interrupt. Mom and I will grab chairs and sit down while you finish your conversation." They sat down at the foot of the bed. Looking at her mother-in-law Daria could just make out that she was average height, had a great figure, short hair brown hair with no gray, an oval face and a distinct chin. Daria wished she had her glasses.

Tom went on, "I spoke with Dr. Culbertson the day of the accident. He is having other professors cover your classes for the time being. We will talk again once you are settled in at your parents. He is aware that you may have at least a six week recovery time."

Angier said, "Sorry to butt in, but I just want to be sure that you are aware that all you need to concentrate on is getting well. The university is aware that they will be dealing with the Sloane family attorneys. This is especially true if their Human Resources Department should try to do anything that is not in your interest. They are also handling the police, the other driver's insurance company, and his estate if necessary."

Tom went on, "Thanks Dad. As for the car, it has been towed to Lawndale Motor Group's body shop."

"So Upchuck has my car," Daria said, referring to Charles Ruttheimer III whom she had known since high school.

Tom continued, "Yes. When he found out about the accident he went and looked at the car himself. He gave me a call and said that in his experience the insurance company will most likely total the vehicle. He also said that he and Andrea would be praying for your full recovery."

"It's good to know that things are being taken care of," Daria said. Turning her eyes to Angier and Kay she said, "I appreciate the visit, too. Sorry to be a party pooper, but with all the meds they are giving me I think I am about to fall asleep. Why don't you three go to dinner and come back in about an hour and a half. That will give me time to sleep a bit and then we can try to visit. Also, Tom, I expect you to go home tonight and sleep in our bed. I appreciate the fact that you have spent the nights since the accident in the recliner here, but you need to get a good night's sleep. I will be fine. Now go eat your dinner and I will see you in a little while."

Daria closed her eyes and fell immediately asleep. Tom and his parents left the room closing the door behind them. Together they went to the hospital cafeteria, got some food, and sat down at a table.

With tears welling in her eyes Kay said, "Oh my goodness Daria looks awful! The bruises around her eyes, the scrapes on her face, the casts, and that neck brace just look terrible. I feel so sorry for the poor dear. I'm just glad she wasn't more severely injured."

"The good news, Mom, is that she will fully recover. It will just take a while," Tom said reassuringly. "Thanks again, Dad, for getting our attorneys right on this."

"Not a problem, son. I don't trust human resource departments to do the right thing, ever. It is always best to make it clear to potential adversaries that there is a solid legal team. Especially when you have to deal with the police or an agency of the government, then you never want to go in without your legal team," Angier said. "You never know how they might want to twist things. By the way, if the police want to talk to Daria, make certain that either her mother is there or one of our people. Until then she should simply respond 'I don't remember,' which from what you have told us is true at this time. She has the right to legal counsel and to refuse to cooperate with the authorities."

After finishing their meal Angier, Kay, and Tom took a walk around the grounds of the hospital. That killed some more time. Then they went back up to Daria's room. She was still asleep when they quietly walked in and sat down.

Daria opened her eyes. She could see shapes in the dim light. One was clearly Tom. She said, "Hi. I think I will be awake for a while. This is the first time I have woken up and feel that I am not in a fog."

They sat and talked about the dinner conversation. After about a half hour Angier and Kay left.

Daria turned to Tom and said, "You wouldn't believe what they did while I was trying to rest."

"Try me," Tom said.

"I wish I could, but that will have to wait a few weeks." She gave Tom a half smirk. Then with distinct irritation in her voice Daria said, "No, they came in here and woke me up to give me a pregnancy test! Now unless you and I are just in here going wild or someone is sneaking in while I am asleep and having their way with me I think I can be pretty certain I'm not pregnant! Afterall, they did a pregnancy test on me in the emergency room for goodness sake!"

"I think that ranks up there with waking you up to take your sleeping pill," Tom said.

"It is hard enough to get some rest around here, especially in the daytime," Daria stated. "There is the cleaning crew coming through and the vampires wanting blood. And that is not even including the nurse coming in to check my vital signs. I can't wait to get out of here so that I can get some rest! Obviously, the hospital is not somewhere you want to go to get some rest."

"It sounds like you are feeling better, love," Tom said.

"I think it is switching to oral pain meds and not the stuff in my drip," Daria said.

In through the door came Daria's mother. Helen was average height with round face and shoulder length brown hair that had a distinctive streak of gray on her right side. She was wearing her signature suit and pearl necklace. She walked in with Jodi Landon. Jodi had graduated from high school with Daria and was one of the few African-Americans in the school. Helen came over and kissed the top of her daughter's head and said, "How are you feeling this evening?"

"Better Mom. Is that Jodi with you?" Daria asked. "Jodi, Tom will tell you where to sit or stand so that I can see you. I can't move my neck yet, so my field of vision is kind of limited."

Helen stepped out of Daria's field of vision. Jodi took her place. Jodi stood close enough that she could see Jodi's face and high hairline. Her figure was as great as ever.

"Hi Daria," Jodi said. "I'm glad you are feeling better. I saw the coverage of the accident on the news. I called your Mom and she told me you were here. She told me you were battered, but OK. This is sure a lot different than the last time I visited you here."

"That is true. Last time we were in high school and I looked like a lobster from a rash instead of a raccoon from a broken nose, though nobody has brought me a mirror to see exactly how I look."

The two women talked for about ten minutes and then Jodi had to go. Before leaving Jodi said, "By the way, I told Tom to call me two days before you go back to your place. I will have Cleaning Crew make certain that your home is sparkling for your return." Cleaning Crew was Jodi's company.

"Thank you, Jodi. You don't have to do that," Daria said.

"You have always been a friend to me Daria. I want to do this for you. Now get some rest and get better. I will try to stop by while you are at your parent's place. Bye Tom. Bye Mrs. Morgendorffer," Jodi said as she turned and left the room.

As Jodi was walking out of the room Charles Ruttheimer III came walking in. With him was his wife Andrea. "Hi Daria," Charles – the thin ginger colored man better known as Upchuck in high school – said. "We were really sorry to hear about your accident."

Andrea was stockier and not that much taller than Daria. She had blond highlighted hair, a very round face, pronounced chin, and a small diamond stud in the left side of her nose. She asked, "Can I hold your hand Daria? I understand how you don't like to be touched by just anybody. I am the same way. But, if it is OK, then it helps me be more empathetic."

"Sure. OK. But please just my right hand. It isn't part of a broken limb." Daria lifted her right hand. Andrea took it, held it in her right hand and stroked it with her left hand.

Andrea said, "We think the Lord was really looking out for you. We are sorry you got injured, but we were overjoyed when Tom told us that you are expected to recover completely. Given what the car looks like it is a miracle that you are still with us. We've prayed for you every day since we found out about the accident."

"Thank you," Daria said. She actually felt herself relax and feel better as Andrea continued to stroke her hand.

Charles asked, "Daria, did you really like that car?"

"Actually I did. It was quiet, smooth, got amazing fuel economy, and saved my life when I needed it," Daria responded. "I really liked the interior, too. The seats were comfortable and it was attractive."

"Well, I just want you to know that when it comes time to replace your car, then I will find one exactly like it on my lot or another dealer's. If it is somewhere else, then I will bring it here to Lawndale for you at no charge. It's not much, but it is something I can do," Charles said.

"Thanks," Daria responded.

Andrea tenderly set Daria's hand down next to her on the bed and said, "Well, we don't want to wear you out, but we just wanted you to know that you and Tom are in our prayers. You are never alone Daria. Ask the Lord for help and he will answer your prayer. Now get some rest and we will visit you again while you are at your parents' house." And with that Charles and Andrea left the room.

"Isn't it nice that people are coming to see you? See, you have friends here in your hometown," Helen said smiling at Daria.

"Well, so far this evening I seem to have had my house cleaned and soul saved! Now I just need a lottery official to come in and tell me I've won,' Daria stated.

Helen looked at her daughter and said in a very serious tone, "Don't be quite so cynical about everything, Daria. Not only do you have the goodwill of your friends, which is something special in and of itself, but as you get older there are spiritual questions you will need to answer. Was your survival good engineering or divine intervention? I do not know. All I know is that my eldest daughter, who I love deeply, is still with me. If God saved you, then I am thankful to Him for it."

"OK Mom," Dara said. "Tom, could you get me some water and a straw? Thanks."

Tom got Daria her drink. As she was drinking Brittany came in the door. She stopped looked at Daria and squeaked, "Oh my goodness Daria! Your poor face! You weren't the prettiest girl before, but now look at you all black and blue and scabby! Eeew. You look like you've been run over by a truck! I would hardly recognize you if it wasn't for your hair! Do you remember what happened?"

Daria responded in total deadpan. "Thanks Brittany. It's good to see you, too. And I was hit by a truck, just not run over. And no, I have no memory of the accident. How are things at the university?" She thought to herself what a contrast this was over Andrea. Well, at least Andrea had a brain.

"Well, everybody is wondering how you are. They saw your wreck on the news and in the paper. Do you know when you will come back?" Brittany asked.

"That will be for the doctor to decide," Daria answered. She was starting to wonder how long Brittany would stay. She asked Brittany, "So who is watching your daughter this evening?"

"Oh, my stepmother, Ashley Amber, is watching her. She is so helpful," Brittany said.

Helen stepped in at this point and said to Brittany, "Thank you so much for coming. But, I can tell that Daria is getting really tired. You are her third visitor this evening. It might be best if you and I head out and let Tom say goodnight to Daria. Then she can get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day for her. She might even get to leave the hospital!" Helen walked over and gave Daria a kiss on the top of her head and then walked with Brittany out the door.

Tom walked over and gently kissed his wife on her lips. "This has certainly been an interesting evening. I know Brittany is dumb, but she did mean well."

"And I thought I was being really good not being mean to her," Daria responded. "The truth is that I am really tired and I want to sleep. I also want you to go home and sleep. You need it. I love you and appreciate you staying with me. It is because I love you that I want you to get a good night's sleep. They will take at least adequate care of me here."

"It won't be the same in the bed without you," Tom said. "I'll miss you while I sleep. Maybe when you move to your parent's place I should move into the guest room. At least we will be in the same house. Maybe I should put an air mattress in the dining room and sleep on it so that we can at least sleep together in the same room. I love you Daria."

"I know, Tom. I know. I love you too. Now go home. That is what your loving wife wants. Come back and join me for breakfast if you want to. The inmates get fed about seven thirty in this joint," Daria said with a playful note in her voice. "Oh, one more thing. Send the nurse in with my sleeping pill and pain pill. I don't want to be woken out of a sound sleep for either."

"OK my love. I will see you for breakfast,' Tom kissed his wife again and headed out the door. He sent the nurse in with Daria's medications.

Feeling more comfortable and sleepy Daria drifted off thinking that there were actually people who liked her here in Lawndale. Some things just amazed her.

...

Late Friday Afternoon

It had been a busy day for Daria. After breakfast Dr. Prasad had stopped in while on his rounds. He had ordered a new neck brace for Daria. This one was soft and allowed her to move her head side to side. It was sure more comfortable than the previous one. He had also ordered the nursing staff to get Daria out of bed during the day and into a wheelchair. They would also remove the catheter. If over the course of the day she could maneuver in the wheelchair and use the bathroom – with assistance – then he would consider discharging her.

The day had gone well. It did hurt moving from the bed to the wheelchair. That was probably due to the cracks in her pelvis. Using the bathroom was no picnic either. It was bad enough that people were handling her when she got in and out of the wheelchair. It really made Daria uncomfortable having the nurse help her in the bathroom. Nothing like having someone hold your left leg while you go! That wasn't even the worst part. Oh well, Daria thought to herself, just another of life's humiliations. This too will pass.

Daria was sitting in the wheelchair when Tom walked into the room and said, "Good evening sweet love of mine! What's going on in that beautiful mind this evening?"

"Other than a feeling of demeaning helplessness it has been pretty much a blank. I don't seem to have much ability for any depth of thought. It is just too taxing. We moved today from the really strong painkillers to a prescription version of the stuff I take for a headache. So far it is working well and at the most I am just slightly uncomfortable. Well, physically anyway. There is still the whole demeaning part."

Tom leaned over and kissed Daria. He said, "I have a special surprise for you this evening!"

"I hope not a surprise like the one you get when they pull out a catheter," Daria said with her total deadpan voice.

"No," Tom said. He walked back over to the door and said to someone in the hall, "Burt, will you come in please?"

A heavy man in a lab coat walked into Daria's room. Tom said, "I have for my lovely wife a brand new pair of glasses! Burt is an optician and he will fit them to you."

Burt said to Daria, "Good evening Dr. Sloane. I heard about your accident on the news. I am glad to see that you are recovering well. Your husband says that you are anxious to be able to see the world around you again, so I thought I would just come over and make sure that your new glasses fit you properly."

"Thank you for coming. I am looking forward to being able to see something other than blurry blobs running around my room." Daria remarked.

Burt pulled up a chair and sat next to Daria. He went about the business of fitting the glasses to her face. The glasses had wire frames and were very close in shape to the ones that were ruined in the accident. Burt was very careful to touch the bruised areas as little as possible. When he was done he asked, "So, how do they feel on your face?"

"Not bad. They do make my nose a little sore, though," Daria said.

"That is probably due to the bruising and swelling. Do they pinch or is it just the pressure from their weight?" Burt asked.

"I think it is just the pressure. They do not seem to be pinching me."

"Then I think we are all set. If you find after a couple of weeks that they feel too loose, then we can see about adjusting them again. I hope you have a good evening and can go home soon," Burt said as he got up.

"Thank you for coming," Daria said.

"You are most welcome Dr. Sloane. I wish you all the best as you heal," With that Burt turned and left the room.

"Thank you Tom for arranging this. It is really nice to be able to see again," Daria said.

...

Saturday Morning

Tom came for breakfast and started gathering the few things that Daria had in her room. He was clearly hoping that Daria would be discharged.

Dr. Prasad did his rounds about an hour later than usual. After visiting with Daria for about ten minutes and examining her he announced that he would discharge her from the hospital. He would finish his rounds and complete the paperwork. He told her that she should expect to leave around Noon.

Just before Noon a hospital employee showed up in Daria's room with a wheelchair. Helen and Jake had arrived and all three received a lesson on how to help Daria out of bed and into the wheelchair. They were also instructed on how to help her in and out of the bathroom, though Daria was now able to take care of herself once in the bathroom. That pleased Daria no end.

Together they got Daria into the wheelchair. Her left leg stuck out like either a medieval knight's lance or a narwhal's tusk. Either way, Daria had visions of how she could have used her cast against her sister Quinn were they both still in high school. There still might be a way to use it for some light hearted mischief with Tom. She would have to contemplate that. The main task at hand would now be to get her into a vehicle, whichever one they had brought to pick her up.

Jake was pushing Daria along in the wheelchair. Helen said to him sharply, "Jake slow down. You are going too fast. You will wind up tripping over your own feet."

"No I won't," Jake said with that usual whine in his voice. Just then he tripped over his own feet and dumped Daria out of the wheelchair and on to the hard floor of the hospital. The sound of her casts hitting the floor was a terrible clunking sound. Fortunately, Daria was able to twist and avoid hitter her head or face as she fell. Her self-defense training had kicked in at just the right time.

Immediately aides and nurses came running over. The first aide to arrive shoved Jake out of the way and got the wheelchair clear of Daria. A nurse was attending to Daria seconds later. She was checking Daria for any fractures or damage to her good knee. Tom was ahead of the group and turned to see his wife sprawled on the floor.

Helen turned to Jake and berated him loudly, "You idiot! I told you to slow down. Now look what has happened." Holding her arm out and pointing at Daria she continued, "If she is hurt then it is your fault." Then she started poking Jake in the chest with her finger. She finished by saying, "Just stay out of the way unless you are told to do something. Got it!"

"Yes Helen," Jake said sheepishly while looking at the floor. "I was just trying to help."

"Well you sure helped in a big way. Now stay out of the way," Helen snapped at him.

A tall blonde well-muscled male nurse with a long face came over and lifted Daria back into her wheelchair and asked Daria how she felt.

"Other than embarrassed, I don't really feel any different than before being unceremoniously dumped on the floor," Daria said with distinct irritation in her voice. "I might have bumped my good knee, but that is all. I really want to just go home."

"But are you OK?" the blonde male nurse asked.

She looked up into the face of the man and realized who he was. "Jamie?" Daria asked.

"Yeah," He responded.

"You used to date my sister Quinn when you were in high school," Daria said.

"I thought I recognized your parents, but I wasn't sure. That's why I was looking at you when you took that fall. You're Daria, right?" He asked.

"That's me," Daria responded in her deadpan voice. "Little miss sunshine."

"So, how do you feel? What hurts after that fall?" Jamie asked again.

"Nothing really," Daria responded. "I might have bruised my good knee, but I am not in pain. I think the casts protected my broken bones."

"OK," Jamie responded. "But I will wheel you the rest of the way to your car."

"Good. Then someone competent will do it," Helen huffed while giving Jake a rueful look.

As they rolled along Jamie asked Daria, "So, what is Quinn up to? I haven't seen her in probably ten years."

"Well, she has been married for a little over two years. He is an engineer and she is in finance. They live in New York City and are expecting their first child in a couple of months." Daria said.

Jamie told Daria, "I'm happy for her. My wife and I have been married for seven years and we have two little kids. We are both registered nurses. My Mom watches the kids for us when we are both working the same shift. We just bought our first house last year. Between the kids, the house, and work we keep pretty busy."

"Tom and I celebrated our fifth anniversary earlier this year," Daria said.

Helen ran ahead of the group and pulled her SUV into the loading area at the front of the hospital. With Jamie supervising, Jake and Tom slipped their hands under Daria and lifted her onto the back seat. The front seat had been positioned so that the back could be reclined until flat. Tom went to the other side and helped Daria get positioned so that she could straddle the headrest of the front seat and place her left leg on the seat. Her right foot was on the floor. It was awkward, but then it was only a ten minute drive to the Morgendorffers' home. Once she was secured in her seatbelt Daria thanked Jamie for his help and then Helen drove off. Tom and Jake drove in Tom's company a car, a new sports sedan.

Helen pulled into the driveway and Tom parked on the street. Jake opened the back door of the SUV while Tom pulled Daria's new wheelchair out of the back and opened it up. Daria said to the two men, "Now just don't drop me! I don't want to have to deal with a broken tailbone along with everything else!"

Tom said, "Don't worry. Your Dad and I have you securely and we will get you into the chair. We even put on the brakes so that it will not go rolling away. We don't want you rolling freely down the street. You could skewer a neighbor!"

"Very funny, dear. Now let's get me into that chair." Daria said. Tom knew that she was serious. She never called him 'dear' unless she was either mad at him or wanted him to do something important for her right away.

The two men again maneuvered Daria into a position allowing them to cradle her in their arms while she placed her arms around their necks. They lifted her from the backseat into the wheelchair. Fortunately, it was the type where the arms could come down and then be returned to position once she was in place.

"Your Dad and I have spent the last few evenings putting together ramps that will allow us to get you in through the front door. We can now wheel you straight from the sidewalk into the house," Tom said.

"Thank you two. Now I can feel really special – just like a piece of freight," Daria remarked.

Jake said with great enthusiasm, "Good, then think of it as being moved from the truck into the warehouse."

"Hmm. Just don't drop the shipment this time. It has 'Fragile' clearly marked on it," Daria said. She would have been able to get more out of this if Tom had said that. Oh well.

Tom pushed his wife up the ramps and into her parents' house. They maneuvered through the foyer, living room, and into the dining room – which was now converted into a bedroom. Daria saw a hospital bed in the center of the wall with the door, next to it was a rolling table, and then a futon in the corner. A large TV had been placed on top of the buffet across from the bed. Over in the other corner a power chair was parked. Tom and Jake got Daria into position, dropped the arms of the wheelchair and lifted her onto the bed.

Tom started describing things to Daria, "This bed can be raised and lowered, so placing it at the same height as the wheelchair is not a problem. Over on the table I have placed your laptop and phone. Fortunately, neither was damaged in the accident. We did have to have one of our lawyers retrieve the phone from the police, however." Tom brought the table over and placed it next to Daria. "You can also raise and lower the head and foot of the bed. It shouldn't be too hard to make you comfortable." Tom handed her the remote controls for the bed and the TV. "I also put a bell on the table. If for some reason you need us and someone isn't in the room, then just ring the bell and we will come running."

"The bell should be fun," Daria said. She picked it up and tried it out. Since everyone was in the room no one came running. Oh well. Then Daria picked up her phone and started paging through messages and social media postings. There were six messages from Jane. She also had a message from Aunt Amy. Jake and Helen left the room so that Daria and Tom could be alone. Tom leaned over and kissed Daria.

"I am so glad to have you out of the hospital. You really had my head spinning for a while. I was worried. At least the doctor assured us that nothing was life threatening," Tom said.

"It is nice to be out," Daria replied. "Would you mind if I went through my messages? It looks like I have them from Jane, Quinn, Brittany, Aunt Amy, and Dr. Culbertson."

"Go ahead," Tom said. Then he pulled out his phone and sat on the futon. He sent a text message to his parents to let them know that Daria had been discharged from the hospital and that they were at the Morgendorffers' house.

Daria looked first at the messages from Jane. The first three were kind of panicked, 'OMG Tom just called!' Then she wrote, 'Jim & I praying for you.' And after that, 'Hope u can read this soon.' The next three were less panicked. 'Know you are loved,' was the next thing Jane wrote with a smiley emoticon on the end. Last night she wrote, 'What can we do to help?' and finally this morning's message was, 'We want to come c u.'

The messages really warmed Daria's heart. Jane, and for that matter Jim, really cared. She wrote to Jane, 'Recovering Morgends now. Glad out of Hosp. Tire easily. Come anytime. Here 4 3 wks.' Then she hit the send button. Next she took a picture of her arm and leg casts and sent those. Then she took a selfie and wrote, 'Face looks worse than it feels' before sending it.

Almost immediately after sending the last text Daria's phone started sounding with Jane's ringtone. Daria answered and held the phone up to her ear. "Hey Jane," Daria said.

"Daria, I don't' think I have ever been so happy to hear your voice," Jane said. "I was so worried about you. I cried for an hour when Tom called. I couldn't eat or paint all day. It wasn't until late afternoon that I could even call Jim. He came and picked me up and we went to his church together. The priest was really helpful. I prayed for you Daria. I don't know that I have ever prayed for anyone before. There were some prayers at my parents' memorial service, but it wasn't the same. They were already gone. Your life was in play. That was different. I asked God to spare your life and restore your health. I asked him to bring you back to me. I know religion is not something you are big on – nor am I for that matter, but I was left with nowhere else to turn."

"Jane," Daria said. "That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate your prayers or those of the others I know have told me that they prayed for me. You know very well I have my doubts about God, but that doesn't mean that I would ever dismiss your concern and how you express that. It touches my heart. Thank you."

"I really want to come and see you Daria. I've booked tickets on the train for Monday. They were sold out for tomorrow. Jim is coming, too. We'll stay at Casa Lane. I'll call Trent and have him pick us up. He should be out of bed by the time the train arrives."

"If not, then we can probably get either Tom or my Dad to pick you up," Daria said. "Just let me know or call Tom if there is a problem with Trent."

"Oh Trent has many problems, most of which we both already know about," Jane said. "I just wonder what his next surprise will be. It would be nice if it was a recording contract for Mystic Spiral."

"Now you are just getting into wishful thinking!" Daria quipped. "I hate to end our conversation Jane. But I am really sleepy and I think I need to take a nap. I'll see you Monday, right?"

"Absolutely! I am so glad to hear your voice Daria. Get some rest and we will talk later," Jane said.

Daria said goodbye and ended the call. Turning to Tom she said, "Would you take my phone? I really feel sleepy. I'll have to answer the other messages later." Daria handed her phone to Tom, leaned her head back on the pillow, and fell immediately asleep.

...

Sunday Evening

Daria and Tom were in Daria's makeshift bedroom at the Morgendorffers' house watching Sick Sad World on the TV. Daria was sitting up in her hospital bed and Tom had pulled a chair up so that he could sit next to her. Tom looked over at his wife of five years and was happy that she was still with him. She was healing well five days after being broadsided by a drunk in a pickup truck while driving to work in her new car. Her auburn hair was as beautiful as ever, but her oval face was still bruised and scraped. The new oval glasses she wore didn't hide anything. The airbags had saved her life, but she still looked like she had been beaten. At least she was off of the prescription pain medications. Daria couldn't return home to their townhouse until she had a walking cast on her left leg and could negotiate stairs. That was almost three weeks away, so Jake and Helen had converted their dining room into a room for Daria. The cast on her left forearm was inconvenient, but she could move her fingers and hold light objects.

Just as an advertisement was coming on the doorbell rang. Jake was out in the living room and went and opened the door. A young woman no taller than Daria was standing there. She was heavier, had black hair, an oval face and freckles. She said, "Hi. I'm Amelia. I'll be Dr. Sloane's private nurse for the next few weeks. Even though I don't start until tomorrow, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop and introduce myself. I would also like to check out her room. Has Dr. Sloan been discharged yet?"

"Yes. Yes she has. We just got her settled in yesterday. Would you like to come in and meet the family?" Jake said.

"Thank you," Amelia said as she walked in the door.

"I'm Jake and this is my wife Helen. We are Dr. Sloane's parents. Follow me and I will take you to her." Jake walked over to the dining room – now bedroom – opened the door and said, "Daria, you have a visitor."

Amelia walked into the room. Daria turned to look at her. Suddenly seeing her lying there Amelia blurted out, "Daria?! Daria Morgendorffer? It's me Amelia. Remember me from Camp Grizzly?" Amelia quickly rushed over to the bed and looked right at Daria.

"Amelia?" Daria said. "Wow. We haven't seen each other in at least a dozen years, right?"

"I think that it has been longer than that. I can't believe that I get to be your private nurse and take care of you for the next few weeks!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Neither can I," Daria said. "Neither can I."

Turning to the others in the room Amelia said, "I just wanted to stop by and meet all of you before I start tomorrow."

"Nice to meet you Amelia. I'm Tom Sloane, Daria's husband," Tom said as he got up from the futon.

"Nice to meet you Tom," Amelia said. The small woman walked over and shook hands with Tom. "I am so looking forward to taking care of Daria. We go way back!"

Taking a quick look at her nurse, Daria said, "Uh Amelia. I don't know how to say this any other way, but you aren't any taller than I am. How do you propose to lift me? Not that I weigh a whole lot, but up to now it has taken both my Dad and Tom to maneuver me into and out of the wheelchair."

"That was one reason I wanted to stop by," Amelia said. "I can see you have most everything, except a Hoyer hydraulic lift. I will need one to move you safely. Otherwise all I could do is grab you under the arms and drag you around the room. I'm guessing that you would prefer I don't use you as a mop."

Daria thought to herself, 'Hmm. Amelia actually has some promise. She seems to be good for a snarky remark or two.' Then Daria said, "No. I'm broken into enough pieces already and my father managed to mop the hospital floor with me yesterday when he dumped me out of my wheelchair. Besides, I hate to mop. I make Tom do that."

Amelia smiled and said, "I think we will have a great time over the next few weeks. However, I will have to order a Hoyer and have it delivered in the morning. Will someone else be here to sign for it?"

"I think my Dad can make arrangements to do that," Daria said. "Oh, and I draw the line at singing 'Dear Old Camp Grizzly.'"

"That's OK! I will see you at eight tomorrow," Amelia said and then left the room. She stopped and told Jake about the equipment coming early in the morning and then left the house.

Tom said to Daria, "She seems nice and is certainly excited about caring for you. I have the feeling you will be in good hands. That means that I can go to work without worrying that my wife is in some kind of trouble."

"Yes. I will be in good hands," Daria said. "Especially since the alternative would be for my father to take care of me."

"Now you're just trying to scare me," Tom said. "Now what is this about a 'Camp Grizzly'? I didn't know you ever went to camp."

"I'll tell you later. Think of it as a repressed memory," Daria said.

...

Monday Morning

At precisely eight the doorbell rang. Jake shuffled over and opened the door to see Daria's nurse, Amelia, standing there in her scrubs.

"Good morning Mr. Morgendorffer," Amelia said. "How are you this morning?"

"Just fine. Come on in," Jake replied. "Daria is in her room. I don't know if she is awake yet. I do know she hasn't had breakfast yet."

"I'll go and check on her. Did the Hoyer arrive yet?" Amelia asked.

"They just delivered it a half-hour ago," Jake replied. "I had them set it outside Daria's room."

"Thanks. I'll go and check on her and then roll it in."

Amelia went over and opened the door to the room that had previously been the Morgendorffers' dining room, but had now been converted into Daria's bedroom for her recovery from the accident. Amelia set down her bag in the corner and looked over at Daria.

Daria was lying on her back, since with the casts on her left forearm and leg she couldn't really roll over. She opened her eyes and looked at Amelia as she came into her room.

"Good morning Daria!" Amelia said "It is a beautiful morning out. We need to find a way to get you outside today."

"Maybe it can be like camp and we can go out and play a rousing game of tag," Daria said in her total deadpan. "Or maybe we can play baseball. I could be a base, given that all I can do is lie here."

"You are very funny, Daria," Amelia said with a smirk. "I'm thinking more along the lines of a hike. Now, let's get you into the wheelchair so that you can use the bathroom and have some breakfast. Then we will put you back in bed and I will give you a bath. Once you are all clean we can go out. Do you have any makeup here? If so, we can put some makeup on you so that you look less like a raccoon, though I can tell that you are healing. The bruises around your eyes and on your face have gone from purple to kind of a purplish yellow."

"Gee and here I thought this was going to be my new look," Daria said. "Actually, there is a box over there on the power chair. My sister, Quinn, sent me a "care package" that is full of makeup. Fashion fiend that she is; she sent me everything needed to hide the bruises and scrapes. Knowing her it is all top of the line stuff."

Amelia pulled the Hoyer device over and worked to get Daria set in the sling. Daria held on as Amelia raised the sling, maneuvered Daria off the bed and into the wheelchair. Then off they went as Amelia pushed the wheelchair out of the room.

Breakfast was pretty uneventful. Amelia made Daria some toast and gave her a big glass of water to drink. Daria really wanted coffee, but her nurse told her that she could have some later. First she wanted to make certain that Daria was properly hydrated. Daria was just thankful that Amelia didn't say anything that would cause her father to go into one of his rants about his childhood. He seemed content to sit and read the paper. Daria did the same. By nine thirty Daria was not only back in bed, but bathed and even dressed! Amelia had managed to get a green top and black skirt on her, which Daria much preferred to the hospital gown she had been wearing for the past week. Amelia had even shaved her legs! Well, one leg.

"So, how do you feel now?" Amelia asked. "Are you up to going out or are you worn out and want to nap?"

"Even though I am a little tired, I would like to get out," Daria replied. "I am usually an indoor person, but after nearly a week in bed I feel that I just need to get out for a while."

"That sounds good," Amelia said. Since they were going out Amelia put makeup from Quinn's "care package" on Daria to cover the bruising. Pulling a mirror out of her bag Amelia walked over to Daria and said, "You know, with the makeup on you look pretty good. That says to me you are coming right along with your healing."

Staring at herself in the mirror, something that Daria rarely did, she said to her nurse, "Thanks."

"Now, if you are good on our walk I can even give you a reward. There will be coffee at the end of our walk. We will go to Coffee King for coffee and if you behave yourself I will even treat you to a sweet roll or cookie, fair enough?"

"Fair enough. You've been dealing with kids for quite a while haven't you?" Daria asked.

"Yes and it is nice to have an adult patient that isn't so badly injured that she can't or won't communicate. Now let's get you into your chair," Amelia said as she moved the Hoyer over and once again got Daria into the wheelchair. Her left leg in the cast once again stuck out in front of her like a knight's lance. "The other nice thing is that you can help in the moving process."

Once settled into the wheelchair, Amelia put a sock and shoe on Daria's right foot. "Now, we have to have you ready for the outdoors. It is a sunny but slightly cool fall day today, so I want you to put this throw over your legs below your skirt and I am going to need to put a stocking over your toes sticking out of your cast.

"Do I need a shawl besides? Just to finish the effect of course," Daria said in her total deadpan voice.

"Don't be silly," Amelia said. "You don't want to look like somebody's grandma! You don't even have children yet."

Daria thought to herself that her old camp acquaintance was OK. She seemed quite capable in the area of quick retorts. She responded with, "Not that I don't already feel like Grandma with these incontinent panties you put on me!"

"Just think of it as a lifetime first. You won't experience them for the first time in 'the home'," Amelia retorted. Then she placed the fleece throw over Daria's legs and pulled a sock for her cast out of her bag and placed it over Daria's toes. While the oversize white sock was unremarkable the sizable penguin sewn to the end was.

"Um. What's with the penguin?" Daria said with a note of mild annoyance in her voice. "It looks like the one in that old comic strip. His nose is really bright orange!"

"Oh, he is and it is," Amelia remarked rather casually.

"He seems to be a lookout standing at the end of my cast. Sort of like the figures they used to put on the front of ships," Daria said.

"It is. More importantly, people will see it!" Amelia said.

"Um. As you know, I'm not much of one for whimsy or humiliation," Daria said.

"Think of it this way," Amelia responded. "We are going to be crossing several streets to cover the six blocks we need to travel to the Coffee King. The penguin may be odd, but it is intentionally odd. A penguin sitting on top of someone is not something you see every day in Lawndale."

"Congratulations, you have made the understatement of the year," Daria said in total deadpan.

Amelia looked Daria straight in the eyes, "But, being odd is the intent. Drivers and bikers will see the penguin. They would probably ignore a person in a wheelchair. In fact, they would look away. Thus, the penguin reduces the chances of you and I being hit by traffic. While the penguin is something we can have a little fun with it is primarily there for safety. Besides, this penguin would never humiliate anyone. He has endured far too much of it himself."

Amelia put her bag and Daria's purse in the large pouch on the back of the wheelchair. She rolled Daria out the front door and down the ramps Tom and Jake had built to get her in and out of the house. Daria had a house key with her, so they closed and locked the door behind them. Standing out on the driveway Amelia looked around and shouted, "Tallyho!" and started pushing Daria in the direction of the coffee shop.

As they were passing the Village Green Daria spotted Trent and Monique coming toward them. Monique was holding tight to Trent's arm. Trent looked somehow different. He was average height with kind of a triangular face and almost painfully thin. As usual He had medium length black hair cut to show his ears, which each sported three earrings. He also had a small triangular beard on his chin. He was wearing black jeans and a white shirt. But then Daria noticed something she had never ever seen him wear before – a tie. The tie was gold.

Monique was also tall and dyed her hair jet black. She was usually painfully thin as well, but from a distance something was different. She was wearing a white sun dress and sandals. Daria started wondering what was up.

Trent had dated Monique on and off since high school. They were famous for their multitude of breakups and makeups. The longest times that they had not dated were during Monique's two failed marriages; at least Daria assumed they were not dating while she was married. The oddity became obvious as they drew closer. It was clear that Monique was quite pregnant, probably at least eight months along. Daria asked Amelia to stop.

"Hey Daria," Trent said in his characteristic slow speech.

"Hey Trent," Daria replied.

"Nice penguin. Wasn't that penguin in a comic strip?" Trent asked.

"Yes he was," Daria replied.

"Cool. Sorry to hear about your accident. Tom called me, but I just couldn't get to the hospital while you were still there. Mystic Spiral had a gig and I hate hospitals. They depress me. I figured once you were home I would come over," Trent said.

"I understand," Daria replied. Trent was not very reliable and had a tough time doing anything that he really didn't want to do. "So what are you two up to today?"

"Well, we just got married down at City Hall," Trent said.

Daria's eyes got as wide as saucers. Trent. Married. Unbelievable! Was this some sign of creeping adulthood in his mid-thirties? Was it a moment or a trend of responsibility? "Congratulations to both of you," Daria said. "How long have you been planning this?" Daria realized this was probably a stupid question given that the subject was Trent. Looking at Monique it was probably something less than 8 months.

"My lease was up two weeks ago and that's when I moved in," Monique answered in her somewhat deep but still nasal voice. "We both felt our baby should have parents who were married. The fact is that we have loved each other for over fifteen years. I should never have married Phil and Desmond. Phil was a drug addict who beat me up and Desmond was out the door finding new prospects less than six months after we were married. It's been almost two years since my divorce from Desmond was final. Trent has always been steady and supportive, even though we fight. He was there to help me pick up the pieces each time. I would rather fight with Trent and then make up than be with anyone else. Jane says we're not right for each other, but I disagree. I think if we can keep working on our relationship, then we will have a good life together."

"She's right," Trent said. He smiled and turned slightly to kiss Monique. "See, I even got her a ring to prove it!"

Monique held up her hand so that Daria could see her plain gold wedding band. Daria thought to herself that she was extremely happy that her teenage crush on Trent never turned into anything more. "Have you told Jane yet?"

"No," Trent responded. "I should call her today and let her know. She would probably want to know."

Daria's one thought was – duh. That thought was hardly profound for an English professor. She said, "I know that she would want to know and wish you two well. Be sure to give her a call when you get home. It's kind of urgent since she and Jim are arriving later today and plan to stay at the house."

"You mean our house?" Trent asked with a look of shock on his face.

"Yes," Daria replied. A little bit of annoyance was starting to enter her voice. "Aren't you going to pick them up from the train station?"

"I don't know," Trent said scratching his head. "I have a message on my phone from her, but I haven't checked it yet. Too often those are about some bill or other. I didn't want to like, you know, get bummed out today."

"I think you need to check your message from her, Trent." Daria said this time with some definite annoyance in her voice."

"OK Daria,' Trent responded. "I'll check it and respond to her. I should be able to pick her up today." Trent pulled his phone out of the black pair of jeans he was wearing. He checked the voicemail message and sent a quick text response saying he would pick them up at the train.

"There," Trent said. "I let her know we would pick her up. She will arrive about three this afternoon. We will both go and get her. If she calls you, then please don't tell her about our wedding before I do."

"OK," Daria replied. "You have until she gets here. I won't say anything before her arrival on the train. After that it is open season!"

"That's fair," Trent said. "So, who is this and what are you two doing? You look kind of familiar. Were you at some Mystic Spiral concerts?"

"This is Amelia," Daria said. "You and Jane met her when you picked me up from that Camp Grizzly reunion. She is my private nurse for the next three weeks while I recover to the point that I can walk again."

"Hi! Nice to meet you again," Amelia said. "We are out for a walk and heading to Coffee King to get some really good coffee. It is such a nice day that I didn't want Daria to miss it. Do you two have plans?"

"Yeah," Trent said. "We are going back to the house and back to bed. We had to get up early to get married. We don't usually get up before noon. Mystic Spiral has a gig tonight and Monique is going to be our guest vocalist. Now we have to get Janie and Jim, too. This weekend we are booked at a club in Baltimore. They were nice enough to give us a hotel room for two extra nights, so that will be our honeymoon."

"Sounds great!" Amelia said.

"Well, we need to get going. See you later Daria. Nice meeting you Amelia," Monique said and she and Trent walked off.

"Bye," replied the two women in unison.

As Amelia pushed Daria along and once they were well out of earshot of Trent and Monique, Amelia said to Daria, "OK Daria, you are going to fill me in on all of this. There was so much going on there I thought my head was going to start spinning."

"We're almost there," Daria said. "I'll tell you all about Trent once we settle in with our coffee. But, it will cost you a whole cinnamon roll."

"I think that is money well spent," Amelia replied as the two kept on going.

…...

Amelia got Daria situated at a table where she could protect Daria's leg and yet Daria could still sit in a relatively normal position in the coffee shop. The leg was protected, but the penguin was still very obvious. Daria ordered a Café Americano and Amelia ordered a Latte. Amelia also got a cinnamon roll for each of them. First she brought the coffees to the table and then the rolls. Amelia sat down and looked at Daria.

"OK Daria. Spill it. What happened out there? It was really kind of a weird conversation," Amelia said.

"Of course it was weird," Daria said. "You are dealing with some weird people! Trent is my best friend Jane's brother. They were the two that picked me up from the Camp Grizzly reunion. I met Jane shortly after we moved to Lawndale and I started at Lawndale High School. We met in self-esteem class. I was there because the stupid counselor thought I had low self-esteem. That was hardly true. My self-esteem was fine. I simply had low esteem for others! As you might have noticed, I make up for that with my sparkling personality," Daria said in her very best deadpan. "Anyway, Jane and I quickly became friends. We were two outcasts and the least popular people in the school. I was the bookworm and she was the artist. Now I'm the professor and she is still the artist! So, Jane's next older brother is Trent. She also has two older sisters and another older brother, but they were enough older that they had moved out and were never there. Jane's father was a photographer who travelled almost all of the time. Her mother was a potter who rarely left her basement studio. While I know they both loved their children they were extremely neglectful. In many ways Trent is more of a father to Jane than her father was, which is scary."

"So how are you involved here?" Amelia asked.

"I had a crush on Trent when I was a teenager," Daria said. "He had this band, Mystic Spiral, and that seemed really cool. It was the height of grunge and they were the grungiest band around. Their big venue was The Zon."

"I've heard of The Zon, but have never been there," Amelia said. "I've only lived in Lawndale a few years and I'm a little old for grunge clubs. It was probably my husband who talked about it. He is originally from Lawndale. But go on."

"So, I had this crush and some fantasies, but one week when both Jane and Trent were staying at our house I got over it. First, that is when I found out about Monique. Second, I realized that any future with Trent would not be too bright. Unfortunately, I was right about Trent. He is a great guy and he is serious about his band. But, he is getting to the point in life where he can't keep chasing that dream anymore. They barely eke out a living. The only reason he can live in his house is that his parents willed it to him and Jane when they died."

"So his parents are gone?" Amelia asked.

"They were killed by a volcano on a Caribbean island. He was trying to photograph lava flows and she was trying to get freshly formed 'living rock' to incorporate into her pots. It didn't end well. They are both entombed in a lava flow."

"Yuck," Amelia exclaimed.

"Jane and I continued to be best friends and I still had feelings for Trent, even though I knew darn well that nothing would come of those feelings. That continued until I met and started dating Tom."

"That was when you stopped hanging around Trent and having feelings for him?" Amelia asked.

Daria continued, "Yes. There were almost three months there when Jane and I hardly talked and I certainly wasn't over at her house. She and I spent a whole summer apart."

"This was because you were spending all that time with Tom? Did she resent you having a boyfriend?" Amelia asked.

"I spent some time with Tom, but the big problem was that Tom was her boyfriend. Well, he was until he and I kissed in his car one night," Daria explained. "The truth was that his relationship with Jane was headed downhill anyway. They would have broken up soon. Jane eventually forgave both of us. She and I are still best friends. She and Tom are friends, too. Ultimately Tom introduced her to her fiancé."

"Wow. You are the last person I would ever imagine stealing someone's boyfriend! I couldn't make up a story like that if I had to!" Amelia replied.

Daria stated, "I prefer to think of it as more realigning relationships."

Amelia asked, "So you and Tom dated through college and afterward?"

"I broke up with Tom at the end of high school. I reasoned that a long distance relationship was impractical for two people going off to different colleges in different cities. He went to Bromwell in Newtowne and I went to Raft in Boston. It just wouldn't work," Daria explained. "Tom asked me a few weeks after our breakup if he could call me once in a while and compare notes. I said 'sure.' He used those calls and some trips to the Pizza King during vacations when we were both home to keep our friendship alive and even grow it. Dating in college didn't go well for either of us and at the end of the summer of our junior year we got back together. Two years later he proposed and a year after that we were married."

As Daria finished her story one of the other customers walked up and said, "Isn't that the penguin from that old comic strip?"

"Why yes it is," Daria said in total deadpan. "When the comic strip came to an end we got ahold of him, killed him, and had him stuffed."

The guy's eyes widened and he just walked away not quite knowing what to make of this strange woman in the wheelchair.

Amelia laughed at Daria's joke. She said, "Good way to ditch that guy."

"It sure kept the guys away when I was in college," Daria said.

"So you think that is why dating in college didn't go well?" Amelia asked.

Daria replied, "At least partially."

"It didn't seem to keep Tom away," Amelia said.

"Well, Daria replied. "I just figured we both would likely meet and want to have relationships with other people. I thought breaking up was the rational thing to do. I liked him a lot, but it just never occurred to me that he was in love with me. I couldn't really imagine anyone being in love with me."

"How come?" Amelia asked.

"Back then I really pushed people away. Heck, I pushed you away. I didn't let people get too close and I still don't. Also, in high school I found that most kids were stupid, shallow, and not worth the time for a conversation. At Raft my fellow students were not stupid. However, most seemed more interested in beer pong than Böll. I was kind of disappointed."

"Who wouldn't want to talk about 'The Clown'?" Amelia said.

"You've read Böll?" Daria said with some surprise.

Amelia responded, "I lived in Germany for a while as a kid. I read many works by German authors in school. In German the title of the book actually translates as 'Faces of a Clown.'"

"We'll have to talk more about Böll," Daria said. Then Daria went on with her story, "Tom even added a literature minor to his accounting program. I know he dated some other girls in college, but he never found 'the one.' Oddly enough he says that he compared them all to me; at least that is what he has told me. I went on some dates, but no one ever asked me out twice. Again, it was probably my winning personality. Once I agreed that he and I could start dating again he had a plan and started making regular trips up to Boston. It was two years later after we had both been working in New York for a year that he asked me to marry him and I agreed."

"Wow. Tom really must love you," Amelia said. "When you think about it, he spent a quarter of his life chasing you down and persuading you to marry him! That is love."

Staring off into space Daria said, "I know. That is why I try so hard to be a good wife to him. He is a great guy and he deserves it." She paused for a moment and then looked back at Amelia, "When I was in the hospital I had to order him to go home and get some sleep in our bed. He would have spent every night in the chair in my hospital room if I had let him; and he would never have complained about it." Daria continued, "I can't believe I'm telling you all of this. I really don't let anybody in."

"Must be the drugs or the hit in the head," Amelia retorted. The two women laughed. She went on, "I'll treat all of this as confidential medical information."

"Thank you for listening," Daria said. "Now it is your turn. How did you meet and marry your husband?

"Well, my parents decided I needed to go away to college. I really wanted to stay home and go to State, but they said I was too much of a 'homebody' and needed to be away to learn to make friends and mature," Amelia said.

"Sounds like why my parents sent me to Camp Grizzly," Daria said. "Especially the making friends part."

Amelia went on, "I have to say that they were probably right, but I wasn't happy about it. They sent me off to Swedesburg College. It is three hours from Lawndale and about 4 hours from my hometown. The college is best known for health sciences."

"I've never actually been to Swedesburg," Daria commented. "The closest I got was my attempt with Jane, Trent, and the members of Mystic Spiral to go to Alternapalooza once. We never made it."

Amelia continued, "Anyway, when I got there I moved into one of the dorms and things were fairly miserable. Classes were good, but I had almost no social life. Then I went to a rush party and met Jamie. He was a on a football scholarship. He played halfback. I was pretty suspicious of him at first. What did a football player want with a girl who wasn't very pretty? I could only come up with one thing and I wasn't interested in that."

"There is so much more to people than appearance, Amelia," Daria said. "Look at me even without bruises, scrapes, and broken bones. But, I know what you mean. I've had guys ask me out with ulterior motives."

"He managed to 'run into me' several times on campus over the next week and he did ask me out. I said yes, but agreed to meet him at a restaurant and decided to make certain not to be alone with him," Amelia said. "We had a nice date. He told me he was from Lawndale. I asked him why he wanted to take me out. He said that he found me attractive and that I had some real depth. He explained that he and two of his friends spent all of high school chasing after this one really cute redhead who was really shallow and treated them like dirt. He was done with that. He had reflected on that quite a bit. He decided he wanted to meet an attractive girl who had a brain, kind of like the redhead's sister."

"OMG!" Daria exclaimed, "Your husband Jamie is the same one who chased my sister Quinn all through high school! I'm the 'sister' he was talking about!"

"Daria! That means Jamie's ideal was based on you! Wow, you and I do have kind of a unique bond after all," Amelia exclaimed. "You know I've always kind of idolized you."

"Yeah. Sorry I was a real bitch to you back at the camp reunion. You're a nice person and you didn't deserve it," Daria said contritely. "Continue your story."

"Well, needless to say I went to all of the home football games. Jamie was studying nursing as well. He had decided that summer after high school that he wanted to work in healthcare, but knew he didn't have what it takes to be a doctor. Besides, with a full ride football scholarship there was no way he could possibly maintain the grade average necessary to get into medical school."

"I can see that," Daria commented. What she didn't say was that she didn't think Jamie had the brains for medical school. She was surprised he could make it through nursing school.

"We dated through the rest of college and it was clear we belonged together. After Jamie graduated he got a job with the local hospital. After he got his second paycheck he proposed. We got married shortly after I graduated. I graduated a year later because I didn't start out in nursing. A year after our marriage we had our son. Then two years later we had our daughter. It was three years ago that we moved to Lawndale so that Jamie could take a supervisory position at the hospital. I do private nursing because it provides so much schedule flexibility. I will take an assignment such as yours, but then I can stay home with the kids for a few weeks afterward. When we both have to work his Mom generally watches them."

Daria and Amelia finished their coffee and started back to the Morgendorffers' house. While crossing the street a driver at a stop sign leaned out the window and yelled, "Love the penguin!" Other than that, the ride back was quiet and uneventful. Daria was really starting to get tired. She even thought that she dozed off in the wheelchair a couple of times.

Back at the house Amelia helped Daria to the bathroom and then maneuvered her back into the bed. Once she was settled Amelia looked at Daria and said, "You take a little nap now. When you get up it will be time for some more pills and you can have some lunch. Now set your glasses on your table, give me your phone, and go to sleep. You can have your phone back when you wake up."

Daria put the phone on silent mode and handed it to Amelia. Amelia lowered the head of the bed, drew the blinds, and on her way out of the room noticed that Daria was already fast asleep. Amelia went out to the kitchen and started quietly going through the cabinets and refrigerator to figure out what she could make for Daria's lunch. She also took time to once again review what was written in Daria's discharge papers from the hospital.

...

Monday Afternoon

Daria awoke to semi-darkness. She knew where she was. It appeared that she was alone. Not knowing what else to do she reached over to her table and rang the bell her Dad had given her.

Amelia came into the room and asked, "So how was your nap?" She started going around the room and opening the blinds.

"Good," Daria responded. "How long did I sleep?"

"Almost three hours. It is nearly 2:30. You must have needed the sleep after our morning out," Amelia said. "Are you hungry? Do you feel like some lunch?"

"Sure. I could eat. What do we have? Please don't say lasagna," Daria said.

"I found milk, bacon, and macaroni and cheese," Amelia said. "How about mac and cheese with bacon bits in it?"

"Hmm. Sounds like my Dad is cheating on his 'heart healthy' diet. I don't need that, however, so I'm all in for bacon mac and cheese," Daria said.

"Good. I'll get that going and we will take care of everything else before you eat," Amelia said with great excitement. She went out to start water boiling and then came back in to get Daria out of bed. Halfway through the process of getting Daria up and to the table Amelia paused and put in the noodles. By the time Daria was parked it was time to make the sauce. Amelia added a little soluble fiber to it as well, so that there was at least some nutritional value to the meal.

Daria started eating her bowl of bacon mac and cheese and suddenly realized just how hungry she actually was. It was all she could do to keep from just wolfing it down. The food over most of the past week at the hospital had been pretty unappetizing. Then her father had insisted on cooking when she got home. His cooking wasn't much better. She remembered some of his concoctions from her teens, especially when he was on his Civil War kick.

By 3:30 Daria was done eating and Amelia had managed to seat her on one of the couches in the living room. There was an ottoman for her leg. Amelia turned on the TV and Daria found one of the cable channels was having a marathon of old Sick Sad World episodes. After putting the dishes in the dishwasher and getting it started Amelia came over to check on Daria.

"Amelia, watch this episode with me!" Daria said. "I was one of the writers for the second piece and I proofed the script for the third. You'll see my name in the credits at the end, except my last name will be Morgendorffer instead of Sloane."

"You worked for Sick Sad World?" Amelia exclaimed.

"Yes, it was my first job out of college. I worked there for a year before going to graduate school at Columbia," Daria said.

The TV announcer said, "Are baby alligators coming up through your toilet into your house? The truth about crocs in the commode – next on Sick Sad World."

The two women sat and watched the episode of Sick Sad World and the next one. Daria provided a running commentary on the show and what actually went on behind the scenes. Amelia found it fascinating. The two were having enough fun that they really didn't notice the time passing.

It was 4:30 when the doorbell rang. Amelia got up and answered the door. In front of her were a man and a woman. The man was just over six feet tall and looked like he had spent considerable time in the gym. He had a strong chin, oval face, and sported the haircut one would expect on a typical businessman. The woman was about five foot five and definitely 'fashion forward.' Her black hair was done in a chop cut, she had a heart shaped face, and she was thin like Daria. "Hi. I'm Daria's friend Jane and this is my fiancé Jim. Is Daria taking visitors?"

"Hi. I'm Amelia. I'm her nurse. I know she is anxious to see you. Come on in!"

"Nice to meet you Amelia," Jim said.

Jane nearly ran past Amelia and found Daria on the couch. She sat down on Daria's right side and slid right up to her, put her arms around her and hugged her. Jane held on to Daria and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She just started sobbing.

After initially hugging her best friend, Daria started patting Jane's back saying, "Jane it is going to be OK. I'm doing fine. Just ask Amelia. I'm battered but I will heal."

As Jane eased her embrace of Daria she kissed Daria on the cheek and said, "Amiga, you don't know how much a huge chasm opened up when I heard about your accident. I was afraid I would lose you. You are my oldest and best friend in this world and I can't imagine living without you. Now I just want to touch you and know that you are real. That you are here and in any way I can – protect you." Jane sat up and was still touching Daria as she sat next to her. She was holding Daria's right hand.

"Wow," Jim said. "I don't get greetings like that."

Jane turned and tried to kick Jim in the shin, but he dodged her foot. Daria looked at Jane and said with a smirk, "These men we have to put up with! See you're making him jealous." Then the three of them laughed. "Besides, Tom does a pretty good job of protecting me."

Jim sat down on the other couch, which was too far for Jane to reach with her foot.

"So, can you believe my stupid brother? He married Monique!" Jane said with almost borderline hysteria. "And they are going to have a baby! He didn't tell me about her pregnancy much less the marriage plans!"

"I was pretty shocked, too," Daria said.

"You knew about this? You didn't tell me?" Jane exclaimed.

"I only found out this morning as Amelia rolled me along to the Coffee King," Daria said. "Trent asked me to wait to tell you. He knew he needed to tell you. I told him I would only commit to waiting until you arrived at the train station. Then it was open season."

Amelia had been hanging out in the kitchen to give the friends some space. She walked into the living room and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but I'll be leaving in just a few minutes. Is there anything I can do or help you with before I leave, Daria?"

"I hate to say it in front of Jane and Jim, but can you help me to the bathroom before you go? I'm sorry I have to take a break from our conversation, but some things just can't wait," Daria said.

"Sure," Amelia replied. "Let's take care of that now." She brought the wheelchair over and helped Daria into it. Daria was able to pivot on her right foot so that Amelia didn't need the Hoyer to get her from the couch to the wheelchair.

When Amelia and Daria returned and had Daria settled on the couch Amelia said her goodbyes and left. Jane scooted herself next to Daria and held Daria's right hand again.

Knowing that Daria was not someone who liked a lot of touching, even from Jane, Jim quipped, "You know Jane if you keep holding Daria's hand all the time people might start to talk."

Daria and Jane looked at each other and then at Jim and said in unison, "Wouldn't be the first time!"

Looking back at Daria Jane said, "So, how much pain do you still have?"

Daria replied, "Not that much really. I am off the prescription pain meds. I just take the same stuff I would for a headache. Even then I am taking pills only three times per day. My biggest problem now is that I get tired very quickly. So don't take it the wrong way if I start to doze off. It's not you. It's me."

"I understand," Jane said. "It takes a lot of energy to heal. There is nothing I want more for you than to heal. I can see that you are wearing makeup. That is a pretty rare thing."

"Quinn sent it. It's covering the bruises and scrapes. My face got pretty banged up and my glasses broke from the airbag. The bruises are healing, but they are kind of a nasty yellowish purple or purplish yellow. Amelia put makeup on me this morning so that we could go out for coffee. The people who own Pizza King have opened a new shop they call Coffee King."

"I hope the coffee isn't as greasy as their pizza," Jane said.

Daria and Jim chuckled. Daria said, "It really is quite good. They have great cinnamon rolls, too."

Jim popped up with, "Maybe we can all go for coffee together in the morning. My treat."

"Good idea," Daria said. "But we will need to bring Amelia along, too. I think you will like her as you get to know her. Jane, you have actually met her before. She was the one who was kind of into hero worship when you took me to that Camp Grizzly reunion. I found out that she married Jamie. You remember him; he was one of the football trio of Joey, Jeffy, and Jamie that were always trying to be Quinn's boyfriend. Jamie was the blonde one. Believe it or not they have two kids now."

'"OK. Let me get this straight. First, it is really weird that the girl from Grizzly is now your nurse. Second, she married one of Quinn's would be boyfriends. Third, and this may be the most disturbing, they have reproduced – twice. I don't know which disturbs me most. She better not move in on my friend!" Jane said emphatically.

"Don't worry Jane," Daria said. "No one can take your place in my life. Not even Tom."

The three friends continued chatting. It wasn't long before Tom walked in the front door. He had briefly stopped at home and changed from his suit into a sweater and jeans. Tom came right over and kissed his wife and then gave Jane and Jim each big hugs. Standing over by Jim he asked Daria, "So anything exciting happen today? And who did your makeup? You really look good."

Daria looked at Tom and in her best deadpan voice said, "Amelia did my makeup. As for what has happened, well Jane and Jim came all this way just to see me. Amelia is really working out well. I like her. She and I went to Coffee King for coffee this morning. Oh, and Trent married Monique and they are going to have a baby in a month. I calculate it will be just about the same time Quinn pops hers out."

"Trent married Monique? Isn't that the woman he has dated on and off since high school and they fight all the time?" Tom exclaimed. He walked over and sat down on Daria's left side and gave her a hug and another kiss.

"One and the same," Jane answered. "I'm not sure what makes me the least comfortable: Trent marrying Monique, the two of them as parents, or me being an aunt again. And yes, they fight all the time."

"Well, for what it's worth, when we talked to them they both realized that they fight a lot. Monique is particularly aware of that and says she is trying to do something about it," Daria added.

"I just hope that Trent doesn't wind up as the third notch in her lipstick case," Jane said. "He certainly is in no position to pay alimony or child support."

"He would have to turn to your brother Wind to find out how to deal with that," Jim said.

"No kidding," Jane replied.

Jake was the next to come in the front door. He looked over at Daria and said, "Hey kiddo, how was your day?"

"Other than the amusement park and the roller coasters it was pretty dull. Unless of course you count coffee and strange people just showing up on the doorstep," Daria deadpanned.

"They don't get any stranger than us!" Jane said enthusiastically.

Jim got up and introduced himself to Jake and shook his hand. Tom waved at Jake, but didn't leave Daria's side. Jane said, "Hi Mr. Morgendorffer."

Jake replied to Jane, "You know, you can just call me Jake. After all you are essentially part of this family."

"Thanks Jake," Jane replied.

"Mom is expecting to be at the office late this evening, Daria. So I will get some lasagna started for us. We can have salad with it," Jake said.

Jim popped up, "Why don't we just order Chinese? My treat. How about that? It will warm up easily when Helen comes home."

"Great idea," Tom, Daria, and Jane said in unison.

"I can go for that. Now where is that take out menu from China King?" Jake said.

Tom knew the early signs of something that could get Jake started on a rant. Not being able to find something was definitely one of the starting points. Tom quickly pulled out his phone and navigated to China King's website. There he found the takeout menu. It all took less than a minute. The potential situation defused. Everyone took a look at Tom's phone and quickly decided what they wanted. They were even able to place the order through the website.

Tom and Jim took off in Tom's car to pick up the food. As they drove they had a chance to talk.

"Nice car Tom," Jim said.

"Thanks. It's my company car," Tom replied. "Associate VPs and higher get company cars."

"I think it is great that you took that job. Lawndale may not be the most exciting place, but it will be good when you two decide to start a family. That is the one thing I have to say about us. Jane needs to be in a city like Boston or New York for her career. Things are convenient in the city, but we will probably have to move to a suburb when we start a family."

"Daria and I will have to make some decisions on a family in the next couple of years. I don't want us to be too old when we start. I'd like to have our kids through college before I retire!" Tom said.

"I hear you on that. Jane and I are planning a wedding in the spring. Don't tell her I told you. I think she wants to be the one to tell you and she will ask Daria to be Matron of Honor, which I think is hardly a surprise. If you are willing I would like you to be my Best Man," Jim said.

"I'd be honored," Tom replied as he pulled into China King's parking lot.

As they were getting out of the car Jim remarked, "Daria's accident has really rattled Jane. I'm glad we could come and see her. I am taking a couple of personal days. Would you be able to drive me to the train on Thursday morning? I would rather not rely on Trent."

"Good plan my friend. I'll just arrange to go into work late that day. How long does Jane plan to stay?"

Jim said, "She will at least stay through the weekend. Her next show is a week from Saturday, so she will need to arrive back in Boston no later than a week from today." As they talked their food was brought to the cash register. Jim paid the bill and they walked back to Tom's car.

"So how weird is it staying with the newlyweds?" Tom asked.

"You know, since I will be marrying into the Lane family I have gotten used to weird. It is no weirder than anything else about that family. At least Jane's room doesn't share a wall with Trent's. So, we shouldn't be able to hear them fighting or anything else!" The two men laughed.

When the two men returned they found that Jake and Jane had managed to get Daria into her wheelchair and set up at the kitchen table. Helen had arrived home shortly beforehand and was sitting there talking to Daria and Jane. Jane was sitting next to Daria with her arm around her. The guys put the food on the table and everyone helped themselves. When they were done each person grabbed a fortune cookie.

"OK Daria," Helen said. "What does your fortune cookie say?"

Daria looked up and said totally deadpan, "Avoid entanglements with old pickup trucks."

"Very funny. Now what does it really say?" Helen asked.

"It says, 'The next season will bring you many good surprises,'" Daria said. "Well, it certainly has to be better than the big surprise I got this season. I also got lucky numbers 10, 15, 11, and 22. Of course you know that I consider this all complete rubbish."

Helen popped up with, "Well at least it is kind of fun. My cookie says 'Years of hard work will pay off' and I have lucky numbers 20, 12, 15, and 42."

They went around the table reading their fortunes and lucky numbers. Jane's fortune was 'Friendship will transform your life.' Jim's said 'Love will be in front of you.' Jakes' fortune was 'Success in business will be yours.' Tom's said 'Family will applaud your success.'

Daria commented, "Note that there are not bad fortunes in these cookies. I remember seeing a TV show one time where a magic Chinese restaurant would spring up in a city. One patron would get a 'special' fortune cookie. The fortune came true immediately and it was usually love or riches. So, one really greedy guy who witnessed this searched the world and finally encountered the restaurant again. He went in and ordered dinner. Without even tasting the dinner he was served he browbeat the waiter and the manager for a special fortune cookie. He was so unpleasant that they finally brought him one. He opened it and the fortune was 'you are dead.' The moral of the story was clearly that greed would eventually lead you to a bad end."

"Eeew," Jake said. "I'm glad that my fortune cookie didn't say that!"

"No one can say that you are greedy, Dad," Daria said. "It's at least one thing you still carry with you from your carefree hippie days."

Jim, Jane, and Tom looked at each other and all thought to themselves, 'Odd, weird, or perhaps just a little insane, but not greedy.'

"Thanks kiddo," Jake said to Daria.

"As much as I hate to say it, I think I am about to fall asleep. I think I need to go to bed. I love being with all of you and talking, but I think that my day has been really busy and I still lack stamina. Can someone help me get ready and into bed."

"Let me do it," Jane said as she got up and started wheeling Daria away from the table. First stop was the bathroom, then into the bedroom to help Daria change. Jane sat by Daria's bed and carefully removed the makeup that Amelia had put on her. As she removed it she could see Daria's bruises and scrapes. Tears started running down her cheeks. Daria could see that her friend was crying even without her glasses.

"Why are you crying Jane?" Daria asked.

"Because it is so hard for me to see you hurt," Jane said. "I'm surprised Tom can keep it together around you."

"It tears him up inside Jane," Daria said. "He puts on a brave face for me. Because his sense of commitment is so strong he will do whatever I need to have done. There have been times he thought I was asleep, but I could hear him quietly sobbing in a chair or on the futon over there. I have a high threshold of physical pain, so I have been doing OK. I don't like looking in the mirror right now, but I do know I will heal. This has been very uncomfortable physically, but seeing what it has done to Tom, to you, and to my parents has been the most painful part. Once I was in the trauma team's hands there was no more danger to my life. I want to get well so that I stop hurting those closest to me. Hurting you hurts me more than the injuries from the accident. Please don't feel hurt because of me. I am going to heal!"

Jane saw the tear go down Daria's cheek and gently wiped it away with the back of her hand. "Oh Daria, you are so smart but sometimes you just don't get it," Jane said. "You do not hurt us one little bit. The tears are those of love and empathy. We would gladly change places with you so that you would not have to endure the pain."

"Why would you do that?" Daria said.

"Because our love for you is so great we would rather sacrifice our own comfort and wellbeing to ensure yours. That is the value we place on you. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. I will be back in the morning around nine thirty," Jane said. She leaned over and kissed Daria's cheek and then turned out the light as she left the room.

Jim went into the room and briefly said goodnight to Daria. Then Jake and Helen did the same. Tom went in, kissed Daria and told her he would be back within an hour. Then he drove Jim and Jane back to Casa Lane. There they said goodnight and Tom returned to the Morgendorffers'. He talked for a bit with Jake and Helen and then went into the room where his wife slept. He too got ready and went to sleep on the futon. It had certainly been the busiest day for her since the accident. He was also certain that it would be a comfort to her having Jane there for a week. Thinking of his wife he drifted off to sleep.