She didn’t know why she was here. Her friends were all downstairs, crammed into Sam’s room like they had been on so many nights after he had begun to make a swift recovery. They were, once again, eating Chinese food and laughing at Oliver and Sam’s stories.  Sandra, Sam’s nurse, had come in three times to tell them to keep it down, and stop making such a ruckus. This was a hospital not a bar, she reprimanded them in an indignant tone that was only betrayed by the twinkle in her eye. They had all snickered into the beers that were poured into paper cups like guilty teenagers. Oliver had offered Sandra an eggroll and serenaded her, with a little help from Dov and Chris, with an off key rendition of Sandra D. She scolded, pretended to be insulted, and had taken the eggroll, along with a plate of Moo Shi Chicken, shaking her head in mock horror. That was when Gail slipped out and found herself here.

Why, oh why, couldn’t she get him out of her head? She hated sick people. Damn! It must suck to die alone! Or maybe it was better that way, she couldn’t decide. In any case, she had been keeping a vigil by his bed for over an hour now, lost in thought, watching his chest laboriously rise and fall. His breath came so painfully slowly she was beginning to wondered if this might be it, if she was too late. Why did she even care? She knew that Chris and Dov would be looking for her sooner or later. She had just gotten up to go when she felt him watching her. She turned back to find two bright green slits of eyes over the top of the oxygen mask, as sharp as her own blue.

”Well, well, well, if it isn’t Officer Gail” He gasped in a horse whisper.

”I know what you did.” She said bluntly.

He smiled and tried to laugh, but it ended as a cough instead.

”Oh, really.” He finally managed to croak.

”Why did you?” She asked

”You don’t happen to have a cigarette, do you?” he replied

”Dude! You’re on oxygen! And you have pneumonia!” She exclaimed

”Well, at least you can’t say smoking will kill me.” He smirked at his own bad joke.