“Did you call Shane?” I asked him finally, putting my hand on his shoulder. He looked relieved that I wasn’t upset, and nodded.

“I told her that I’d swing by the grocery store and pick you up some stuff once I leave here, which I can do as soon as they bring your results back. Shane’s gonna be here soon and she said Jenny made you dinner. I want you to eat that and then go to bed, okay? Don’t worry about anything. They’re gonna stay with you as long as you want tonight, and I’m taking the day off tomorrow so I can come talk to the doctor. I want you to rest.”

I almost protested until I saw the determined look in his eyes. There was no way he’d let me in here for more than a few minutes the next day, if even that. “You won’t do her any good like this, Ma. You know that. She needs to rest and so do you. She’ll be okay.”

“I know,” I said quietly, finally admitting defeat. It wasn’t much longer until the nurse came back in with my lab results, which were pretty much as expected: vitamin deficiencies, extreme fatigue, and a cold that was made worse by those things. I was given a prescription, and Charlie went to go get it filled at the hospital’s pharmacy while I got my stuff together and waited for Shane.

She got there pretty quickly, and winced when she saw me. “You look worse than I do,” she said as a greeting. I wanted to say something in response, but I just didn’t have the energy. “Come on. Let’s go say goodbye to Al and get you home.”

I don’t remember much after that. I know Charlie came back as I was apologizing to Alice, and handed Shane my prescriptions. Then she helped me to her car, where I fell asleep the second we were on the road. The next thing I remember is her helping me into the house, where she helped me get into bed. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and only woke up when Jenny shook me and got me to drink some soup. I took my pills in a sort of dream state, and Shane and Jenny sat with me until I fell back asleep.