The doctor was supposed to be in soon, and Gemma was coming on shift before too long, so we figured there was no real reason to leave. We’d barely filled our cups when Jenny noticed Helena walking through the cafeteria doors, so we waved her over. She got her coffee first but joined us at the table after doing so.

“I was just downstairs hoping to see Alice,” she told us. “One of the nurses told me she’d been moved. I’m rather surprised it’s this soon.”

“Well, Gemma had her sitting up, so I guess that was the green light for her doctor. Apparently there’s going to be a lot of physical therapy,” I said. Helena nodded but declined to comment, and we all sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping on the liquid that tasted what I expected sewage to resemble. From the expressions on the others’ faces, I imagined they were thinking something similar.

“This is horrid,” Helena said finally, setting her cup on the table and looking at it with distaste.

“It really is,” Jenny concurred. “The tea is just as bad if it’s anything like it’s been the past few days, though. We should have gotten cans of Diet Coke.”

“To be honest, I only came up here in hopes of finding someone familiar,” Helena said with a small smile.

“Well, it’s not like we’re here for the coffee either. I’m just killing time until I can go be with her again.” At her questioning expression I smiled. “One of the nurses is giving her a shower.”

“Oh, well that’s good,” Helena replied. “I’m sure she’ll be happy about that. She was never one to go a day without.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she’s giving the nurse a hard time,” I replied with a smile, getting a bit lost in my imagination when I pictured Alice glaring at the poor woman for not doing things exactly as she wanted them done.

“Oh, I went to visit Tina this morning,” Helena said, bringing me out of my reverie. “She says she’s going to try to come by later to visit.”

“She really doesn’t have to do that. Alice isn’t mad at her or anything, we both understand,” I told her. I knew that Tina had called the hospital several times to inquire about Alice, and she’d called Shane and Jenny several times as well. She’d told them not to tell me, since she didn’t want me to have to think about it any more than I had to. I appreciated it, but I understood how hard it was for her to even consider coming to the hospital so soon after losing Bette. She and Alice had been friends for so long that I really think it might have destroyed her to see her like that.