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I woke up at about two the next afternoon, utterly famished. It was okay, though, since the smell of Thai food was filling the room. I sat up a little and saw Helena sitting in one of the recliners, watching TV. “Hi,” I said in a scratchy voice. She didn’t mind, though, and looked over at me with a bright smile.

“Hello, darling,” she said gently. “Don’t worry, there’s been no change with Alice…I’d have woken you had something happened.” I nodded, knowing that she would have. “I’ve been here since about nine this morning, but you were sleeping so deeply that I didn’t have the heart to wake you. Your children and Shane were in to check on you earlier. Everyone’s gone to work since, but they’ll all be back later on.”

“God, I can’t believe I slept through all that,” I said with a shake of my head. Helena just grinned.

“I certainly can. You were absolutely exhausted and needed the sleep, Dana. No one could possibly fault you for that, so please don’t worry about it. I stopped by your house and got you some clothes if you’d like to take a shower and change, and I just got back from picking up lunch. I got you pad Thai.” She said it all as if it was the simplest thing on earth. I got up and hugged her.

“Thank you so much,” I whispered. She just laughed.

“There’s nothing to thank me for, darling. I’m just sorry I can’t do more.”

“You’re doing plenty,” I assured her through my tears. Wiping them away somewhat angrily with the back of my hand, I took the bag she offered me and headed into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later and feeling a lot better, I joined her at the table for pad Thai. It was awesome, too. One thing Helena was amazing at was finding and remembering the best restaurants in the city, and this was no exception.

I figured she’d leave not too long after we ate, since there was really nothing more for her to do. She seemed to want to stay, though, and I realized she was probably feeling a little lonely. She and Alice had remained really close over the years, and usually had lunch together a few times a week. Al had only been in the hospital a few days, but even that was enough to upset the balance of their friendship a little bit.