“Oh, Alice,” Shane whispered brokenly, unable to think of anything comforting or useful to say.  Carmen stood beside them, rubbing Alice’s shoulder sympathetically.  After receiving Alice’s frantic call, they had driven to the hospital as fast as they could, knowing that Alice was upset and alone.  They had found her waiting beside the nurses’ station for any news about Dana.  

“She’s really sick, Shane,” Alice sobbed quietly as she hugged her friend tightly.  “I didn’t know what to do.”

“You did exactly what you should have done, Al,” Shane replied reassuringly.  “You called an ambulance.”

“But, I left her alone.  I went on a date even though she told me she wasn’t feeling well,” Alice explained, her voice breaking as she felt another wave of guilt crashing over her.  She felt like everything that was happening to Dana was her fault.  If she had only stayed to watch a movie with Dana that evening, she would have known something was wrong sooner.  

If only she had stayed: those words had become a taunting mantra inside her head while she sat waiting impatiently for news about Dana’s condition.

“You couldn’t have known what was going to happen,” Carmen answered firmly.  “You can’t blame yourself, Alice.”

Gently pulling away from Shane, Alice gave Carmen a half-hearted smile as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  The three women sat heavily in chairs against the wall beside the nurses’ station.

“So, have you heard anything from the doctors since we spoke on the phone?” Shane asked.

“No,” Alice sighed in frustration, glancing over at the nurses who were busily working at their station.  “No one will tell me anything.”  Then, looking down the hall, she saw a familiar face walking toward her.  “Wait, that’s Dana’s doctor,” she said, standing up quickly as a serious-looking doctor strode over to them.  

“Alice Pieszecki?  You brought Dana Fairbanks in?” the doctor asked, looking at Alice.

“Yes, I’m Alice,” Alice answered, feeling more and more nervous as she tried to read the doctor’s seemingly immoveable face.  

“I’m Dr. Bauer, Dana’s oncologist.  From what we have been able to determine, Dana is suffering from a severe infection,” the doctor explained.  “Her immune system has been disrupted because of the chemotherapy she’s been undergoing, so she’s not able to fight the sickness properly.  We’re giving her a high dosage of antibiotics to try to combat the infection.”