So, how could Alice know that all of Dana’s old feelings for her had never gone away, that they had all resurfaced over the past few weeks while Alice had taken care of her?  Alice couldn’t possibly understand that Dana had begun to question why she had ever ended things with her to begin with, that she had begun to hope that things might once again work between them.  That they might one day find their way back together.  

Fearing that Alice wouldn’t return her sentiments after everything that had happened between them, Dana had kept all of her feelings hidden.  And now, when she finally wanted Alice to know just what she felt, she didn’t have the strength to communicate her thoughts clearly.

As Alice prepared to leave, Dana closed her eyes.  She felt so tired, so weak.  She needed sleep.  As she drifted into unconsciousness, she felt Alice’s lips flutter one more time against her cheek.  

“I’ll be back soon, sweetie,” Alice whispered.  Then, she was gone.

***

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine; you make me hap-py, when skies are grey!”  

The flower in Alice’s shopping bag began singing after she accidentally banged it against a wall as she rounded a corner on the way back to Dana’s room.  She smiled as she listened to it.  She had found the singing and dancing toy flower in the gift shop in the lobby of the hospital, and she thought it was just tacky enough to draw another smile out of Dana.  Her break from Dana’s bedside had been brief but eventful, and she was looking forward to getting back to tell her about it.  

As she rounded another corner, her heart skipped a beat in her chest.  Down the hall, she could see nurses pulling a defibrillator out of a room.  She saw their saddened but professional-looking faces and knew immediately that someone had died.  Her heart suddenly made up for its pause by tripling as she ran down the rest of the hall to Dana’s room.  

Looking through the glass, she sucked in her breath sharply.  Dana lay in exactly the same position Alice had left her.  Though she wasn’t moving, Alice could see that she was still breathing through the thin sheet that lay over her.