“Are you sleeping?” a deep, familiar voice floated into Dana’s half-dozing thoughts. She opened her eyes and smiled brightly at Shane, who grinned back as she shut the door behind her.

“Hey,” Dana said, her voice noticeably stronger. After nine days in the hospital, she was finally starting to feel almost human again. Sitting up slightly in her bed, she wrapped her arms around Shane, pleased to finally be able to do so without worrying about an obstructive I.V. in her arm. As of yesterday afternoon, Dr. Bauer had finally taken her off the intense regime of antibiotics and fluids that had been pumping into her system for over a week. Besides the comfort of not having a bunch of tubes attached to her, it was a relief to know that her body was now strong enough to start healing itself.

“Sorry to wake you,” Shane said as she placed a bag on the table in front of her.

“You didn’t really wake me,” Dana replied, glancing curiously at the bag. “I was just dozing a bit. It’s so boring here when Alice isn’t around that there’s not much to do but sleep.”

“Yeah, where is Alice anyway?” Shane asked, glancing around the room as though she expected Alice to materialise from the walls. “I thought she would be here.”

“I forced her to go home for a few hours this afternoon,” Dana answered. “She’s barely left this hospital for over a week now, and she needs some rest. I tried to convince her to stay home for the night, but she wouldn’t hear it, despite the fact that the doctor said I’ll be able to go home in another couple of days.”

“Yeah, that’s Alice,” Shane said, sharing a knowing smile with Dana. “Well, it’s too bad because she’s going to miss out on my big surprise,” she added, gesturing dramatically toward the bag she had brought with her.

Dana raised her eyebrows inquisitively as Shane started to take something out of the bag. As soon as she recognised what it was, she gasped happily. “Haägen-Dazs! Is that chocolate chocolate chip?”

“Yep,” Shane confirmed, happy to have elicited such an excited reaction from her friend. “I had to sneak it in past the nurse’s station, which was pretty scary. Some of those women look like they are ex-prison wardens. I was sure they were going to pull me over and strip search me.” As she spoke, she took the lid off the ice cream and handed Dana a spoon.