“I think it’s great. Are they gonna let you pick a size?” Shane asked. “Not that I think you should change anything, I’m just curious here!”

“Nah, I just want them to be symmetrical I guess. I could care less, aside from that,” Dana said happily.

“I wonder why they wanted to take the lump off so fast?” Alice mused.

“Probably because it’s basically dead cells, right Dane? From what I understand, anyway,” Shane shrugged.

“Well, not really dead, per se…just sorta useless. It’s basically just a cyst, but there’s no reason for it to stay there,” Dana replied. “Yeah, I think a little party for all of us would be good. But if you guys don’t mind, you think we could make it for tomorrow night?”

“Shit, I’ve got that wedding thing tomorrow,” Shane said. “And Tina and Jenny have to be there too. How about a couple days from now? Say, Thursday? It’s Monday now, that’ll give the guys a little notice and let Kit get it set up to close for a night. Does that work for you guys? If it’s okay with Kit, I mean.”

“Fine with me,” Alice and Dana replied as one, thinking that an extra day to relax wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“Okay. Hey, how about you guys meet me at the gym the day after tomorrow? I’m starting a new workout thing, it’d be nice to have some company,” Shane asked, and Alice shot her a grateful glance. They’d recently discussed Dana’s general sense of hopelessness, and agreed that if the results came back negative, they should try and get her involved in some sort of regular workout routine.

“I hired a trainer for us, so we’ll just start off slow,” Shane continued, hoping she wasn’t pushing too hard. She knew Dana was really picky about her workouts, and she’d gotten in touch with Harrison about it to make sure Dana would be able to handle it. He’d recommended the trainer himself; she was one of his classmates and had a long history of personal training after illness.

Dana didn’t seem too upset one way or the other, though. “Yeah, that’d be good,” she said, giving Shane one of her goofy grins. “I’ve been way too lazy recently.”

“With damn good reason,” Alice replied. “Still, I could definitely use it, and Shane’s packing on the pounds sitting around at the Planet all day lately.” She winced. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out, I was just fucking with you Shane. Really.”

“Nah, you’re fine. And you’re right, I’ve been in there a lot lately. This’ll be good for all of us. I might even try and drag Jenny’s ass in too, okay?” She hugged them before she turned for the Jeep. “I’ll go set it up with Kit, okay? You guys go home and relax.”

Alice hugged her and nodded, whispering her thanks to Shane as she turned toward her car. Dana just stood there staring at Shane for a few seconds before she got pulled into another bearhug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Shane said into Dana’s ear, her voice on the verge of tears. “I don’t know what I woulda done if you weren’t.”

“Well, you don’t have to think about that, so don’t. It’s okay, Shane,” Dana replied, hugging her tightly. “Thanks so much for being with me today.”

“You’re my friend, of course I’d be there,” Shane said, crying openly now.

“Hey, it’s all right,” Dana tried to soothe her. “How about you call me later, we’ll go talk or just sit on the beach or something? We haven’t done that in awhile.”

“Won’t you be busy?” Shane asked, looking toward the Mini where Alice was once again on her cell phone.

“She’ll understand. Besides, she’s got work stuff going on.” Seeing Shane’s pointed glance, she sighed. “And to be honest, she usually falls asleep after sex anyway. I’ll have at least a few hours.”

Shane laughed and hugged her again. “Okay, how about you call me when you’re ready?”

“Will do,” Dana replied. She watched Shane climb less than gracefully into the Jeep and pull away, wondering the whole time how she’d managed to luck out with such a good friend. Then she turned toward the Mini to go home and wondered the same thing about Alice. Feeling like the luckiest person alive, she opened the passenger door and leaned uncomfortably over the center console for a kiss.