A Fighting Chance: Chapter 3

Story by xMini on SoFurry

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#3 of A Fighting Chance


Hi and welcome back to Chapter 3 of A Fighting Chance! I apologize for the delay of this chapter, but finishing the year at university and free time don't really get along. Sooo yeah, like always, I greatly appreciate any feedback be it review, rating, or favorite! Wink wink. Anyways, let's get to the chapter!!


Chapter 3

My lungs burned from exhaustion, but I couldn't stop running. I had to catch up. I had to reach her. But no matter how fast I tried to run, it felt as though there were cinderblocks strapped to my legs. I looked up to see the faceless form of my goal. Even though she had no features, it seemed like she was...disappointed. I could feel it. I needed to reach her... I stretched out my hand towards the unmoving figure...hoping that she would reach hers out as well. I was almost there, but the force pulling me back was immense. My fingers were inches away... Just a little more. I lunged forward to close the distance, but the invisible force grew and pulled me off my feet, dragging me back. I fought for anything I could find to stop my momentum, but I was just clawing at empty air. An anguished scream escaped my lips as the faceless figure faded away into the distance.

I jolted upright in my bed with a frightened yelp, slamming into a plastic tray sending it and its contents flying.

"Eeep!" Amy let out a startled squeak as the food flew up, splattering all over the front of her blue scrubs.

"AHHH!" I winced in pain from the combination of hitting the solid tray and my muscles contracting much faster than they wanted to.

"This isn't exactly what I meant when I said that you make me wet Rev..." Amy stood there covered in the orange juice and remnants of breakfast that had previously been on the tray that now lay scattered on the floor.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorr- wait...what!? When did you say that?? You never said that!"

"Didn't I? Ohh right, it must have been to Celeste," Amy responded in a playful tone while wiping herself off with a spare towel.

I sighed and shook my head, "You're hopeless..." It was obvious she was just playing around but she could get under my skin in a flash, "but really, I am so sorry about spilling that all over you."

"Don't worry about it, it happens more than you think working in a hospital," she sighed while wiping the last of the food off her uniform, "I've got spares that I can change into later. Gotta be prepared for when your patients go crazy on you."

I looked away, embarrassed. "I think it was just a bad dream is all...I can't remember what it was about very well though. I thought maybe..." I trailed off.

"It's okay, really. Here, I'll get someone to clean up the rest of this while I go get you another tray."

"Thanks Amy." I gave her a warm smile as she headed out of the room. I sat back slowly onto the bed, thinking over my dream.

What was I dreaming about..? Clearly it really freaked me out by how violently I woke up. My thoughts flashed back to the momentary look of disappointment on Amy's face when she looked down at her ruined clothes. A pang of sorrow pricked at my heart. I felt bad for giving her an extra hassle when she probably has so much else to worry about.

I sighed and tried to cover my face with my hands, but accidentally bopped myself on the nose again. "For fucks sake..." I muttered under my breath, "still not used to...this yet."

My thoughts quickly veered away from remembering my dream to my strange new body. I opened and closed my hand, studying the furry appendage that was attached to my equally furry body. Despite spending most of my time trying to figure why and how everyone including myself looked like animals, I hadn't even come close to a plausible reason. I had nothing to go off and I couldn't ask any questions because people just think I'm crazy. Nothing made sense anymore and my brain hurt even trying to rationalize it. I hoped things would make a little more sense when I got out of the hospital, but I wasn't confident.

My train of thought was briefly interrupted by a young male nurse who looked similar to a badger, but had dark blue markings rather than the normal black. He didn't make his presence known, wordlessly cleaning the mess I'd made and was in and out in a flash. If I wasn't so bored, I probably wouldn't have noticed him at all.

After a few more minutes of idle waiting, Amy returned with another full plate of food.

"Oh good, they already sent someone to come and clean up."

"Yeah, he was in and out in a flash. I barely noticed him," I commented while attempting to spoon a bit of oatmeal into my maw. Amy sat in the nearby chair and watched me eat in silence with an idle smile on her face. I felt her gaze on me, causing me to look up and make eye contact with her.

"Wha?" I asked through a mouthful of food, accidentally spilling some onto my patient gown.

Amy let out a heartwarming laugh and got up to help me wipe off the bit that I spilled. "I've discovered over the past few days that watching you eat food is quite the show. Almost like watching a toddler eat," she teased.

I huffed in response, "It's not that funny...and I am NOT a toddler."

"It's hilarious," Amy contended, "I gotta make my own entertainment in my job or else I would get way too stressed. Enjoy the small things, you know?" She sat back in her chair and allowed me to continue her entertainment. It was true that eating still posed a formidable challenge for me, especially liquids, although biting things like toast I'd gotten better at. I probably DID look like an idiot while trying to eat if Amy found it that funny.

I surrendered with a grumble and went back to my food. I glanced at Amy again and saw that she had already changed her clothes to another identical pair. "Speaking of quick, you already changed?" I asked between mouthfuls.

She replied with a proud smile and a wink, "Mhmm! When you work at a hospital, you learn to be quick or you get left in the dust. That being said, I'm faster than most when I put my mind to it."

A small smile spread across my face. Quick like a bunny. Heh.

"I see that smile Rev! Get your mind out of the gutter! Don't be thinking I'm fast at everything. I take my time on the...important things," Amy quipped suggestively.

I choked on my food at her lewd comment. "Jesus Amy, are you trying to kill me? I wasn't thinking that at all!"

"Pff, even if you did start choking..." she leaned in close to me and whispered, "I'm trained in mouth to mouth."

"Y-you aren't making it any better..."

Amy pouted and stood up with a huff, "Fine, I see how it is. I'll just let you choke to death next time."

I could tell she was enjoying this from the ghost of a smile playing on the corners of her lips, so I decided to play along. "You'd be so heartless to let one of your patients choke to death when you could easily help?"

This time her smile came on full bore and she turned to face me with her hands defiantly on her hips. "I can't save a patient who doesn't want to be saved. That could cause the hospital a lot of legal problems."

"You got me there," I relented with a wink in her direction.

She laughed and took my empty tray as she went to leave the room, "Well it seems you're doing a bit better, I'll be back around 12:30 with your lunch and after we'll run some more scans to see how you're improving."

I waved her off with a smile. "Yeah yeah, go tend to your other patients and leave me alone. You actually have other patients, right? With how much you bother me, I wouldn't be able to tell."

She shut the door and left me once again in the quiet room. With a sigh I sunk into the firm mattress and stared at the ceiling. Without anyone here it was nice and relaxing, but at the same time it was mind numbingly boring. I felt a little bad for getting into an argument with Celeste before she essentially stormed off. I wondered if she would come back and visit. I kind of hoped she would. It definitely was a lot less boring with her here even though she kept to herself the majority of the time. The way she just sat there eerily gave off a mysterious air.

Why'd she get so upset in the first place?

It beat me. I was just telling her that she could go home once in a while. Did she take it the wrong way? A chill ran down my spine. Oh crap. Did she think I didn't appreciate her keeping me company? I mean, I'd be pissed if I stayed 2 days in an uncomfortable hospital chair and then was blown off like that. No...that wasn't it. I said on multiple occasions that I was grateful that she stayed and kept me company. I wracked my brain and still couldn't come up with anything plausible.

Frustrated, I ruffled my hair and accidentally stroked the edge of my ear, flinching from how sensitive it was. I froze and stopped my hand as I got an idea. A twisted smile appeared on my face and I slowly ran my hand from the tip of my ear to the base. My whole body shuddered from the satisfaction and I unconsciously let out a short moan.

I slapped a hand over my mouth and I sat there silent for a moment before I started laughing hard at myself. However, my laughter was quickly interrupted by a jolt of pain that shot through my sides and chest as my muscles seized up.

Damn. My muscles don't even like laughter.

After my muscles relaxed, I tentatively reached up once more and softly scratched behind my other ear to be rewarded with a feeling just as good as last time. I closed my eyes and sat there gently scratching behind my ear, engrossed in my self-generated bliss. It felt like someone giving me a gentle scalp massage but turned up to 11.

Is this what dogs feel when we scratch behind their ears..?

In my distracted state, I didn't hear the door slide open again. Amy stood there in silence for a moment before she cleared her throat. My eyes shot open and saw Amy leaning up against the door frame with a sideways smile.

"I-It's not what it looks like," I stammered. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment from getting caught up in my own ministrations.

"Oh is that so? 'Cause it looked like you were reeeally getting into scratching behind your ear. Am I wrong?"

I looked down as my self-consciousness welled up and held my tongue. I didn't dare open my mouth and say something that I didn't mean. When I got embarrassed I usually would say something stupid and ramble on trying to correct myself.

Amy just laughed and walked into the room. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I just came back because I forgot my pen," she leaned over and picked it up off my bedside table. She leaned in close and whispered into my ear, "It'll be our little secret." Amy moved her hand behind my ear and scratched it twice causing me to let out a slight whimper before giggling and walking away. With a casual salute and a smile, she shut the door once and left me by myself once again.

I took a few deep breaths to slow my beating heart and cool my flushed face. That woman will be the death of me. _ _


Celeste

I paced back and forth in the small dining room. I was indecisive to say the least.

"If you want to go see your boyfriend, what's the problem?" A feathery figure sat at the table, spooning cereal into his mouth.

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND FINN!" I bellowed turning on the figure who remained unfazed by my yelling.

"If he isn't your boyfriend, then why did you make him those?" He asked, gesturing to the clear plastic container full of cookies with his spoon.

Oh I'm gonna kill this Avia someday.

I took a moment to temper my quickly overflowing rage, "Don't you have any more productive things to do than sit there and bother me?"

"Not really no. You know I live to make your life miserable," the soft corners of Finn's beak curled into a smile, "and you didn't answer my question."

Fire burned in my eyes and I smacked him hard on the back of the head.

"OW!" he yelped, plumage flying in all directions from where I hit him. "Aw man...come on Celeste, you know I'm molting. This takes forever to pick up..."

"See? Now you have something to do other than bother me." I smiled at him triumphantly.

"Uncool sis... uncool."

I ruffled the back of his head, causing a few more downy feathers to fall on the table. "Make sure the place is spotless by the time I get back." Finn's teasing actually helped me make up my mind.

Finn perked up hearing that, "So you are going to go visit your boyfriend. Don't forget your cookies!"

I picked up the plastic container and made my way out of the house. "Still not my boyfriend!" I called back.

Finn watched as I closed the door behind me. "I still glad you found someone sis..." With a sigh he looked down to see that feathers had gotten into his cereal. "Ughh..."


Revan

As I lay in my bed half asleep, my thoughts aimlessly wandered. I mumbled random nonsense to myself in my boredom and if anyone were to walk in, they would have thought I should have been in a mental ward, not a hospital.

"Hmm... odd flavors of jelly to put on toast...I wonder if there is such a thing as fish jelly...eww gross... that'd be a terrible idea. Essence o' fish...fish... sharks eat fish... shark fin soup is delicious...shark?"

Instantly my brain was wide awake as my thoughts settled on what had happened late last night.

She's right across the hall.

I had to go see if she really was across the hall. Ever since I had seen her in passing, I had been fascinated. A shark with pure white wings... there's no way that's actually real.

I slowly sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed where my wheelchair sat. With a grunt of effort, I slid into the wheelchair and plopped down with a sigh of relief. Thankfully my muscles didn't complain too badly. Hopefully that meant I was improving well.

I grabbed the I.V. stand and clipped it into the small attachment on the back of the wheelchair. Making sure it was secure, I slowly wheeled myself towards the door. Taking a quick peek into the hallway, I deemed it safe to cross. The door across the hall was cracked open slightly, allowing me to get another glimpse of the orange and black tail. The same one from last night.

I quietly knocked on the door frame and waited to hear if there was a response. I saw her tail twitch as I heard a meek voice reply, "c-come in..."

I slid the door open slowly and wheeled in to peer inside. There she was, sitting propped up in her bed with an incredibly cautious look on her face.

"C-can I help you..?" She asked in a voice barely above a whisper after a moment's pause.

Oh crap, I didn't think this far ahead! Even with her gown on, I could see her snow white wings folded behind her back and her tail sticking out from the bottom of her gown. Now I could see that she had a light blue-purple hair that flowed a little past her shoulders. She had a wide sloping nose that ended in a tapered point that distinguished her orange skin from her light gray skin. Small white markings accented her vibrant emerald eyes that still caught my breath. But there was a wild look in them, like she was intently watching my every move.

"I... uh... I'm..." I looked away, feeling heat rise to my face. Taking a deep breath I decided to just tell her what had happened. "I was in the hall yesterday when you passed by and you looked right at me. You looked like you were in pretty rough shape... Then last night I had got up to go to the bathroom and I saw your tail from across the hall..."

When I mentioned her tail, she drew it a little closer to herself as if it was a natural reaction. I noticed it and started to backtrack on what I had said. "I-uh... I didn't mean anything by it, it just caught my eye because I recognized it." That made her tail curl up even more. She must be really sensitive about it.

"No! I..." I took another deep breath, "My point is, I just wanted to see if you were okay..." I trailed off and looked up at her hesitantly.

I noticed her eyes widen slightly in surprise and a very faint smile touched the fringes of her lips. She didn't verbally respond, but she nodded her head slightly. Her behavior towards me was very reserved, but I guess that made sense given that she had no idea who I was and I had just intruded on her room.

A moment of silence passed between us before I decided to show myself out. "Well I guess I'll get going."

She nodded her head again and this time gave me a little bigger smile. I backed out of her room and slid her door closed with a quiet click.

"Looks like you're doing just fine." I heard a familiar voice behind me and as I turned my wheelchair around, I was greeted by the unamused face of Celeste.

"If I was fine, I wouldn't be in a hospital, now would I?" I replied in a cheerful tone. It seemed like Celeste wasn't in the best of moods, however my appreciative smile seemed to be contagious as it worked its way slowly onto Celeste's lips.

She just laughed at my comment, "No, no you wouldn't. Anyways, I just stopped by to give you these and see how you were doing, if I'm allowed to." She drew out the end sarcastically, making a jab at my earlier comment how she didn't need to spend all her time in the hospital. Celeste handed me a little plastic container full of the delectable treats.

"Yeah, yeah," I took the container and popped off the lid, "man, these smell good! Did you make these yourself?"

She scratched the back of her head and looked away with a sheepish smile, "Mhmm. I wasn't really doing anything last night, so I thought why not."

"I really appreciate it Celeste." I wanted to tell her she shouldn't have, but I just accepted her gift with a smile. I didn't want to upset her again, especially since she seemed in a generally good mood.

Celeste was shifting back and forth, seemingly anxious about something and right when I was about to ask her what was on her mind, she piped up.

"Hey Rev..." She trailed off.

"Hmm?"

"I wanted to app-" Celeste started, but cut herself off as she looked up to see a familiar face down the hall.

"OOOH!" With the new voice, I watched Celeste's carefree smile slide off her face.

I suddenly felt a pressure on my shoulder as a tuft of fur brushed against my face. Amy leaned on my shoulder and I could feel her chest pressed up against me. I tensed up, realizing how...endowed she was. I never noticed before because of the large tuft of fur covering her cleavage. She reached over me and snagged a chocolate chip cookie from the container. "Cookies for me? You shouldn't have!"

Celeste quickly went into action and slapped Amy's hand away. "I didn't."

Amy pouted and looked at me, "Aww, can't I have a cookie Revvy?"

I looked at the frowning Celeste and shrugged my shoulders. "Celeste made them, so it's not up to me."

Amy looked over at Celeste. "Pleeeease?"

It took a few moments, but with a sigh she relented, nodding her head towards Amy. "Sure...go ahead. But only one! And Revan tastes them first!"

"Yay!" Amy smiled and popped a cookie in to my mouth, not waiting for me to grab one myself.

"Mmmf!" I protested, surprised from the sudden intrusion. I glared at Amy who only wore her usually bright smile. Chewing the chocolate chip cookie well, I swallowed it down with a satisfied gulp. "Wow Celeste, these are really good!" I eagerly gobbled up another sugary treat.

"Thanks Rev."

Amy then took a chocolate chip cookie and ate it whole with a hum of satisfaction. "These are good!" Celeste acknowledged her with a simple nod.

"Well...I think I'll be headed home. I don't want to be a bother." I looked at her and saw a bit of hesitation in her features.

"Are you sure? We always welcome visitors for our patients." Saying that, Amy ruffled my hair and I turned around to glare at her and reach up to fix it.

"Yeah I'm sure, I just stopped by to drop these off. Gotta get ready for work soon too." Celeste looked at me and for a brief moment I noticed a bit of sadness before she regained her composure and turned to leave.

"I appreciate it Celeste," I called out to her as she walked away. She stopped her stride but didn't turn around, waving to me as I watched her make her way down the hallway.

"Well this is convenient," Amy continued once Celeste was out of sight, "I was just about to get your lunch and then take you to do more scans, but since you're already out, we can do the tests beforehand!"

I didn't respond and just let Amy roll me towards the imaging lab again. "Do you know what happened to Celeste? She was cheerful until..." I trailed off as the pieces fell into place, "until you showed up! Amy? Did you do anything to Celeste when I wasn't around?"

"I am shocked and appalled that you would accuse me of such a thing," Amy drawled sarcastically.

"I'm serious here."

"Me too. I didn't do anything per-say. Remember how I said I had to make my own entertainment? Let's just chalk it up to that. I'm an opportunist, and I couldn't let this one pass me up."

"I'm still not buying it...but I'm not gonna push it. Whatever it is, don't get me involved."

Amy reflexively snorted before keeling over in laughter. "What??" I asked, annoyed why she would laugh at my statement.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, "Oh nothing sweetie. It's just, you couldn't have said anything more perfect if you tried."

"Come on, what is it? What did I say?" I pressed.

"Seriously, don't worry about it. It's nothing you could fix anyway. I'm pretty sure I couldn't fix it anymore even if I wanted to. Her problem is with herself now. I was just the catalyst."

I let the subject drop as we got to the imaging lab. Clearly Amy wasn't going to be cooperative on this subject, so I relented to being kept in the dark.

Women...


Celeste

I shut the front door quietly with a small sigh.

I couldn't do it after all. I was about to, but fucking Amy had to show up. What is wrong with her? I know she acts that way just to fuck with me, so why do I let her get under my skin?

I groaned, frustrated at myself and walked to the fridge, grabbing myself a drink. Shutting the fridge door, Finn suddenly appeared, leaning on the side of the fridge with a smug grin on his face.

"Jesus Christ Finn, you're gonna give me a heart attack." I held my hand over my heart, trying to calm it down.

He brushed off my statement, "So how'd it go?"

By the way he asked, it was like he already knew how it went. "Fine." I replied curtly, taking my drink and sat down on the couch.

"Just fine?"

"Just dandy."

"Cool."

"Mmmmhm."

With that he got up and meandered to his room. "Wait where are you going?" I asked.

He stopped and turned to look at me. "To the only room at this end of the house?"

"Well yeah, but aren't you going to bug me more about how it went?"

"Nope. I already got all I needed."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, "Please enlighten me."

"Well for starters it clearly didn't go as planned. You made the cookies as an apology and I know you're a damn good baker, so that couldn't have been the problem."

"Thanks for that," I grumbled.

"You're welcome," Finn quickly added before continuing, "Anyways, the cookies weren't the problem. I know you're pretty hard headed so he might have said something stupid that pissed you off...but you're back too quickly for an argument of yours to have played out to completion."

"Watch it mister."

He pondered for another few moments. "So the fact that it was a pretty short visit coupled with the fact that you don't have your cookies, yet you still are in a bad mood only means one of two things happened."

"Let's hear it Sherlock."

"You either didn't have the guts to apologize or something happened when you tried," Finn concluded with a triumphant smile.

"Not bad Finn..." He had hit it right on the head.

I sank into the plush material of the couch, wanting to disappear. I'm pathetic for even getting like this. Why am I so upset?

Finn walked up behind me and ruffled my white hair. "I'm sure he appreciated the cookies regardless. Don't beat yourself up over it."

I sighed and continued to enjoy the feeling of the faux leather against my fur, but I didn't feel as bad. The kid had an odd way to make me feel better, but I appreciated it.

"Thanks kid," I leaned back and smiled at him.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. And I thought I told you to quit calling me kid," he yelled defiantly, "I'm almost as old as you, I'm just a late molter..." he trailed off. I got up out of the couch and patted him on the shoulder.

"I know Finn, I'm just giving you a hard time," I stretched my back, exposing the white fur on my stomach. I checked the time on the clock and nearly jumped out of my skin, "Shit! I'm gonna be late for work!" I retreated into my room and a moment later came out buttoning up my white blouse with a small logo of a slice of pie on the upper left breast and pulling on my slacks. "Dinner is in the fridge! I'll be back around 10 like normal! See you later Finn!"

"See ya later sis," He waved as I shot out of the house like a rocket.


Revan

I sat in my bed later that night and the only thing I could think of was the shark across the hall. There was something about her that had caught my attention and I had a strange desire to know more about who she was. Unfortunately, she didn't seem too thrilled about new people.

Understatement of the century.

I wanted to get to know her, but I didn't want to frighten her. She seemed unnecessarily wary of me, like I was going to hurt her just by looking at her. So I sat in bed thinking of a way that I wouldn't frighten her, but still get to know her. Unfortunately, nothing was coming to mind.

She just seemed like too nervous of a person. The only thing I could think of was to take it really slowly and cautiously, like dealing with a stray animal. Have her get comfortable with me little by little. I still had until Friday in here, and I was pretty sure she had just as long, if not longer.

What the hell am I thinking? What if she doesn't even like me?

And thus my brain started its long cycle of indecisiveness once more. Eventually I said 'fuck it' and made up my mind to see if she was still awake. I lifted the sheets off my bed and slid into my wheelchair a little easier that time. I had been getting used to the motion little by little and was almost able to do it without hurting myself too badly.

I made my way to the door, but as I went to open it, it slid open by itself.

"Celeste?"

"Revan?" Celeste stood in the doorway dressed in a white button up shirt and slacks complete with a little black bowtie. "What are you doing out of your bed this late?"

"I-uh- I was going to the bathroom," I lied, backing up from the doorway to let her in.

"The bathroom is on the other side of the room..."

"Anyways," I waved her off and diverted the subject, "what are you doing here?"

"Well I was on my way back from work and I decided to swing by. I don't think you could even count earlier as a visit," she chuckled as she walked over to the chair she was so well acquainted with.

"No not really, but you could have just swang by tomorrow too."

"Eh, I work close by and I didn't think you'd be asleep yet," she watched as I shifted my weight with a grimace to get back in my bed, "Oh crap, my bad. Do you need any help?"

"A little help is always appreciated," I chuckled. Celeste hurried around and helped lift me back into bed with a heave. "Phew, thanks. That's still a bit rough."

"Mhmm," she resumed her seated position and scooted the chair around to face me more.

I looked at her and saw that same uneasy look on her face. "Is-uh...Is Amy around?" She asked hesitantly.

"...no I don't think so. She said she was going home this evening I think. Why?"

"Oh no reason," she replied, but she visibly relaxed when she heard my answer.

"Is there something going with you two?" I eyed her skeptically and she wavered under my gaze.

I watched her think it over in her head before seeing her reach an answer. "Girl stuff," Celeste replied definitively, making it very clear that she didn't want to continue the subject.

"Well... alright then," I relented, "you just seem really... irritated around her. I just wanted to know if there was anything that I could tell her that would help..." I paused a moment before remembering what Amy had told me to relay last night. "Oh yeah! Amy told me last night to tell you something about how you don't need to worry about her getting in your way? Whatever that means."

Celeste blushed and looked away, "W-well I wonder what it means too!" she cleared her throat, "that crazy Lapin must be imagining things."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes in the dimly lit room, realizing that I enjoyed just being around Celeste. It felt comforting in some odd way. I glanced over her smooth features and how the sparing light caught the shade of her deep blue eyes made them shine like sapphires. She really is pretty.

"Earth to Revan." I shook my head free of the trance I was under and came back to reality. "You were spacing off."

"Huh? S-sorry," I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, "I do it every once in a while."

"Oh I've noticed," She bore an uncharacteristically warm smile. It was pleasant to see on her.

"You should smile like that more often," I commented, drawing a blush to her face.

"I-I smile!" She retorted, looking away, "A-anyway, I stopped by to just see how you were doing...and," she took a breath before continuing, "and to also apologize for storming out yesterday. It was uncalled for, and I'm not actually upset with you." Celeste turned back to face me with a smile.

"No no, I should be the one apologizing. I really do appreciate you coming to visit me. Nobody else I know would. It's none of my business how you spend your time and I shouldn't force you in either direction." It all tumbled out of my mouth at once, but it was true. I shouldn't worry so much about someone who takes there time to visit me. I should just appreciate it.

"T-thanks," she stood up from her chair, "anyways, it's getting late, so I should get home. It's nice to see you're doing a little better."

"You bet. Stop by anytime you like."

Celeste was almost out the door before something in my brain clicked, prompting me to call out to her, "Hey Celeste! I meant to ask you, but those clothes look vaguely familiar? Where did you say you worked?"

She turned to face me in the doorway, "I work at a little diner."