Sitting up was a lot harder for Alice than she’d expected it to be, and I didn’t make it any easier by walking back into her room at the most inopportune time ever. It wasn’t something I’d meant to do, of course. It never is, but for some reason I haven’t been able to stop being awkward no matter how much I try not to be.

I’d left the room as soon as Gemma had told me what was going on. I’d thought about heading up to the cafeteria, because Alice was constantly telling me to eat more even in sign language. Then I realized it’d probably be pretty noisy up there since it was past the middle of the afternoon and there were probably a lot of people in there at the moment. So, I went outside to one of the beautifully landscaped courtyards toward the center of the hospital property. Once there, I found a stone bench under some kind of flowering tree and sat down, pulling my phone out of my pocket as I did.

I called Charlie first, since I figured he was worried. He was, but was happy to hear that she was doing better and that Gemma was going to raise her bed a little. “That’s a great sign. Angie and I have been doing some reading about this and when she can sit up on her own they can start with some mild physical therapy.”

“Yeah, that’s what Gemma said,” I replied.

“Are you okay?” he asked me after a few seconds of silence.

“I’ll be fine, I’m just a little tired,” I assured him. I could hear him sigh on his end.

“I don’t blame you, it’s a stressful situation. I’ll try and stop by later tonight before visiting hours are over…”

“Don’t worry about it, spend time with your family. Shane’s going to come pick me up before too long anyway, and I’m sure your mom will understand if you miss a night.”

He let out a small laugh, but there wasn’t a lot of humor in it. “All right, but I’m still gonna try. You make sure you have dinner and that you sleep well tonight if I don’t talk to you.”

“I’ll be fine, Charlie. Take care of yourself and stop worrying about me so much,” I scolded him mockingly. He had used the same argument on me when he’d been ill as a teenager.