My Best Friend's Best Friend

Chapter 17: Visit to the Clinic

"Let's see...I've got cards, some comics, and a game console," Sebastian said, pulling the items out of a backpack. He spread them out on the edge of Abigail's bed at Harvey's clinic. It was Fall 11, nearly a week after their cave adventure. It would be a while before Abigail could walk on her leg, but she was otherwise, thankfully, alright. Just bored with being bedridden.

"Ooh, games, please. Gimme gimme," she said with a laugh, stretching down as best she could to reach it.

"You've had a lot of visitors," Sebastian said, looking around at all the gifts scattered and stacked in her curtained-off room.

Abigail looked up from the console. "Sam brought the radio and some movies. Vincent is letting me keep an eye on his pet snail. All the flowers are from my mom, she won't stop bringing them. And Penny and Evelyn made the cookies-you can help yourself."

Sebastian didn't need to be told who had made which cookies; he pulled back the plastic wrap and took one of the drier, more burnt-looking ones.

"What happened here?" He pointed at the desk, where a few ink splotches had been unsuccessfully cleaned up.

"Ah...Elliott's been doing some writing here during the day. He seems to be worried that something will happen to me if I'm left alone for longer than five minutes." Abigail absentmindedly picked up a piece of coral from her side table.

Sebastian would usually tease Abigail for her sudden closeness with Elliott, but he felt too thankful to the man to say anything about it.

"Look what Alex lent me." She laughed and held up one of those hand squeeze-y exercise things. "I might be skipping leg day for the next month or so, but I'll have the grip strength of a gorilla!" She squeezed it a few times to demonstrate, but had to use both hands.

"Are you ready to go home tomorrow?" Sebastian asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah, but it's been kind of fun having so many visitors popping in. It'll be weird to be in my room again. Although, dad says it'll drum up business since anyone who wants to see me will have to walk through the store."

"That's Pierre for you," Sebastian said.

"You're coming on Saturday, right?"

"For pumpkin carving? Wouldn't miss it."

"And you won't be weird if Elliott's there?" Abigail asked suspiciously.

Sebastian scoffed. "Weird? When am I ever weird?"

"You know what I mean." She rolled her eyes. "You don't always want to hang out with random people you don't know, which I get."

Sebastian shook his head resolutely. "You know what I always say. A friend of Abby's is a friend of mine."

"You have never, ever said that."

"Really? I could have sworn..." Sebastian pondered sarcastically. "Ah, I meant, 'A friend of Abby's, who holds her hand while she's waiting to be rescued in a cave, is a friend of mine'."

Abigail couldn't roll her eyes harder if she tried. "Oh, right, I have heard you say exactly that." She shook her head and spoke more seriously. "He's kind of an odd duck, but he's a really nice guy, and I'll think you'll like him if you give him a chance."

"I'm sure I will," Sebastian said genuinely.

Abigail looked out the window. "It feels lately...like things are changing. I don't know if it's good or bad...but it feels unstoppable." She sighed. "You and me and Sam, we spend all this time talking about getting out of the valley, or getting the band off the ground, or just doing anything. But we don't. And I think maybe I was afraid of things actually changing."