Still Here

9

The next time I awaken, I see them again - those two strangers in the doorway.

I make out a thin girl, with short purple hair that she's spiked up with gel. She stands next to a thin boy with no hair at all. He leans on crutches and grins at me.

"And she wakes up!" the girl cries.

"You sleep a lot," the boy says.

"Are you allowed in here?" I ask.

They grin simultaneously, which creeps me out just slightly. The girl drums her fingers against the door and says, "Probably not. But we saw you were new here and wanted to say hi. Your family went to the cafeteria."

"Oh," I say.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself or what?" the girl asks.

My eyes widen. "Uh, I'm Audrey."

The girl smiles. Her teeth are whiter than the room's walls. "I'm Jasmine."

The boy swings on his crutches. "And I'm AJ. We're both kind of . . . stuck here for a while. How about you?"

"Um, I'm not sure. A few days, at least? I have to get a pacemaker so - "

"The hell do you need a pacemaker for?" Jasmine interrupts.

"My heart," I say stupidly.

She laughs loudly and obnoxiously, as if she doesn't care who hears. It's then that I decide that I like her. "No shit. But what happened to you? How'd you get such a crap heart?"

"Car accident."

Her expression darkens. "What did your car look like after?"

"Um, I got hit by the car."

"Oh, shit!" she exclaims, plopping down next to me.

"How long ago?" AJ asks.

"Yesterday, I think? Unless I've been out longer than that." I pause. "I saw you guys. You were the first thing I saw when I woke up. I mean, I fell back asleep seconds later, but I still saw you."

"We like to wander around," AJ explains. "It gets pretty boring, staying in a hospital room all day."

"Boring? It's enough to drive you insane," Jasmine says.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you guys here? In this hospital, I mean," I say.

AJ rubs his bald head with a short laugh. "I kind of have cancer, if you can't tell."

Jasmine shakes her head. "And I'm anorexic. That's what the whole skinny thing is."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

They both groan. "We won't pity you endlessly if you don't pity us," AJ says.

I meet his eyes. "Alright."

He even shakes my hand. "You better not, Audrey . . . What's your last name?"

"Are you trying to steal my identity or something?"

He grins. "Maybe."

I figure I don't have a lot to lose. "Summers."

"Okay, Audrey Summers. Remember the pitying deal."

"How could I ever forget?" I say, feigning seriousness.

He thinks about this for a moment. "I don't know, but forgetting is something people tend to do a lot."

"You're right."

"Usually." He smirks at me before he begins to hop away. Jasmine follows.

"We'll see you around," she says, standing in the door frame once again.

"I hope so," I say.

And I do.