Maybe Alexa would just go away. Sarah didn't have anything to say to her, they'd never shared more than greetings or the minimum required for some group assignment in class. Before AP Bio this fall, Sarah didn't think she'd ever even seen the other girl. And what could Alexa have to say to her anyway? Sarah didn't care about gossip from school, and she especially didn't care about whatever Mrs. Bianchi had covered in biology, so what else was there? At best, Alexa would give her the same old platitudes about being worried and sorry and scared and how she hoped that Sarah would get well soon.

The hospital blanket wrapped tightly around Sarah, clinging to her chest and shoulders as she breathed rapidly. Sarah reached down and touched her bed, running her hands along the fabric of her comforter. She felt the carpet under her feet, the tight weave rough under her toes. She could feel just a hint of a draft on her feet as air flowed from the vent under her bed.

Ok, thought Sarah. I’m fine. This is fine. She wasn't sure why she was worried. It made sense that people were interested, it's not as though ambulances carted off students from the high school regularly, and Finn had probably bragged all over the place about how he'd caught her. Alexa probably just wanted to hear about what happened so she could tell everyone about it. And it's not like it was anything super terrible, she hadn't done anything bad, or even anything embarrassing beyond just passing out.

Had she? Hadn't she read that unconscious people usually messed their pants? Oh God, thought Sarah, had she had an accident before the ambulance took her? Would people have seen or smelt that?

Sarah's breathing sped up more as the blanket tried to tighten down around her shoulders. Her arms free, she reached for her desk, opened a drawer, and took out a little stone she kept there. It was fairly rough, although one side had a black patch painted on it. She rubbed her fingers over it, feeling the weight and texture of it.

Her door knocked again, and Sarah didn't look up. She just said, "Mom, could you tell her I'm fine but want to rest some more?"

"Um, Sarah, it's me, Alexa," responded the voice.

Sarah chucked the rock back into the drawer and slammed it shut, standing up with a jerk. "Just a minute!" she yelled.

The blanket had fallen back on the bed and was folding itself back up, but Sarah reached without looking and grabbed it, tossing it to the floor where it crawled under her bed, hidden by the bed skirts. She looked down at herself - the shorts were maybe a bit too short but it was fine. The tank top though, was old and stained, and starting to fray around the neckline. That wouldn't do, so Sarah got into her closet and rummaged quickly along the hangers, finally pulling out a big t-shirt. It was a men's shirt, and big enough that she could have worn it with both shoulders out of the neckline. A faded graphic advertised a used car lot that had gone out of business years ago.

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Throwing the shirt on, she grimaced realizing it hung down past the bottom of her shorts. But she turned towards the door anyways, resting her hands on the knob. She took one very deep breath, inhaling as much as she could before letting it go slowly. She still felt like her hands should be shaking, so she took one more deep breath before opening the door.

Had she opened it too slowly? It felt too slow, but she tried to smile anyways and turned up the corners of her mouth. Sarah was looking down after opening the door and saw that Alexa's toenails were painted a bright yellow. "Morning," she said.

"Good morning," Alexa said, brightly. Alexa stepped in close to Sarah, her arms extended out, but instead of hugging her, Alexa just stopped and stepped back. The older girl went on in a more subdued tone, "Your mom said you were feeling better, but I wanted to come see you. We were all so worried, no one at school really knows what happened."

Sarah stepped back into her room, still facing Alexa without actually looking at her, "Doctors said it was just a Migraine. But I think I'm fine. Just tired, you know?"

Alexa stepped in to follow Sarah, "Wow, your room, it's... clean. Um, yeah, that's good you're ok. I hear you'll be out for at least a week? That must be nice, getting some quiet like that."

Sarah just nodded, so Alexa went on, "I'd probably go nuts, but I get it. A break might be worth getting poked by doctors a bit. Or maybe not. A few days of extra sleep and not doing makeup in the morning would be awesome."

Sarah started to say that she never wore makeup, but her mom interrupted them. "Sarah, honey, the hotel called and there's some sort of emergency, but I can't leave you alone. It should just be an hour, and then we'll come back."

"Mrs. Galardi, I can stay if Sarah wants to rest," said Alexa. "I've already talked to all my teachers, and I was just gonna sluff today, and probably tomorrow too."

"Mom!" Sarah was mortified, "I don't need a babysitter!"

"Sarah, we can't leave you alone yet, what if you go into another coma?"

"Mom, please, It's not like you could do anything if I did!"

"I can call an ambulance, and I can make sure you aren't drowning or choking on vomit or bleeding from where you fell!"

Alexa was standing quietly, she had moved so her back was against the wall and the senior was carefully not looking at either Sarah or Sarah's mom. "Um, I can call 911, and I've got my phone right here. I know your address too, 814 Passage Way, right?"

"Mom! This is..." Sarah was interrupted before she could keep going.

"Thank you, Alexandra. I really appreciate it. Get my number from Sarah, I really should be back soon enough," and with that her mom left, leaving Sarah sputtering behind.