All of that from the doctor, and only one word really stood out to Sarah.

"Visitors?" she whispered, staring at the door.

"Oh yes," said her mom, smiling. "A lot of your friends were really worried, some of them were here yesterday too. They'll be so glad to hear you're ok."

"Who though? asked Sarah.

Her mom's eyes suddenly sparkled a bit, and she wiped at them with one hand, "Everyone, it seems. Let's see, a whole bunch of girls came together, Jennifer, Tayler, Lauren, Kayla, and Alexandra. Although I think maybe they were all coming with Alexandra? She seemed like the leader of the bunch. She did get my phone number, to ask if she could come by later today in the evening."

"Cassy came by, she stayed a little while too. There was another handful that came, but honestly, I missed their names while I was talking with Dr. Foster."

Sarah closed her eyes while her mom described the girls who'd come to the hospital, schooling her face to be still. She was fairly sure that Alexandra was Alexa from AP Bio, but why she'd come was a mystery. Cassy was admittedly someone she'd call a friend, the girl lived on Sarah's street and they'd occasionally share rides together. But Sarah had no idea who the other girls were, some of Alexa's friends, maybe?

Sarah's mom sat back down, still talking, "You never told me about Finn, he's cute."

Sarah's eyes popped open, "Finn?"

"The poor boy tried to sleep here, I had to force him to go home. He came right back this morning too. He even brought you flowers," her mom was grinning at Sarah now.

"Why? He's just... why?" stammered Sarah.

"Why what? He's cute, I've got to say I think I approve."

"Mom!" The room was getting brighter, and Sarah's cheeks felt warm.

"Well, he said he was there when that first seizure happened. I think maybe he feels like it was his fault."

"It was his fault," muttered Sarah, remembering him making fun of her unfinished sculptures.

"Sarah!" The smile was gone from her mom's voice. "We don't know what's happening, we don't know what caused it. Don't blame him, don't blame yourself. Hell, girl, don't blame me either. We're all trying to take care of you, trying to do our best. Be at least a bit grateful. That boy is probably why you don't have a concussion on top of everything else."

Sarah's head was spinning, and she could hear the beeping in the hallway getting louder over the sound of her breathing. "What?" she repeated.

"You've been lucky," her mom said. "Whatever you think of Finn, he at least made sure you didn't crack your head on the floor when you collapsed. So when he comes in, tell him thank you."

"And don't blame him. You don't have any reason to be angry with him." At that, Sarah's mom stood, gathering up her purse. "I'm going to get a coffee, and maybe something to eat. I'll be back."

Sarah's mom left the door open when she left the room. Sarah shut her eyes against the light pouring in from the doorway. She tried to relax into her pillow, to loosen the muscles that had tightened up. She could hear her mother's voice in the hallway, although Sarah couldn't make out any of the words spoken by the people outside.

Before she could make any progress relaxing, someone in the doorway cleared their throat.

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It was Finn, smiling his normal broad smile, showing off his teeth. He was wearing jeans and a band T-shirt. It looked like he hadn't brushed his hair, so his head looked like he'd just been electrocuted. His red hair floated in the air, catching the light and creating a bright, fuzzy circle around his head. It didn't look like he had flowers, which was at least a small mercy. He was just holding a plastic bag with a box inside.

"What do you want," sighed Sarah, closing her eyes again.

"Um," he said as he dropped the smile. "I wanted to check on you, is all, I guess."

"Fine, I'm fine," she said.

"Good," he answered. He held up a plastic grocery bag and took a box out of it. "I know you don't like flowers, but you're supposed to bring flowers to people in the hospital, so..." he trailed off.

"Thank you," said Sarah, seeing a box of Lego flowers. "And thank you for catching me, I guess. I don't remember that though."

"It wasn't a big deal, I didn't really do anything, you more sorta fell on me," he said, his smile creeping back. "All I really had to do is not step out of the way, you know? I don't think I was much help after that."

"Wait," said Sarah, suddenly confused again. "How do you know I don't like flowers? Did my mom tell you?"

"Doesn't everyone know?" he said. Finn dropped the smile again, his expressive eyebrows pushing together. Sarah was darkly certain that those eyebrows moved on command. "I mean, I remember when you threw that fit way back in sixth when we were supposed to make bouquets for Mother's Day. And you got really mad when you had to sit by Emily last fall, although she did really overdo it with the rose water, I don't think anyone would have been happy next to her. And you scowl any time you come to class and a teacher has flowers on her desk. Oh, and I think you're the only person in Mr. Clarke's class who doesn't like Van Gogh's sunflower paintings."

They looked at each other, Sarah in her paper gown with wires and cords holding her down, Finn standing in his casual clothes holding the box of legos.

The silence stretched. Sarah realized it was probably her turn to say something, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what she was supposed to say.

Clearing his throat again, Finn set the box of Legos down on the little dresser where her mom had kept her purse. "I did need to ask, well, you know."

He trailed off again while Sarah struggled to figure out what she was supposed to say.

"It's just, it was different," he said. Finn wasn't looking at her, instead looking around the room. His eyes finally settled down on a monitor behind her. "It's just, you know, I've never told anyone. By the time I realized it wasn't normal, I'd realized it didn't really change anything, so I never said anything. And then yesterday it changed. Do you?"

Finn looked like he was about to cry, his lips tight, his arms folded around himself as he leaned forward. He was making absolutely no sense to Sarah, but now she realized she had to say something, "Do I? Thank you, I think. I'm sorry that seeing me is scaring you."

"Scaring me? Maybe," he said. "I've never seen that happen, I've never seen anything happen. It just was, since I was seven."

Sarah pushed herself deeper into her mattress, though the thin foam didn't have much give. "See what, Finn?"

"The spirit, Sarah," he said. "I shouldn't tell you, but yours changed. I don't know if it's really the spirit, but everything shines, you know? Living things especially, warm things, but everything. Some days it's stronger, it was strong yesterday."

"But Sarah, it's always been white before, that's why I always thought it was God when I was a kid, you know? White and pure. But it changed yesterday. The spirit in the room turned yellow, and then you turned blue and fell down. And not like sick blue, I've seen that when Brock almost drowned at swim practice. No, all blue - even your hair and clothes turned color. But it wasn't like you were blue, it was the white shine you normally have, only it got brighter too."

Sarah opened her mouth and shut it again. She had to take a moment, swallow twice, then run her tongue around her mouth. She inhaled once through her nose. Out again, and inhaled a second time. She couldn't talk about this, not with anyone. She finally spoke, "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't believe in God."

"God, spirit, shine, It doesn't matter. I don't know what it is, but don't lie to me, Sarah," he said, his voice getting louder and faster as he spoke. "You did something, it meant something."

"Finn, I think you should go now," said Sarah. She looked around her bed, there should be a nurse call button somewhere.

"No! Sarah, please, help me!" He wasn't shouting, but he had that same intensity. He stood up suddenly, his hands clenched in fists. "You did something, please, I need to know!"

He reached out to her, and suddenly Sarah could see the white glow in the room move. It almost seemed to pulse away from him. The white and beige walls were suddenly a vivid red, but a teal shine filled the room, gathered around all the lights she could see.

Sarah found the call button and pressed it. The nurse came quickly, probably already alerted by Finn's angry voice. She got inside the room just in time to see Finn's eyes roll back into his head as he collapsed onto the floor.