I squeezed her hand while I told her about my life without her. I did not notice when the tears started streaming down my face. I did not register when mom woke up and started crying softly behind me. I poured my heart out to Gran, and I could not stop talking until finally, I did. My heart felt lighter, and I let Gran's hand go and kissed her on her forehead. Before I could turn around, mom pretended to be asleep. I could see her eyes were puffy. She had been listening, and I did not mind. I softly walked out of the room and toward the elevator. Right as I entered, I saw Annie standing in the elevator. She looked like she was considering what to do. She smiled at me and hit the first-floor button. "Let's talk," she said. I was in no mood to argue.

This time we made it to the cafeteria. I went through the line, grabbing my favorites, and not caring how many empty calories I was ingesting. I got pudding, a coca-cola, and a hot dog. I knew I was going to regret the heartburn later, but I just wasn't in the mood to discipline myself. We sat down and tucked in. I looked up at Annie. She had made much better choices. She had a coffee and what looked like a very healthy salad. She looked at me and said, "I cannot eat like that anymore, Claire, I will be up all night long." I told her I understood and agreed. She could tell how distraught I was, and she said: "Claire, your grandmother's prognosis is excellent, and I am not just telling you that to make you feel better." I thanked her. I started fidgeting with my fingers pulling the dead skin off my cuticles. It drove mum crazy when I did that, but I could not help it. When I was nervous, my cuticles suffered. At least I had stopped eating my nails. Annie looked at me with deep brown soulful eyes and said: "Claire is there anything that I can help you with?". I had not realized how much I had needed a friend until then. I began weeping loudly, and I did not care. Annie looked around quickly and picked up my elbow and lead me outside the cafeteria to the enclosed outside eating area. It was hot outside, so other than the smokers huddled in the smoking area, we had the place to ourselves.

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