Nathan led Shawn up the stairs, holding his arm, walking up slowly. Jamie immediately retreated to the kitchen where she sat on the counter and cried. When Shawn and Nathan finally got all the way up the stairs, Shawn collapsed on Nathan’s bed, exhaling deeply. Nathan looked to Shawn and laughed. “I hope you don’t think we’re sleeping together tonight.” He laughed. Shawn snickered for the first time, it felt. They laughed together somewhat awkwardly. Nathan sat beside him, staring. “Can’t believe you’re here, man.” Nathan said, almost too low to be heard. “Heh, me neither.” Shawn replied, as if the words were too complicated to say/ “So what’s been happening?” Nathan asked. “Oh, not much, same old just woke up from a coma. Hahahaha, what do you think, Nathan? Nothing!” Shawn laughed. “Haha. I’m so dumb. Forget I said that.” “Already have.” A few seconds passed before Shawn asked how Nathan was. They spoke for a long while about the things they missed out on… How Nathan’s girlfriend broke up with him because of her sudden realization that she was lesbian… How he talked to Shawn in his sleep… The way he thought he’d never come back… Just then, Jamie appeared at the door. She stood, as the others stared at her. “Hey.” She broke the silence. “Hey.” Shawn and Nathan replied in unison, quickly and nervously. Her eyes had been red, and the water on her cheeks had been wiped off, creating a perfect illusion and lie that she had not been crying. She then realized she had nothing to say, and continued to her room. Nathan looked back to Shawn. “Man. Ever since the accident, she’s been so strange lately. I’m telling you, it killed me to see her like that.” “Explain.” Was the only word Shawn managed to say. Nathan explained, “…so I wake up to my mother shaking me. She kept saying she was sorry, as if she had done something wrong. Then she said the worst words in the nicest possible way. ‘There was an accident.’ She kept trying to explain but the only words I got were that you were in the hospital. I was freaking out, so I asked her to leave. I put my pants on and opened my door. And there it was, Jamie’s door. It was completely closed and uninterrupted. Nobody had told her, I kept asking myself if I should go to the hospital myself, and not tell her, just let her sleep one more night. So I tell myself, fuck it, and I open her door, I practically sprint to her bedside. And there she is, just sleeping silently. I only had to stare before she awoke. “What is it?” She asked. I was expecting her to scream and cry when I told her what happened, but she just sat up in bed, listening. The only words she said were ‘Take me to the hospital.’” Nathan paused before he could continue again. It was obviously difficult for him to retrace exact detail from that horrid night. He went on, “So we’re in the car and I’m like rushing and freaking out, but she’s just sitting there, leaning against the window, waiting patiently. I was speeding, so she looks at me and says silently, ‘Slow down, you wouldn’t want to end up in a car accident, Nathan.’ I just stare at her for a minute, and then continue driving; passing all the red lights I could, pretending not to see all the stop signs. And of course, I land myself a ticket. We eventually get there and I go into the hospital and ask to see you. And of course, you’re in desperate need of medical attention and cannot be seen. We wait in the waiting room for about four hours before we can finally see you. I ended up falling asleep on Jamie, but she stayed awake the entire time. We both walk to room 647. Right before I walked in, I told Jamie I couldn’t do it. That I couldn’t go in. She just looks at me and walks in fearlessly. When I was ready, I looked through the window, and she just stood there next to your bedside. You looked terrible, man. Bruises were everywhere, I mean, if you saw yourself like that, you would die of shock. I can’t believe you survived. All I could do was stare at my sister. The look on her face, man… I can’t explain. I’ve never seen her not smiling. Are you crying, dude?” Shawn wiped some tears away and laughed it off. “Shut up, and keep going.” “So she came and visited you every single day for the past three months. The rest of the summer she did nothing. When visiting hours were over, she’d wait in the waiting room until a nurse kicked her out or something. And when she was at home, all she did was sleep. She barely ate anything. After a month or so, everyone began to think of you as a dead man. But not her. She eventually began eating when she got to school, and of course, a bunch of guys were all over her, they kept trying to be that shoulder to cry on, but she’s not stupid, ya know? There’s this one guy, named John. He keeps on calling her and taking her out. Like, he was there for her through all of this. He keeps trying to take your place. I mean, god. What a fuckin’ jackass.”