"Dammit, Charley. I'm not going to listen to you bash on yourself like this. Can't you just let yourself recover from this injury before you start beating yourself up over something else?"

She looked down. "Yeah, you're right. It's probably just the meds. I'm a little loopy still. Just ignore me."

I didn't believe her. Partially because I agreed with a small part of what she was saying. Not that it was her fault, or that she wasn't worthy of love-all of that was c.r.a.p. But, there was something wrong with her to make her think those things about herself. Charley never saw herself the way others did. It made me want to kill my brother even more, knowing that he had a part in solidifying this way of thinking in her.

Charley interrupted my thoughts. "Have you talked to him?"

"Briefly. He called last night wanting to know where you were. I wouldn't tell him anything. I hung up on him." Charley looked at me like she was waiting for the rest. She knew me well.

"Then, I called him to tell him where you were. He he didn't answer. I just left him a message." I was looking down now. Both ashamed of myself for calling, and of Matt for not answering.

"So he knows," she said in a low voice.

What an a.s.s, I thought to myself. Out loud I said, "Do you want to see him?"

"Not really," her tone was casual, but I could tell she was hiding something. "I just wanted to see some indication that he cared."

"I understand. I'm sorry, Midge. It's gonna get better. I promise."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I hope so."

A couple of hours later, Charley was sleeping again. I'd had my mom bring me some clothes when she came to visit. While she took chair duty, with specific instructions not to let Matt come in and wake her up if he ever showed, I borrowed Charley's shower. The first time I'd asked, the nurse told me it was "strictly prohibited". I did it anyway, earning a nasty look from her as I pulled my wet hair back into a bun. She'd come in to give Charley some more medicine. I just smiled. "Had an accident in the sink," I said, making a fake 'oops' face at her. She just walked out. I was pretty sure that was the end of that.

My mom fussed over Charley relentlessly. Even when Charley was sleeping, which was most of the time, my mother just sat next to her, watching everything. My mom loved Charley so much. From the first time they'd met, my mom had been fascinated by her. I had brought her home for Thanksgiving about a month after colliding with her on campus. When Charley excused herself to go to the bathroom, my mom had leaned over and excitedly whispered, "She's so adorable! I just love her already! Can you hear that little accent she has? Where is that from?"

"Mississippi," I had whispered, but don't say anything. I don't think she knows she has an accent." My mom had given me this conspiratorial look, and the rest of the dinner, she'd just grinned to herself every time Charley's accent had come through in something she'd said-which hadn't been much. She was pretty quiet at first. Eventually, Charley warmed up to all of us-especially my mom. My mom was one of those women just bursting with love. All she wanted in the world was to shower, and sometimes, lovingly smother, her children with it. Matt and I, of course, took that for granted at times. Charley loved every minute of it. She always said it was such a far cry from how her own mother had been, that it was refres.h.i.+ng to see a mom who, "did it right," in Charley's words.

She hadn't needed to say much for Matt to be fascinated with her, either. He was a different guy back then. He'd been more genuine, more kind, still selfish, but with more moments of clarity. He had the potential to deserve her then. He'd quickly thrown that potential away with his behavior, though.

"I just wanted her to be your sister," my mom said sadly, brus.h.i.+ng one of Charley's curls out her face while she slept.

"I know, mom," I said, kneeling down next to her. She put her other hand on top of my head. I was ready for some motherly affection after the scare Charley had given me.

"Is she going to be OK?" My mom asked for the fifth time since walking in the door.

"I think so, mom. She's tougher than she looks," I said. With that, she kissed my head. She was crying.

"I love you, sweetie," she said sadly. "You're such a good girl for being here with her. Do we need to call her family?"

"I don't think Charley would want that," I said quickly. My mother was sweet, but not dumb.

"You already called?"

"Yes," I said, dropping my head. Charley was going to kill me.

"Don't worry, honey," my mom said as she stood from the most uncomfortable chair in the world. "You did the right thing." She kissed my cheek, and gave me a long hug before heading toward the door.

"Tell her I came by?" she asked when she reached the door. "And that I love her," she added.

"Of course, mom. Both of your girls love you, too." She smiled sadly at that, and then she was out of my line of vision.

Shortly after my mom left, I decided to take some time to catch up on work. I was a designer for an advertising agency out of Denver. Luckily, most of my work was done from home, so keeping up with work flow from the hospital wouldn't be impossible. This close to Christmas, I was expecting things to be pretty slow.

I was sitting in the tiny chair, typing an email on my laptop while talking on the phone, when there was a small knock at the door.

"Pete, I've gotta go," I told my boss. I'd been filling him in on what was going on. He'd met Charley a few times, and like most other people, instantly liked her. I promised him I'd fill him as soon as I knew more, and he told me to take all the time I needed.

"The firm will still be here when you get back. Some things are more important than advertising." I laughed.

"You don't believe that, but thanks for saying it. I'll call soon." I hung up the phone, and got up to go to the door. At first, all I saw were flowers, and a.s.sumed the worst.

"Matt, don't even try it." When the flowers moved it was Brennan's face that was exposed, as well as a carrier with two large cups of coffee and two small paper bags.

"I guess I've been called worse." he gave me a smile, and I took the coffee carrier.

"My hero!" I pretended to swoon. "And no, you haven't been called worse. 'Matt' is currently worse than any profane combination of words you can imagine."

"In that case, apology accepted. And for what it's worth, this coffee should taste much better."

He moved to Charley's bedside table to put the flowers down.

"How's she feeling?" he asked as I handed him his cup.

"I'm not sure. She's spent all of her waking time contemplating the various ways that Matt's cheating was her fault. We never really got to the topic of aches and pains. Although, while I was cleaning up, I think she called the nurse in for more meds, so I a.s.sume she isn't feeling too hot."

Brennan sat down in the chair I had just been in. He looked up at me. "You're almost as tall as I am. How is this comfortable for you?"

"It's not," I a.s.sured him. He stood up, gesturing that the chair was all mine.

"I'll be right back," he said as he strolled out the door, sipping his coffee.

A few minutes later he returned to the room, smiling wide. A custodian followed him, carting a reclining chair on a small dolly.

"What the h.e.l.l's this?' I asked him.

"It's a chair. I can't have my sister being uncomfortable," he lifted an eyebrow as he said this.

"Yeah, but how"

He cut me off, "A bunch of the older rooms for new moms on the higher floors are empty. I Just asked my buddy Glenn here if he could bring us a couple of the comfortable chairs. He smiled at Glenn, who soon left the room to fetch the second chair. When he was out of earshot, I started, but Brennan cut me off again.

"Glenn has quite the tab at the pub. I offered to cut it in half if he helped me out."

"What's your end game here? Why are you being so nice? You don't owe anyone anything."

"That's not quite how I see it." His face was stern now. "It was my fault-the accident. I should have been paying closer attention. I shouldn't have served her so much. That's part of it. The other part," he looked down at his shoes, "the other part I guess," Of course, Glenn picked that moment to come in with the other chair.

Brennan quietly put the new recliner in place next to Charley's bed. He was strong. The chair was small, but it was a still a recliner. He lifted the chair effortlessly, and sat it down without a sound. He must have seen me looking at him.

"It's not that heavy," he said. I was embarra.s.sed that he'd noticed me watching him, but I was still staring. I wanted him to finish the thought from before.

Finally he spoke. "My dad cheated on my mom. Not once, but like, constantly. It broke her heart all the time. She didn't have a lot of support. I think that's why she stayed so long. When Charley told me her story last night, I couldn't help think of my mom, and how miserable she wasall that time she wasted on a guy that wasn't good enough for her. I don't know Charley well," he gestured toward Charley, still sleeping peacefully, " but I like her. The little bit that I know about her, makes me feel like she deserves better than what she got. Now, she's in this situation on top of being dogged by your brother. It just seems wrong to bail now. I want to see it through-see her heal-from both wounds."

I just stared at him. "Normal people do not think or say things like that. Just for the record."

He laughed. "Trust me, my brother tells me that all the time."

"So," he said a minute later, "are you hungry?" he walked over to the table where I'd put the coffee carrier down. He handed me one of the paper wrapped bundles. "I hope you aren't one of those girls who doesn't eat." His face said all I needed to know about his thoughts on "those girls".

I laughed, "No. Charley and I both know how to eat. It's one of our hobbies. In fact, Charley is about to open up her own bakery," I told him, "She loves to bake, and she is good at it. Wait until you taste some of her stuff. "

I opened the small bundle to find a delicious looking breakfast sandwich: sausage, eggs, cheese, and veggies. I didn't know how hungry I had been until I smelled that sandwich.

"Oh-my-goodnes. Thank-you!" I said as I took a bite.

"You're welcome," he laughed, and sat down in the second recliner. We sat on either side of Charley's bed like guards, just waiting for her to wake up.

After a couple of hours, Charley still wasn't awake. Brennan waited in the room with her while I went to the Nurse's station. As I walked out the door, Charley's phone began to play "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,"-the ringtone set aside for Charley's mother.

"Don't answer that!" I said, popping my head back into the room. "And delete the message when she's done!"

The nurse at the desk was a pet.i.te black woman with a perfectly rounded afro. She was sitting in her chair, plucking away at her computer keyboard when I approached the desk.

"Excuse me," I said softly "Yes," she said, looking up at me.

" It's been a few hours since anyone has come in to check on my sister...well, my almost sister. She's been asleep for a long time--"

"Who is your sister?" she cut me off, concern flas.h.i.+ng across her face.

"Charley Vaughan," I answered quickly, "Room 428."

"Mmmmhmmm," she said, giving me a look. "The room with all the chairs?" I thought she was mad, but then she gave me a small smile.

"Yeah, that's her," I smiled back.

"Well, no alarms have gone off, so I'm sure she's ok, but, why don't we go check on her?" She stood up and walked to the other side of the desk. She was a little shorter than me, but much faster. I practically had to run just to keep up with her for the short distance back to Charley's room.

When we walked in, Brennan was fumbling with Charley's phone. I a.s.sumed he was trying to delete the message from Charley's mother. Somehow, he mistakenly pressed the b.u.t.ton for speaker phone, and Rebecca's deep, southern drawl came blaring out into the small hospital room.

Charley instantly shot up from her sleep-like she was waking up from an awful nightmare. She looked around frantically for a few seconds, taking in the voice of her mother, and the faces of Brennan, myself, and the nurse.

Brennan shut the phone off in his panic to make the noise stop. Once it was off, he powered it back up, and started the process of deleting the message over again.

While he was fumbling with the phone, Charley seemed to collect herself. She looked at the nurse, blinking, still looking slightly confused, but clearly recognizing the woman.

"Hi Brandy. Good to see you again," She said.

"Again?" I questioned. When had she had time to meet the nurses?

Charley and Brandy both ignored me.

"Hey there, baby girl," Brandy said as she approached Charley's bed. "Your sister here came to get me. She was getting worried about you sleeping so long." She gave Charley a conspiratorial grin.

"I wasn't asleep as long as you think," she said, looking at me, "I'm ok."

Brandy gave her a skeptical look, "How do you really feel?"

Charley hesitated. Finally she said, "I hurt everywhere."

"Well then, let's get you some medicine for the pain we can fix, and say a little prayer for the rest. No sense in sitting here in a hospital full of drugs and hurting for no reason. I'll be right back, baby girl."

Brandy sauntered out, shaking her head and grumbling to herself, "poor girl's hurtin' everywhere and just gonna sit there and say nothing...bad enough, the night she had, now she's just gonna" the rest of it was inaudible because she was too far out the door by then.

We both looked at Brennan who had just hung up Charley's phone.

" Not real big on technology are ya?" I asked him "Yeah," he started, "Sorry about that."

Recognition hit Charley's face as I a.s.sumed she remembered what had woken her up. "Why are you on my phone?" She asked Brennan.

"Uh.." he started. "Sara asked me to delete a message for you."

"My mom left me a message? What did it say?" She looked concerned, and I tensed, waiting for the blow when Charley found what I had done.

"She said she's going to be here in two days," Brennan said slowly.

"WHAT?" Charley almost jumped out of her bed, "WHY?!?...WHAT?"

"She said there was no way she was going to California to see your aunts when you were laid up in a hospital--"

Charley interrupted him.

"What? How did she--" Charley looked at me and said the next words very slowly.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Her face was almost angry enough that anyone would have taken it seriously. I knew her too well to be too afraid. I did feel bad for not warning her.

"Charley," I tried to soothe her, "be reasonable. I know your family is a little nuts, but you're in the hospital, when I called I had no idea if you were going to be OK or not..."

"You called my MOTHER?" she said the word 'mother' like it tasted bad.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Charley just sat there staring forward.

"What am I going to do?" the question was not directed at either Brennan or me.

"Wait, what's the big deal? What do you mean 'do'? You aren't going to do anything but sit in your hospital bed and get better." Brennan was incredulous.