“Brianne, I know Maria can be improbable, but you can’t fall for her games.”

I rolled my eyes, lying back on Britain’s bed.  My mom called a family meeting immediately after dinner was over, sounding scary-calm.  I knew that I was in for an ass whooping, but I couldn’t really bring myself to care.  The girl had it coming.  I had no guilt what-so-ever.

“I don’t care,” I snapped, scowling at my mom’s figure from the corner of my eye.  She was standing in front of the door with her arms crossed across her chest—which was steadily growing bigger now.  I guess the sea monkey wanted to start making itself known.  My dad didn’t look invested in this argument at all.  He winked at me before leaning on the bedroom wall, crossing his arms over his chest, his gaze turning stern.

“You should!” my mom seethed.  “You are supposed to be setting an example for these kids.”

“Mom, Maria brought up sex at the table while I was eating my mac and cheese.”  My scowl deepened.  “And she accused Dannon and I of doing the deed.  You really think that I was going to just let it go?”

My mom pursed her lips, conflicted.  I knew that the fact that Maria accused someone as innocent as Dannon of doing something like that pissed her off.  Sure she was mad that Maria would accuse me of doing something like that, but let’s face it: I was more likely to do something like that than Dannon was.

Wow, that sounded messed up.

“I know she did,” my mom muttered finally, “but—”

“Mom, let it go,” Garrett interjected finally, leaning on the doorframe in a carefree manner.  “I thought Brianne was pretty kickass at dinner today.”

My mom didn’t even bother to tell Garrett to clean up his language.  She sighed in defeat.  “Fine, I’ll let this go as a warning.  But if you act like that in front of the little kids again, you’ll be grounded until they day you die—even if I die before you.”

I rolled my eyes and stood up.  “Well, this chat has been fun, but I would like to leave the room now.”  I stretched my arms, yawning.  “And remember that you need to drive me to the hospital tonight so that I can visit Dannon.”

My mom bit her lip at the mention of Dannon’s being in the hospital.  She’d been absolutely hysterical when I got home past eleven o’clock and told her what happened.  Of course there were a few shrieks about how I worried her sick, but it was mostly, “Oh my goodness, is he okay?”  Which was to be expected.  I would have been disturbed if there had been anything less.

“All right,” she murmured finally.  She turned and walked out of the room without a single word, my dad quickly trailing behind her.

I hopped off Britain’s bed, trotting toward the door.  Garrett was waiting for me, a goofy smile on his face.  “Kickass,” he whispered, holding out his hand for a high-five.  “I couldn’t have said it any better myself.”

“Of course you couldn’t,” I teased, slapping his outstretched hand.

Garrett rolled his eyes, leaving the room without looking back.  I giggled under my breath before following him—well, attempting to anyway.  I gasped, clutching the doorframe as Maria appeared out of nowhere, her face pinched with menacing ferocity.  I sighed when I realized it was only her.  And then I got pissed.

“Would you care to let me pass, Maria?” I asked as patiently as I could.  If I said something wrong, I was going to get grounded.  And I couldn’t get grounded.  Being grounded meant that I couldn’t go anywhere.  I had to visit Dannon in the hospital.

“No.”  Maria placed her hands on her hips.  “Why is Dannon in the hospital?”

I leaned back on the doorframe, trying to seem nonchalant.  “Are you eavesdropping, Maria?” I drawled, my eyes shooting to the ceiling.  “I believe your mother told you to stop doing that.  Do I need to get you into even more trouble?”

“Why is he in the hospital?” Maria demanded again, ignoring my words.

I scoffed.  “That’s none of your business.  I don’t need to tell you anything.”

I moved to push past her, but Maria blocked my path.  It was sad, really, being blocked by a thirteen-year-old.  “If you don’t tell me,” she threatened slowly, “I’m going to make you regret it for the rest of your life.”

Oh, classic.  “And how is that?  Are you going to break a nail on me?”

Mira scowled.  “Come on, Brianne.  You’re not supposed to hide things from family.”

I rolled my eyes.  Nice try.  “You’re not supposed to treat your family like crap either.”  I paused.  “And, besides, isn’t it obvious?  He’s in the hospital because something happened to him.  Now get out of my way.”

I’d been tempted to drawl that Dannon was impregnated by a leprechaun, but I decided against it.  Either way, I refused to tell Maria that Dannon was in the hospital because he was dying from terminal cancer.  She didn’t deserve to hold something so important in her knowledge.  Besides, she would go around telling everyone.  I didn’t trust her.  At all.

“I bet you told Britain!” Maria hissed, following me as I moved down the hall.  I rolled my eyes again.  She was really persistent, wasn’t she?  “If you told Britain, why can’t you tell me?”

“For one, you have no idea I told Britain,” I drew out, trying my hardest not to raise my voice.  “For two, if I did, it’s because I hold respect for him.”

Was it just me or was this visit so much less enjoyable than it usually was?  Maria was such a fun-sucker.

“Aunt Jill,” I called casually, stepping in to the living room.  Assorted children were playing with toys all over the place, making it loud and all-around pandemonium.  But I was used to this.  Everyone hung out in the living room if they weren’t outside.  Aunt Jill believed in socializing.  Bedrooms were for sleeping, not for hanging out in the whole day.

“Yes?” Aunt Jill replied from her spot on the couch where she diligently worked on a crossword puzzle.

“Can you get Maria to leave me alone?” I requested.

“Maria, leave Brianne alone before you’re grounded for another month.”

Maria stuck out her tongue before flopping onto the recliner near the edge of the room and flipping through a magazine she pulled from between the cushions.  She was going to do great things someday.  Great things.

I was about to go hang out with Britain and Vincent, who were intently creating a tower of Legos, when my phone rang.  I didn’t know whether to be excited or nervous that Dannon’s ringtone was going off.  What if it was Tom again?  What if Dannon was in a coma?

Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!

“That is the lamest ringtone ever,” Maria called rudely, not looking up from the magazine.

I ignored her and picked up, hesitantly bringing the phone to my ear.  “Hey, Barone.”

“Brianne, hey!”

I sighed in relief.  “Hold on.”  I pulled the phone away from my ear.  “I’ll be right back,” I said to my family before walking swiftly to the kitchen and leaning on the counter.  “How are you?”

Dannon chuckled.  “I’m fine.  There’s something I need to tell you.”

I paused before answering.  “Should I be frightened.”

Dannon sighed.  “No, but you’re not going to like it.”

I waited patiently for him to continue.  What could it possibly be?  He obviously wasn’t in a coma.  He couldn’t exactly predict when he was going to go into a coma, so that couldn’t possibly be the news.  Did the deadline for his life shrink?  I clutched my stomach.  No, that couldn’t be.  I would die if our time together shrank any more.

“Dannon, can you please tell me so that I can stop torturing myself by trying to guess?” I whispered finally as my stomach began to ache.

“I was waiting for you to say something.”  Dannon laughed.  “Sorry, hon.”

“I forgive you.  Now tell me.”

Dannon sighed again.  “The doctors think that it would be best if I stayed in the hospital for a little while longer.”

I bit my lip.  “How much longer?”

“I don’t know.”  Dannon paused.  “They didn’t say.  All I knows is that they want to keep any eye on me because my body is weakening at an accelerating rate.  They want to do some tests and drug me up.  You know, the good stuff.”

“I’ll still be able to visit you today, right?” I mumbled, trying not to let my disappointment and concern show.  He was stuck in the hospital for an unknown amount of time.  That could be forever.

“Yeah!”  I could hear the smile in Dannon’s voice.  “You got your video camera?  We can finish up the project.”

I smiled.  “You really want clips from the hospital?  I mean, you said you didn’t want anyone to know.”

“I’m in clothes you know.”  Dannon chuckled.  “We can go to the teen room.”

“Ooooh the teen room.” 

“Yes, the teen room.”  Dannon paused.  “Well, I’ll see you later then?”

My smile grew.  “Yeah.  I’m probably going to end up falling asleep there.  Do you think the doctors will mind?”

“They’ll get over it.”  Dannon laughed.  “It’ll be nicer with you here anyway.  I mean, who else can lighten up the mood of a chick flick with insults?”

“You’ve been watching chick flicks?” I cocked an eyebrow.  “That’s lovely.”

“Well, that and soap operas,” Dannon added, not really helping his case.  “It’s either that or watching the news.  As interesting as impending death upon the world is, I think I’d rather watch movies about girls finding their dream guys in the most cliché ways possible.”

I laughed.  “You’re really something.”

“I know.  Well, I’ve got to go now for I have to pee.  I shall see you later, my lovely!”

I shook my head, laughing and looking at the ceiling.  There was something wrong with him.  “Bye.”

I hung up the phone and hurried back into the living room.  The want to leave was unmistakable.  I wanted to be heading to the hospital now.  If I got there too late, they weren’t going to let me in.  I mean, visiting hours were going to end soon, right?

“Mom.”  I waved her over from her spot next to her sister.  She stood up, moving toward me.  When she was a few feet away, I continued.  “I need to get to the hospital before visiting hours end.”

She nodded before turning to her sister.  “Hey, Jill, we have to get going, but we’ll see you soon.”

Despite the fact that my mom said we had to be going, it wasn’t for another ten minutes until we were finally getting into the car.  By that time I was ticked off to the point of silence.  I mean, I had to get to the hospital, and they were sitting there talking about diapers.  Seriously?  There were more important things than baby diapers.  My mom had two children.  She should know the best brand to buy for the sea monkey.

“Brianne, what time am I picking you up from the hospital?” my mom asked as we began down the road.

I shrugged, finding the strength to speak without any bitterness or irritation in my voice.  “I don’t know.  I might stay overnight.”

“But that’s not allowed.”  My mom glanced at me from the rearview mirror.  “You are aware of that, aren’t you?”

I nodded, leaning back in my seat.  It wasn’t like this was the first time I visited someone in the hospital.  My grandma on my dad’s side, before she passed away, had been in the hospital all the time.  I knew when visitor’s hours ended.  Hence the being pissed off!  “Yes, but I don’t care.”

“Mom, just let the girl break the rules.”  Garrett brought his arm around my shoulders.  I really appreciated his presence today.  He was helping me get through my mom’s annoying-ness.  “It’s not like she and Dannon are going to be irresponsible.  You can trust them, you know.”

I nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, Mom.”

My mom sighed deeply.  “You two are ganging up on me today.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.  Garrett simply smirked, looking pretty darn proud of himself.  “I am so good at convincing peeps to do stuff.”  He passed, staring dramatically into the distance.  “I think I should become a lawyer.  I’d be pretty damn good at it, don’t you think?”

I knocked his arm off my shoulder.  “You go ahead and believe that, dufus.”

Garrett shot me a feigned pained look.  “That hurts, Brianne.”  He slapped a hand to his chest.  I think he was going for the heart area, but he used the wrong hand.  “That hurts right here.”

“Your man boob?” I cocked an eyebrow.  “I didn’t know your skin was that sensitive.”

Garrett seemed to notice that his hand was placed wrongly and fixed it.  “Right here!”  He scowled at me.  “And I don’t have man boobs!”

I smiled mischievously.  “Sure you don’t.”

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

I knocked softly on Dannon’s door before slowly drawing it open and stepping into the room.  Dannon’s head shot up as I entered, a bright smile spreading across his face.  I smiled back, closing the door swiftly behind me as I practically skipped over to his bed.  Who knew that a day without that magnificent smile could sour up my mood?

Gosh I was so needy.

“Bri!” Dannon called as I reached him.  He held his arms open and I immediately wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder. “You made it just in time.”

I pulled away, and Dannon made a spot for me next to him on his bed.  I hopped up onto the bed, cuddling next to him.  “Just in time for what?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Well, it’s too late to go to the teen room tonight,” he said lightly, “so we’ll have to go tomorrow.  But you’re just in time for Beauty and the Beast!”

I took a short moment to glance at the television screen.  It was obvious that it was on ABC Family.  I turned my attention back to Dannon, grinning.  “This hospital has infected your mind,” I informed him.  “But, Beauty and the Beast is a pretty awesome movie.”

Dannon chuckled.  “I know it is.”

I glanced around the room.  Nothing had changed about it since the last time I was here except for the fact that there was a duffel bag full of Dannon’s clothes and other things that he could possibly want while he stayed here.  I frowned as I thought of Tom alone at his house, worried sick about Dannon.  I couldn’t imagine the anxiety that Tom went through every day while trying to be strong for his son.  Suddenly, I felt very sorry for him.

“You okay?” Dannon murmured into my ear.

I turned and smiled.  “Yeah, I’m fine.  How did Tom take you staying in the hospital longer?”

Dannon shrugged.  “He wasn’t happy, but he took it well I guess.”  He smiled.  “He may or may not have looked like he wanted to murder the doctors.”

I laughed before I could stop myself.  The image of Tom with steam coming out of his ears was imprinted in my mind.  It probably shouldn’t have been funny, but it was to me.  “It shows that he loves you,” I said after I contained my amusement.

“I know it does.”

I glanced at Dannon from the corner of my eye.  His voice had grown serious.  Well, more serious than it was a few moments ago anyway.  It wasn’t as serious as the night he broke down, but a few more notches and it would have been in that ballpark.  “You okay?” I asked, my eyebrows drawing together in concern.

Dannon nodded, tossing me a smile.  “Yeah.  I’m just torn on whether I should tell my dad that I’m not as strong as I seem to be.”  He sighed.  “Well, apparently you all think I’m strong.  I don’t really see it.”

I paused before answering, thinking my reply through.  “You are strong, you know.”

Dannon raised a single eyebrow.  “Oh, really?” he mused.

The lightness was back in his voice.  I giggled, patting his shoulder playfully.  “Yes, really.  Except, you know, I think you could work on those muscles a little bit.

Dannon flexed his muscles.  He paused and then laughed.  “Yeah, just a bit.”

I turned to face the television, an amused smile on my face.  The smile slipped off my face, however, when I realized that the commercials had come to an end and we were missing valuable Beauty and the Beast time.  “Shut up!” I shrieked.  “Turn up the volume.  I’ll see you when it’s commercial.”

“How hurtful.”  Dannon sniffled dramatically before turning up the television and bringing a hand across my waist, pulling my closer to him.

For the next twenty minutes or so it was pretty much silent.  Of course we had to make fun of the guy who thought he was sexy when he in fact wasn’t, but other than that we sat, blissfully watching a classic Disney movie in silence.  Dannon leaned his head on mine, pulling me even closer to him.  His hand that came from behind my waist held onto my hand lightly, massaging it gently.  If the doctor came in and ruined our moment I was going to be pissed.  Enough said.

| It ♥ All ♥ Started ♥ With ♥ An ♥ Apple |

“There has to be some game that you’re good at.”

I stuck my tongue out at Dannon as I missed yet another note on Guitar Hero.  Which version we were playing, I had no idea.  All I knew was that I didn’t like any of the songs and I was failing drastically.  At first I thought it was because I chose a hard level, but then Dannon just had to point out that I was on the easiest level there was.

I think it was just time to admit it: I was game-challenged.  It didn’t matter what type of game it was.  Whether it was sports, cards, boards, or virtual.  I sucked at them all.

That was incredibly sad.

“Shut up,” I hissed finally, tempted to take over his player so that he would lose.  But, he would probably still end up winning because I sucked that much. 

“You two are amusing.”

I’d almost forgotten that Garrett was there.  Apparently he wanted to hang out with us because we were cool.  I think he just didn’t want to be home alone with my mom with nothing to do.  So, in order to make him useful, we had him tape us while we just hung out.  He was ordered to get a bunch of clips of Dannon since I was lacking in those.  Dannon tended to steal the camera from me and aim it in my direction.

“Shut up, Garrett.  No one asked you.”

“Just because you suck at Guitar Hero, doesn’t mean you have to bring it out on everyone else,” Garrett teased.  I tossed a scowl at him.  He shook his head, trying to put on a serious face as he said, “You do know that you’re missing valuable notes.  Not that it matters.  You wouldn’t hit them anyway.”

Saying that I wanted to chuck the guitar at his face would be a complete understatement.

“Play nice you two,” Dannon called, hitting all the notes correctly.  He had a one-hundred-fifty note streak going on there.

 I set the guitar down on the floor, refusing to play the ridiculous game anymore.  What was the point when I was just going to lose anyway?  Yeah, I was really optimistic.  The most optimistic person in the world, really.

“Brianne, you’re quitting?  That doesn’t reflect well on your character.”

I rolled my eyes, deciding that it would be best if I ignored my brother.  I didn’t really feel like play-arguing right now.  Like, at all.

“Dannon wins again!” Garrett called out as the song came to an end.

“No shit, Sherlock,” I muttered under my breath.  I sighed before turning to Dannon.  “Can we not play a game?  Please?”

“What else is there to do?” Dannon asked, smiling at me. 

My eyes flicked across the room, trying to find something else to do.  The teen room was full of games.  There was an air hockey table placed in the corner of the room with a dart player whatchamacallit hanging from the wall.  In the middle of the room there was a small table with a painting of a checkers board on it.  Instead of checker pieces, there was a miniature pool table on top of it with miniature pool sticks to match.  But none of that stuff mattered.  What mattered was the stack of paper and crayons on top of the counter that held all the video games.

A devious plan was forming in my head.  “Hey, Dannon,” I said slowly, “do you want to have a competition?”

Dannon looked between me and the stack of paper in confusion.  “Sure.  What are we doing?”

I smiled innocently.  “Do you want to see who can draw Garrett the most . . . accurately?”

Dannon bit his lip to keep from laughing.  He knew that I meant, “Do you want to see who can draw Garrett the most hideously?”  He nodded, jumping up to grab the paper and crayons. 

“Guys, is this really necessary?” Garrett complained as Dannon and I set off to draw our wonderful drawings of my brother.

Neither of us answered.  We were drawing Garrett in the most demented ways possible.  I gave him a blob-shaped head with random lines representing hair sprouting out the top of it.  His eyes exceeded the size of his head, making him seem like a deformed bug-like creature.  I made them blood-shot, too.  So he was a drunk bug-like creature. 

I was so nice.

In the end, Dannon and I were tied.  I mean, Dannon had managed to make Garrett pretty deformed.  The head looked like a peanut, and his body was a bunch of different colors collaged into one.  He looked like a blobbed Christmas tree.  Unless Dannon meant for Garrett to look extra hairy.  Then he was a werewolf.  An ugly werewolf.

“I do not look like that.”

Dannon and I held up the pictures for the camera to see.  Garrett scowled as he aimed the camera at them, showing off our magnificent skills.  I was so putting this in the video if Dannon didn’t.  I mean, our abilities deserved to be known.

“Yes, you do,” I said, smiling triumphantly.  This picture was going to be super-glued to Garrett’s wall.  Well, maybe not super-glued.  Duct-taped.  My mom would never allow super-glue.  “This is going on your wall.  Both of them.”

Dannon and I high-fived as Garrett groaned.  “You guys are insufferable,” he whined as we signed our pictures.”

“Ah, but you love us anyway.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I was about to say something more on the matter, but at that moment the doctor decided that he wanted to ruin everything by coming into the room.  I attempted to keep the scowl off my face as he pried the teen room door open and stepped inside, his handy clipboard tucked neatly under his arm.  I glanced at Dannon, biting my lip.  He was here to take Dannon away from us, I knew he was.

“Dannon,” the doctor drew out, “it’s time for your scan.”

My point has been proven.

“All right,” Dannon murmured, finishing off his signature and handing the picture over to Garrett.  “Treasure this forever,” he teased.  He glanced at me before turning to the doctor and saying, “I’ll be right there.  Can you give me a minute?”

The doctor nodded and left, leaving the three of us alone in the room.  Garrett, seeming to take the hint that Dannon wanted to speak to me alone, followed the doctor out after saying a quick goodbye, shutting the door softly behind him.  I looked down at the floor, feeling horrible that I was going to have to leave him alone in this place.  Who wanted to be alone in a hospital with no one but professionals wanting to scan your bodies?

“I’m going to be fine,” Dannon said, ripping me from my reverie.

I looked up, catching Dannon’s gaze.  I smiled, tucking my hands under my armpits.  “I know,” I said softly.  “I just don’t like leaving you here alone.”

Dannon chuckled, closing the distance between us and wrapping his arms around my waist.  “You don’t have to worry,” he whispered in my ear.  “Everything will be okay.”

How could he be so nonchalant?  He was in the hospital.  I bit my lip, wondering if he even really thought that everything would be okay.  Was he trying to convince me or himself?  “If you say so,” I forced out finally.  I wasn’t going to call him out on it.  It would only tear him apart.

“I do say so.”  Dannon smiled, pressing his lips against my cheek.  “I’ll see you soon enough.  And I’ll call you later, all right?”

I nodded slightly.  “You better.”

Dannon brought his lips to mine in a quick kiss.  “I love you,” he said softly.

“I love you, too.”  I smiled slightly before scrunching my nose.  “Now, let’s go meet Mr. Doctor before he comes in here and forces you to your scan.”

Dannon laughed, taking my hand in his and tugging me out of the teen room.  I couldn’t help but smile.  Everything seemed so normal when I was with him.  It didn’t feel like we were in a place where people were on their deathbeds, where people were suffering beyond my imagination.  It felt like we were hanging out at home like we usually did.

I just wished it would last.

I stood next to Garrett, waving slightly to Dannon as he moved to follow the doctor.  Dannon smiled, giving me a small wave back.  He blew a kiss childishly at me, and I rolled my eyes.  I was not blowing a kiss at the guy.  I drew the line there!  Nope, that was too gooey for me.

“You ready to go?” Garrett asked softly.

I watched Dannon’s retreating figure and sighed.  Part of me just wanted to stay and wait for the scan to be done.  I mean, how long could it possible take?  But, the greater part of me knew that I had to go home.  I would be back soon enough.  Besides, I had a video to edit for history.

When Dannon disappeared around the corner, I finally nodded.  “Yeah,” I muttered, turning to Garrett.  “Let’s go home.”