We go up to the sixth floor and then turn down a hallway to land in the Pediatric wing. I take him to see Eleanor.

"Okay so, this is Eleanor's room and she's spent a lot of time in the hospital. Be nice," I tell him. I push open the door and Eleanor smiles when she sees me.

"Hi Andy!" she says. She opens her arms and I hug her. She's ten.

"This is my friend, Colton. He's very friendly," I tell her. She smiles.

"Are you her special friend? My doctor, Doctor Matthews, has a special friend," she says. I laugh, Dr. Matthew's is six months pregnant. I said hi to her in the hall. Colton looks horrified.

"She's not...we're not...um," he stammers. He shoots a look at me.

"No, Ellie, we're not special friends. He's just one of my friends," I tell Eleanor. She nods.

"Okay. Do you guys want to watch cartoons with me?" Eleanor asks. Colton grins at her.

"Only if we watch Scooby Doo," he says. She breaks out into a huge smile.

"Of course!" she exclaims excitedly. She turns on the TV and messes around with it and then we're watching Scooby Doo. I sit down in the chair and Colton looks around for somewhere to sit. Eleanor pats the space next to her on the bed. He looks at me and I shrug. He sits down. Eleanor seems to like him.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she says. I help her out of bed and she takes her and the IV hanging on the pole into the bathroom.

"Why is she here? What's wrong with her?" Colton asks me.

"She has CVID, which is an immune deficiency. She has lots of infections and since she's so young and gets hit so hard with every infection she stays here for a couple of days. She's usually fine but she's weak and has a strict diet," I tell him. I pick up her chart. "RIght now she has a lung infection but they put her on antibiotics, so she should be fine in a couple of days."

"That sucks," he says.

"Yeah, she was diagnosed when she was seven, but she's been coming here since she was five and now she's ten," I tell him.

"Is she...she's not gonna die, right?" Colton asks.

"Probably not, it's hard to say. Infections could potentially turn serious, but she should be fine," I tell him. Colton nods. Eleanor walks back and hops up on the bed. She smiles and clicks play. We watch a couple more episodes before she falls asleep, her head resting on Colton's shoulder. I smile at him and he smiles back.

I look at my watch. It's about the time that her mom gets here. Her mom has to work furiously to keep up with all the medical bills. Mrs. Hopkins walks in the door. She smiles at me and at Eleanor. "Hi Andy. Thanks for watching her," Mrs. Hopkins says. I nod. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Colton," he says softly, so he doesn't wake her.

"You guys can go if you want," she says. She sets down her briefcase and takes off her coat. I nod.

"Hey, Ellie," I say. I shake her gently. "We have to go but your mom's here." She nods.

"It was nice to meet you. You should come by more," she says, yawning. Colton nods.

"Bye," he says. Her mom takes his place. We walk out of their room. "She's adorable," Colton says. I nod. I take him to the baby's wing and we look at babies. He has this big, stupid, dopey grin on his face that makes my heart do flips.

We stare at babies for a while longer before we walk down to the cafeteria. I get in the line and Colton stands next to me. "I should go after lunch," he tells me.

"Okay," I say. I don't want him to go for some reason. What's wrong with me? I get a burger and fries and then a Coke and a piece of cake. Colton gets the same thing and then we sit down.

"So...this is your second home?" he asks.

"Yep. I grew up here," I say. He nods. The violet colored scrubs make his eyes pop.

Jesus. Why the hell do I notice stupid thing like that?

"Jesus, fucking Christ," I mutter as I see Cross and Flemings. They grin when they see me and sit down at our table. They're both surgical interns. Flemings takes some of my fries and I slap his hand. "Get your own food, dick," I tell him.

"Who's your friend?" Flemings asks.

"My lab partner," I tell him. Colton's avoiding eye contact. Cross smirks.

"Just your lab partner, huh? You've never brought anyone here before," Cross says.

"I bet you guys visited all of the closets," Flemings says.

"Don't you guys have some attending's dick to suck?" I ask them.

"Don't you have him to fuck?" Flemings asks. He starts dry humping the table and moaning.

Cross laughs and Colton's cheeks are bright red. I smile and chuck my soda at Flemmings. "Guess who just lost his O.R. privileges for the month?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Flemings yells. I kick him as hard as I can.

"Now we're even. So any new surgeries going on?" I ask.

"Who's your friend?" Cross asks.

"Colton. Any new surgeries?" I say. They shrug. Someone calls them and they go running.  "Surgical interns are the bitches of everyone," I tell Colton. He nods.

"They seem like...nice people," he says. I laugh. We finish eating and then I walk him back to the locker room. He changes back into his clothes.

"What should I do with these?" he asks.

"Um, I'll put them in my locker," I say. I take them from him. "I can walk you out," I tell Colton. He nods. When we get outside it's still raining. I wave to him as he pulls away. I wander around and then my phone buzzes.

Mom: Meet me in the morgue

I walk down to morgue. Mom and Dad are sitting down and they jump up when they see me. "Honey, we need to talk about something," Mom says.

"Oh, God. Who died?" I ask.

"Don't worry. It's nothing like that...it's just...we're worried," Mom says.

"About what?" I ask. My eyes dart between them.

"Do you have any friends?" Dad asks.

"Of course I-"

"Your own age?" he cuts me off.

"Colton. Colton's my friend," I say without thinking.

"Who the hell is Colton?" Dad asks.

"My bio partner. Mom met him," I say.

"I didn't," he says. "Invite him to dinner on Friday.  We'll eat out, at that one place."

I start laughing. "You guys will never make it," I say.

"We will, invite your friend," Mom tells me.

"Fine, but he might not be able to go."

"If he doesn't go, then it seems like you don't have any friends."

"Fine! He'll go."