“Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday to Dannon, happy birthday to you!”

Everyone clapped, laughing as Dannon attempted to blow out his birthday candles—failing miserably.  We were standing around Dannon’s hospital bed, celebrating his birthday.  The whole crew was here.  Shelley, Oliver, Garner, Paula, Meghan, and Kyla.  Everyone.  Shelley squealed, her fingers moving quickly as she snapped pictures with her digital camera.  You would never be able to tell that these people just found out about Dannon’s condition today, or that all of them had been crying just a few hours before. They all seemed happy.  So normal. 

“Thanks, guys,” Dannon said, smiling brightly.

“How does it feel to no longer be a teenager?” Oliver teased, wriggling his eyebrows.  “You’re dating a minor, man!”

Kyla whacked his shoulder, laughing.  Dannon glanced at me and smiled.  I smiled back.  I’d forgotten that today Dannon was no longer a minor.  He was an adult.  Not that that changed anything.  He would still be the immature, stupid, amazing guy that everyone loved.

“Men are so stupid,” Shelley muttered with an eye roll.  “Anyway, what piece do you want, Dannon?”

In an instant people were calling pieces of cake left and right.  Dannon didn’t care what piece he got, while Garner and Oliver refused to have any unless they were end pieces.  But, to their dismay, Paula, Kyla, and Meghan also wanted end pieces.  That started the argument that Oliver should give up his end piece because his girlfriend wanted one.

My friends were really something.

I plopped next to Dannon, scooting close to him.  He draped an arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer.  “Where’s Tom?” I asked softly.

Dannon smiled.  “He left to the cafeteria a little while ago.  He’s going to be shocked when he comes in here to find a bunch of teenagers arguing over cake.”

I pursed my lips.  “We really should have waited until he got back.”

Dannon shook his head.  “Nah, it’s fine.”

We were both silent for a moment as we turned to watch our friends argue.  I couldn’t believe that in such a short time, these people had become so important in my life.  I couldn’t imagine my life without them now.  These people had become my family.  People that I cherished and couldn’t live without.

“Thank you,” I whispered suddenly, turning to face Dannon again.

Dannon’s eyebrows drew together in confusion.  “For what?”

I smiled, kissing him briefly on the lips.  “For introducing me to these nimrods, for sticking with me no matter how many times I tried to push you away, and for making me laugh like crazy in your presentation video.”

I laughed as Dannon’s cheeks burned.  “Aw, hon, I know you don’t like blushing, but getting vengeance and making me blush is so uncalled for!” Dannon whined, rubbing his cheeks frantically to get the red off.  I laughed, leaning back on the bed post.  He was so damn cute sometimes!

“It’s not my fault,” I sputtered out between giggles.

Dannon groaned, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back.  He popped an eye open slightly, shooting me a half-smile.  “Butthead,” he mumbled playfully, closing his eye again briefly before opening them fully again.

“Ah, but you love me anyway.”  I grinned, stretching my arms out in front of me.

“Ah, that I do.”  Dannon shook his head, his smile bright on his face.  “That is not something I can control.”

I slapped his arm playfully.  “Are you saying that if you had a choice in the matter that you’d pick someone else?” I asked, feigning hurt and suspicion.

Dannon caught my expression and laughed.  “’Course not.  Who else could keep me entertained even in the most uneventful of times?”

I sighed woefully, letting my head fall into his shoulder.  “I’m being used for my entertainment skills,” I muttered.  “Why not just toss me into the circus?  Then I could be of use to millions of people.”

“Because I’m selfish and want you for myself,” Dannon teased, pressing his lips to my temple.

I was about to reply, but suddenly a voice cut through our conversation.  “Dannon,” the voice said, coming from the hallway, “who are all these people?”

Dannon and I looked up simultaneously as Tom shut the door behind him, his expression absolutely bewildered.  Everyone in the room seemed to freeze as they stared at Tom in shock.  From the horrified expressions on my friends’ faces, I could see that they’d never met Tom before.  It was like they thought Tom was an evil doctor, coming to banish them from the hospital forever.

“Hi, I’m Shelley!” Shelley suddenly exclaimed, pushing out of the cluster of people to shake Tom’s hand.  “And you are?”

I had to admit, Shelley knew how to play the manners card.

“I’m Tom,” said Tom slowly, shaking Shelley’s hand.  He looked over at Dannon and me, the skepticism clear in his eyes.  “Dannon’s dad.”

“Oh!” Shelley practically shrieked in surprise.  “How rude of us!  I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here, otherwise we would have held up the celebration until you got back.”  She gestured for Garner to cut Tom a piece of cake and then flashed Tom a smile.  “We’re here to celebrate Dannon’s birthday!”

Tom’s face was priceless.  I found myself laughing hysterically into Dannon’s shirt, not able to hold it in.  How could I? Tom looked as though he was going to blow up.  As in, explode.  All of a sudden all I could see was a piñata exploding into a bunch of candy.  For some reason that made me laugh harder.  I didn’t really know why.

“Honey,” Dannon murmured into my ear.  “If I were you, I’d stop laughing like a hyena.  The doctors don’t appreciate loud noises.”

I sighed and forced myself into a poker face.  I met Tom’s utterly confused gaze, struggling not to burst into fits of laughter again.  “Tom, didn’t I tell you?  Dannon’s rather popular at school.”  I reached into my bag, pulling out the pile of get-well cards I’d received today.  “Speaking of which, these are twenty get-well cards from your closest subjects.”

Yep.  I got all of those today.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that Shelley rushed the whole crew out of school today to go get birthday supplies, I probably would have received another twenty cards.  It got worse now that everyone knew about Dannon’s condition.  It was amazing how fast information spread around school.  History was third period, and there were only four periods in a day.  In that time, many, many people ran up to me—some even hugged me—and told me how sorry they were and how they were praying for Dannon.  To be honest, it freaked me out.  And, I didn’t even know that half of the school was as religious as it was until today.

 “Wow,” Tom said blankly, still aghast as Dannon took the cards from my outstretched hand.  “It seems you are more social than you led me to believe, son.”

Dannon smiled.  “Sorry, Dad.”

After a very confusing introduction of everyone in the room (including myself because Dannon felt like forcing me to introduce myself), the party finally began.  We all settled around the room, chatting cheerfully about nothing at all while we munched on cake and ice cream.  The mood was light, bouncy, and all around hyper as hell.

“Oh!” Shelley called out suddenly, hopping up from her spot on the floor.  Her plate slipped from her grasp and fell on Garner’s lap.   I bit my lip to keep from laughing as ice cream dripped down his pant leg.

For a moment all Garner did was stare down at the plate blankly.  And then suddenly he was cursing fluently, the anger pouring off him like a tidal wave.  “Dammit!” he hollered, knocking the plate off his lap and scrambling to grab a few napkins from Dannon’s side table.  “Shelley, come on!”

“Sorry,” Shelley mused, not sounding sorry at all.  “I just thought that I’d let Dannon know that this party is a sleep over.  We’re bringing the movies to you.”

I smiled, my eyes locking with Dannon’s.  They were alight with excitement.  “You guys,” Dannon drew out, his eyes scanning everyone around the room, “are the best.”

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

Five hours later we were all chilling, watching a chick flick that Shelley picked out.  Tom had left an hour before, telling us to all behave ourselves because it was against the rules to stay overnight.  So far we’d stayed true to the rules about being quiet.  Well, except for the time where Shelley and Garner argued over which movie to watch next.  But that didn’t really count because Oliver got them to shut up in like two seconds.

“So, how’s your eighteenth birthday going so far?” I whispered into Dannon’s ear.  We’d claimed the bed, banishing everyone else to sleeping bags on the floor.  Well, I did.  But it was mutually agreed.

 “Great,” Dannon whispered back.  “Best birthday ever.”

Dannon held our intertwined fingers up into the air, twisting our arms back and forth.  I smiled a toothy smile, unable to contain my contentment.  It was so hard to believe that a few months ago I was against love entirely.  Now I was bursting with it.  And it was all because of a guy I whacked in the head with an apple.

 “What did I do to deserve a girl as amazing as you?”

Cue the blushing.

“Something absolutely horrible.”  I laughed softly.

Dannon’s lips pricked up into a cute smile.  “I knew I shouldn’t have stepped on that fly.  It swore I was going to pay for what I did.”

“But Dannon!” I gasped.  “You swore you would never hurt a fly.”

Dannon laughed, pressing his lips swiftly to mine.  “I’m sorry, you must have misheard me.  I swore that I would never hurt another fly.”

 “Ah, my mistake.”  I grinned, pulling him to me despite the fact that there were at least six other people in the room.  It wasn’t like there weren’t kissing people in the movie anyway.

Yes, that was my logic.  Wasn’t it great?

 “Shouldn’t we be watching the movie?” Dannon murmured against my lips.

“It’s a chick flick,” I murmured back.  “Who wants to watch those?”

Dannon pulled away, smiling.  “Now, honey, there’s time to make out later.  Let us bask in the joy of the company of our dearest friends.”

I sputtered out a laugh, shaking my head.  Make out?  Bask in the joy of the company of our dearest friends?  Where did he even get this stuff?  “Whatever you say, honey.”

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

I awoke from a disturbing dream about a man getting eaten by a pineapple to find myself lying in Dannon’s hospital bed.  I sat up, rubbing my eyes.  It was still night time, that much was obvious.  And, as I glanced to my side, I saw that Dannon was awake as well.  He was probably the reason I woke up.  Moving around too much.

“Dannon?” I whispered.  “You okay?”

 Dannon looked over at me and smiled.  Unlike the last time we were both up in the middle of the night, he didn’t seem tortured or at all miserable.  He seemed . . . at peace.  “Yeah, I’m fine.  You can go back to bed.”

I wrapped my arms around my knees, tilting my head to the side.  “What are you thinking about?”

Dannon stared at me for a long time before sighing.  “Just thinking about the end.”

It stung to hear how casually he said that.  I bit my lip, moving my arms to wrap around his neck, digging my face into his shoulder blade.  Dannon wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer.  “Why?” I whispered.  “What good will that do?”

Dannon shrugged.  “I can’t help it sometimes.  It’s hard not to try and imagine how life will go on when I’m not here.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to let my despair show.  “And how do you imagine it?” I asked softly, attempting to sound nonchalant.

“I imagine you guys moving on with your lives, being successful.  Being happy.”

Moving on?  Successful?  Happy?  “That’s very descriptive, thank you.”

Dannon laughed.  “Well, you didn’t give me long enough to think about it before waking up.”

“Good.”  I kissed him on the cheek before falling back on the pillows.  “Too much thinking brings depression.  We can’t have you getting depressed.”  I patted the spot next to me.  “Now go to sleep.”

“So bossy,” Dannon mumbled playfully before falling next to me.  I grinned, snuggling my head onto his chest, using him as my own personal pillow.  Dannon didn’t seem to mind.  He placed an arm around my back, pulling me closer to him.  I closed my eyes, already feeling exhaustion take over.  “Good night, Brianne.”

“Good night, Dannon.”

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

“So, how was the birthday party?” my mom asked as I shut the car door behind me.  It felt odd getting a ride from my mom.  I’d grown so used to riding with Kyla or Dannon that this car seemed foreign.  Weird, right?

My mom smiled.  “How’s Dannon doing?”

“He’s doing good.”  I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face.  “You know, you’re allowed to visit him.”

It was my mom’s turn to sigh, her hands clutching the wheel tightly.  I bit my lip.  Had I said something wrong?  Did my mom have something against hospitals?  That would be a problem when she went into labor—unless she wanted to give birth to the sea monkey in the house.  If she did that, she was forbidden to use my room.  Talk about ew!

“I know.”  My mom tossed me a smile.  “It’s just . . . visiting will make it more real.”

Ah.  I leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes.  “It is real, Ma, and the faster we accept that, the better off we’re going to be.”

My mom smiled, detaching one of her hands from the wheel and patting my hand.  “You sound like mom.”

“Good.”

It was silent for a while.  I looked out the window, staring at the houses passing by.  I couldn’t help but wonder if Dannon was really doing well.  There was a reason for why he was still stuck in the hospital.  Was he in a worse condition than he led us to believe?  My stomach ached with the thought.  Was he pretending to be strong while we were there and then collapsed into bed, exhausted, once we left?

Saying that I was tempted to call him would be a complete understatement.

Just calm down, I thought to myself.  You’re seeing him tomorrow. 

Tomorrow.  I could hold off until tomorrow, right?  Yeah, I could.  I definitely could.  I Brianne Nichols would be able to find something else to do besides thinking about going back to the hospital until tomorrow!  Ha.  Yeah, right.

We pulled into the driveway and I hopped out of the car.  After grabbing my duffel bag, I trudged up the pathway and into the house.  Why did the walk have to be uphill?  It was so tiring.  I hated hills.  The world should be flat. 

“Yo, Brianne!” Garrett called from the living room.

I trotted into the living room and collapsed onto the couch, massaging my temples.  “Yes, brother of mine?”

“Come play Wii with me!” Garrett hollered despite the fact that I was right next to him.

I glanced at the Wii game he was playing with distaste.  It was the definition of sportsy, and I didn’t do sports.  With a snort, I shook my head.  “Yeah, I’m going to go with no.”  I smiled thinly.  “Play by yourself.”

“That’s the reason why you suck at games so much you know,” Garrett felt the need to point out, continuing with his game of bowling.  Yeah, like he thought I’d do bowling with him.  Such a stupid brother I had!  “You never practice.”

“Why practice at something you don’t’ enjoy doing?” I asked, pulling my book out from my duffel bag I’d tossed onto the floor.  I was going to lose myself in a novel full of murder and blood.  There was only a tiny bit of romance in it, which was the perfect kind of book.  Plus it would help me keep my mind off the hospital.

“You’re reading a book?  Seriously?”  Garrett huffed.  “You’re such a bookworm.”

“You wanna be an editor, you gotta read a ton of stuff,” I said simply, my attention already cast on the brilliant world within the novel’s pages.

“Yeahuh, okay.”  I could just picture Garrett rolling his eyes.  “While you sit there being the most boring person on the planet, I shall immerse myself in this wondrous game of bowling.”

“You do that,” I said absently, turning the page of my book.  Yeah, I was able to read and talk to my idiot brother at the same time.  Skilled, I know.

Garrett grumbled under his breath, and I heard key terms like, “So boring,” and, “If Dannon were here.”

“If Dannon were here I’d still be reading a book and you two idiots would be playing the Wii,” I told him, turning another page.  “Why don’t you ask Mom to play?  I’m sure she’d be willing.”

 “I think I’d rather play with—”

 “Play with what?” my mom demanded from the entryway, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Choose your words wisely.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I caught Garrett’s expression.  He was utterly horrified—worse than horrified, even.  He reminded me of that dude in the mask from those Scream movies or whatever.  Maybe it was Scary Movie.  I had no idea.  Nor did I really care.  All I knew was that his face looked hilarious.

“I would rather play with ten of you than just one,” Garrett said finally, clearing his throat.  “One is just not enough.”

“Oh, nice save.”  My mom smiled mischievously.  “Now, get me a remote.  I’m playing.”

“But couldn’t that severely injure the baby?  I mean, you’ve already got one mentally-challenged child,” Garrett said, gesturing to me.  “Do you really want to have another one?”

“Don’t worry, I bet it can’t be as messed up as you,” I called.  “Besides, what can one game of Wii do?”

“Yeah, Garrett, no worries.”

I smirked into my book as Garrett grumbled under his breath, setting up the game for two players.  He thought he was a genius, but in reality?  He was inferior to me.

Ha ha, Garrett.  Ha ha.

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

 “I win!”

I slapped down the cards in my hand, sighing deeply.  “This is the reason I refuse to play games!  I royally suck at them.”

Dannon smiled, scooping up the cards and placing them neatly into a pile.  We’d decided that since Dannon wasn’t supposed to get out of bed today (apparently rest was extremely needed) we could just hang out here in this lovely hospital room.  I tried to convince him to watch movies—even chick flicks would be fine—but he insisted on playing games.  I think he secretly found it really funny when I was pissed off.

“Royally sucking is so harsh,” he said softly, placing the cards onto his side table.  I tried not to stare at his arm, which had an IV and wires connected to a heart monitor.  Dannon told me not to worry about it, that they just wanted to make sure his heart rate was normal, but I couldn’t help it.  It seemed so much worse now that he had to be kept monitored like this.  “Maybe just sucking would suffice.”

I whacked his shoulder playfully.  “Asshole,” I mumbled.

“Ah, we’re back to asshole for a nickname.”  Dannon let his head fall back on his pillow, smiling at the ceiling.  “I so missed hearing that.”

“Of course you did.”  I grinned.  “Well, what do you suppose we do now, honey?”

Dannon pondered the question for a moment, a distant smile on his face.  I could practically see his thoughts spinning in his head, his mind sifting through the different options.  Finally, his eyes latched onto me.  He opened his mouth and began with a, “Well—”

Dannon cut off suddenly as he began to writhe and twitch.  His eyes rolled in the back of his head, his stomach arching into the air.  I shrieked, not knowing what to do.  “Dannon?” I cried, my shaky hands gripping his arms.  “Dannon, baby, what’s wrong?”

I didn’t take the time to care about the fact that I’d just called him “baby.”  Panic flowed within me, twisting its way through my veins toward my heart.  Dannon was having a seizure right in front of my eyes.  I had never seen something as frightening as this.  Dannon didn’t seem to have any control of his body.  He didn’t even seem to be able to tell that I was there in the room.

“Help!” I screeched, running to the door.  “Somebody help, please!”

I rushed back to the bed and pounded on the button used to call the doctors in.  Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.  All I could think about was losing Dannon, not having his smile or loving gaze anymore.  I stopped pounding on the button and raced to the door again.  “Dammit!”  I screamed at the top of my lungs, “I need some help in here!”

Three doctors raced in, pushing roughly past me.  I clung to the wall, crying softly as they circled around Dannon.  He’d stopped writhing now, motionless on the bed.  His eyes were shut.

And then the heart monitor flat-lined.

I felt like someone had run me over with a monster truck and then had reversed to run over me again.  Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the doctors began to shock Dannon with a defibrillator, calling out brisk orders to each other.  They were using electricity to bring Dannon back to life.

Please don’t take him, please don’t take him, please don’t take him! my mind screamed.  I may have also said the words out loud, but if I did, I couldn’t hear them.  Who I was directing these words to, I didn’t know.  Maybe God.  Maybe not.

I sagged against the wall as a heartbeat was detected on the heart monitor once again.  I fell to the ground, letting my head fall into my hands.  Dannon was alive.  They’d brought him back.  He was okay.  He was going to open his eyes and reassure me that he was fine even though he sure as hell was not fine.  He was going to hug me.  He was going to tell me he loved me.

But, as I looked up at the doctors and saw their crest-fallen faces, I knew that my hopes were about to be crushed.

“He’s gone into a coma,” one of the doctors whispered.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”