AS SHE TRUDGED to the elevator, hand in pocket, she traced over the item. In her other, she withheld her purse. If only she hadn't thrown it out the window that night. This new phone was another $550 down the drain. 

All because she got drunk. 

Amora shivered. But something worse almost happened. 

After finding her friend in that lake, and without a pulse, she couldn't call for an ambulance. 

Willow should have died. 

Her friend only came back after the CPR. Back in her senior year, Amora had taken first-aid class, which she dreaded. Her mother was the one who pressured her. 

Speaking of Mom, I should really call her...

Once she reached the elevator, Amora pressed floor '3' and sighed. After the hug yesterday, she had left for home with a promise to return. She could only hope it wasn't too soon. 

Willow likely wouldn't mind. It was better than abandoning her, after a-

"Hey." A hand stuck in between the closing elevator. When it reopened, a short, overweight man appeared. "Sorry about that."

Amora looked down as he came in. "No problem."

The elevator closed and it went silent. 

"Which floor?" Amora asked. 

"Same as yours." He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about what happened."

All-too-sudden, the floor shook and each clung to the bars. 

It stilled just as soon. 

Moments later, she let go and looked him over. "What do you mean?"

His blue eyes widened. "Oh, uh, you're in a hospital for a reason." Then he tucked his brown hair back, long and thin. 

Amora closed her mouth. When it began upward, she held onto the railing, watching the bright numbers above. 

"I'm here because my mother fell and broke her hip."

Amora glanced over. "I'm sorry to hear."

After a low ding, the elevator doors opened. 

She looked his way, then nodded. "See you late-" Then she stopped and peered back. "Well, you know what I mean."

He chuckled. 

-

"It's time," Amora said.  

Willow continued scrolling through her phone. "And why's that?"

The man at her feet sighed, then looked down at his chart. "I'm your physician and it appears you haven't walked in five days. Is this correct?"

She just scoffed. 

"Well, I'm here to see what can be done." Then he neared her bedside, arms crossed. "Maybe we can get you walking. How does that sound?"

"I've been here five days, yes, so the hospital bill is already too high. Just because I have insurance doesn't mean I'm gonna sit here and let the prices climb." Willow looked at his nametag. "Dr. Colton, I just want to go home."

The physician tilted his head. "Each session is $30. With insurance, it will cover about 50% of the cost." Then he hugged his chart. "Don't you remember yesterday? You agreed to physical therapy."

"I remember, but now I'm not so sure." After staring back, she broke into a cough. "Amora, can you get my water?" 

It was on the windowsill, half gone. 

Amora stood, then reached over. "You know, with a little therapy you could have grabbed it yourself..." 

Willow took it from her, then gulped the rest down. "Here, you can put it back."

Amora sighed but obeyed. With a huff, she sank back onto her chair. "If expenses are bad enough, then let me give you some money."

"No, it's not just that." Willow looked at the physician, then at her friend. "This might not even work. I'm not guaranteed to walk again... so this might be a waste. I just want to go home."

"But-"

"Wheelchair and all."

"Willow, remember when we used to swim from sunrise to sundown? We always had so much fun. And in the winter, we'd have snowball fights even though we were teenagers... Don't you remember that?"

Willow blinked. "You're really not helping."

"You can't do that in a wheelchair."

"Yeah, and I can't help it-"

"But you can at least try."

All air was sucked out of the room. 

Willow raised a fist. "I-I-"

"Please, Willow, just go through a few sections. I'll pay for them, I promise."

Willow huffed but dropped her hand. "And then I go home. Deal?"

"Deal."

Ten minutes later, Amora stood a few feet aside, hands over mouth. "Do you... want my help?"

Bent over, Willow hissed as she clung to Dr. Colton. They were almost at the door, left shut. Moments later, she was a foot away and reached, then lost her balance. 

Dr. Colton sighed. "Let's get you back in bed. We'll go from there."

Again, Willow hissed. Then, lifting a hand, she peered at him. "First I need to get on my feet."

Dr. Colton appeared before her. After placing a hand under each pit, he pulled her up with a grunt. Then he grabbed her hand, helping her turn around. "Alright, back to bed and we're done." He smiled. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Willow raised a brow. "Help me forward, will you?"

Backed into a corner, Amora squared her shoulders, then cleared her throat. "Can I come over now?"

"You're there for a reason. I could feel you breathe on my neck for the first 20 minutes."

Dr. Colton chuckled. 

Her friend was aided back in bed. As she scooted back, grabbing for the remote, she waved him off. "I'm fine now. Bye, Doc."

D. Colton stiffened, then looked between them. "Well, if that'll be everything..." 

When he shut the door, Willow waited for his footsteps. "He is a little handsome, don't you think?"

"You say that about every man you see." Amora plopped onto a chair and scoffed. "After a while, it stops being special."

Remote in mid-air, her friend sighed, setting it down. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, after all your boyfriends, Willow..." Amora cocked her head. "I think you know what I mean."

Willow tried catching her gaze. "No, explain it to me."

"You're supposed to give your significant other your whole heart." Amora began to shift. "I'm sure... you've had the 's' word with a number by now, yes?"

It was her turn to shift. 

"Whenever you do that, you leave a part of yourself with them. You can no longer truly give somebody your whole heart anymore. It's just not special."

For a moment, Willow just stared. "I agree you should create a balance-"

"Ye-"

"-which is something you haven't done."

Amora sighed. "I just want them to be the one. I just- I really want to make my mom proud."

"Remember that dating event?" Willow studied her. "You had the chance."

"I truly believed Bridger was the one, okay? And even if it was fate, now I must live on."

"Yeah."

"The truth is, Willow, that you were right. I can't keep dwelling. At this rate, I'll never make my mom proud."

Her friend smirked, then leaned in. 

Amora looked her over. "What's with that look? I know that look." 

"So, have you had...?" Her smile widened. 

"The 's' word?"

"-a boyfriend?"

All air was sucked out of the room. Then, for a long minute, each laughed and wheezed. 

"Well, if you must know," Amora said and paused, "no."

Willow leaned back, arms crossed. "You sure built up the intrigue but never delivered."

"Yeah, that's kinda what I specialize in."

Her friend tilted her head. "Do you really mean it, though? There's no special someone?"

Amora let out a breath. "You really wanna know?" Then she tapped her lips. "I may have met someone in the elevator..."

Her eyes lit up as she searched her. "Really?"

"No, but... yes." Her head fell back, then she stared at the ceiling. "He's just an acquantence. There's no someone."

 "You know," Willow went on, "you never know! Maybe this will turn cliche and you'll be together through destiny."

Amora chuckled. "Yeah, but this ain't Wattpad. There's really no chance."

"You're not wrong, but you never know!"

-

The phone rang once. Then twice. 

"You gonna answer that?" Amora looked her over. "That gets old real quick."

Reclined back, Willow continued to stare at the television. "But this is Spongebob. We can't miss Spongebob! I haven't watched this thing in years."

"If I had a pillow, I'd be throwing it at you right now..." Amora huffed. 

After clicking 'pause', she pushed a button beside her bed. Slow and steady, she was positioned upright. "What was that?"

"You heard me."

Willow narrowed her eyes. "Would you.... repeat that?"

To this, she just smirked. 

A beat passed. 

In a bout, Willow had snatched her own pillow, aimed, then-

"Wait!" It was Amora, shielding her face. "You're acting like a kid."

"And do I care? No." Then she threw it with a grunt. "Take that."

Amora peeked through her fingers. She had missed. Then, with a low chuckle, she straightened. "Oh, Willow, Willow... you just made a fatal error." With that, she stood and reached down. "This pillow? Yeah, it's mine now."

Willow scoffed. "If not for these bandages-"

"-then you still would have lost."

Her friend lifted a brow. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Amora, armed with a pillow, drew it back. "Any final words?"

"I always hated swimming. I only did it for you."

"Wait, wha-"

And that was when the door opened. 

Amora froze, pillow still drawn back. When she looked over, her face turned red. "Oh, uh, hey Dr. Colton..."

The man, hugging his clipboard, cleared his throat. "I just wanted to schedule your next session."

-

With a smile, Dr. Colton waved and shut the door. Moments later, his footsteps disappeared. 

Again, it was silent. 

Willow reached for her phone. "I guess tomorrow at the same time." She huffed. "He may be handsame, but it's not worth it."

"You may walk again," Amora said. "Just remember that."

After a small nod, her eyes widened. "It's... it's him! It really was my boyfriend!"

Amora searched her. "Well, why wouldn't it be him?"

"I guess I'm just used to people ignoring me after a while." A moment more and she rang him, phone to ear. 

Amora looked to the door. Maybe she should just leave. 

"Yes, Jonny?" Willow smiled, then giggled. "Yes, it's me."

Instead, she decided to fiddle with her fingers. She'd only been there an hour today. It was too soon-

"Really?" Now Willow was upright, mouth dropped. "Ah, yes, most definitely!"

Moments later, the call ended and it went quiet. 

"Willow? What was that about?"

Her friend squealed, hands to cheeks. "He's coming. Jonny's coming! Either today or tomorrow."

-

Amora pressed the button, then leaned against the bars. From above, the bright elevator numbers displayed floor '3'. When the doors shut, the shaft began downwards. 

She shoved her hands in her pockets. Was it true? All those years ago, did Willow only go swimming for her?

With a shiver, she straightened and waited. 

After a ding, the doors opened and she stepped out. Up ahead, with a bold sign above, was the exit. 

She kept her head down as she maneuvered through the crowd. 

When she emerged outside, a fresh breeze blew past her. Despite herself, she smiled. Perhaps her friend wasn't only joking. 

On her way to the parking lot, though, she stiffened. Willow didn't seem to be bluffing. Tomorrow they'd have to sort it out. 

She raised her keys, unlocked her car, then bent down. Seat belt on and keys in ignition, she shut the door and-

Her face paled. Her mother - she hadn't spoken to her in a while. 

With an exhale, she ejected the keys and reached into her pocket. This was a new phone, but she could never forget her mother's number. 

But that was when she froze. 

It was empty. 

Amora tilted her head. Maybe it was her other pocket. 

Only, that was empty, too. 

Her blood ran cold. In a beat, she was outside slamming her door shut. 

The last time she felt it was in that elevator. 

It must have been that man. 

But he was likely long gone by now. It was an hour later and, surely, he wasn't that stupid. 

However, as she stood there, looking alongside the building, she stiffened. 

Leaned beside the double-doors, hands in pockets, a man was scrolling through a phone. 

It was him. 

He was here. 

Hey there! I apologize for the wait. I wanted this chapter to be good, so I took my time with it. Honestly, I think it turned out and I'm happy to say that we're getting there! According to the outline, we're over halfway done now. Though, I suppose, some parts might take longer than expected. 

Anyway, enough of that. It's time for another interrogation!

1) Is the story boring? If so, what could I improve?

2) Is the story realistic?

3) How do you feel about Willow's character?

Well, that's everything. I hope you're well and God bless. <3