a friendly visit

Who: Janey and Shoshannah
When: Late morning
Where: The hospital

Shoshannah had been down in the lobby, reading the latest copy of The Echo when she overheard something startling. That just a few days ago, there had been an accident nearby. A woman had been hit by a car, according to the two older ladies who were gossiping about it. Shoshannah, curious and worried, put down the paper in order to ask them if they knew who the woman was. When she heard the name they had, Janey McKinnon, Shoshannah froze. Janey? The woman she’d met on the street? The woman who promised she’d come visit her work, to look for books?

Knowing she had some time between now and when she needed to be with Elle getting ready for Angelo’s show, Shoshannah fetched her purse from her room and headed out of the Drake immediately. When she showed up at the hospital, there were three books in her arms and a small bouquet of daises. She’d never stepped foot inside St. Mary’s before and it felt a little odd at first, knowing that she was in another hospital. One that her father wasn’t the chief of medicine at. But it didn’t take her long to find a nurse and be led straight to Janey’s room, where she knocked on the door gently first to see if Janey was even awake.

Janey was sitting up in bed with her rosary in her hands. The previous afternoon, the doctor had seemed either unwilling or unable to tell Janey when they might release her to go home. Although she was out of the woods, with the broken ribs she needed to stay fairly immobile, as well as needing rest. Danny couldn’t very well stay home and care for her, so she would be in the hospital for a few more days, at least. She’d asked Danny to bring her some personal things, including the rosary, some of her own nightgowns, and the picture that D.G. had drawn for her in the cathedral that afternoon they’d first met. She’d asked him to tape it to the wall by the window. He’d seemed confused and a bit annoyed by this request, but Janey didn’t care. She needed it. Every time she looked at that picture, her heart lifted. That was who she wanted to be. And she didn’t know how she was going to get there, but she would.

Her plan now, though, was to say the rosary very, very slowly. Because, for one, she needed to pass the time somehow. But also, she needed to begin to put more sincerity back into her prayers. When she prayed informally, prayer intentions of her own, she said them with all her heart. But she’d realized that prayers like the rosary and the Hail Mary had lost much of their meaning for her long ago, when they’d become the words she clung to when nothing else seemed stable. She hadn’t begun yet, though, when there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” she said, her voice slightly hoarse. She hadn’t expected Danny until evening, and the only other person she could think who might visit was Zhen. She put her hand self-consciously over the cross which, despite its elegance, she wore around her neck, on top of her nightgown.

Shoshannah maneuvered the door open and peeked her head in, smiling despite the fact that she was seeing Janey in a hospital bed. She wasn't nearly so afraid of hospitals as other people were, but just the sight of someone who was hurting didn't sit well with her. "Hello!" She slipped inside the room and closed the door again as quietly as possible, making the steps towards Janey's bed carefully. Something about hospital floors and heels always made Shoshannah a little wary. As if she wasn't clumsy enough, she needed to walk around floors as slippery as glass with shoes that had no traction. "How are you feeling?"

If Janey had been surprised by the concern Zhen had displayed to her through her gifts, she was astounded when Shoshannah walked into the room. She’d all but forgotten her encounter with the girl, since it had been one of the most mundane occurences compared to what else had happened in the past few weeks--the street girl, the raids, Danny’s injury, and now her own accident. Of course she now recalled how friendly Shoshannah had been at the time, but neverthess she hadn’t expected her to walk into the room, her arms overflowing.

Shoshannah sort of expected a 'hello' or at the very least, for Janey to say something, so when she didn't, she felt a little worried. Had something worse happened than she expected? Did she not remember her? "Janey? It's me, Shoshannah? We met..about a week ago? I heard you were in an accident and I wanted to come check on you."

“Of course, hi,” Janey said, suddenly conscious of how rude she was being. “I just wasn’t expecting any visitors today,” she added, hoping it was enough of an explanation. “We met on the street, you work at the bookstore,” she said, to prove that she really did know who she was talking to.

Nodding, Shoshannah stood a little closer to Janey but not close enough to crowd her. Of course she should have called and asked Janey if she even wanted visitors today. "Oh, I'm sorry... How rude of me, I should have called! I won't stay long, I promise, I just wanted to drop by and see if you were all right. I'd heard you were in an accident so I wanted to check that you were safe and bring you these." She carefully placed the books on Janey's bed, close enough to be in her reach but far enough away that they weren't crowding her, and held the bouquet of flowers. "I'll ask a nurse for a vase for these."

“I’d love for you to stay--if you have time, that is. Time passes pretty slowly here alone.” She reached for the books, pleasantly surprised at Shoshannah’s thoughtfulness. They appeared to be novels, none with titles she recognized, but they sounded interesting enough. “These will be a great help though,” she said. “You probably think I’m quite the klutz. Our first meeting I was sprawled on the pavement, and our second I’m all laid up in a hospital bed.”

"Of course, I have some time. I just didn't want to disturb you." Once she'd moved the books, Shoshannah sat the bouquet down where they'd been and then moved to settle herself in the closest chair nearby. She'd ask the nurse for a vase on her way out, there was no reason to right now, especially with Janey feeling lonely. "Oh no, you're not a klutz! I'm a klutz. Are you really all right, though? I heard you were hit by a car..."

“Well, you heard correctly,” Janey said, wincing slightly as she shifted to face Shoshannah better. “News travels quickly in this city, doesn’t it? You haven’t heard anything about the driver who hit me, have you?” Danny had made it pretty clear the previous day that he wanted to press charges, not that it came as much of a surprise to Janey. But they hadn’t discussed it much beyond that, and they needed to. Janey didn’t even know what the official report on the incident was.

Shoshannah shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. All I heard was that a woman got hit by a car so I asked them if they knew who had been hit and they told me it was you. I'm grateful it wasn't worse than it was. I just don't understand how you can hit someone with a car. I've never driven before but I imagine that people are a fairly large obstacle." And it certainly wasn't the reason she'd come, but now Shoshannah was worried about herself. What if she lost control and stumbled out into the street? It was something her parents had always been worried about but Shannah hadn't put much stock in, but seeing Janey in the hospital bed now scared her. "Would you like me to try and find out about the driver?"

Janey chuckled at Shannah’s comment. “I would think so too, but I don’t think it was really his fault. I remember hearing something about the light not changing. Like some sort of technical malfunction. But my husband is convinced the guy belongs behind bars, and that it’s up to him to put him there,” Janey explained.

Did the man belong behind bars? By the way Janey phrased it, it sounded like it was a true accident. "I think the most important part is that you're all right. How would your husband find who did it anyway, especially if you don't know who it is?"

“Oh, I guess we haven’t talked about Danny. He’s a cop,” Janey said, grimacing. Sometimes she wished he weren’t--well, often actually. But usually it was just out of concern for his safety, not out of concern for the safety of others.

"Danny? I met a Danny once, at the One More Round during one of Angelo's shows. Or..Angel and the Seraphim, rather." Saying his stage name made her smile. "Maybe he's the same Danny? We didn't talk much about him being a police officer though." Or at all, if she thought about it.

Janey furrowed her brow. She had no idea who “Angel and the Seraphim” was, but that wasn’t what was bothering her. She knew the One More Round was one of Danny’s favorites, and while she wasn’t in complete denial about his tryst with alcohol, she didn’t like being slapped in the face with the knowledge that he was spending more time indulging that habit rather than spending time with her. “Yeah, it was probably him. It’s not the sort of place you’d want to be very open about that sort of career though, you know?”

Shannah noticed the difference in Janey and immediately wondered what had brought it on. What did she say that made Janey look that way? “I suppose so...” Angelo had warned her about the area around the One More Round, but inside the Round she didn’t feel the same need to worry. Initially, she wasn’t so sure she needed to worry very much, but post-theft, Shoshannah didn’t mind being a little more careful. She still wasn’t ready to have a guard with her at all times of the day, though. “Janey, did I say something wrong? You look upset...”

Janey immediately felt the guilt creeping in. What right did she have to be upset about Danny’s problems? I’ve got vices of my own, she thought, squeezing the beads of the rosary between her fingers. Hers just seemed a little more innocent, but were nevertheless her way of escaping reality. “Danny’s drinking,” she said. “The topic is a bit of a sore spot, that’s all.”

"Oh. Well, if it helps, he wasn't drinking that much. Angelo ordered us all something called a 'Pushkin' so we drank those but I didn't see him drink very much. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up at all." Shannah frowned, hoping she hadn't upset Janey too much. She didn't want to upset her at all, especially since Janey was recovering from an accident.

“It’s all right. You didn’t know and really, I’m probably just overreacting.” Janey didn’t want Shoshannah to think it was her place to try and fix things now. She’d just spoken openly, not trying to cause any problems. “But yes, Danny is my husband. Have you to spoken much?”

"No, not much, just that night. He seems very nice, though. I'm sure he wishes he was here right now with you instead of at work." Which was where Shannah assumed he was. "Hopefully I can keep you company until he gets here. How long have you two been married?"

“Almost twelve years.” It was strange to say aloud; sometimes Janey forgot it had been that long. Not that twelve years was really that long, in terms of a marriage, but when she thought of it as twelve years that they’d been trying to have a child, and it ached a little. Of course there had been good times, and she knew Danny loved her very much. But it was the pain she remembered more clearly, the pain and the tears. She cursed herself for that.

Shoshannah couldn’t help but smile. “That’s a long time.” It was a nice concept, though. Being committed to someone you loved for that long of a time. Shannah could only hope for that in her life, to be able to rely on someone like that. “Congratulations,” She said with another smile. “I’ve never been in a really long relationship before.” Nothing over a year, definitely. She was currently in the longest relationship she’d ever had, even though neither of them had defined it as a relationship.

“Thanks,” Janey said. “I guess it is a fair portion of my life, but compared to couples like my parents, who were married for forty years, it seems pretty minor,” Janey said. “You’re young, though. You’ve still got plenty of time.” Saying so, Janey was surprised to hear a hint of regret in her own voice. Danny was her world, and she wouldn’t have changed that for anything. Sometimes though, she wished they hadn’t been forced to get married so fast. That she’d had a little more time to explore the world on her own before marrying him. She’d never had the sort of independence Shoshannah seemed to have, or any sort of independence really. She’d gone straight from the protective arms of her parents and brothers into Danny’s fiercely protective heart.

Shoshannah smiled to Janey until she heard that sad dip in her voice and it concerned her. "You're still young too, so you've got plenty of time to get to a happy forty-year-long marriage." She figured that that was what was bothering Janey, that she felt that for some reason her marriage didn't mean as much because it wasn't something extremely long yet.

Janey felt bad that Shoshannah seemed to be trying so hard to come up with the right things to say to cheer her up. She flashed an empty smile, hoping it would suffice, and quickly changed the topic. “So, tell me what you’ve been up to. Who’s this Angelo you mentioned?”

She was still worried about Janey, but it seemed like she didn't want to talk anymore about that, so Shannah could easily change the subject with her, especially when she changed it to Angelo. There was a tell-tale smile on her lips as she thought about how to classify them again and fell back on the way he explained her to Elle at their first meeting. "He's a special friend of mine. He has an art show opening later tonight, but most nights he works either at the Kitten Club or the One More Round as a performer. He plays trumpet and tells these beautiful stories." She wanted to invite Janey to see one, but from what she knew about the Round and Janey, she didn't think that Janey would want to go there.

Shoshannah’s entire body seemed to grow lighter the moment she mentioned Angelo, as though she had suddenly become comfortable in her skin. She held her head a tiny bit higher and a smile crept onto her face. Janey wasn’t sure what to make of the term “special friend”, but it was clear that he treated her well and made her happy, and that was what mattered. “He sounds quite talented--an artist, a musician, and a storyteller. Do you ever perform with him?” Janey wasn’t sure what Shannah’s talent might be, but she seemed like she’d probably have one. Janey could imagine her doing well as a storyteller, too.

"Me? Oh, no. I don't know what I'd perform. I'd probably just mess it up, I'm so clumsy." She smiled a little, shaking her head, but the image of being up on stage with Angelo was something she couldn't get her head wrapped around. It was somewhat intriguing, if only so she could see what he saw when he performed. "I take pictures, though." With the new camera that Angelo had loaned her the money for. "So maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to snap some pictures of the audience from the stage. Kind of get to see what he sees."

“I’d love to see some of your work sometime,” Janey said. “Your photography, I mean. You must have a good eye.” Shoshannah seemed to be down on herself fairly often, at least about her clumsiness. Janey tried to come up with something else to say, but the pain medication was taking its toll. Of course it hadn’t made her drowsy when she’d been alone, but now that she had a visitor she felt ready to drop. She hid a yawn behind her hand.

"Of course. I'd be happy to show you." Shannah could see the yawn even if Janey was trying to hide it. Carefully she reached for Janey's free hand and gave it a light squeeze. "But some other time, all right? Tomorrow, maybe. You should get some rest now and I've taken up a lot of your time." She smiled to Janey before standing. "I'm really glad you're doing all right, Janey. I'll see you soon."

Janey smiled back, warmed by Shannah’s tender, friendly touch. “Okay. Thank you so much...for coming,” she murmured. Her eyelids felt heavy and she was drifting off.

Shoshannah smiled at Janey, hoping that she would be feeling better very soon. Seeing a friend in the hospital was always painful, but Shoshannah was at least glad she could come and bring her some books and flowers. She left the room, closed the door quietly, and went to look for nurse about a vase for the flowers before she headed home.