Eloise

Alice is smiling at me. And I'm trying to process the last five minutes. Two first dates in one night. Maybe that will make Katie less mad that I skipped out on James. And this might make up for the date with James being terrible. Actually, it already has. Alice is funny. And sweet. And cute. And she wants to go on a date with me? Be on a date with me. We are on a date.

What is my life?

Alice's phone rings. She checks the caller.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. It's my brother. One second." She raises the phone to her ear. "Peter? Everything ok?" She listens for a moment, and her face falls. "What? Is she ok? What happened?" A pause. "I don't understand. I was with her all day. She was fine." Another pause. "Um, yeah. I can be there in twenty minutes. As long as there aren't any delays on the subway. Yeah. I'll text you when I get there. Ok. Bye."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Um, it's not," she says. "My mom's in the hospital."

"Oh my God. What happened? Is she ok?"

"I'm not sure. They're not sure. But I, uh, gotta go. I'm sorry." She starts gathering her plate and bottle.

I do the same. "No, it's ok. Do you want me to come with you?" Where did that come from?

She freezes. "You want to come to the hospital with me?"

"I mean...if you don't want to go alone..." Oh, Eloise. What are you doing?

"My brother will be there," she reminds me.

"Right. Well, no worries."

She considers me for a moment. "It might be nice. To have you come along. But only if you're totally ok with coming to the hospital. It's not exactly a great first date location."

"It's ok. I -" I clear my throat. Do I tell her all of my baggage? Do I spill now that my mom died when I was fourteen, and I spent a lot of time in hospitals? And I know what it's like to get that kind of call? Maybe not at this very moment. Not a good uplifting story at a time like this. "As long as you're ok with me meeting your mom and your brother on the first date."

"Are you ok meeting my mom and brother on a first date?" She flashes a quick, tense smile. "And going to a secondary secondary location?"

I let out a laugh. "You haven't killed me yet."

"What if this is all just an elaborate plan to get you to my torture chamber?"

"I'll risk it."

She hesitates again, but eventually she stands and holds out her hand. I frantically grab the rest of my stuff and take it. It's cold, and her fingers slide between mine without hesitation. We drop our trash in a can and hurry to the nearest subway station. Except to go through the turnstiles, she doesn't let go of my hand. She actually kind of clings to it. It's the only indication that she's stressed out. Otherwise, she looks completely calm.

We stand together on the train, close enough that I can smell her perfume - something flowery and sweet - and see a tiny scar just above the neckline of her shirt. We don't talk, and it gives me time to think about how insane this night has been. From start to finish. From A to Z. So many things I have to tell Katie - and apologize to Katie about.

She's still gripping my hand when we finally get to the hospital. She calls her brother to find out where they are, and he has to give us turn by turn instructions to get the right floor and department and waiting area. She only lets my hand go when we find him. They look like twins - the same bright blonde hair, blue eyes, and muscular build. Is he a dancer, too, or is that a genetic thing? And he likes black, too, but he's in slacks and a black sweater.

"Oh, there you are," he says. They both pocket their phones, and he catches sight of me. "Oh, hi."

"Hi," I squeak.

"Were you on a date?" he asks, looking far too pleased with the idea.

Alice waves a hand at him. "It's a long story. For later. I promise. For now, Eloise, Peter. Peter, Eloise."

"Hi again," I say.

"What's going on? Have they told you anything?" Alice asks. We claim a trio of chairs in the corner of the waiting area. I try to listen without feeling intrusive.

Peter leans forward with his elbows on his knees. "She's still getting some tests. The doctor said he'd find me as soon as they were done."

"You said she collapsed?" Alice asks.

"Yeah. Mrs. Dubinsky heard her fall and tried to check on her. When Mom didn't answer, she let herself in with her spare key, found Mom on the floor, called 911, and then called me." He rubs his temples. "She said she came to pretty quickly, but she didn't want to take any chances."

"I'm so glad we gave her that key," Alice sighs. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. I mean, you know chemo's been hard on her, but nothing like this has ever happened before."

I suck in a breath. Chemo? Cancer? God, what did I push myself into?

Alice shoots an apologetic glance at me. Apparently, my gasp was louder than I thought.

"Well, and I told you. Danielle and I were with her all day, and she seemed fine. Tired. But she's always tired. I just...I don't get it." She leans on her knees, too. "What if -"

"Don't," Peter says, grabbing her hand. "Don't 'what if.' We'll know what's going on soon."

Alice nods, and I decide to let them have a private moment.

"I'm going to find the restroom," I say. "I'll be right back."

Alice nods again. I tuck my purse next to her foot and leave the waiting area with absolutely no idea where I am or where I'm going. I wander aimlessly past a few closed doors and several open ones. The nurses I pass smile and nod politely. I end up in another waiting area. When my mom was sick, I was in so many waiting rooms and doctors' offices they all started looking the same. And this hospital isn't any different - bland white cinderblock walls, ugly and uncomfortable vinyl chairs, and stacks of generic magazines on the equally generic side tables. God, the memories.

This room has a vending machine, and I've been browsing the rows of chips and candy without really seeing them for a good ten minutes when Alice appears beside me. She leans her shoulder against the side of the machine and smiles.

"Anything catching your eye?" she asks.

"Mm. The Peanut M&Ms are calling my name. But I don't think I have any cash on me." I shrug and turn to face her.

"Are you ok?"

I shake my head. "I should be asking you that question."

"I'm used to all of this. You're not." She looks tired. Defeated. Anxious. Everything I felt as a scared teenager waiting for news about my mom's cancer.

"Alice." I step toward her and grab her hand again. "I'm fine. I'm here to be moral support. I just don't want to push in on family stuff. We've literally only known each other for -" I check my phone "- like two hours?"

She smiles. "You're not pushing in. I'm an open book. It's just...my mom's cancer diagnosis is also not something I lead with when I'm getting to know people."

Understandable. I don't lead with the fact that my mom died when I was fourteen, either. Is it time to bring that up now? No. Still not right.

"How long has it been?"

"Seven months." She sighs and swings our hands back and forth slightly. "They thought they caught it early, and she was doing really well. But last month, she kinda...went downhill. They changed tactics a bit. It started to get better again. And then she plateaued. She's stable but not getting any better. And it's just...it's been a lot. It's actually the reason I have the week off. That conference Danielle is going to? Peter works at the same company, and he's going to it, too. They'll be gone all next week. So, I took some time off so I can be there for her if she needs me." Her eyes go wide. "Sorry. Now, you really do know my whole life story."

"Oddly enough, I still know more details about James' life than yours."

She dissolves into a fit of hiccup-y giggles. "That's really sad."

"It really is," I agree.

"Come on." She tugs on my hand. "Peter wants to get to know you. He thought tonight totally counted as a meet cute." We start back toward the other waiting area. "He also really wants to talk to you about finance...stuff. He's a corporate investment advisor." I gape at her. "Let me guess. You're wondering how our parents created me - a fascinating, beautiful, talented Broadway star - and him - a boring investment advisor - from the same genes." She winks at me.

"I mean, he's pretty beautiful, too," I say.

She groans. "Can you not hit on my brother on our first date?"

"I didn't hit on him. I merely commented on his good looks. The only person I'm hitting on tonight is you."

"I'm honored."

When we get back to the waiting area, I chat with Peter about my plans after graduation and the companies he's worked with. Alice looks back and forth between us like she's watching a tennis match.

"My God, there's two of you," she mutters at one point. We stop our steady chattering about the state of the stock market long enough to give her nearly identical eye rolls. "It's like you're clones."

A tall dark haired doctor materializes. "Mr. Edwards?" We all stand, and the mood turns somber again. "We've run several tests, and it looks like it was just a case of low blood sugar and dehydration."

"And that made her pass out?" Peter asks.

The doctor nods. "Combined with her medications and exhaustion, yes. She's going to be fine, but we would like to keep her overnight."

"Can we see her?" Alice asks.

"Of course. I can show you to her room."

Peter falls in step beside him and starts asking him a million questions.

I hang back. "I'll just wait for you here."

Alice circles back to me and grabs my elbow. "Nope. You're too far into this to back out now. You get to meet my mom."

I have no choice but to snag my purse from the floor and follow. The doctor stops at a door just down the hallway and waves us in. Their mom is on the far side of the room behind a curtain, so we have to tiptoe past her sleeping roommate. I freeze at the curtain, watching as Peter and Alice take either side of the bed. Their mom is small and pale and hooked up to about a million machines. And she looks so much like my mom that I actually stop breathing for a second.

How many times did I stand in a room like this? Staring at my mom. Holding back tears. Trying to mask the fear with a smile. How many times did my mom hold out her hand to me and let me crawl into her bed and hold me. How long has it been since she held me? How long has it been since I thought about her?

"And who's this young lady?" Their mom's soft voice brings me back to the present, and I force a smile on my face.

Alice uses the hand that's not holding her mom's hand to wave me closer. "This is Eloise."

I shuffle to Alice's side, and her mom tilts her head at me. I can see Alice in the shape of her nose and Peter in the curve of her cheekbones. But her eyes are dark.

"Hi, Mrs. Edwards," I greet.

"Oh, Barb, please," she says, giving me a sweet smile. "Any friend of Alice's is a friend of mine."

"Actually, Mom, we were on a...date," Alice says. "Kind of. It didn't start out that way, but here we are."

Barb looks between us. "And you came here? On your date?" I shrug and nod. "Oh, Al, anyone who will willingly come to your mother's sickbed on a date is a keeper."

"I know," Alice agrees, smiling at me. "Trust me. I know."