I feel Éclair grip my hand. It’s somewhat reassuring as she sits next to me on the bench. I’ve been waiting for word from Eddie’s doctor for what feels like an eternity. Eddie had looked so pathetic on that hospital bed seizing up the way he did, and I can’t shake the image of it from my mind. It keeps replaying over and over again like a monster horror scene in a movie that spooks you so bad that you feel like the creature is lurking over your shoulder because it’s permanently imprinted on your brain. I’m afraid to close my eyes –afraid the memory of it will pop back into my head.

Éclair keeps checking her phone, and after the fourth or fifth time, I realize her phone is going off but she had put it on silent. I sigh and pull my hand away. “If you have to go somewhere, go,” I say.

She frowns, “James, I’m not going anywhere.”

I shake my head, “No. I know how it is, Éclair. Your company can’t go a day without you, am I right?” I force a smile on my face, “I appreciate you coming and sitting here with me for as long as you have. Sylvia will be here soon. I’ll be okay.”

Éclair looks anxious. She does not want to leave me, and it feels good to know she cares. She puts her hands on mine and squeezes them both tight, “James, you call me, and I mean it. Call me if you need anything. If anything happens, please, don’t let me find out on the news. I will be here.”

I nod, “I promise I will.”

She leans towards me and gently presses her lips against mine. It’s so light and gentle –not at all like what I am used to receiving from her. She stands and nervously stares at the hospital door that has kept us closed off from Eddie for a considerable amount of time now. Éclair bites at her fingernails for a moment before turning to look down at me, “I am just a phone call away.” She reminds me before leaving.

I have to admit I am somewhat surprised. I did not expect her to be so concerned for me. I mean, I have always considered her to be a friend, but not this close of a friend. Not one who would show up unannounced at a hospital, bring flowers, and be just as concerned as I was for my brother. She leaves, and I feel annoyed with myself for granting her permission to leave. I now realize how I definitely do not want to be alone in this damn hallway. Finally, a doctor exits out into the hallway. I jump up, almost tripping over my feet when I do so.

The doctor acts almost as a distraction for me as nurses quickly wheel Eddie out on a bed and down the hall; my stare goes from the moving bed to the doctor, back to the bed, and then finally stop to look the doctor in the eye. “He’s all right for now.” The doctor says, “We’re going to attempt a second operation, this time in his heart to prevent it from failing. I will be able to give you a full description of what we are going to do.”

I nod, and I walk with the doctor down the hall back into the waiting room. He walks alongside me, explaining in detail why they need to go back into surgery. He explains the risks, and none of them sound good, but it does not sound like he has much of a chance if they don’t cut him back open again. It makes me feel half dead to sign the paperwork granting him permission to operate on him again after just having operated on him once already not but a few hours ago. I sign, and the doctor assures me that I will get regular updates on the progress from a nurse during this second surgery.

I sink down into a seat in the waiting room, and I try not to completely lose my mind. I’m only there for about thirty minutes before Sylvia comes walking in, looking flustered. She had been trying to find me, apparently, but they had moved me back into the waiting room. She has a to-go bag and two sodas in her hands; I had almost forgotten that she had gone to get us some lunch.

She sits down beside me and puts the bag and drinks down on a small table in the waiting room. “What’s happening?” she asks, looking quite concerned.

“He-” I pause to clear my throat, realizing a lump had formed, “He went into cardiac arrest, and they have him back in surgery again.”

“James, I’m so sorry.” Sylvia says and puts a hand on my knee, “He’s going to be okay.” She says and firmly squeezed my knee. “Listen, you need to eat. I know you probably don’t feel like it, but you’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t.”

My stomach growls. She’s right. I willingly take the sandwich and drink she had run out and gotten for me and start eating. She does the same. “So…” she says somewhat awkwardly, “I ran into Éclair in the hall.”

I almost choke. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” Sylvia says, “I mean; I did do that modeling gig for her. I asked her what she was doing here, and she said she was coming to visit your brother. I know you said you knew her, but I didn’t think you two were close like that.”

“Well…” I struggle to speak. I like Sylvia. I don’t really want to lie to her, but I don’t want her to freak out either.

She makes it easy for me, “You two are screwing around, right?”

“Um…” I don’t know what to say.

She just laughs, “Relax, James. It’s not like you and I are exclusive. I just wanted to know exactly what was going on between you two. So I’m asking.”

I guess I can’t really lie now. “Éclair and I have slept together.” I say, “We’re not dating or in a relationship or anything, but we have had sex… a lot…just to have sex, really.”

“Oh my God, you’re fuck buddies!” she laughs at me, “Okay, okay, I get it. Damn!”

I suddenly find myself smiling. Sylvia is way cooler than I thought. Then I realize she’s just trying to distract me. I smile. “You’re pretty crazy and just awesome, you know that?” I say.

“Look, James, I like –I like you a lot. You just tell me when you’re ready to go from whatever we have now to something more… exclusive. I’m not in a hurry. I like what we have now. I’m not saying I would not want something more; I’m just saying I get it if you’re not ready. I don’t care about the whole Éclair thing.” She says, and I can hardly believe what I am hearing.

“Are you serious?” I ask. I grin, “Well, if that’s the case-”

She puts her fingers to my lips before I can say anything too stupid, “Don’t’ get any ideas. I may be okay with the Éclair thing, but that does not mean I am going to invite her into bed with me, big guy. Do that shit on your own time.” She laughs again. “I will say this, though: I am looking forward to the day you tell me you’re ready for something more.”

I put my food and drink down and just smile. I’m not sure what to say to that. I lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek. If anything, she has definitely provided me with a distraction. And it was a well-needed distraction.