With a laugh she said, “I’m just dying.”
“Oh.” I took in the information matter-of-factly. “Are you scared?”
“Cards take my mind off of it.”
“Maybe they can take my mind off of living,” I joked.
She shook her head. “Young people are always so dramatic.”
“Who goes first?” I asked.
“The oldest,” she said smugly. I let her have it, and she put down a pair of aces on the smoothed blanket that was serving as our playing surface.
With no pairs, I drew from the pile.
“Most young people back out of the room if they sense death,” she said. “Almost like it’s catching.”
“I’m older than I look,” I said.
At that she laughed. “What does that mean, you’re twenty-five?”
I ducked the question. “Do you have any advice for me?”
“Find someone to love, someone you can count on.”
“How do you know if it’s the right person?”
“There is no right person,” she said.
“I figured that much out on my own,” I said with a laugh.
“That’s why you justpickone. In my day, you just married the guy across the road and made it work. Don’t overthink it.”
Finally, some advice I could follow. “There is a cute farmer across the road from my house. We went on a date and I’m manifesting more.”
“There you go. Marry him. Have some babies. Decide to make it work and it will.”
“The thing is, we’re very different.” I was about to say more but she waved me off.
“How’s the sex, though?”
Her simplicity was intoxicating. She drew a card from the pile.
At that moment, a knock sounded on the door, and I turned to see Jessica. Was she following me?
“I brought coffee, Lana. Hey, Tiffany, would you like one too?”
“Yes,” I said. I don’t know why. It’s not like I could drink it. But I could pretend to be human for a minute.
She handed a Styrofoam cup to Lana and retrieved another from a nurse’s station for me.
While they caught up on their days and the latest gossip about hospital romances, I poured powdered creamer into my coffee, mimicking Lana. Some of the powder dissolved but half of it clumped together and floated at the top.
“The coffee’s not half bad tonight,” Jessica said. “Or maybe I just don’t have standards anymore.” She shook her head. “I know that’s what happened with me and men.”
Lana started giving her the same advice she had just shared with me.
“So what’s the matter with Tyrone?” I asked. “He seems great.”
