For one thing, I'd have someone to talk to.Constance and I chatted but not for long. The drugs in my system had me out cold before we got talking abou... anything important, and when I next woke up, she was sound asleep in the bed next to mine. The pain was manageable, and as I lay staring at the ceiling I got to thinking about the rash of bad events that plagued Angela's life after she died of the plague. Constance was breathing heavily, and as I considered both sides of the coin, I realized. Michael looked at his sister a moment and then smiled.‘Yeah, I’ll come too. It could be fun,’ he agreed.This was how we came to be at the Zimmerman’s house. ‘Cake by the Ocean,’ was playing loudly on the stereo, and a few people were dancing, holding your typical red plastic party cup. There were some bottles on the coffee table.‘Hey, Mandy! You made it. Who’s this with you?’ my friend Silvia asked, coming up to me.‘Oh—these are my cousins, Eliza and Michael. They’re visiting over spring break. I tried one night stands on my one night off but wasn't having much luck there either. All the guys I hooked up with were real fast guns in beds. All they seemed to care about was getting their rocks off and I always came home hornier than before going to bed with them. I was so horny and frustrated that I was becoming a real bitch, snapping at everyone around me — Jessy, other nurses, the doctors, my patients — everyone for no reason.” Linda stopped talking for a moment to swivel around in. The addition of the fall gave me hair that fell across myshoulders, and really changed the way my face looked. After steppinginto the low heels, I took a moment to put on some earrings, a chokernecklace, then a dab of perfume and my lipstick. When I was ready, Igrabbed my purse, took a deep breath, and walked out of my room andinto the kitchen.Dad dropped his fork and mom just sat there with her mouth open,watching as I poured myself some juice, then as I sat down at thetable...."This is.