He had taken two crisp twenty dollar bills and pressed them into her hand before putting her in one of the many taxis that often lingered at the hospi...al gate. Just as he went back in his brothers decided to leave. They had encouraged him to leave as well but something in him had refused. He told them he would catch a taxi home and walked back in. Now here he was hours later. He again perched on the side of the bed. He put his hand on her brow and frowned. She seemed to be running a temperature. "You fuckin' teasin' bitch! You can drop the dress now or walk home."She took the out he gave her and watched, dodging the gravel his tires slung as he hurried away from Lover's Lane. She cried as she took her shoes off and slowly walked home.With a shuddering sigh, Stephanie wiped the tears from her cheeks. She reached for her phone as she stumbled up the stairs."Momma," she cried, dropping onto the bed on her back as her mom answered."Stephanie is something wrong with the kids?" her mother. There at the edge of the jungle, not straight ahead of you but in the distance to your right, maybe one or two hundred yards away, stands a man."Hey!" you call, waving your arms, startled at the raw, weak quality of your voice. "Hey!" you call again, stumbling toward the man.He makes no move in response, and you wonder if you are imagining his presence, but as you close the gap to about 50 yards, you see that it is definitely a very real man standing there.A man, you realize, whose appearance. Like that. So that's why I don't think my ... condition is cool in the least." I think it makes you neat and special," he said. "How's the cookie?" Very good." She pressed her hand against her chest again."Are you all right?" I think I'm over the bus incident and it flashes on me again." You're all right, Debra."She drained her coffee cup and pressed her hand against her stomach. "This feels good. It was a good idea." Thanks for buying." It was the least I could do. I really should offer you.