Tiffany had just received another message from Jay. She had to admit that she was feeling a little excited about their exchange, she hadn't had a boyfriend since middle school, and it wasn't anything serious back then. She still wasn't sure she was ready for a relationship though, but Jay's enthusiasm was certainly enough for two.

Unfortunately, her joy quickly faded when she opened the message. It wasn't about flirting, or their upcoming date, but about Leonard's situation. Rafael and Jay had found him in bad shape, and he had to be taken to the hospital. Jay suggested they meet there later in the morning to get the latest news, and support Leonard through this difficult time.

Tiffany was alone in the guest room Rafael's parents had given her for the vacations. She was knitting a large Irish pullover, and had not yet bothered to come downstairs for breakfast, nor to greet her Aunt Alice and Uncle Alfred. They must have been used to it now, she had been locked in her room a lot in the last few days. It was the same at home. She needed solitude to be able to think.

The absence of her mother had allowed Tiffany to find a serenity that she had believed was gone forever, and the prospect of sharing the same living space again once the vacations were over was unbearable. She absolutely needed a fallback solution. The easiest way would be to ask her Aunt Alice to continue living in the guest room, she was sure she would agree, but her mother would not... Tiffany wanted to avoid being the source of a conflict that would drive the two sisters apart.

I don't want to see her anymore, but I can't impose that on Auntie Alice.

She had told Ilona about it, hoping that her father would be able to rent her one of his many properties at below market price, but her friend had quickly disabused her of this idea. Her father was horribly strict, and believed that people should earn things for themselves. This obviously included his daughter, as well as her friends.

So Tiffany was sitting in her room and brooding over her problems, with no solution in sight. At least she wasn't completely wasting her time because she was keeping her hands busy. She didn't know who she was making the pullover for. It was probably too early to give Jay such a gift, that was for sure in fact... she didn't know yet if he was seriously interested in her. But this item of clothing could fit Alfred, Leonard, or even Rafael.

Tiffany texted back to accept Jay's invitation and began to think about what she might wear. This was not the first time she would be going to this hospital. She wanted to be a pediatric nurse and had already done several internships there, but her work attire would not be appropriate for the circumstances. She needed something elegant, sober, and warm at the same time. She decided to call Ilona to come and help her choose.

Tiffany knew that Ilona wasn't completely sincere, and that she was using her to get closer to Rafael, but she trusted that their relationship could still become a true friendship. A little good will goes a long way.

If only my mother had a little of it...

Ilona was available and it didn't take her more than half an hour to arrive, just enough time for Tiffany to preselect some outfits to show her friend. She didn't have much choice anyway, having only brought two bags of clothes for the vacations. After intense exchanges with Ilona, Tiffany finally decided on a blue satin top with black pants, she had a beautiful ocean blue hat that would go perfectly with the ensemble. Ilona, for her part, wore a beige wool dress with a belt and black tights. The two young women then spent a moment to look at themselves in the mirror with satisfaction. They were beautiful.

"Can I come with you to the hospital?" asked Ilona suddenly.

Tiffany felt embarrassed. Of course she wanted Ilona to come with her, but at the same time she wasn't sure how Rafael would take it. He had made it clear that this friendship bothered him and that he wanted to see his ex as little as possible... and she also thought of poor Leonard, the last thing he needed was an argument in his hospital room! She answered hesitantly:

"Okay, but only if you promise to be discreet. You don't make any remarks, and you don't try to initiate a conversation with Rafael."

Ilona pouted, but assured, "I won't be a problem, don't worry."

Tiffany nodded in agreement. The two young women then went to get their coats and headed for the hospital. The bus ride seemed endless to Tiffany, she was worried about many things: how it would go with Jay, if Leonard's condition was serious, if Ilona would really stay out of trouble, and how Rafael would react to her presence... so many things were going on in her head that it completely prevented her from thinking.

In addition, several men were staring at them. She didn't know if it was because she was paying more attention to her looks lately, or because Ilona was there, but she found it very disturbing. Her mother liked to attract attention, and always adopted a very provocative attitude for that. She, however, didn't want to be the target of all eyes, she didn't want to be anything like her mother! This made her really miss the regenerative calm of her room.

Fortunately, no one came to approach them and they were soon at the hospital. Tiffany instinctively took the staff entrance, leading Ilona through the labyrinthine corridors of the building to the nurses' locker room, and then to the emergency rooms. Halfway there, they were stopped by a woman in a white coat who hailed them:

"Hey, it's Tiffany! I almost didn't recognize you in your nice clothes. What are you doing here? Are you planning to do an internship in the emergency department?"

"Hi Latifah. It's not for an internship, I'm here to see someone..."

"Ah," the nurse's expression darkened. "It's not too serious I hope."

"No don't worry, he's in good hands now," Tiffany said immediately, not wanting to worry Latifah. "Is your shift going well?"

Another nurse joined them and answered in Latifah's place, "We had a visit from a police detective this morning, a very sexy Latino man, too bad he had a wedding ring."

"I don't mind it," Latifah remarked. "The best lovers are always married."

Embarrassed, Tiffany started to blush, which made the other women laugh. Latifah continued:

"He was a little old for you, my dear, but I'm sure you must have many other suitors. You're at the age where you should take advantage of it, there's nothing like a man to warm up your bed... and the rest!"

My God! These women were crazy, what was Ilona going to think of her now? She wasn't like that... She wasn't like that at all! Well, she liked Jay that was true, but that had nothing to do with it. She turned her gaze to her friend, anxious to be judged, but Ilona was looking at the nurses without paying attention to her.

"It's nonsense this idea of taking advantage of it," Ilona interjected. "I've heard that before, except that to take advantage you have to avoid the losers, and they're everywhere. It's much better to find the right guy and stay with him rather than doing casual relationships. Those sucks!"

Tiffany was surprised by this statement. She had never talked too much about this kind of thing with Ilona before, but she had gotten the impression that her friend was very successful with men, and she certainly had the attitude of a woman who liked to play with them. That's what she had done with Rafael anyway. Tiffany didn't understand her attitude.

The nurses had been chilled by Ilona's remark. They returned to their work while the two friends continued towards Leonard's room in silence. It didn't take them long to get there. Leonard was awake, but Jay wasn't there yet, and Rafael was dozing off in one of the hospital chairs.

"Hi, Uncle Leonard," Tiffany whispered as she entered the room. "How are you?"

He wasn't really her uncle, but they'd always seen each other at family gatherings when she was a kid, and she'd taken to calling him after her cousin Rafael. Tiffany was reassured to see him looking so well. She had imagined the worst, but he didn't seem to have any serious injuries, just a little anemia.

"I'm doing great," Leonard said, smiling at her. "It's all thanks to Rafael and his friend Jay, they were the ones who found me and scared off my kidnapper!"

"He's a real man," Ilona murmured, looking at Rafael.

"Yes, they're incredible," Tiffany agreed. "What happened to Rafael's face?"

Leonard shook his head. "I'm not sure, I think he was burned fighting the priest. He told me it wasn't serious, though."

Tiffany was full of admiration for her cousin. She wasn't even aware that he had continued the search on his own, and on top of that he had fought a criminal! She could never have done that. And Jay was with Rafael, he too had been in the fight, he could have been hurt. What had she done for her part? Nothing. She wasn't good enough to be his girlfriend, and Jay was bound to find out. Maybe she'd better cancel their date right away...

"Hi girls, hi Leonard, glad to see you're doing better," Jay said as he arrived.

He sent Tiffany a smile. The intensity of his gaze disturbed her and she turned her head away. What a stupid move! Now he was going to believe that she ignored him. She fidgeted with the fabric of her top looking for something to say, but she couldn't think of anything. Jay suddenly seemed taller to her, more confident too. Something had definitely changed in him and that made her lose her means, even more than usual.

"Much better, thank you Jay," Leonard replied. "That was incredibly brave of you to come and save me with Rafael. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."

"Well, it was nothing. We were lucky," Jay said casually. "Do you need anything? I can go to the vending machine and buy you something to eat or drink."

Leonard nodded, "I'd like that, IV's don't fill your stomach and I've never liked hospital meals."

"Nobody likes them!" exclaimed Jay. "Will you come with me Tiffany? I'll buy you something if you want."

"Okay," she replied shyly. "Are you coming Ilona?"

Jay pouted at the question. He would have liked to be alone with her, that was for sure, but Ilona had accompanied her this far. It was a little weird to leave her alone with Leonard when she didn't know him well... and to be honest she wasn't comfortable with the idea of Jay trying anything if it was just the two of them. She wanted him to try of course, but not here, not in the hospital, the nurses might see them.

The three of them walked down the stairs to the first floor where the vending machines were located. Seeing Jay lead the way had a strange effect on Tiffany, it reassured her. Her worries were still there, but they didn't seem so bad anymore. It reminded her of when her father would take her for walks when she was little, she felt like nothing could happen to her. She missed the feeling. She missed him.

Those men wouldn't have dared look at me the way they did if Jay had been there.

They were soon at the vending machine, Tiffany was pulling out her wallet to buy herself something to drink when Jay stopped her.

"I'm buying. What do you want?"

Tiffany was embarrassed. She was well aware that he didn't have much money, and he had already offered to buy Leonard food. She finally accepted a cup of coffee from him, but she promised herself that she would pay him back later, somehow. Jay began buying sandwiches, as well as bottles of water and soda.

"How did Rafael get hurt?" asked Ilona suddenly.

Jay took on a conspiratorial look and winked at Tiffany. "You did see that there was something strange didn't you? This was no ordinary fight! To tell you the truth, the priest who kidnapped Leonard had magical powers, he could summon a light hotter than the sun's rays. We were only able to defeat him because Rafael and I also have magical powers. We are shamans, like the ones Leonard met in his travels!"

"Honestly Jay, can't you be serious for five minutes?" snapped Ilona.

"It's true," he said vexed. "Why would I make up a story like that? You really need to stop talking down to people Ilona."

"Stop it, both of you," Tiffany said to calm the situation. "I'm sure Jay wouldn't joke about something so serious."

"Really, Tiff? Magical powers! He's just bullshitting us."

Tiffany felt a bubble of anger form inside her. Putting others down like that was exactly what her mother did. Okay, Jay was exaggerating sometimes, yet that was no reason to treat him like that. She tried to hold back. She didn't want to yell, especially at her new friend, but the anger kept building...

"I'm going to the bathroom," Tiffany blurted out, and she promptly walked away.

She had barely entered her shelter when Ilona joined her looking sheepish.

"I'm sorry Tiff, I didn't mean to put you in this state," she apologized.

"You should be apologizing to Jay instead. That was really not nice what you said!"

"Oh, that was nothing. He's a clown, he just said that to try to impress you..."

Ilona stopped and examined Tiffany for a moment before continuing:

"Is that it? Oh my god, I get it now, you have a crush on him, that's why you wanted me to help you pick out your outfit! You should have told me earlier!"

"No," Tiffany stammered. "It's not that at all. It's just he saved Leonard, He deserves respect and, uhh..."

"Come on, don't worry, it's not a big deal. You want me to fix you up a little? I have my makeup bag with me."

Tiffany blushed to her ears. Frankly, what an impudence! Ilona always thought she knew everything, and that she could do what she want. It was unbearable sometimes. It was their story, her and Jay's, Ilona didn't have to interfere in it. Especially since her friend already had enough in her plate to repair the damage between her and Rafael.

On the other hand, a touch of make-up couldn't hurt. If it would encourage Jay to look at her more...

"Okay," Tiffany finally said shyly, "something not too flashy please."

 

***

 

When the two young women emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, Jay was gone. They found him in Leonard's room. Rafael was awake and helping his uncle devour the mountain of sandwiches Jay had brought in. It must have cost him a fortune! Ilona immediately went to sit next to Rafael to check on his burns, and Tiffany stood by the entrance. She felt like there was no room for her.

Jay walked past her and out into the hallway. She rushed after him.

"Where are you going? Aren't you staying with the others?" she asked.

Jay shook his head. "I'm going to see my dad, he's in observation."

"What?" worried Tiffany. "What happened to him? Is he okay? I can come with you if you want."

"Ahhh," Jay said, running a hand through his hair. "You don't have to, my dad, you know, he's not a very nice person to be around."

"I don't mind," Tiffany assured him, “I won't let you go alone!”

Jay relented and motioned for her to follow him. The two of them walked down the hallways in silence. Several times their hands brushed against each other, and Tiffany wasn't sure if she was more afraid of him taking her hand, or not taking it. Eventually she spoke up to ease some of the tension she was feeling:

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Why?" asked Jay.

"About Ilona earlier, I don't know what got into her..."

"It's nothing," Jay replied. "It's true that it's an unbelievable story. I'm surprised you trust me with this..."

"If you say it, it must be true," Tiffany affirmed.

Jay gave her a sidelong glance before stating, "I'll teach you if you want. There's a runic sign you need to know to bind spirits, I can show it to you."

To be honest, Tiffany wasn't quite sure she believed him. And even if it were true, her life was complicated enough as it was without having to add this magic stuff. On the other hand, she was moved that he wanted to share this knowledge with her, and it would allow them to spend some time together.

"I'd love to," she finally said. "By the way, you didn't tell me what happened to your dad."

Jay grimaced. "The doctors said it was a ruptured aneurysm, and he hit his head when he fell which gave him a concussion. He's going to be out for a while."

"That's horrible," Tiffany exclaimed.

Jay looked like he was about to say something, but then thought better of it. He would probably tell her later, maybe during their date? She wasn't that good with conversations... They continued to walk down the hallways. Tiffany still hoped that Jay would take her hand, but the moment had probably passed now. They had almost arrived at the room. That's when a woman in a sari came out, and Jay exclaimed:

"Mom, I didn't think you'd be back already!”

"This is a pretty one, Jay," Deepali remarked, looking at Tiffany. "Is she your girlfriend?"

What? How could she ask that? panicked Tiffany.

"Not yet,” replied Jay with a roguish smile.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!