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dramatic story on her until I was out of the hospital and in normal clothes.
    The rain was falling in thick sheets now. I couldn’t help but wonder if my mood was responsible for the foul weather. What happened this morning couldn’t have tilted my world more. To expect a temperamental but penitent boyfriend and receive someone else’s fiancé? Truthfully, I didn’t feel defeated or sad; I felt irritated. Like a colossal weed in the garden of my soul. Also, I felt physically weak, though Doc said I could start running as soon I felt up to it.
    Was it not enough to lose three years of my life? I thought in exasperation while knocking on Liz’s front door. Why does fate hate me so much?
    I had to stop thinking about it, at least for today. I was alive. I was healthy. And I had a lifetime of possibilities ahead of me.
    Since Liz’s car was in the parking lot, I didn’t quit knocking till I was sure Liz could hear me over the storm. That’s when I decided to crack open the door.
    “Liz?” I called out after poking my head inside and getting reacquainting with the crowded little townhouse.
    “Is on the toilet!” I heard someone bellow from behind the bathroom door. Already a grin was softening my face, and I knew the lively friend from my dreams was a reality. A welcome one.
    I closed the door to the monsoon outside. “It’s just me,” I hollered toward the hallway. The toilet flushed and the bathroom door opened. When the petite girl with straight black hair and those kind almond eyes entered the hallway, my smile broadened.
    “Heather?!” she exclaimed, running down the hall and almost knocking both of us over.
    I tried to hug back but my body was pinned by a pair of dainty but determined arms.
    “Where have you been?” she squealed.
    “You won’t believe me,” I responded as she released her embrace but kept hold of my shoulders as if to prevent me from disappearing again. “I was in a car accident.”
    The expression on Liz’s face didn’t change, but her hands lightened their squeeze. “Wait, just now?”
    “No, no. A long time ago. I was in a coma.”
    “No you weren’t!” It wasn’t that she didn’t believe me, just her way of addressing the unbelievable.
    Still, I felt the need to expound. “Yeah. My body went into a coma. For over two years, Liz.” My friend was speechless. “I know, it’s crazy. But true—I think. I can’t really remember most of it; I lost a lot of my memory from the trauma to my brain.” While explaining, I found myself turned around, lifting my hair to show Liz the back of my neck where the large, unsightly, horizontal scar cut just below the hairline from the middle of the neck to the edge of my earlobe.
    “Holy crap! Ouch!” I heard her exclaim.
    I dropped my hair and faced my friend, smiling inside at her familiar way with words. “I know, huh?”
    “But you’re okay? And you remember me?” she asked.
    “Of course I do. Although your hair’s a lot longer.” I reached my hand out and flung the silky black strands off her shoulder, laughing. “I remember everything about you!”
    She was overjoyed as she hugged me again, not so tightly this time. Then she led me around the coffee table and onto the grey couch while explaining, “I heard you dropped out of school, took off with some old friend and got married.”
    “What? Who told you that?”
    She shook her head, shooing away the distress on my face with one flimsy hand. “Doesn’t matter. I didn’t believe the marriage part for a second. But I called you a bazillion times, and I came to your apartment. I thought you fell off the planet! I can’t believe you’re here! And you remember summer and fall semesters together? All the fun we had?”
    “It’s mainly my childhood that’s gone,” I explained as we settled in. “And everything seems a little surreal. I don’t have the best handle on reality yet. But Doc says in time I’ll sort everything out and my life will all go back to