Bruises- Shane Madej

10. Stale Crackers

~~~~~~

Maddie's car accident resulted in whiplash, a concussion, and a broken arm, hip and ribs.

She was in a lot of pain, but feeling lucky to be alive.

Janey, Leslie, and her parents had all visited her in the few days that she had been there so far. Unfortunately, Maddie's older sister, Elena, was unable to come down to Los Angeles from Oregon.

She planned on poking fun at Elena for coming to Janey and Leslie's wedding, but not coming to Maddie in hospital.

About three days after Maddie was admitted, she was picking the grapes out of her chicken salad sandwich and telling her sister and sister-in-law about her recent breakup.

"I mean, I'm glad that he's not living a lie anymore, but, like, I just kind of wish he would have told me instead of finding out like that..."

Janey nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I mean, nobody's perfect, though."

"Yeah, I just feel like shit."

"You look like it, too," she joked. Maddie threw a grape at her.

"Shut up, I literally just got hit by a truck, okay?"

"We can tell," Leslie added, laughing with her wife.

Maddie ended up laughing with them. "Man, that was not a good day for me."

"Haven't you always had bad luck with Valentine's Day?"

"That was one time!"

"What happened?" smiled Leslie.

"She asked this boy to the Valentine's Day dance, then she proceeded to drink too much punch and vomit all over his dress shoes."

"I didn't consent to you sharing that story, Janine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she came home crying with her fancy dress all covered in puke. We had to pay the rental place a lot of money for it."

"Janeyyy," Maddie whined.

"It's a good story, Mads."

She threw another grape at her sister.

The next day, Hanna had came to visit her. Maddie had been meaning to re-pot her orchids, and it needed to be done soon. Hanna was given extensive notes on how to do it.

She missed Bill the cat immensely. He was a wonderful cat. Hanna took lots of pictures and videos of him to show Maddie.

All in all, after Hanna left the hospital that evening, Maddie felt very grateful to have a friend and roommate like her.

A few mornings later, Shane and Ryan showed up at Maddie's bedside.

She grinned when she saw them walking in the door. "Fancy to see you here."

"Hi, Mads!" Ryan smiled and took a seat by her bed.

"Hey! I've got news-"

"What is it?" Shane asked, interested.

"So, um... Alvin's gay."

"What?" Ryan tilted his head.

"Yeah, I found out on Wednesday, coincidentally, right before I got T-boned."

"Are you still dating him?" asked Shane.

"No, dumbass, I'm not gonna date him if he has no interest in me."

Shane laughed sheepishly, feeling as though fireworks were exploding inside of him.

"Man, you must've walked under a ladder or something Wednesday morning," Ryan shook his head.

Maddie shared an exasperated look with Shane before looking back to Ryan. "I dunno, I think Valentine's day is just not for me," she laughed.

Ryan smiled. "Oh yeah- remember that one time in Sophomore year when you threw up-"

"Yes, Ryan, coincidentally, I do," Maddie laughed.

Shane's stomach growled loudly. Ryan raised his eyebrows at him. "You hungry?"

He shrugged. "I didn't really eat much this morning."

"Here," Maddie handed him a package of saltine crackers from her bedside table.

Shane took a bite of one. "They're stale," he complained.

"No there not- let me try." Maddie grabbed one. "Okay maybe they are," she said, chewing the stale cracker.

"Well, are you hungry or not, Shane?" Ryan asked.

Shane shrugged and took another cracker. "They're not that bad."

Maddie laughed, watching Shane's disgruntled expression as he chewed on the crackers.

The trio hung out for a few more hours. Then, Maddie's parents came back. She was surprised to see that Shane was getting along really well with them; he'd never met her parents before, yet they seemed to simply adore him.

That evening, as she sat on the hospital bed and watched TV, Maddie remembered her first impression of the long legged skeptic. She was glad to realize that maybe Shane wasn't so bad after all.

~~~~~~