"I'll be fine," Maggie said, pushing Tabitha towards the pet store. "Go, look, find something you like! I'm not an invalid. I just have injured ribs."
Tabitha took a hesitant step forward, then turned back. "I feel stupid!"
Maggie barely managed not to laugh. "No one will know you picked out the scratching post, except maybe Adam, and he won't care. Just go!"
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. Over to Musicland, maybe." She wanted to be alone and think. Adam had left last Saturday, and today was Tuesday. She was trying to keep her mind off of him, and the decision he was hopefully making in her favor. "Or the book store. Check both places when you're done." She limped off, her leg still in a cast, then turned back. "Just... make it easy to carry, if you can."
"Oh, very funny," Tabitha grinned, and finally vanished into the store. Maggie sighed in relief, wincing at the twinge in her ribs.
"Hi," a voice said, and she turned to smile at Tanya. Is there no chance for solitude? she wondered.
"Hi. How are you?"
"Good." Her response was unemotional.
"Looking for anything specific?" Maggie asked. Goddess, Lady, please help me out of this!
"No, I just haven't been here in a long time. Since Kat went to London, in fact."
Maggie nodded. "Good memories, then?"
Tanya finally smiled, a little. "Yes. Very good ones."
"Good. How long are you planning to stay?" It came out sort of unplanned, and Maggie flushed. "Sorry. That didn't sound very good, did it."
To her surprise, Tanya laughed. "I had forgotten you blush so easily. It's a nice surprise to find someone who is embarrassed and shows it."
"Don't see many like that in LA?"
"No. And let me tell you, Skull is just impossible sometimes." She smiled. "What are you looking for?"
"Actually," Maggie grinned, "I was looking for some good music. Care to help me out there?"
As she'd hoped, Tanya brightened. "Sure. I can do that." They walked slowly towards Musicland. "I can only stay until the end of the week, actually," she added after a minute. "I really needed a break."
"Huh. I bet it is busy there."
"Hectic." She leaned closer. "There are days that are busier than some of the ones we had with our ‘extra-curricular activities'. But there are some that are just heavenly."
"Do you miss being here?" Maggie asked, and winced again. That's it, bring up all the bad stuff....
"Yes. I was really disappointed that I couldn't make it for Aisha's wedding." She opened her mouth as if to explain, then waved it off. "It was just impossible." She did sound disappointed.
"It was lovely," Maggie said. "I only made it out of pure... coincidence." She grinned at Tanya, who grinned back with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Coincidence," she said, and chuckled.
They spent the next twenty minutes talking music, exchanging ideas, and picking over the selection of cd's. Tanya checked her watch and said something about having to meet someone to go back to her hotel, and they parted on friendly terms, at least as far as Maggie was concerned. She hoped Tanya felt the same way. She remained there, a few cd's in her hands, looking over the selection of classical music when a familiar, old song started.
You need to give it upShe tried to hold in the laughter, but by the second half of the chorus, she was laughing, in spite of how much it hurt. The pain didn't go away; finally, she dropped the cd's on the rack, not trying to catch them as they fell, and lowered herself to the floor. She leaned against the rack, but that didn't help either, and breathing was getting difficult. Finally, she got control and was about to answer the worried questions of the staff, when another line caught her attention:
What makes you thinkand sent her into hysterics all over again. She vaguely heard Tabitha wanting to help, and then her friend was next to her, looking concerned, which didn't help any at all.
Suddenly, she was crying, not sure at first if it was the pain in her ribs or the whole emotional turmoil she'd been experiencing, then not caring as she sobbed into her friend's shoulder. She heard Tabitha talking to someone, and not long after that, she was lifted gently and carried from the store. She buried her face in whoever's shoulder it was, but couldn't stop crying. She was set into a car, handed off to someone else, and as they drove off, she began to regain control. She recognized Aisha's car before she closed her eyes and slept.
When she woke up, she was sore, too sore to even think about moving. The bed wasn't familiar, and there was no cat purring at her side. Finally, knowing it was going to hurt, she opened her eyes.
They burned from the tears, but focused easily on... nothing familiar. Nothing? There was a plaque on the wall, something about William Cranston. So that was who Tabitha had called. She sighed gently, and even that slight movement made her gasp in pain. "I hope I didn't do any damage," she mumbled, and struggled to get up.
It took her a long time, but she finally made it, and started for the door. Every step hurt, but she tried to focus past it, forcing her mind to think of other things, anything but the pain and the song she knew was running through her head.
"Are you okay?" Aisha asked gently from behind her, and Maggie had to keep herself from turning to look at her.
"Yeah, except for the head ache." And the heart ache, and my ribs hurt.... "I could do with about forty aspirin, to make the pain go away."
Aisha moved swiftly around her, concern in her dark eyes, and Maggie heard what she'd said. "Oh, no, that's not what I meant," she stuttered in horror, and gasped at the fire that burned through her ribs. "I mean, just to get rid of the outer hurts, the ribs and the head and the leg sometimes, too. For the inner hurts I have you guys." It hurt, talking so fast, and she tried to ease her breathing.
Aisha sighed in relief. "Okay. Aspirin I can give you, but not quite that many, if that's okay."
Maggie smiled. "No, about four ought to do it."
"Are you hungry?" Her voice echoed in the bathroom, and Maggie finally got her bearings straight.
"Yes, actually."
"Good." She reappeared and handed four small tablets to Maggie. "Let's get you something to eat."
The conversation in the kitchen stopped as they appeared in the doorway. "She's fine," Aisha grinned at the two sitting there. Maggie sat gingerly in a chair as Aisha found her something to eat, then she couldn't stand the looks she was getting from Tabitha. "I'm okay," she said, but not as forcefully as she would have liked. That would hurt too much. "I'm sore, but I'm okay."
"What happened?" Billy asked, concerned.
"Oh...." Maggie took a drink of water, then leaned back. "I met Tanya at the mall." She caught the multitude of exchanged glances and smiled. "No, she didn't beat me up," she said. "We actually had a good time together, and even shared an inside joke. She was really sorry she missed your wedding."
"Yes. She wrote," Billy said.
"Anyway, we went into the music store, because I knew I could get her to talk to me about music, and she helped me choose some. Then she had to leave. Just after she did, an old song came on, one of my favorites. It was rather appropriate, and I started laughing."
"Oops," Tabitha said.
"What song was it?" Aisha asked.
"From about ten or nine years ago, the duet by Brandy and Monica." She took a bite of her sandwich in order to distract herself a little. She didn't dare say the name of the song.
"The Boy is Mine?" Aisha asked, and her eyes widened. A giggle escaped her, and she covered her mouth with both hands. Tabitha groaned.
"Oh, great."
"Exactly. So, I started laughing, because it just couldn't get any better, and then Tabitha came in... And I've needed a good cry for a while, so I had one."
"In Musicland, in the mall," Tabitha added dryly.
"It's been waiting to happen," Maggie said a little defensively. "It was a little over the pain from laughing, but mostly over Adam." Tabitha touched her arm, and Maggie shifted uncomfortably. "Then I guess Tabitha called you guys, and I can only guess that Billy carried me out, because neither of you are strong enough. And I woke up in this bedroom I have never been in, and made Aisha think I wanted to commit suicide." She grinned at Aisha. "Sorry about that. I really wasn't thinking very clearly."
Aisha smiled. "That's okay. As long as it was a false alarm."
"It was, believe me." She took a drink of water. "Now it's time to move on, and find a car. Anyone got any ideas?"
Before anyone could answer, the phone rang. Aisha reached over and grabbed it. "Hello?" She froze, glanced around the room, then seemed to break out of the spell that held her. "Just a minute." She put the caller on hold, and hung up. "I'm going into the other room. Do not listen, or I will kill one and all of you." Then she left, almost at a run.
Billy leaned over and touched the Caller ID box, and grimaced. "She answered it too soon. I keep telling her to let it ring at least one more time," he muttered. Maggie smiled.
"You sound married."
"I am married," he protested, grinning, and Maggie opened her mouth to ask him how he and Aisha had kept in touch. Then she remembered Tabitha and closed it again.
"Yes. And it seems to fit you." She glanced around the kitchen, then thought of a question she could ask. "How did she like Africa?"
"Well enough, I think, but she prefers it here."
"Aisha was in Africa?" Tabitha asked.
"Yes. She moved there during our Senior year," Billy said with a haunted look in his eyes. "It was something she felt she had to do, and she did a lot of good. There was a huge problem; the animals were sick, and it had reached plague proportions. She helped find a cure for them."
"How long did it take her?"
"It took them almost fifteen years to find it, and she helped for the last six or so, I think she said. Then she just stayed, because she felt at home there."
"And you went and got her," Tabitha said.
Billy grinned. "Yes. We kept in touch, and I finally got too lonely and went and got her. It didn't take too much convincing for her to come back here; it was more of a battle to get her to let me get the Caller-ID she doesn't use because she doesn't let the phone ring long enough."
The subject of the conversation poked her head in the door. "I'm going for a walk. By myself." She looked and sounded angry. "I'll be back soon." She left before they could ask her anything, and Billy sighed.
"That is a bad sign," he said softly.
"How bad?" Maggie asked.
"She's angry at someone, I can only guess the person who called, doesn't want to talk about it, and has to get over the anger before she can face anyone." He smiled. "She can be cranky as a bear, sometimes."
"How cranky can bears get?" Tabitha asked, and Maggie grinned.
"If Aisha is any indication, very cranky," Billy said. "You'll let me know when you want to go home?"
Maggie nodded. "I think I'd better. I need some more sleep. I just hope I didn't damage these stupid ribs."
Billy nodded. "All right. Let me leave her a note, and I'll take you home."
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