‘Stay away from me,’ Lindsay had written, the letters a little shaky and the words unevenly spaced. It bothered Janel no end- as hard as she tried, she couldn’t shake the image of the note out of her head. She tapped a finger against the steering wheel, waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

She had to bring something, but what could she bring that would at once reassure Lindsay and get past parental scrutiny? She didn’t want to get into any awkward situations with the senior Whalens; she was sure that there would be more than enough with Lindsay. Something was wrong, something had to be wrong for Lindsay not only to be home in the middle of WNBA season but also for her not to want to see Janel while she was here. Hence, she was blithely ignoring Lindsay’s note and making her way into the reaches of small-town Minnesota. But first one more stop...

Once she had picked up a small, tasteful bouquet of flowers, she followed the map imprinted deep inside her memory and parked just down the street from Lindsay’s home. She rang the doorbell, then waited anxiously for a response. It took far too long before Lindsay’s mom opened the door. “Oh, hi, Janel. I guess you heard then.”

“Not a lot,” Janel admitted. “Just that she’d been sent home for a few days.”

“She came down with strep throat. They had to hospitalize her in Seattle- fortunately she came out of it just fine. But she and her coach thought she’d recover best at home. Either that, or he didn’t want her getting anyone else sick. Oh, those flowers are lovely. Let me find a vase. Lindsay! You’ve got a visitor!”

The sound that came back in response was a strange combination of a whine, a yell, and a bout of coughing. “She’s sounded like that all day?”

“And for the last couple. Go on up.”

Janel followed directions. Amid blankets, chicken soup, pillows, get-well cards, and a Sun playbook, Lindsay seemed like a lost little girl. She was still somewhat flushed, her hair matted to her forehead. Janel reached over and brushed the stray bits away. “You look like crap.”

Lindsay opened one eye. “Toldja not to come,” she rasped. “’m not liking it, didn’t want you to get it.”

“Germs fear me. I’ll be fine. And if you thought I was going to let you suffer alone, you’re stupid.” She paused awkwardly. “Uh... I brought flowers, but your mom took them.”

“Ran outta room here in two days.” One small hand gesture indicated the vases of flowers that took up every space not claimed by stuffed animals of support. She coughed sharply.

Janel immediately picked up the bowl of lukewarm soup and held it in Lindsay’s general direction. “Drink this.”

“Yes, mom.”

“If you can still snark, you’re gonna be fine.”

Lindsay glared at Janel, deciding that the silent treatment was best for both of them, then took the soup as defiantly as she could. It did soothe her a bit going down, but not enough. “Meh... ‘snot fair!”

“No, it’s not. Drink your soup. If you’re really bad, I’ll sing you a lullaby.”

“Like that.”

“Fine. If you’re really good I’ll sing you a lullaby. Whatever. Just drink the damn soup, or I’ll pour it down your throat.”

“I’m sick. Stop bein’ violent with me.” But Lindsay finished the bowl of soup.

“How long till you’re back?”

“Coupla days. I’m s’posed to leave for Connecticut t’morrow, go lie ‘round there.”

“Can I give you a lift? My folks don’t care when I get back, long as nothin’ illegal’s involved.”

“Sure.” There was a long silence during which Lindsay’s eyes slipped closed. Janel was sure that she’d fallen asleep until a whisper floated through the air. “Thanks.”

“I can’t believe he wants you back today,” Lindsay’s mother fretted. “You’re still not completely recovered. Ah, what’s a mother to do? Go see the doctor the second you feel even the littlest bit worst. I don’t want to hear about you having a relapse because you’ve been trying to do too much at once.”

“Maaaaaaaaaaa, I’ll be fine. I’m a grown-up now.” Lindsay sounded a little better, and her color was much improved. Still, she was a bit unsteady on her feet, and Janel was trying to support her unobtrusively while Lindsay was trying to ditch her support just as subtly.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Whalen. I’ll keep her out of trouble ‘till the airport at least,” Janel promised, grabbing Lindsay’s suitcase of stuff she hadn’t realized that she needed until she was back again.

‘That’s a first,’ Lindsay thought wryly. She let Janel shepherd her to the front seat and collapsed into it gratefully. “I hate feeling like this,” she muttered.

“I don’t blame you,” Janel said. “Now, how long do you want this to take? We can go slow, we can go fast, we can go sightseeing...”

“Let’s just go.”

‘Oh, we’re going to play that game. Jeez.’ Janel rolled her eyes, wondering how she had managed to get herself into a situation like this. ‘Oh, that’s right. Linds. God, I’m stupid.’

They rode along quietly for a while before Lindsay finally broke the silence. “ Ma mentioned why I’d been in the hospital?”

“No.” The word came through clenched teeth, because Janel didn’t like thinking about Lindsay needing to be in the hospital.

“Fever. Not Indiana. 104 degrees.”

“And how do you sound so cool about it?”

“I’m not dead.” Lindsay looked out the window at a random lake. “But they said I was a little... you know. Crazy. Out of my head. Talkin’ to people who weren’t there.”

“Weiiiird.”

“Well, uh. Actually.” Lindsay coughed as a way of buying time before plunging into the deeper emotional stuff that neither of them enjoyed discussing. “The nurse said there was only one person. From what she heard.”

“Oh, good, you keep your delusions straight.”

“No. I don’t.” Lindsay forced a smile, and she could feel dry skin protesting at the motion. “The second thing the nurse asked me when the fever went down was ‘Who’s Janel?’”

Janel didn’t quite know what to say to this. “Should I be flattered? Disturbed? Worried? Guess it depends on what you told the nurse.”

“The truth. That you were the best and closest friend I’ve ever had.”

“Well, okay.” Janel paused with an odd feeling that this wasn’t fair, this wasn’t right, something was missing.

Lindsay picked up on it with remarkable speed. “I didn’t say I told her the whole truth, Shaq.”

With that somewhat cryptic statement, Janel had to be content.