“Don’t look too happy to see me,” she pouted, arms crossed over her chest.  “You left without saying a word.  I’m here to yell at you.”

            I felt my smile fade off my face as I squinted at her in the bright whiteness that surrounded us.  She stopped right in front of me and tipped her chin up.

            “I’m sorry, Leah.  I didn’t think you…”  I sighed and shrugged.  May as well be honest.  “I really didn’t think you’d care.”

            Her eyes widened in surprise, but her face showed signs of hurt.  “But you’re my friend.  We’ve been coworkers for almost two years since I started working at school.  We’ve sat side by side for that long, too!  But you’re so cold sometimes and so distant.  So,” she paused and hummed thoughtfully for a second, her eyes flicking up to the cotton white sky.  “So isolated.  Like you isolated yourself.  Why don’t you want to be friends?”  I frowned a little.

            “I’m sorry, Leah, really.  Friendships, well relationships in general, are really hard for me,” I replied apologetically.  I lifted my arm and held my hand in front of my eyes to block some of the light.  I noticed that the brightness didn’t appear to faze Leah, but I didn’t say anything.

            “But that’s going to change now, right?  You’ll let me and Jenna and the others get close to you, won’t you?” she asked, bouncing on her toes excitedly.

            “Well, um, I-I guess I’ll try,” I told her.

            She shook her head and made a tsking noise with her tongue.  “No, not try.  You will!”  She pumped a fist into the air once.  Then she pouted again and crossed her arms back over her chest.  “Everything’s ok now.  You don’t have to worry anymore.  You don’t have to keep that damn-”  She gasped and a hand flew to .  “Oops, you see what you made me do, Kelly?  I never swear!”  I couldn’t help but giggle a little.  “You don’t have to keep up that stupid wall anymore!  Let’s be friends!  Let’s go to dinner and let’s go shopping!  Let’s have sleepovers where we watch music videos and slobber all over the boy bands!”  She clapped her hands together.  “You know, since you’re going to be around for a while,” she shrugged carelessly, “Life’s more fun with friends.”  Then she stepped even closer.  So close, I could see her face clearly even through the white.  “And a boyfriend.  That Tae Il, he is just too cute.”

            I breathed out a surprised laugh.  “How do you know about Tae Il?”  Leah rolled her eyes and let a playful ‘I won’t tell’ smirk cross her face.  “And how do you know I’ll be around for a while?  Did Sarah…?”

            “This is your dream, silly.  I know whatever you want me to know,” she teased.

            “How do I know I’m going to be around for a while now?”

            She flailed her arms, gesturing widely.  “Look how white everything is.  This is your brain thinking positive.  It’s nice, isn’t it?  So much better than how dark and black your mind always was.”

            I gaped at her for a moment.  Slowly, a smile began to form on as she turned and began to walk away.

            “Wait, Leah!  Where are you going?” I called, squinting into the brightness again.  I wish my mind would tone down the positive a little so I could see.

            She glanced over her shoulder and waved, but said nothing.  What?  I don’t want to be alone in all this…white.  Just as I lunged forward to follow her, I heard another voice call my name.  I stumbled over my own feet and came to a clumsy stop.

            I knew that voice.  I whipped around and sure enough, it was him.  When I looked back, Leah had disappeared completely.

            “Tae Il!” I cried, bounding over to him.  He had a warm smile on his face.  His arms by his sides, his hands turned out palms up.  I launched into his arms, wrapping my arms and legs around him.  Oh, how y he looked in jeans and a hoodie.  No hat.  No sunglasses.  His face was bare for me to ogle over.

            He chuckled lightly, his own arms wrapped tightly around my waist and his chin in the crook of my neck.  “If you were so happy to see me, why didn’t you have me show up earlier?”

            I laughed, still clinging to him.  I was pretty sure I was still dreaming therefore Tae Il was just as much my creation as Leah was.

            “I’m glad you’re here now, though,” I confessed as I detached myself from him.  Standing in front of him, he cupped my face and kissed my nose. 

            “Do you want me to stay?” he asked quietly.  I nodded frantically, covering his hands still on my face with my own.  “For how long?”  I opened my mouth, but only a breath came out.  I understood the question, except the look in his eyes as they searched mine told me he meant something different.

            “As long as you want me?” I guessed.  He hooked his fingers in the belt loops of my jeans and pulled me against his chest.  “Forever?”

            “And how long is that?” he asked with a smirk.

            “A…long…time?”

            With that, he released me and stepped back, continuing to walk backwards.  The whole while smiling at me.  I wanted to follow him, but I couldn’t move my feet.  All I could do was call for him and claw at the air, still blinded by the bright white of my new found optimism.

            “Wait!  Wait, Tae Il!” I yelled when I remembered something.  I stepped forward, but suddenly the white got even brighter.  “Tae Il!  Let me tell you now!  Don’t leave!”  I actually had to close my eyes to protect them from the harsh light.  With my eyes shut, everything was black.  Had I reverted back? 

            “Tell me when you wake up,” Tae Il’s voice said.

            I snarled as I d the air for him, unable to open my eyes.  I hated that he was saying that even in my dreams.

            “Tell me now,” he said.

            No, I thought miserably.  I want to see you when I tell you, damn it.  I tried opening my eyes, but for some reason, I couldn’t get them to do what I wanted.

            I dropped to my knees, angry.  My eyes burned.  Was I just not meant to tell him I loved him?  The paranoia inside gripped my heart and overwhelmed the so-called optimism I apparently was feeling before.

            With a gasp, my eyes shot open.  My fingers instantly clenched around fabric.  Sheets.  Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  My body relaxed and I sank into the mattress.  Hospital.  Hospital smells, noises.  I was in my hospital room.  What day was it?  Did they already do the procedure?  Did I have new, healthy blood coursing through me?  Or were they going to do it?  When did my dream start?

            I felt physically exhausted.  My limbs felt heavy.  Wait.  It was over and I was alive.  I remembered the doctor and the nurses.  Wheeling me down to the OR.  That anesthesiologist and his odd sense of humor.  I was alive.  Did it work?  Did everything go the way it should have?  I was so tired and drained, for lack of a better word.  And why did my left leg feel so weighted down?

            A quick glance down explained it.

            Tae Il.  He was asleep.  Hugging my leg, his head resting partially on my thigh.  His neck was bent at an awkward angle.  But he was sleeping.  I didn’t want to wake him.  His hands and arms were going to go numb.  I could feel them under my leg.  How long had he been sleeping like this?  How long had I been out?

            I made the arm that wasn’t connected to an IV drag across the bed to him.  Slowly, gently, I touched his shoulder.  I felt him.  He was warm.  At least now I was positive I wasn’t still dreaming.  Lingering doubts had been in my head.  His face looked peaceful.  My fingers rubbed against the cotton of his tee shirt.  Comfortingly.  More for me than for him.  He stirred.  I let my hand drop off him.  I didn’t want him to wake up.  I watched in horror as his nose twitched.  He smacked his lips together and nuzzled against my thigh.  His arms stiffened as he stretched them before his eyes squeezed shut and then blinked open.

            His spine cracked a little as he forced himself up into more of a sitting position.  He must be so uncomfortable.  He blinked, confusion written on face, his eyes darting around the room before landing on me.

            He shot out of his seat.  “Kelly!” he exclaimed.  Then winced and clutched at the back of his neck.  “You’re awake!”

            I let my head fall to the side on the giant pillow under my head.  “Tae Il.”  My voice was hoarse and raspy.  I caught sight of the forgotten cot pushed off to the side of the room against the wall with the window.  “Why didn’t you sleep on the cot they left you?” I wondered.

            “I did!” he defended, still rubbing his neck.  “The nurse gave me a sedative or something and I slept a little while you were in the OR.  But when they brought you back and I woke up, I couldn’t roll the bed close enough to yours, so I sat here and waited for you to wake up.”  He groaned and rolled his head from side to side.  Now massaging the back of his neck with both hands.  “Don’t know when I fell asleep,” he muttered.  “Oh!  Doctor!”  He lunged forward, almost scaring me into cardiac arrest and began hysterically pressing the call button for the nurses’ station.

            “Tae Il, I’m sure that isn’t necessary.”  I tried to coax the remote out of his hand, but he wasn’t letting go.  Not even a moment later, two nurses and Dr. Kurdian came bursting into my room.

            “She’s awake!” Tae Il proclaimed, proudly, finally letting go of the button.

            “Dr. Kurdian, don’t you sleep?” I asked.

            He chuckled.  “Not when I’m worried about a patient,” he answered, coming to my side and checking the machine next to my bed.  One nurse began fiddling with my IV.  Tapping the bag, checking the tube.  “The procedure was a success, Miss Kelly.  How do you feel?”  Tae Il’s hand found mine and he locked our fingers together.

            “Drained.  Ah, I shouldn’t use that word.”

            This time the nurses chuckled with the doctor.

            “It’s alright,” he assured me.  “It’s natural for you to feel weak and exhausted.  Sleep more.  You will slowly but surely regain your strength,” he explained, marking something down on the clipboard he was holding as he read the numbers on the machine.  He then passed the board to a nurse and looked at me.  “You’re going to be just fine, Miss Kelly.”