Feeling strength coming back, Peter answered, "Sounds good."
~~~~~~~~
Maralyn blushed at the thought of giving advice without introducing herself. "I am Maralyn Thompson. I worked at the hospital, but my husband is letting me stay at home and be a stay at home mom. They called since it wasn't official yet. I am also friends with Amanda and Diane."

"Can you describe the pain to me?" Maralyn continued asking questions, after she intorduced herself. "Is it a dull, deep pain? a prickily pain like needles? Does it just hurt on the skin, or deep into the muscle?"
She pulled a thermometer out of her bag and motioned to for Abigal to open her mouth.

At lunch time, Miley placed her tray next to Chloe. "What time should we get together?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter had packed his own lunch, being sure to fill it with protein for his hair. He had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with nuts and yogurt. He also made sure to pack a salad of leafy green vegetables. He was seated next to Jen, who also packed her own lunch. When Brian finally got there, Peter asked, "Any thing good happen yesterday?"

Abigal opened her mouth, then closed it over the device. After her temperature had been read, Maralyn removed it, and Abigal continued. "It's a dull throbbing." she said sitting up fully on the bed. "And the pain is deep in muscle, it hurts under my skin." she wiped tears away with her hand. Her lower lip quivered and she buried her head in her hands. "I'm sorry I'm acting like a Baby, but I just want my legs back."

**

Ian shrugged, returning to his cot. "I don't know. I'm not sure what it means. But I know it means something. It's a sign....but.....I don't know of what. Why would I be dreaming of a girl I don't know?" he asked, scratching what little hair he had. "Maybe I'l dream more tonight, maybe the answers will come then."

***

"Not really" Brian said coming in with a tray, foot piled on a plate. He sat down and took a bite, glad for the food the school supplied.

Justin suggested, "Well, maybe you end up comforting her?" He was gratefeul for the short hair that now reached the bottom of his neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter said, "Well, we should do somethign fun this weekend, just to get our minds off everything."

Brian nodded "Yeah.....I'm pretty much free over the weekend. What would you like to do Peter?"

****

"Maybe...she was really pretty whoever she was. I hope to meet her someday" He said, then became silent and didn't speak. His mind constantly wondered about the dream, it's meaning....it's significance. "what does it mean.." he said to himself, rubbing his temples.

Justin felt the vibration on his cell phone, and flipped it open to see what it was. He had received a new text message. Reading it he raised an eyes brow. It read : "I'm sorry I hurt Peter so much with my words. Your sister Susan"

Excited Peter said, "We should shoot hoops and get ready to tryout for highschool basketball." Wanting to include Jen, Peter suggested Jen keep score, then they could do whatever she wanted, which she agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~
Justin paused, before responding to his older sister's text. The two of them had been so close and always encouraged each other when looked at as the darker of the four siblings until one day Susan decided she hated them all. He texted her back. "You should tell him that. I forgive you." He sighed, after pressing SEND and focused his attention back on Ian. "Sorry about that," he said.

Maralyn laid a comforting hand on Abigal's shoulder. "I know. I'm going to see what I can do, okay?" She looked down at the thermometer. "Temp is good, which means I think I may know what is wrong." She sat back against the back of the chair. "We'll need to run a test to confirm, but I think you have phantom pain. Not the kind that amputees experience, but simply pain that is not real. Normally, this pain develops after an injury to the leg, but yours is an interesting case as it deals with the spine," she explained. "I never seen anything like this, so I could be wrong," she cautioned, "But if I'm right then we can see what we can do about helping you cope with it."

~~~

"Say 6:00 on Friday?" Chloe answered with a question in her tone. She unwrapped her ham and cheese sandwich and bit into it.

"It's alright. I didn't even notice." The young man's thoughts were all centered on his dream. Pushing it out of his clouded mind, he asked Justin "How's your wife?"

***

"I'll shoot as many as I can with my bad arm" Brian said taking another bite of his lunch, knowing lunch hour would see be over.

**

Abigal sniffed, and nodded, things starting to become clearer. But a million questions rushed into her head, but the most important was the one she blurted "Will I be able to walk then?"

"Not right away," Maralyn answered. "The medication will help, but there still is a lot of work to do. You will still have to do therapy, which will be hard, but at least it won't be as painful."
She hesitated, wondering if she should ask. "Amanda told me something about you wanting to walk for your wedding. Is that what's bothering you?"

Miley answered, "Six o'clock friday sounds great."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Realization setting in, Peter apologized for not thin,ing of Brian's arm. "Sorry. How about the three of us see a movie instead?"

"Watcha got next class period?" Chloe asked with her mouth full. She chewed and then swished the bitw down with a gulp from her can of Sprite.

Drinking her water, Miley answered, "Creative writing. How about you?"

"Geometry," Chloe answered with a wrinkle of her nose.

At the end of the day, Chloe found her friend again. "Hey, I'm going to pick Dad and Josh up at the airport. Wanna tag along? We could ask them together if they want to come camping."

Miley smiled, filled with relief the school day was over. "I would love to." She really did miss hanging out with her friend. It seemed as if thier families got in the way sometimes. Still, She wouldn't trade Peter and Justin for the world and knew Chloe felt the same about Maralyn. She prayed her and Chloe would be able to camp with Chloe's dad and Josh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda made her way to Abigal's room and knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"