Abigail was in extremely salubrious spirits. Her primary wish had come true! Her long-time idol had come and talked to her. If she didn't have the heart monitor attached to her chest, she would've fallen onto the floor, unconscious. She so wasn't expecting to see him...she was even more surprised than Alyssa was. And it was such a nice visit. Michael was just as kind and caring as she imagined him to be. The one thing she related to most about him was the fact that he also had lupus, even though his was a mild form and he mostly had it under control, despite flare ups here and there. She had quite a few questions for him, though time didn't allow for her to ask all. This piece of information gave her a strength that she didn't know she had before.

Michael's heart went out to Abby so much that he decided to do a speech telling about his lupus story and how he learned to cope with it. Though he usually didn't particularly like giving speeches, or talking too much about his health challenges, he was inspired by this girl. So he would acknowledge that he had it for the first time, though he highly doubted that the media would cover it, knowing their greedy and manipulative nature. After all, they refused to mention that he donated money to the organization, so why would they mention if he became a spokesperson? And whenever a lupus organization contacted him about doing this, Abby would be one of the fortunate people to hear. The singer also had thoughts about inviting Alyssa, that is, if she would be interested in hearing his story. He hoped to see her again so he could ask her.

"Michael Jackson was such a doll, don't you think?" Abby asked Alyssa.

Alyssa nodded. "That he was." By that point she had gotten over the slight shock from when he gave her that little peck on the forehead. It felt so nice though, as well as getting a hug from him. His visit made her forget about her pain for a bit. And she could not lose the card he gave her which contained his contact info. It was almost as valuable as the concert ticket. ‘I still can't believe he gave me a number to contact him. As much as I do want to speak with him again, I don't know if I would ever have the nerve to call him.' 

"You know something?" Abby continued. "If I am not healthy enough to go to the This Is It concert, it is all right."

Lissie's eyes widened a bit. She wasn't expecting to hear that. "Really?"

Abby nodded. "I got to met Michael in person, which is my real wish, and so I can always watch the concert if it is released on DVD."

"True." She wasn't sure if it ever would be, but thought it was possible.

"But if you do get to go, have fun and tell me all about it, all right?"

"Will do."

"You know, I'm not so afraid of the operation anymore," the red-head told Alyssa.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Michael has given me the strength I needed to go through with it. His support means so much. "

Lissie had a feeling that there was more to it than Michael's presence, and it was the fact that he had his share of obstacles as well. But whatever the reason, she was glad that Abby was no longer afraid, though she would understand if she were in her shoes. After all, she heard a few stories of operations gone wrong or possibilities of one being allergic to something in anesthesia. But being in the land of "what if" would only cause someone to go crazy, so it was best to pray about it and hope for the best. And age 15 was not too young for Abby to learn that.

"Well, that's great."

Just then a doctor came into the room and proceeded to wheel Abigail away, to the operating room. It was time for the procedure. Alyssa gave the red head a thumbs up sign. "We've both found new strength today. I know you can pull through this. "

Abigail gave a thumbs up sign in return. "You bet." With that, she was wheeled out of the room.

Alyssa decided to try to go back to reading the novel she brought along with her. She wasn't sure if she could concentrate, but it was worth a try. Inside the room was pretty much peaceful, and there was nothing else for her to do. Anastasia would not be coming for at least another 4 hours. And she wouldn't be disturbing the other patients around her. She just had to be careful not to laugh at any of the amusing scenes in the book. First things first, she secured Michael's contact number in a good hiding place of the overnight bag. She hoped she would remember it was there.

Being in such a quiet environment could sometimes be boring for Alyssa, but she liked peace and quiet most times. She proceeded to read some more. Surprising, she was able to concentrate much better than she thought she could. She was almost through with the book when all of a sudden, a doctor entered the room to check on Alyssa. Alyssa suppressed a sigh. An interruption. Usually interruptions were one of her few pet peeves. She didn't call her meeting with Michael an interruption as he helped to take her mind off her ailing right ankle. And she cared deeply for him, with all of her heart. She didn't much care about the doctor's presence, though, as she was almost finished anyway. And if she was there to give her more medication, she didn't mind. The older woman felt Lissie's forehead and was relieved that she felt normal.

"No fever. Are you still feeling pain?"

The young woman nodded. "Somewhat."

"Hmm." The doctor disappeared from the room for a few minutes, and came back with an injection.

Alyssa kept her cool. Needles were not exactly her best friend. They made her a little nervous at times, but if the shot would soothe the pain, she was up for it. She held still as the doctor injected her.

"There. It should take effect in an hour, and when it does, there will be quite a difference."

In that case, Alyssa thought it was worth the wait.

"You'll be discharged at four o'clock this afternoon," said the doctor.

Alyssa was overjoyed to hear that. That meant she could go home with Anastasia when she came. Such great news. The hospital was pretty boring. She made a mental note to go see Abby before she left. She wanted to know if the operation was successful. She hoped the girl made it through. And she also wanted to exchange contact information with her so they could stay in touch. Abby was the most unique, sweetest, fragile person she'd ever met.

"However, you will need to take it easy for a little while," the doctor continued.

The young businesswoman nodded. It wasn't like her job required a lot of walking anyways. The good thing about it was that she could do it sitting down, so that was an advantage in this situation. ‘I wonder if I should even spend the night at home. If the house is infested like I suspected, this could happen again.' She had been so busy fuming over the situation that she had forgotten about the possibility that he didn't come by the apartment at all. This meant she would have to call him and ask him to come by. If he doesn't want to fix the problem, I'll move out of there if she had to. There's no way in hell I'm staying someplace like that.' Frankly, she wished she could have moved as soon as she got home. However, there was one small problem. She didn't know where to go.

Several hours later, Anastasia was getting ready to close office. The telephone had been ringing off the hook that day. She had used up 3 pieces of notepad paper writing down all the jobs. 'Lissie is sure going to love this...our business has been booming and it's only 2 days old. At this rate, we will be able to have people work for us soon.' She had been thinking about Alyssa the whole day and wondering about the status of her condition. To put it bluntly, she looked terrible the night before. It was difficult to see her like that. She hoped that her partner and friend was feeling better. She couldn't run the business without her. Speaking of which, she decided to divide the amount of jobs amongst her and Lissie so they could have an equal amount. She also reminded herself to get her own key cut for the office and house. Though she thought it was nice of Alyssa to leave her key for her to use, she didn't want to become dependent on it.

Ana left and drove to the hospital. She put on a little bit of speed, as she was anxious to see how Alyssa was doing. A part of her was worried that Alyssa had not made it. She couldn't handle her dying when she had just met her, especially not because of a mishap. She couldn't get to the hospital quickly enough.

Meanwhile, Alyssa was in the hospital room, gathering her stuff together. She was feeling a bit famished, as the food given to her hours earlier was decent, but not satisfying. She could use some vegan food that was really good...like some tofu. She forced herself to stop fantasizing about having the stuff or else she would get hungry for it. While she waited, she read the rest of the novel she had brought along to read. Just as she was packing it, Anastasia entered the room with an amused look on her face.

"Well, well, it is good that I found you," was her greeting.

Alyssa was confused. "What do you mean?" Then the realization hit her. If this was regarding the fact that she was in a different room than she was the night before, then Anastasia would not have known she was moved to a different ward.

"Well, I didn't see you in the emergency room, so I had to ask where you were, and a doctor told me you were here," the blonde explained. "So what happened last night, why you were moved here?"

"Well, I got a high fever, and the doctors were afraid that I would develop some complications, so they transferred me here, just in case."

Anastasia wrinkled her brow a bit. "I see. So, how are you feeling now?"

"Better."

"That's good to hear," said Anastasia, smiling. "I was worried about you."

Alyssa raised her eyebrows a bit. "You were?"

"Yes. You were in pretty bad shape last night."

Alyssa gave a bitter laugh. "I know. Don't remind me." It was an experience she never wanted to repeat. "In fact, I can leave now."

Anastasia was happy to hear that. "That's great news! I imagine you're ready to get out of here."

"You bet I am. It was pretty boring, except for one person who brightened my day, and I did have some company for awhile."

It was Anastasia's turn to raise her eyebrow. She was glad that her friend did not have such a terrible time after all. That was good. But she wondered who this person was. "Oh? Care to enlighten me on who it was?"

Alyssa had a slight teasing look on her face. "It's a long story. Will tell you over dinner." She had so much to tell her and she was just dying to. She just wanted to do it when they were both alone.

"All right. That sounds good. I want to hear every detail. Now, what do you say we get out of here?"

"You bet. But first, there's someone I'd like to see before we go."

"Who is that?"

"A friend I made at the mall yesterday. Her name is Abigail, otherwise known as Abby. She had surgery and I want to see if she made it through."

The blonde young woman looked a bit concerned. "I see. So, what's wrong with her?"

"She has systemic lupus and it has given her a bad heart. So she had a pacemaker put in."

Anastasia winced slightly. She thought lupus sounded so painful, and it wasn't something she wished on even her greatest enemy. And she admired those who had the strength to deal with it.

"She's really nice, too," Alyssa went on.

"In that case, I want to meet her. Let's go." Anastasia liked meeting new people, and she wanted to meet this girl so she could offer sympathy to her. Alyssa picked up her overnight bag, and she and Ana walked to the recovery room together. They entered, and saw Abigail lying in the hospital bed, looking frail, tired, and even more paler than she originally looked.

The teenager made an effort to give a weak smile, in spite of her pain. "Hey there, Lissie." She eyed the blonde standing next to her new friend. She wanted so badly to greet her, too, but she didn't know her name. But Alyssa answered that question for her, so she didn't have to wonder for long.

"Hey, Abby, this is my business partner and friend, Anastasia."

"Oh," said Abigail. She looked a little sheepish. "Hi there, Anastasia. Nice to meet you."

Anastasia smiled. "Likewise. I am so sorry you have to suffer with lupus. How are you feeling?"

Abigail's impression? This girl seemed as friendly as Alyssa was, and she seemed genuinely concerned about her health, and she had just met her. She figured Alyssa must have told her about it. Well, it was okay for her friends to know.

"Terrible," she mumbled.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon."

"I hope so, too. I am not sure when I will be released."

"Well, I am leaving right now, and so I thought I'd check up on you before you go," Alyssa told Abby.

The red haired girl felt just a little jealous that what Lissie had to deal with was minor, compared to her condition. But she thought it was nice of her to come and visit. She wasn't sure if they would ever see each other again, and she would miss her so much. "You're so lucky."

"You'll be out sooner or later. I'll pray about it," Alyssa reassured Abigail. "And I would love to stay in touch with you."

Abby's face lit up. She was worried about whether they would be in touch or not.

Alyssa took out a pen and paper, and wrote down the numbers she could be reached at, as well as her e-mail address. "Here you go," she said, handing it to the young girl.

"Thank you very much. Don't worry, I won't forget you."

Oh great. Alyssa was beginning to get teary-eyed, but she blinked them back and drew in a deep breath.

"Neither will I. I am glad to have met you. Goodbye for now."

"See you later, Lissie, I hope."

Alyssa didn't want to be in that room for one more minute. She feared that she would really start crying. So she just gave one last wave to Abigail and whispered to Anastasia, "let's go."

"Can do." She and Alyssa left the room.

"So, tell me, who was this special person that you met at the hospital today?" Anastasia asked Alyssa, over veggie burgers and French fries take out.

"Well, Michael Jackson was apparently doing hospital visitation today, and he came and talked to me." She took a sip of iced tea.

The blonde woman nearly choked on her Cola. "You're kidding! Get out of here!"

Alyssa enjoyed the drama of the moment. "Nope. And he was really nice, too."

"I'll bet he was," said Anastasia," you know, I am not exactly an overly huge fan of his music, but as a person, well, he seems like such a loving, genuine, caring person, definitely one of the nicest people in the music world. Too nice to have to endure the pain the media and the press put him through, that's for sure."

That was something Alyssa agreed with wholeheartedly. "Amen!"

"Yeah. I would be glad to meet him myself," Ana told Alyssa. "So, tell all. What happened?"

"Well," began Alyssa, "he didn't stay very long, but he did ask me how I was feeling, and he gave me a number where I could contact him if I ever needed anything from him. Oh, and I also got a hug and kiss from him."

"Wow, that was real sweet," commented the blonde, in awe. "You are truly fortunate to meet a singer of his caliber."

Alyssa nodded. "I know."

"So, I take it that you're a fan of his?"

"That I am. Have been for years."

"I see."

"And I hope I get to hang out with him again."

"Oh, I'm sure you will. He's a good guy."

Alyssa drank some more iced tea. She hoped Anastasia was right. ‘I think I will call him after all.'