Karen had been staying at Angie's place and only going to the hospital once in a while to check on Evans and Angie.
Angie herself hadn't been staying home, only getting back to take a bath and get back to the hospital.
"You need to stop," Karen had told her one night when she went for a bath.
"Stop what?" Angie asked.
One could easily tell she hadn't been sleeping since there were bags below her eyes.
She looked tired and unkempt despite the fact that she had never missed a day at work.
"What you're doing. I know and understand that you're worried about Evans, but you can't neglect yourself," Karen said.
"I am not neglecting myself. I just want him to wake up. To talk to me. When will that happen? Is he being punished for a mistake I made? Why him? He's the sweetest person I know in this whole wide world. He doesn't deserve that," Angie said, sobbing.
She was on the floor, and from how she sat, Karen knew that she could fall asleep anytime.
"It's not a punishment. It was an accident, Angie. We need to have faith," Karen said, though she was beginning to lose faith as her friend had.
But she needed to be strong for Angie, who needed it the most.
"I feel so guilty," Angie said, crying more. "I didn't want to get married to him, so maybe he is going to die so that our marriage doesn't happen."
"No. That's not the case. Please don't do that to yourself," Karen went on.
The truth is that Angie really did feel guilty. It's her guilt at not wanting to marry Evans that made her work herself up, trying to be there for him in case he wakes up.
"I will go see him now. You just take care of yourself. Don't worry about us," She said, standing and dusting herself up as she headed to her room to get refreshed and head back to the hospital.
Karen remained alone once again, and feeling bored, she texted Val and asked if she was available for a girls' night out.
"I am in, what place and time?" Val texted back.
"I need help with something, though. I can't take Frank with me, and I can't leave him at home. Do you have any suggestions about what I can do?"
"Hold on. Maybe Arnold might help. He loves kids. Let me talk to him," Val texted back, and as luck would have it, Arnold was okay with looking after Frank for a little while.
"Thank you," Val said, kissing him on the cheeks and giving the response to Karen, who was more than thrilled.
Minutes later, Karen was at the address Val had texted her. They didn't stay for long there, and they used Val's car to get to one of the restaurants Val and Angie loved. The two were known there that the waiters knew what they wanted to have.
"I bet I will have to ask for your orders today," a waiter who had a nametag Don asked Val and Karen while looking at Karen.
"I bet so too," Val answered, laughing, "She's my friend, more of a sister, I would say. She will be coming with us more often."
Don took the orders and wrote them down in a notebook that he had and left after a while.
"I'm humbled you think of me as a sister," Karen said with one hand on the chest to show humility.
"From the day I saw you, I knew we would strike it off well. I just wish you didn't have to go back to New York. I have gotten so used to your presence," Val said honestly.
Val and Angie had met during a gym class. While Val just wanted to be in shape, Angie did it out of boredom.
When they first met, Angie had been unable to lift some weight, and the instructor was somehow tired of telling her the same thing over and over.
Val had gone over, knowing that without encouragement, Angie would never step back into that gym again.
Of course, it was from experience. Val herself had joined two gym classes before and dropped out.
"I also wish so," Karen said. Her communication with Carey had moved from ten to 1.5.
"Then stay back. I will help you look for a job," Val answered.
Their food had been brought at that point, and the two were deep in conversation and eating when another presence interrupted them.
Before them stood a man in a three-piece suit, he had a round face and mustache. He had black hair and green eyes.
"Hello," He said, looking at Val, "Hello Karen."
Karen almost choked on the food she was chewing. She started coughing, and Val was up in no time, patting her back slowly. She then handed Karen a glass of water.
"Sam," Karen said after sipping the water. She still felt as though there was something stuck in her throat, so she cleared it and sipped more water.
"It's so good to see you. When did you get back here?" Sam asked.
"This is my friend Val," Karen answered instead. "Val, this is Sam."
"Pleasure to meet you," Sam told Val, who nodded, looking at Karen with a questioning eye.
As a lawyer, she always looked into the unsaid words. Who was Sam to Karen, she wondered.