“You’d be surprised,” Lauren said. “For such a terrible thing, I’ve heard countless stories of positive things that come from it.”

“What are your holiday plans?” Jeni asked.

“I picked up a morning shift in the hospital pharmacy,” Lauren replied. “I don’t normally work over there, but I don’t have any other plans, and I figured I could give someone else the morning off.”

“And after that?”

Lauren shrugged. “I’ve got too much going on to travel to Oklahoma, so I’m hanging around here. I’ll enjoy having an afternoon and evening off.”

“You should come to my house,” Jeni said.

Andrew raised an eyebrow at his sister.

“That’s…very nice of you,” Lauren said slowly.

“It’s just going to be Andrew and me. We were going to order pizza and watch Parks and Recreation reruns all night.”

Seriously? She loved Parks and Rec.

“Doesn’t that sound wonderful?” Jeni continued.

“It does, actually,” Lauren said. “But I don’t think I shou—”

“Just think about it, okay?” Jeni interrupted. “If you want to enjoy some time alone, I totally get it. But if you decide you want company, you’re welcome to come hang out.”

Lauren shifted on her feet and rubbed one forearm with the opposite hand as she considered how to politely decline.

“Don’t decide right now,” Andrew added. He rubbed the back of his neck, the muscles in his forearm rippling. “See how you feel after you get off work on Thursday and let me know. No big deal either way.”

It would be a lot easier to say no via text message. “Okay. I’ll let you know.” She realized she still held his scan report in her hand. “Here’s the PET scan report you asked for. Emma told me to bring it by.”

Andrew took the papers. “Thanks. My mom insisted I get copies of everything.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Lauren agreed. “It makes things easier if you ever decide you want a second opinion about something.”

“I’m not going anywhere else.”

The infusion pump beeped, and Mandi promptly walked over, allowing Lauren to excuse herself.

She wove through the infusion center toward the back stairway that would take her back to clinic. Fridays were the slowest day of the week for the infusion center, and the section of chairs near the corner was empty.

Thinking she was alone as she walked through, she jumped when a voice came from behind her.

“Hey, Lauren.”

Her hand flew to her chest and she spun around to find Gavin standing near the window. He unhooked an empty saline bag from an IV pole and stuffed it into one of the bright yellow disposal buckets placed throughout the room.

“Gavin. You startled me,” she said on a long exhale.

“Sorry.” Finished with his task, he took three steps in her direction. “We missed you the other night. On the Plaza.”