Dark brown is good

Jim found himself pulling into his mom's driveway, pausing for a moment to look around at the house in front of him, and there was a small sense of sadness as he turned off the engine. The house was home, it had been for decades, but it still kept a sense of the strict matron that ran it and projected it to the point where the mere act of driving up to it caused him to shiver slightly. Jim was sure that there would be another thing that Tabitha would tease him about, to be uncomfortable at one's own home, but that was how he felt.

He got out of the car and zipped up the jacket before taking out the keys and headed into the house. It would be a quick in and out to grab his mom's bag, something that his sister aid was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, and immediately he spotted it next to some papers that he decided would be best for him to review while waiting. Hospital waiting rooms were notoriously bland and uncomfortable, heavens knows he had been more than a few of those. Plus, with Tabitha droning on and on, he felt that he needed something else to keep himself occupied. That and he was grateful that he had the magazine with him, that was a plus.

Speaking of the devil, Tabitha's message buzzed him on the phone. He just clicked the screen to read the message, rolled his eyes, and sent off a reply saying he was on his way before Jim hopped out of the house. As he did so, though, he glanced at the house next door and waved as the older woman stood on the patio and smiled at him. Jim made a mental note as he pulled out onto the road to swing by and say hello, it couldn't hurt and she was ever so lovely.

****

Hours later, as Tabitha softly snored in the seat across from him, Jim pulled out the questionnaire as he brushed his hair aside and put in the earbuds. It had been a steady stream of nurses at first to keep them updated but now, with the operation undergoing, there was little to inform them other than to keep them comfortable. Tabitha could sleep in a hailstorm (and she often did too, which caused Jim endless attempts at learning how to cut out his sister's snoring). For his part, Jim just looked back at the questionnaire to kill some time.

5.) IF YOU WERE A GIRL...WHAT COLOR WOULD YOUR HAIR BE?

Jim looked back at his sister, her curly blonde hair was already showing signs of graying and thinning out a bit, something he was glad that his own hair didn't have to worry about. Sure, it was a bit strange for two siblings to have completely different texture hair, but he also mused that he took care of it (Something Teresa was actually supportive of, surprisingly). Perhaps one of the things he had up on his sister.

Blonde hair was a common trait in his family. His dad was blonde, his mom was blonde, sister was blonde...even his cousins and aunts and uncles on both sides were various colors of blonde. There was nothing wrong with that color but it was all so bland, nothing exciting or even a break on the eyes whenever they had family gatherings. A secret part of him was glad, then, that he had met Teresa and her red hair. Even though he later found out that it was a dye job, she was actually a natural blonde (maybe a mix of orange and blonde, perhaps closer to a strawberry blonde), it was still fun to see the family's reaction when he brought her home.

Blondes were fun, despite his family, but as he thought about the people around him, his mind settled on his neighbor. Growing up, he wasn't ashamed to admit he loved her hair, the way it had such a vibrant color to it, and he almost wished that, had things been different, he would've had color similar to hers. Jim smiled again and looked down at the questionnaire. This was just a mental exercise anyway, he thought, no harm in putting it down. I would be a brunette, with dark brown hair, similar to my mother's. Jim paused, looking down at what he wrote, but didn't really see any problem with what it said. He took a few moments afterwards to get up to go to the restroom. After he was done, he walked up to the mirror and looked at himself, slipping off the hat and ran a hand through his hair, pausing to brush a few brown strands away from his face, before he smiled and headed back to the nursing station.

"Listen, my friend's still in the waiting room, let her know I went back to the house if she needs me, okay?" With that, the nurse nodded and Jim stepped back out of the hospital and headed to the parking lot, his Civic was parked right next to Tabitha's Explorer. A few more moments, he was back on the highway and when he pulled back onto the street, he smiled as he turned into the third driveway where June Halloway stood at the porch, a worried smile on her face.

"Is she okay, dear?"

Jim nodded as he stepped up onto the porch and gave the older woman a hug. "Tabitha just texted me while I was driving, the operation was okay. They'll keep her in for a few weeks, they want to make sure, but she should make a full recovery."

June nodded and gave him another hug. "Well, it's nice that you could help her along. Anyway, come in, I fixed up your old room."

"Thanks, mom."

6.) IF YOU WERE A GIRL...WHAT COLOR WOULD YOUR EYES BE?