It's Randall

Randall was standing in the doorway looking very uneasy. He shifted uncomfortably when your attention moved to him. "I, uh, I didn't mean to intrude..." he started ...

"Randal, dear, you're not intruding. Please come in," your mom said, motioning him over.

He walked toward you. "Hey!" he said hesitantly, as if unsure how to start.

"Hey," you replied.

Your dad looked at the two of you, then back to your mother. "Jenn, let's give them some time alone to talk. Why don't we go down to the cafeteria?"

She reluctantly let him pull her away from you. You could tell that your mom would probably be attached to you for awhile, even smothering - but you couldn't blame her. With the loss of one child she was of course going to be over-protective.

Once they had left the room Randall sat down beside the bed. "Dude.... I'm sorry about your sister. I can't quite believe this is real," he announced.

You gave a **** chuckle. "YOU can't? You should try it from my position!"

"NOOO thanks," he said with an exaggerated groan. "Can you imagine me as a chick?" He paused for a moment, clearly worried about bringing up the 'elephant in the room' - but as usual Randall's easy-going, humorous manner carried him through any awkwardness. His wide-eyed expression and general goofiness made you actually laugh - though it came out more as a girlish giggle.

He grinned at your response. "See, it's all cool now that Randall is here!"

Soon he had indeed brightened your mood with his jokes. Even when you got him to tell you about everyone's reaction to 'your ****', he kept it light. "Man, you were never so popular when you were alive!" he kidded, telling you about the memorial ceremony the school had held.

After an hour or so your parents returned. Randall hung around a little longer, talking with you and your parents. Eventually he had to leave, promising to see you tomorrow after you got home from the hospital.

The rest of the day involved being tested to confirm that you were fully recovered from the transplant. You weren't thrilled with being prodded and poked by the doctors but Randall's visit had made you feel better. He had given you a lifeline to normalcy, a hope that not everything had changed. Though you really hadn't talked much about the idea of you pretending to be Tabitha or how that would affect your friendship. Still, you figured things would work out somehow.

Once you finally get out of the hospital and try to settle into your life as Tabitha...