Meghan managed to stay awake long enough to be poked and prodded by the doctors and nurses when she arrived at the ICU, but fell asleep soon thereafter. Mitch and Rick looked through the windows of the room as they conversed with Dr. Anderson.

“Meghan’s out,” Mitch observed.

Dr. Anderson looked and nodded. “I’m not surprised. Her system is feeling the roller-coaster effects right now. Hopefully, though, she’ll only be here a day or two before going to a regular room, and home a day or two later.”

Mitch nodded. “That’s what Dr. Woodruff predicts.”

“I think the hardest part for Meghan’s recovery is getting her to take it easy. I’m getting the feeling she doesn’t know what ‘take it easy’ means.”

Mitch shook his head in exasperation. “No, she doesn’t, which means we’re going to have to sit on her for the next month while her body recovers and we regulate the meds.” He sighed.

Rick smiled. “Hang in there, Mitch!” he chuckled.

Meghan spent two days in the ICU before being transferred to a regular medical-surgical ward on the 6th floor. She was happy to make the transition, because she knew it was a step closer to going home again. However, she was nervous about the idea of going home. If I go home and just come back again, how is that improvement? Will I ever be able to go back to some semblance of the life I had before all this?

Her reverie was quickly broken when Rick knocked on the door. “Mind if I come in?”

Meghan perked up. “Not at all! Come in, have a seat.”

Rick entered, bringing with him a bouquet of pink roses. “I thought your room needed a little bit of décor,” he chuckled, bringing the vase close enough so she could smell them before setting it down on a nearby table.

“They are lovely, Rick, thank you!” Meghan smiled brightly.

Rick chuckled as he pulled up a chair next to her bed. “How are you feeling, Meghan?”

She considered him a moment. “Better than the other night, to be sure. I feel more like myself again, although I’m still really tired.” She hesitated.

“But?” Rick gently coaxed.

“But I’m nervous about going home,” Meghan sighed. “I’m afraid that one wrong move will land me back in the hospital again. I’m sick of being sick! I just want to go about life like it always was.”

“That’s very understandable, Meghan,” Rick said, leaning close to her. “But I promise, you will get better. You just need to take it really easy for a while, let your body adjust to the new medications.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just really hard. I’m used to being active: sitting quietly just makes me fidget.” Meghan squirmed.

“So I see!” Rick laughed. “Maybe we need to get you to the library, let you check out a bunch of books to read. Or maybe try your hand at a larger knitting project than socks!”

She nodded slowly. “There’s been a couple of projects I’ve been eyeballing, but was afraid to tackle due to the time involved,” she mused.

“Sounds like now’s a good time to work on one of those,” Rick agreed.

“I’ll need to stop by the yarn shop, get yarn and probably some new needles,” Meghan thought out loud.

“What color do you think you’ll make whatever you’re going to make?” Rick asked, smiling. He could see the wheels turning in Meghan’s head.

She smiled. “I have a tendency to go for blue, but I might branch out a bit. I have an interesting sweater project in mind. It’s been on my to-make list for years. Why? Have a color suggestion?”

Rick shook his head. “No, not really. What’s your favorite color?”

“Purple,” Meghan replied.

He studied her. “Purple would be nice, but so would a pale pink or a soft yellow.”

“I’ll have to see what I find in way of yarn and go from there,” she agreed.

Rick thought for a moment. “Tell you what. I’m not on-call this weekend. If you’re sprung before then, I’ll take you shopping and we’ll pick the perfect yarn for your sweater together.”

Meghan lit up. “I’ll take you up on that. It’ll be fun!”

Rick chuckled. “Sounds like a tentative plan, then!”

Meghan was released from the hospital on Thursday that week, and Mitch was on hand to see her safely back to the Branston residence. “Mitch, I’m beginning to think we need to build a hut in your back yard for me to live in – I’ve spent more time here over the last year than I have in my own apartment.”

He chuckled. “The thought has crossed my mind a time or two.” He winked at her as she pulled her bag from the trunk of the car and headed for the front door.

Mitch let them in, and they headed for the living room. Kelsey was there, and gave Meghan a big hug. “Welcome back, sis. Let’s get you settled in.”

The sisters headed for the guest room, while Mitch headed for his office. Meghan set her vase of roses on the dresser. “Did Rick bring those for you?” Kelsey asked.

“Yeah, he did. It was so sweet of him to do so,” Meghan smiled.

“I think he’s sweet on you, Sis. He’s a good man,” Kelsey stated softly.

“Yeah, he is. I like him. A lot.” Meghan set about unpacking her stuff. Kelsey perched on the edge of her bed, noticing her sister’s tell-tale signs of discomfort.

“Ok, Meghan, give. What has you nervous?”

Meghan sighed. “I’ve never been this far in a relationship. I kinda want to go steady with Rick, but I don’t know how to handle the next step.”

Kelsey chuckled. “It’s not hard, Sis. If he asks, just say yes to being a girlfriend, and continue to hang out, talk, get to know each other more. Be willing to be more open, talk about deeper topics than just the weather, and see where it goes. There’s no time table or finishing race.”

Meghan nodded, listening to her sister’s advice. “So just keep doing what I’ve been doing, then?”

Kelsey gave Meghan a hug. “Absolutely!” Seeing that Meghan was done unpacking, Kelsey stood. “Are you hungry? I made some rice krispy treats, and we could brew some coffee.”

“You had me at coffee,” Meghan smiled.

True to his promise, Rick picked Meghan up Saturday morning around 9:00. “I thought we could go to breakfast, and then visit that yarn store.”

“Sounds good to me,” Meghan agreed, getting in his car and buckling her seatbelt. She held up a piece of paper from her purse. “I printed off the pattern, so I know what I need to get.”

“Show it to me when we get to the restaurant,” Rick advised, backing out of the Branstons’ driveway and heading down the road.

“Will do!” Meghan tucked the paper back into her purse. They chatted amicably as Rick drove them downtown to a quaint café on the square.

Once seated and their food ordered, Rick asked to see the pattern. Meghan smiled and pulled it back out of her purse, laying it down on the table between them.

Rick picked it up. “That looks neat! Decided what color to make it yet?”

Meghan shook her head as she tucked the pattern back into her purse. “No, not yet. I think I’ll see what the shop has in the weight I need and go from there.”

“Kind of like a nice surprise, then,” Rick stated, sipping his coffee.

“Oh, yes,” Meghan agreed. “I’m like a kid in a candy shop when I’m in a yarn store, just saying.”

Rick chuckled. The waitress appeared with their food, and they started eating.

After breakfast, Meghan directed Rick to her favorite yarn shop, Purl’d. Rick followed Meghan into the shop and was amazed by the wall-to-wall shelves crammed full of every color and thickness of yarn imaginable. Meghan shot him a brilliant smile and headed towards the shelves, leaving him standing in the middle of the store, trying to get his bearings.

Rick felt like a duck out of water, but finally headed towards a shelf of colorful yarn and picked up a skein. It was super-thin, and the dark grey he held in his hands reminded him somewhat of suture material, although this was much softer, of course. He put the skein down and headed down a few feet. This yarn was still thin, but definitely thicker than the first skein he had picked up. Suddenly, it clicked with him that yarn, just like suture silk, had varying thicknesses and strength, based on material. Intrigued, Rick made his way around the shop, looking at the various yarns offered.

After about 10 minutes, Rick made his way to stand beside Meghan. “Have you found the perfect yarn yet?”

She smiled at him, holding up a couple of skeins. “I’ve narrowed it down to these two, but the color is still up in the air. What do you think? I want something soft.”

Rick took the skeins from her and held them. “I don’t know anything about yarn, I’m afraid. But this one,” he said, holding up the skein in his left hand, “does feel softer than the other one.”

Meghan smiled, accepted the skeins back from him, and put the other skein back. “Yeah, I was leaning towards this one. Now to decide on a color!” She pointed out the section of shelving that held the chosen yarn and contemplated color.

Rick studied the various hues she indicated. He pulled out two skeins, one a butter yellow, the other a soft lavender purple. “I think either one of these would be nice,” he said, holding them close to her face for comparison.

Meghan accepted the skeins and studied them, thinking. “Well, the color photo of the sweater was in a purple, and it drew my eye. I think I’ll go with purple!” She consulted her pattern again, pulling out her phone to do the math for the amount of yardage she’d need, and pulled out the appropriate number of skeins.

After heading to a rotating display rack of knitting needles and getting what she needed, Meghan headed for the checkout stand and paid for her items.

Back in Rick’s car, he shook his head at her. “I’m surprised at how much that cost!”

Meghan grinned cheekily. “Yeah, it does seem pricy for the supplies to make a garment, especially when you can go to the store and pay a whole lot less.”

Rick just laughed. “I suspect, though, that part of the enjoyment of the garment is the process to make it.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Meghan looked curiously as Rick drove. “Where are we heading to now?”

“I thought we could go get some coffee and chat a bit before I return you to Mitch’s,” Rick said, turning into the parking lot of a quaint coffeehouse.

Meghan smiled. “Well, you know I never turn down coffee!”

Rick chuckled as they headed into the shop. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t mind a cup or ten!”

Meghan winked at him before focusing her attention on the menu board on the wall behind the barista station. Rick watched her peruse the menu with amusement. “Are you a fan of the special coffees, or strictly a drip gal?”

Meghan gave him a quick sideline glance before focusing on the menu again. “Oh, I love the special coffees. But we don’t have baristas at the station, and I usually don’t want to spend that much for a cup frequently.” She made up her mind what to get and turned to Rick.

“Know what you want?” he asked, and she nodded. He gestured towards the cashier, and they made their way over. Meghan ordered a latte with shots of both vanilla and hazelnut syrups, while Rick settled on a white chocolate mocha. The cashier gave them a card on a stand to put on their table and said the drinks would be brought out to them.

As they sipped their drinks and chatted, Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “Meghan, I got you something.”

Meghan stilled, seeing the small box, and sat down her coffee cup. “Rick...”

“Don’t worry, it’s not a ring,” he said, hastily, seeing the expression on her face. “Here.” He passed the box to her and watched as she hesitatingly opened it. He saw the look of relief that crossed her face when she saw what he had gotten.

“Oh, Rick, that’s nice!” She held up the necklace with the medic alert pendant and the star of life pendant. “How’d you know? Oh, let me guess: Mitch.”

Rick nodded and inwardly sighed in relief. “Yes, he said you needed to get a medic alert something soon, and that you had stated a preference for a necklace. He also mentioned the star of life pendant.” He smiled. “I wanted to get you something pretty, and when I heard you needed the medic alert… well, let’s just say it presented a good opportunity!”

Meghan smiled hugely. “Thank you, Rick. It’s very nice!” She slipped the chain over her head and let the necklace rest over her blouse. “Perfect chain length, too.”

“Meghan, I saw the look on your face when I gave you the box. Please know that I don’t want to rush anything in our relationship, and that includes a potential proposal down the line. I won’t ask until we’re both ready.”

Meghan picked her coffee up and took a long drink. “Thank you,” she finally said. “I’m not ready for that by any means right now.”

Rick nodded. “Yes, I know. Neither of are there yet. So, no worries, okay?”

“Okay.” Meghan smiled, and changed the subject.