Still Waters Run Deep

My neighbor in an apartment building I lived in some years ago took the bus into downtown Minneapolis early every work day and came home via bus usually around 9:00 pm every night. He was very quiet and we only spoke in passing. I often wondered what his life was like. It gave me the idea for this story.

The early morning express bus from the western suburb made three stops before getting on Hwy 394 and beginning it's twenty minute non-stop trip into downtown Minneapolis. Doug Larson always arrived at the first stop promptly at 6:40 am. He lived in a tiny, one bedroom apartment just a few blocks away, close enough to walk in even the most inclement weather.  He had been riding the bus into work for the past twenty years. He was fifty nine years old and had been divorced for nearly thirty years. He was one of those guys you rarely noticed, and if you did, you immediately forgot about.

            Doug liked his time alone on the bus ride. He always read the newspaper, feeling guilty if he didn't at least try to keep up with both the local and national news of the day. He was usually finished by the time the bus arrived at his stop on the corner of 6th Street and 10th Avenue. He worked as a mortgage consultant for US Bank whose offices were in the US Bank building near to his bus  stop. It was the same job he'd held for the entire twenty years he'd been employed by the bank. He was a solid, reliable employee who had no aspirations of going anywhere in the company but where he was right now. He was at his desk every day at 7:30 am promptly and he worked until 5:00 pm, stopping only for a fifteen minute break in the morning, a forty-five minute break for lunch, and another fifteen minute break in the afternoon. After work he walked five blocks to the First United Presbyterian Church where he spent the rest of his day and early evening volunteering his time as a book keeper and accountant for the church. He boarded the days last express bus out of the city at 8:30 pm and was usually back to his apartment by 9:15 pm. Day in and day out this was Doug's life. He never thought much about it, he just did it. But all of that changed one day when Evelyn Young sat down next to him one morning in early summer just as he was settling in to read his paper.

            "Good morning, young man," she said, with a pleasant expression. "Nice day, isn't it?"

            "What the heck?" Doug sputtered and jumped in his seat. To say he was taken aback was putting it mildly. "What...What do you want?" he stammered. He gave her a quick look, thinking maybe she was an addled old lady and waved a hand at her, like shooing a fly, "Get away from me."

            She laughed, "Don't worry, young man," she said, poking at him with her elbow, "I'm just making conversation."

            Doug noticed that some of the passengers around him were half way watching and kind of smiling. Maybe he was over reacting. Maybe she was just a harmless old lady. He certainly ran into enough of them at his church. Calming down a bit, he decided to be a little nicer. "Sorry. You just startled me."

            The bus was picking up speed as it merged with the traffic on Hwy 394. She must have boarded on the last stop. Probably where the Lakeside Senior Housing complex was. He didn't want to be rude, but he was curious about where she lived. You never know, he thought to himself, she might just be lost and confused about where she was. "Are you from around here?" he asked.

            "Yep. Just back there at Lakeside. My name is Evelyn. Evelyn Young. You can call me Evie."

            Well, that answered that. The old lady seemed pretty sharp and certainly had her wits about her. In addition, she actually seemed kind of nice. "Pleased to meet you, Evie," Doug said politely. He relaxed a little and began to turn his attention to his paper. Even though he was uncomfortable with her next to him intruding on his space, he decided to put up with Evie for the ride into Minneapolis. How bad could it be? She was a nicely dressed, small statured, gray haired old lady. Probably harmless. He turned his attention to his newspaper. "Now if you don't mind..." He made it a point of rustling the pages.

            "I don't mind," Evie said, and reached over him. "Mind if I borrow the sports section?"

            Evelyn Young was seventy eight years old and had recently moved into the Lakeside Senior Living complex. She had been a widow for the past ten years and had eventually been unable to continue to maintain and keep up the home left to her by her late husband. After Fred had died Evelyn had not missed him for a moment. Heartless old so and so she'd permit herself to think when she thought about him, which was rare. He'd been a philanderer and emotional cripple and she didn't miss him for a moment. 'Good riddance to bad rubbish' would be the plaque she'd have put on his grave stone if her children had let her, which they hadn't, which was probably for the better in the long run. Who knew what some future archeologist would think if they happened upon that kind of inscription?

            Evelyn didn't mind living at Lakeside. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she knew she was getting more and more frail as the years went by. That was OK. Her mind was still good and she was fit as a fiddle, as she'd tell anyone who asked. She was resigned that Lakeside would be the last place she would probably live. She even permitted herself to hope that she would die there and not stuck in some soulless room under the glaring lights of a sterile, hospital bed, with white noise in the background and the smell of death and disinfectant all around her. No, that's not what she wanted at the end of her days. Not in the least.

            She had three children, two daughters and a son. She was closest to her oldest daughter, Amy, who lived with her husband and four kids in Apple Valley, a suburb forty minutes from her. Her other two children lived out of state, one in Oregon and one in Delaware. She saw them once or twice a year and that was fine with her. She stayed in touch by phone and through email and Facebook. She didn't feel lonely for her kids at all. She enjoyed the freedom of being able to live out her life the way she wanted to live. She was doing a pretty good job of it, too, if she did say so herself.

            After Fred had died Evie started volunteering her time to various organizations and charities around the Minneapolis area. Fred had been a successful businessman. He had also been cavalier with his spending and investments. As a result Evie was not wealthy but had enough money in savings to live fairly comfortably at Lakeside. She felt good about giving her time to others. She belonged to "Story Time Players", a group of seniors who went to local schools and did readings and plays for grade school children. The group was currently on hiatus during the summer school break, but would soon get together and start planning and practicing for the fall season. Last year they had done 'Pinocchio' and 'Jack and the Beanstalk' to rave reviews. They were going to kick off the fall season with 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and she was looking forward to it. She liked the interaction with both the seniors in the group and the kids where they performed. She also volunteered downtown at the Hennepin County Medical Center in the Obstetrics Unit where she assisted mothers with their new born babies.  In addition to those volunteer activities she had friends she had made at Lakeside and she was in touch with friends she had made throughout her life. Right now her days were rich and full and she was happy. So why had she taken it upon herself to try and befriend this middle aged man on the bus that she had been casually observing for the last few weeks? She had no idea, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

            During the ride downtown that first day they'd met Doug was pretty uncomfortable. Evelyn, Evie, seemed harmless enough. Maybe he shouldn't make a big deal out of it. The thing was, he just didn't want to get into some kind of situation where she would want to ride with him every day. He liked his privacy. He liked being by himself with his newspaper. He liked being alone with his thoughts. He didn't want the boat that was his life to be rocked.

            As if reading his mind, Evie said, "Don't worry, young man, I'm not going to interfere with your time alone on what I'm assuming is your way into work.  I just wanted to be friendly and say 'Hi'."  

            Her assertive attitude was something Doug was not used to and he told her so. "You just seem a little too aggressive. A little too forward." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He was unused to talking so directly to people, let alone little old ladies he'd just met on the bus. That in and of itself was a novel experience, one more on this increasing exceptional day of novel experiences. He checked his watch. It was only 7:00 am.

            He need not have worried that his words may have affected her negatively. She didn't seem to mind. In fact, she kind of liked it. "Yeah," she said, with what he could have sworn was a wink, "I get that a lot."

            He was relieved when the bus reached downtown and in a few short blocks Evie rose from her seat pulling the stop cord. "Well, I'm off. Today's my day at the hospital."

            "Is something the matter?" Doug asked. Even though they had just met, Doug found himself slightly concerned.    

            "Me? I'm fit as a fiddle. I do volunteer work when I can," she said. "Helps keep me young." She laughed as she made her way down the aisle.  In a few moments was off the bus and walking jauntily down the sidewalk.

            Doug watched her with a strong sense of relief. He was looking forward to getting back into his routine and couldn't wait to get to work. He liked order in his life. He liked things simple and uncomplicated. Yet, on the other hand, though his encounter with Evie had been strangely unsettling, it also had been...not fun exactly, but kind of interesting. She had amazing energy for an old person, and such a positive attitude. Doug couldn't remember when he'd met anyone like her. Yes, he thought to himself, it had been interesting and but also unnerving. He shuttered a little, the stress of the morning's encounter coursing through his body. He wondered what it would be like when he saw her again, which he was sure he would given that it was now apparent that they rode the same bus. Oh, the complications, Doug was thinking as he rose in his seat to disembark. What's to become of me?

Now the story of Doug and Evie could have ended right at this point but it didn't. Doug could have easily started taking a different bus into work, thus solving the problem of running into Evie and making it possible that he'd never see her again. But he didn't do that. There was something about her...something that Doug couldn't put his finger on. He couldn't get the encounter out of her out of his mind. All through work the rest of the day he kept thinking about her. What a remarkable woman, he thought to himself. At odd times her image would pop into his brain, this little old, slightly hunched over lady with the energy of someone much, much younger. He was at a loss to explain why he was reacting to her the way he was.

            The answer came to him later that night after he'd taken the bus home. He had walked through the warm, peaceful summer evening, climbed the stairs to his apartment and was preparing to go to bed. He had looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and realized that her impact on him was due to the fact that she was the first new person he had met and talked to in he didn't know how many years. Emphasis on new. Looking back at him in the mirror was a plain looking, nearly bald, slightly overweight middle aged man who, Doug now had to admit to himself, had nothing really all that interesting going on in his life. He broke his bedtime routine and went into the kitchen, boiled some water and made himself a cup of chamomile tea.  He sat at his tiny kitchen table sipping contemplatively, staring at a street light illuminating the darkness outside his window. The encounter had affected him in a way he could not get over. Evie was not like the people he met daily at work or at the church. No, those folks were just acquaintances, people he dealt with and then never really gave another thought to. Evie on the other hand had been a force of nature and try as he might he could not forget her. There was something about her that he found intriguing. He finished his tea, rinsed the cup and headed off to bed, surprised to find that he was looking forward to seeing her the next day.

            But Evie was a busy woman and had a lot going on in her life. It was nearly two weeks before he saw her board the bus again.  She looked down the rows of seats and Doug was able to make eye contact with her. He moved over to make room for her on the seat. "How have you been?" he asked as she sat down. "I was wondering if I'd see you again."

            Evie smiled with a pleasant little laugh and said, "Just couldn't live without me, eh?" And again, poked toward him with her elbow.

            Doug smiled back, slightly embarrassed. For an old lady Evie had a definite 'electrical' presence about her, making the air around her buzz with energy. "Well," he paused, not used to having these kinds of conversations, "I was wondering how'd you'd been. What you'd been up to."

            "How nice of you, young man," Evie smiled as she settled in, saying "Hi" to a young lady who was moving past. "That's Jeannie Atchison," she said as an aside to him, "She works at Lakeside."

            "By the way, you can call be Doug. My name's Doug Larson."

            Well, finally," Evie said, with her ever present smile, joking with him. "I was wondering if you were ever going to introduce yourself."

            "Do you want the sports section?" Doug asked. He was a little stiff and kind of formal acting. He'd been thinking about this next encounter since he'd decided he wanted to get to know her better, maybe develop a friendship with her. He'd even rehearsed what he was going to say.

            Evie laughed, making him feel more comfortable. "Sure. Thanks." she said, taking it and looking over the front page. "Hey, the Twins won again. That's nice."

            "Yeah, our new coach seems to be doing things right," Doug added and that was enough to get the conversation going.

            The rest of the way into downtown they talked about the Minnesota Twins and baseball and other events happening in the world of sports. The longer they talked, the more comfortable and relaxed Doug became. In no time at all they were at Evie's stop.

            Doug asked her if she was volunteering at the hospital today. "I am," Evie said. "I just can't seem to get enough of those new mothers and their babies."

            "What bus do you take home?"

            "I usually leave around 5:00 pm." Evie paused, a quizzical look on her face. "Why?"

            Doug wanted to prolong their time together, but didn't want to scare her off. He just liked being with her. He couldn't believe how lonely he was. How starved for friendship he was.  And that was the thing he hoped for more than anything, that they could become friends. "Just wondering," was all he was brave enough to say.

            "Well, I'm off then." Evie rose to leave. "I might see you tomorrow."

            "Ok, see you." Doug watched her walk down the aisle and out onto the sidewalk. Getting to know her was making him happy and happiness was a feeling he was unused to.

If Doug was intrigued by Evie and happy to have begun a friendship with her, Evie was just as happy to have begun a friendship with him.

            "Mom, you can't be serious," her daughter, Amy, said when she told her about the strange unassuming man she'd met on the bus. "How can you be certain he's not some kind of nut. A serial killer maybe."

            Evie laughed. "Really, dear, I don't know where you get your ideas. He's just a nice, quiet man, with not a whole lot going on in his life."

            "So that's a good reason to talk to him?" Amy had an edge to her and sometimes a derisive way of addressing her mother.

            Evie sighed, happy in one sense that her daughter was willing to look out for her, but slightly put out that Amy didn't accept that her mother could make her own decisions. "Trust me, he's harmless." In a tone that let Amy know her mother was serious enough to not change her mind. She changed tact, "So are you going to date him?"

            Evie exploded in laughter. "Not on your life, young lady, I'm way beyond anything like that in my life." Then she turned serious, wanted to allay her daughter's fears. "Really, we a just friends."

            "Are you sure he doesn't think like that?"

            "Yes I am." Evie said. "Positively, without a doubt."

            "How do you know?"

            And Evie proceeded to tell Amy about the conversation she and Doug had about few weeks into their friendship about just that very same thing. And how Doug had been so embarrassed that he'd quite riding her bus for a few days until he finally got over it, meeting her at their regular seat and apologizing. "I'm an idiot," he said, all flustered. "I definitely don't want you to think like that. I just want us to be friends."

            Evie was quick to relieve him of his fears. "Let's just put it behind us, OK?" And that was that.

            "So what's the attraction, then, mom?" Amy asked, happy to have that discussion out of the way.

            Evie had thought about this very question for a while. "I like that we can talk."

            "Really? That's it?" Amy was skeptical.

            "Yes, dear, really." Evie said, thinking about Doug and his newspaper and the books he told her he was reading. "He's very well read. Besides, remember what I told you what your grandma always said."

            "Right, I know," Amy sighed, rolling her eyes. "Still waters run deep."

            "Well, it's true you know. You never know what's beneath the surface of some people." She paused before adding. "Doug's like that."

            And it was the truth. She enjoyed the discussions they had riding into downtown. They could talk about anything, which, for Evie, was a novelty. Her late husband had clammed up sometime during the third year of their marriage and hadn't said anything truly interesting to her for the rest of his life which was much to her chagrin because Evie loved to talk to people. She and Doug found they could talk about not only sports, but current events of the day like politics (they were both Democrats), the environment (they were both avid recyclers and tried to be as green as they could be), religion (despite Doug's volunteering at the church, they both still had questions), families (Doug enjoyed hearing about Evie's children and grandchildren since he didn't have any), books (Evie enjoyed reading as much as Doug did) and even music. Doug surprised her one day when he asked if she had ever been to the Wednesday night summertime concerts held at the Depot park down by the lake near where they both lived.

            "We go all the time. A bus from Lakeside takes us seniors down there, drops us off and then picks us up when it's over. Why?"

            "The park is just two blocks from my apartment. I might walk down there this Wednesday. A group called 'The Stetsons' is playing. They play old time country swing music. I kind of like them."

            "Tell you what," Evie said getting enthusiastic, "I'll meet you down there. How's that sound?"

            So Doug met her and they had a great time listening to the old songs, watching people and enjoying the free ice cream bars a local business gave away. At one point Doug sighed and stretched back in the canvas lawn chair he'd taken to the park. A light southern breeze was wafting off the lake. Gulls called as they circled overhead looking for hand outs. Little kids laughed and danced in the sweet summer grass. To the west the sun was sinking below the tree line of the horizon, turning the sky crimson. "Isn't this great? I haven't been this relaxed for I don't know how long."

            Evie smiled and nodded. She felt the same.

            While the quality of Doug's life improved, for Evie it was the development of their friendship that she really appreciated. Her marriage had been a farce, she was able to admit to herself. She had done the best she could and was happy she had stayed married and raised her children, but her relationship with Fred was not fulfilling in the least. She had lots of woman friends but Doug gave her a chance to have a friendship with a man, something she'd never had before. She enjoyed Doug's company because even though he was shy and quiet, the more comfortable he became with her the more interesting he became.

            "What's that you've got on your hands?" Evie asked one Monday morning in late August.

            Doug checked and then became embarrassed. "Opps. Guess I didn't get all the grease off."  Evie gave him a questioning look. "I decided to get my old bicycle out and take it for a ride. I had to clean it up a little first." And he proceeded to tell her about his vintage black Raliegh three-speed he'd purchased some years back but had given up riding. "I just got in the mood to get it out again and clean it up. I went for a ride yesterday on that trail that goes through town. It was fun."

            It was one of the things she liked about him. Doug did things. Her late husband would mull over starting a project or making a decision to do something until the cows came home. And then never did anything anyway. An avid birdwatcher, Evie tried to include him once on going for a walk to check out birds in their neighborhood. He'd looked at her like she had lost her mind. So imagine her surprise later that summer when she mentioned that she'd seen a pair of scarlet tanagers in the woods behind Lakeside and Doug had almost jumped out of his seat he was so excited.

            "Scarlett tanagers," he exclaimed. "I haven't seen one in over thirty years, let alone a pair of them."

            "Well, come up to my place and you might see them both."

            "I will." Doug then told her about his lifelong love of birds and bird watching. The next weekend he rode his bike over to Lakeside to meet her. They sat outside on the patio watching for the birds and were eventually rewarded with a brief sighting. Doug was excited. "Now that's what I call a find. It's truly a gift to have seen those birds."

            Birds of a feather, thought Evie adding another 'like' to the mental list of 'likes' about Doug that she was unconsciously keeping in her mind.

            Every now and then Doug would ask Evie a question that made her think. Just before Thanksgiving he asked her if she had any regrets in her life. "Anything you wish you would have done that you didn't do?"

            Evie didn't even have to think about it. "Yes," she spat out. "I wish I would have finished my degree in English Literature." Each of them had a deep love of books and for some time now they had been talking about books they were reading and even loaning favorites to each other.

            "Have you ever checked out classes online?"

            "You mean like through local colleges? I'm not sure that's for me."

            "There's other options. I've found a couple of sites that are connected to various Universities throughout the world. You can take all kinds of classes. They're free. If you just want to learn about something, it's a great way to go. They last on the average about eight weeks. I'm taking one now about the atom and subatomic particles. Just for fun."

            "Do they have classes on literature?"

            Doug reached into his pocket and took out his pen and opened his briefcase for a piece of paper. "Here, let me write the sites down. You can look them over and see what they have to offer."

            That night online she found a class on twentieth century English literature through a well known University in England that started the first week of January. She registered and couldn't wait for it to begin. Again, it was another thing that Doug did for her that helped make her life more fulfilling.

             One day in February Evie was complaining about not being able to get to the local natural foods Coop. "My daughter usually drives me, but I don't want her wasting her time anymore. She's got her family to think about. I guess I'll just have to start taking a cab. That'll be OK."

            Doug said, "How about if I drive you?"

            Evie was floored. "What do you mean, drive me?"

            Doug turned red, embarrassed. "Well, I have a car."

            She was shocked. "Why didn't you ever tell me before?"

            "Well, it never came up. I just don't like to drive much."

            Evie shook her head. "You continually surprise me, Doug Larson. And, yes, I will take a ride to the Coop, thank you very much."

            Doug's car was a pristine sage green Prius. On the next Saturday he drove up to the entrance of Lakeside, opened the door for Evie, got her settled and headed out to Fresh Market Coop. He filled Evie in about his car and driving situation. "I bought the Prius seven years ago to make sure I had a back up mode of transportation. You know, just in case I wanted to drive somewhere."

            "You could have rented," Evie pointed out.

            "I know, but that's not the way I look at things. I got my first car when I was sixteen. Owning a car back then was a big deal for me. After my divorce, I moved out here, and even though I had my job downtown I just didn't feel like driving in. So I sold the car I had at that time and started taking the bus. I bought the Prius kind of on a whim. I drive it only occasionally." He laughed, "I just have to make sure the battery doesn't run down. Costs a couple of hundred dollars to get it started."

            "Do you ever take any trips?"

            "Not yet. But, you know, to be honest I have been thinking about going down to Nebraska this spring. You know, for the sandhill crane migration."

            Evie knew all about the spring migration in March of the sandhill cranes. They congregated along a fifty mile stretch of the Platte River between Grand Island and Kearny Nebraska. "Are you going this spring?"

            "Maybe." Doug sighed and glanced out the window. "It's a long way to drive."

            "Jeez, Doug. What are you waiting for? If I were young like you  I'd make that drive in a heartbeat."

            "Yeah, I know. I'll think about it." At that point it was the perfect opportunity to ask Evie if she wanted to go with him but he didn't bring it up. He liked Evie but he still valued his privacy. And Evie seemed happy to live the possibility of the trip vicariously through him. That was fine with him.

            As usual she seemed to read his thoughts. "You probably think I would like to go with you but don't worry. I'm not in the mood for any long trips any more in my life. This old joints of mine would probably stiffen right up. If you go send me a post card with pictures of cranes on it. That would be fine."

            Doug smiled. Evie continued to amaze and surprise him. He had to admit that she was fast becoming the best friend he'd ever had. "I'll keep you posted," he said. "You'll be the first to know if I decide to go."

            "Deal," Evie said, and settled back, looking at the winter scenery passing by. Ice fishing houses were out on the lake. There was a couple of feet of snow on the ground. The sky was a deep, robin's egg blue. A light wind blew from the north. The temperature was five degrees below zero. It was the coldest day of the winter. "I'm ready for spring," she said with a sigh, and, for fun, started wondering what spring was like down in Nebraska on the Platte River.

            Doug didn't make it to Nebraska that year. He had a heart attack instead. It happened about a month after he'd taken Evie to the Coop. Since he had been unable to ride his bicycle during the winter months, he'd taken to getting up early every morning and going for a quick mile and a half walk on the neighborhood streets around his apartment. The walk was strenuous due to the hills that made up the landscape of the town he lived in. He had gotten himself into pretty good shape, but perhaps it was the cold weather, the stress of an extra fast walk, or, in retrospect, the fact that his father had died of a heart attack at the early age of fifty two, but Doug had collapsed just as he entered the front door of his apartment building. He had fallen loudly against a neighbor's door waking up the couple who lived there and one of them had called 911.  Within five minutes an ambulance was on the scene and in less than an hour Doug was in the emergency room of the hospital closest to where he lived. This happened on a Wednesday. It wasn't until Friday that he had been able to call Evie, who was beside herself with worry.

            "I didn't see you on the bus Wednesday or Thursday. I called your apartment Thursday night but only got that idiotic answering machine of yours." She was so upset and worried she was almost shouting. Then she paused for a moment and took a breath figuring that Doug was in recovery and didn't need her yelling at him. "Are you going to be OK?" She asked, calming down, her voice full of concern.

            "I'll be fine." Doug assured her. "Even though I knew I was genetically pre-disposed to a possible heart attack, I guess I just didn't think it would happen to me."

            "You shouldn't have been so stupid," she blurted out, almost yelling  again. She was mad at the situation. Mad at Doug for letting it happen, and mad at herself that she couldn't have done anything to have stopped it. She took a few deep breaths. She knew that Doug didn't need her giving him a hard time. She was just worried. "What's your doctor say about your recovery?"

            "I'll be alright. Just no bike riding for a while."

            "Funny," Evie said, sarcastically. She wasn't in a joking mood. She was very concerned about her friend. She had watched him grow as a person over the last year. He'd come out of his shell was the way she looked at it. To her way of thinking Doug still had a lot of years left. Who knew what the future would hold for him? Still waters run deep, like her mom had said and like she'd told Amy so many months ago. She was looking forward to being a part of his life. She softened her tone of voice. "I'm glad you called me."

            "You were the first person I thought of," Doug said. He really meant it. In fact she was the only person he thought of calling. He didn't really have any close friends other than Evie. Some people would think it odd, this friendship of theirs, but Doug didn't care what others thought. It worked for them. They made each other's lives better. That's all that mattered.

            They spent the next twenty minutes or so talking. Doug got Evie to believe what the doctors had told him, that there was no reason he shouldn't make a full recovery. Finally Evie permitted herself to relax. She was amazed at how Doug's heart attack had affected her. If she were honest with herself it should have been her whose health should have failed first. After all, she was nearly twenty years older than him. She didn't expect that of the two of them Doug would be the first one to have a major health issue. But he did. She involuntarily shuttered. You just never knew when your time was up. Especially the older you became. She focused her attention back to Doug and their conversation, thankful right now just to be talking to him.

            Too soon, it seemed, it was time to get off the phone. She could sense he was getting tired. "I should probably let you get some rest," she said, wanting to stay on the line a little longer. Just to convince herself that he really was going to be OK and get better.

            "I'll be in here for a while. They need to keep running tests and then get me into physical therapy. Just think of me as 'the convalescing patient'," he said, laughing a little, making a silly joke.

            Now, after the initial shock had begun to wear off and finally being able to talk to him, to Evie's relief Doug was actually sounding pretty good. "Are you up for any visitors?"

            "Let me check my calendar," Doug said, and Evie could see him smiling over the phone. "I think I've got room for you in my busy schedule."

            "Tomorrow's Saturday. I'll check visiting hours and see you as soon as I can, hopefully in the morning. I'll take a cab," Evie added, always resourceful, always thinking ahead.

            "That'd be great. It'd be nice to see you." Doug was quiet for a moment. He was remembering when he'd been laying on the floor of the apartment building waiting for the ambulance to arrive. At that time he'd had no idea if he was going to make it. If he was going to survive. One thought that kept him going was that he wasn't ready to die just then. He had more life in him. More living to do. The other thought had been of Evie and how she had jump-started his life. How she had enriched his days, and how much she met to him. She was the best friend he'd ever had. But now, lying in his hospital bed, with her on the phone, all he could think of to say was, "Thanks, Evie," he said, hesitantly.

            "What for?" Evie asked, even though she had an idea she knew what he meant.

            "Never mind." Doug said, although what he really wanted to say was, Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for being in my life. Thanks for helping me become a better person. And, most of all, thanks for being you. But he didn't.

            But Evie said, as if she could read his mind, "I think I know what you mean." She was quiet for a moment and then added, "Hey, maybe when I come over tomorrow we can start to plan that trip of yours to Nebraska. You know, for next year," she added.

            On the other end of the line Doug laughed, and then was quiet, as if coming to some inner conclusion. "A trip to Nebraska sounds great." He paused and then said, "Maybe you could come with me. You might enjoy it."

            Evie took about one second to make her decision. "Yes," she said.  "I think I would."

            "Come with me or enjoy it?" Doug asked.

            "Both," Evie said, and she meant it with all her heart.