“Janie’s hip buzzes again. Maybeshe'll have to have her whole leg amputated, she thinks sadly. Thatwould really suck.”

“Captain looks at Janie closely. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," she says. "You're gonna have a heck of a shiner by the time the day's over. Did you black our?""I...uh..." Janie shrugs. "I really have no idea.""Yes, I think she did." Cabel cuts in. "I'm going to need to watch her all day. And probably all night, too," he adds. Very, very seriously.The captain throws a rubber eraser at him and sends him out for coffee.”

“Or maybe she wants to believe that he found her on purpose. Even Janie can have her dreams.”

“Do you think Cabel knows?"Have you thought about asking him?"Janie glances up to read her face. Bites her quivering lip to still it. "We're not exactly on speaking terms right now."Captain sighs. "I gathered that." Carefully she says, "Cabel has his own demons and if he doesn't get on with killing them soon, I'm going to kick his ass...”

“Cabel: Um, Janie?Janie: Yesss, Cabel?Cabel: I have another lie to confess.Janie: Oh, dear. What is it?Cabel: I do, actually, know what my GPA is.Janie: And?Cabel: And. I have a full-ride scholarship.Cabel is pushed violently from the beanbag chair. And pounced upon. And told, repeatedly, what a bastard he is.Janie is told that she will most certainly get a scholarship too, with her grades. Unless she plays hooky with drug dealers.”

“Janie imagines a life without people. Without him. Broken heart, loneliness, but able to see, to feel. To live. To be, in peace. Not always looking over her shoulder for the next dream attack.And she imagines life with him. Blind, gnarled, but loved... at least while things are still good. And always knowing what struggles he's dealing with through his dreams. Does she really want to see that, as years go by? Does she really want to be this incredible burden to such an awesome guy?She still doesn't know which scenario wins.But she's thinking.Maybe broken hearts can mend more easily than broken hands and eyes.”

“Janies lips part in surprise. She takes it. Feels really strange about opening it in front of him. She wets her lips and examines the box and the ribbon that surounds it. "Thank you." She says softly. "Um..." He clears his throat, "The gift, see is actually inside the box. The box is like an extra bonus gift.It's how we do things here on planet Earth.”