Candice, John, and Matt walked into Janice’s room at Camden General a little after nine the next morning. After talking it over a little more, John had decided that he wanted to go along, and knew that he could drive the Escort back if it looked like Candice was going to be there for a long time. It had not been the nicest day they could imagine; the skies were still overcast and gray, and the clouds were spitting the occasional snowflake. Usually they could expect to have a heavy snow on the ground by this time of year, so it was clear that heavy snow season wasn’t far off. All of them were a little amused to see the teenagers holding hands while sound asleep, with Cody in a chair pulled up next to the bed. “Typical kids,” Candice smiled. “It’s Saturday, so there’s time to sleep till noon.”

“Oh, I wasn’t really asleep,” Janice smiled. “I was just resting my eyes. They got us up hours ago. I had a sponge bath and some other stuff, and Cody went down to get some breakfast. Thanks for letting Cody stay with me. I don’t think I’d have gotten to sleep at all if he weren’t here, even with the pill they gave me.”

“So how are you feeling today?” Candice asked.

“Better,” she replied. “I don’t hurt quite as much as I did yesterday. I think Cody helped with that too, just by being here. He really helped calm me down.”

“You seem in better spirits today,” John observed.

“After you offered to have me stay with you, that made things better right there,” she told them. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Have you heard yet how long they’re going to keep you here?” Candice asked.

“I don’t know any more about it than I knew yesterday,” she replied. “I hope not too much longer.”

“We hope that, too,” Candice told her. “This gentleman here is our attorney, Matt Schindenwulfe. There are some things that we need to go over with you. I think we’d better wake Cody up since he needs to be in on this discussion. John, while he’s waking up, maybe you could go down to the cafeteria and get coffee for all of us. Does coffee sound good to you, Janice?”

“I’d love some,” she said. “All these people seem to want to give me is milk. Cream and sugar, please.”

“OK,” John said. “I think I know how everyone else wants it. Back as quick as I can.”

While John was gone, they woke Cody up and gave him a chance to pull himself together, while they just talked in pleasantries and general terms. Once John returned, Matt started talking to Janice. “I think I’ve seen you around town now and then,” Matt began, “but I know you don’t know me. While I was talking with John and Candice last night, some issues came up that need to be discussed. Now, Janice, I want you to understand that I’m here at their request to act in your interest and in everyone’s mutual interest. I haven’t even talked to Mr. and Mrs. Archer about this yet, but I’m taking your case pro bono, which in English means that I’m doing it for free. To make a long story short, we feel that it’s in your best interest to not be named a ward of the court and be taken under the wing of Family and Children’s Services. In fact, we’re concerned that it could cost you a great deal.”

“I didn’t think it was going to be that complicated,” she protested.

“It doesn’t have to be, but it could get complicated if we don’t take steps to prevent it,” Matt explained. “The main problem is that there are going to be some decisions that have to be made between now and the time you turn eighteen. Since you’re not an adult yet, someone else is going to have to be responsible for making those decisions. There’s a chance that your best interests might not be served if someone else is making them.”

“I’d be perfectly willing to let Mr. and Mrs. Archer make them,” she replied. “I trust them.”

“Knowing them as well as I do,” Matt told her, “I’d trust them, too. But if we don’t make the right moves quickly, it could happen that someone else will wind up making those decisions, someone named by Family and Children’s Services, and there’s no guarantee that those decisions will be in your best interest. For example, you might not be aware of it, but there will be some property coming to you, which represents some money. Your house, for example.”

“I don’t want it,” she said angrily. “I don’t want to go there and don’t even care if I never see it again. All I want are the pictures of my mother, and some clothes. I can tell someone where to find them.”

“I understand thoroughly,” Matt replied. “But that doesn’t take care of the house. If it’s sold for cash, then you could have that cash to use for college expenses or something.”

“I don’t know if I’m going to college,” she said in a distant voice. “I don’t know what I want to do.”

“That’s not a decision that you have to make now,” Matt said gently, “but for the moment, let’s just think that the house represents money to you. If you are in charge of it, then it’s yours to do with as you want. If someone else is in charge, then they might decide that money could be used for other purposes that affect you. For instance, in a few days someone is going to ask you what you want to do with your father and brother’s bodies. What are you going to tell them?”

“How about just using the nearest dumpster,” she replied bitterly. “That’s all they deserve.”

“Unfortunately, the state won’t allow that,” he replied with a smile. “There are a couple low-cost options, but that’s not one of them. If you have control of that money, you could choose one of them. However, if someone else is in control, they could decide that it’s in your best interest to use those funds to have a big, expensive funeral.” He saw her tense up and get set to explode, and continued rapidly, if still gently. “I don’t think I have to ask your opinion about that one. Now, that might not happen, and probably wouldn’t, but it wouldn’t be your decision, either way.”

“That sucks,” she replied.

“That’s right,” he agreed. “Especially since you’re so close to being an adult anyway. Now, if you were twelve, this wouldn’t be an option, but at seventeen, things are a little different. Last night, I told Mr. and Mrs. Archer that the simplest and cheapest answer I can come up with is to petition the court for your emancipation. That would make you an adult and give you the ability and responsibility to make those decisions.”

“I can actually do that?” she said wide-eyed.

“Yes, you can,” he told her. “The sticky point is that it will have to be done quickly to avoid problems with Family and Children’s Services, but I think I can arrange to get it done the first thing Monday morning, if they will let you out of here so you can be in court. There are a couple other things I need to do, such as preparing a motion to have Mr. and Mrs. Archer named your legal guardian in case the court doesn’t agree to the petition, but I doubt that Judge Dieball will deny it.”

“Then let’s do it,” she said. “For years I’ve counted the days until I could be free of them. I’ll be grateful to Cody for the rest of my life for getting me away from them, but from what you tell me I’m not going to be totally free until I’m an adult. As far as I’m concerned, the sooner, the better.”

Matt shook his head. “I can’t say as I blame you in the slightest,” he said with a warm, understanding tone in his voice.

“But you have to remember that you are still what you have been, and some of that won’t be easy to change. Some of it, you may not want to. Getting rid of some of those things may not be easy, but you’re going to have some help doing it.”

“I know,” she said. “I mean, it still seems like a dream in a way that this could happen to me. Cody, you realize that you really are my guardian angel, don’t you?”

“I keep telling you, I’m no angel,” he smiled. “I’m just Cody.”

“You’re my angel, and you’ll never convince me otherwise. How else could all these nice things have happened to me? I’m going to owe you my life forever.”

Candice was busy for the rest of the morning. She and John hung around until Janice’s doctor showed up, and she pressed him on the issue of when the girl would be allowed to go home. At first, he was very reluctant, even with the prospect of her having to be in court on Monday morning. “I can’t give you a positive answer until tomorrow,” he said finally. “At that, you’re going to have to have daily visits from a home health care nurse, and be under a local doctor’s care.”

“I can arrange for that,” Candice promised him. “Actually, over and beyond the injuries, there’s some other health issues I want to run by my own doctor anyway.”

“Anyone I know?” the doctor asked.

“Dr. Gene Metarie has been our family physician for years,” Candice told him.

“Shovelhead, huh?” the doctor replied, with tone in his voice that the logjam had clearly been broken. “I know him; if he can’t handle whatever comes up no one up there can.”

“Doctor Shovelhead?” Janice asked. “Mom used to take me to him when she was still alive. He’s cool!”

“Only kids get to call him that,” Candice grinned. “You’re old enough now that you ought to call him ‘Dr. Metarie’ when you’re in his office. If you see him out on the street, especially in his biker leathers, then you can call him ‘Shovelhead’ like everyone else does.”

Candice shook her head at the memory of meeting the rough looking, bearded, leather-clad biker and Lex, his heavily tattooed wife, a nationally known artist – and the Mayor of Spearfish Lake. She’d been surprised to discover that he played an excellent violin, but hadn’t thought much about it until she’d taken Cody to Dr. Metarie’s office and discovered that Shovelhead was actually Dr. Metarie, the leading physician in Spearfish Lake. The nickname came from the antique Harley he liked to ride on his time off. He proved to be easy going and friendly as a physician, and Candice trusted him implicitly, and so did a good many other people in Spearfish Lake.

With that hurdle seemingly passed and the doctor on his way to his next patient, Candice got on to the next item. “Janice,” she said, “what’s your clothing sizes?”

“I really don’t know,” she said a little dispirited. “All my clothes are hand-me-downs from the neighbors, or came from the Goodwill Store.”

“Well, we can’t take you home dressed in what you had on when you came down here,” Candice replied flatly. “You’ve got to be wearing something more than a blanket, so I’ll just have to guess on sizes. I’ll get you a couple decent outfits, plus some pajamas. You won’t be needing more than that for a few days, and by then we can go do some serious shopping for something that will look good on you.”

“Mrs. Archer . . . uh, Candice,” Janice said haltingly, tears again coming to her eyes, “do you mean it?”

“Of course I meant it; I said it, didn’t I?” Candice replied reassuringly. “John and Cody, go get lost for a minute. I want to get a better look at Janice so I can guess on sizes better. I can’t tell under that blanket.”

“All right,” Cody said. “You want another cup of coffee? Jan, how about you?”

“I’ll pass,” Candice told him.

“Yes, please,” Janice said. “The one you brought me this morning tasted very good.”

“Back in a few,” he said, heading for the door.

“I guess I’ll get in the Escort and head for home,” John said. “I’ll get started on moving Shay’s stuff to the little bedroom.”

“That’ll help,” Candice agreed. “See you later.”

After he left, Candice turned to the girl in the bed. “This won’t take long,” she said. “But it will help me shopping.”

“Candice,” Janice protested. “You don’t really have to do this, you know?”

“Nonsense,” Candice said. “It’s no fun shopping for clothes for boys of any age. I’ve never been able to seriously shop for clothes for a girl, and you’re not going to get out of letting me have that fun.”

“You’re so good to me,” the girl sniffed as Candice folded back the covers. Her body really wasn’t much to look at; there were still lots of bruises plus bandages here and there, and Candice could see that was going to be an issue for a while. But looking past the surface, the girl was very thin, to the point of being emaciated, and Candice didn’t think anorexia was to blame. “You haven’t been eating very well, have you?” Candice said.

“No,” she said. “There’s not been . . . well, enough to eat. I ate what I could.”

“We’re going to have to do something about that, too,” Candice said, eyeing the girl and guessing sizes. As underweight as she was, Candice guessed that she could do without a bra now, but maybe not after she got a few pounds on. Beyond that, she just needed to buy clothes that allowed some room for expansion. They might look a little baggy to start but she doubted Janice would mind. Given some time and some help, Janice could be turned into a pretty good looking girl. “A lot of people consider thin to be attractive, but you’re beyond the limits of that. But, I’ll tell you, it’s easier to gain weight than it is to lose it. What do you like to eat?”

“Whatever I can,” the girl told her. “Everything they’ve brought me here at the hospital has been wonderful.”

If hospital food was wonderful by her standards, Candice thought, she was going to be in for a real treat come Christmas. “At least you’re going to be easier to cook for than John,” she smiled. “He gets a little picky, but fortunately what he likes is pretty good. I don’t think you’re going to be disappointed.”

After Cody came back with the coffee, Candice left to go shopping. Reasoning that there wasn’t any point in buying too nice at this stage, especially with Janice’s sizes unsure and likely to change, she just headed for the nearest big box store and started buying. It didn’t take long to find some nice looking slacks, a couple of blouses, some pajamas, a camisole, panties, a warm looking sweater, socks, some cheap shoes, and some other odds and ends, which included a cheap suitcase and a bathrobe. She headed back up to Janice’s hospital room with the haul to show off what she had purchased. She was delighted in the girl’s joy in getting new clothes. It had been a long time since the girl had seen new clothes – before her mother died – and Candice was touched by the response.

“Well,” Candice said finally, “I guess I’d better be getting back. I’ve still got to get Shay’s room ready for you. Cody, I’m going to need your help with that mess.”

“Can’t he stay?” Janice asked. “I mean, you’ve been very nice and all, but I still can’t quite believe this is real and that I’m going to wake up.”

“Cody, what do you think about it?” Candice asked.

“I’d just as soon stay,” Cody told her. “I think it might be better for Janice if I did. I don’t want to leave her alone and worried that I might not come back, especially if she’s going to be in good enough shape to go home tomorrow.”

“And besides, you know what a mess Shay’s room is and you want to avoid the work,” Candice teased. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to get done what we can without you.”

A few minutes later, Candice was in the minivan and on the road again, thinking about what had to be done. While she was sure there were still going to be some issues with Shay about the summer job and the future in general, at least he’d signed off on giving up his room. Of course, there was still the problem of getting him a car, but that was something that was going to have to be worked out with John, and maybe not till spring. By then they were likely to have some idea what the other issues were.

More important, in her mind, was how close Cody and Janice seemed to be getting. For kids who really didn’t know each other all that well only a few days ago they seemed very close – maybe too close. Janice seemed very dependent on having Cody close to her. Given what had happened, that was understandable. Cody, however, concerned her, and for more reason than his being her son. Was the attention he was giving her a result of guilt on his part, guilt for taking her family away from her, just plain guilt from having to kill and seeking redemption? He’d said he felt responsible for her, and he was showing his concern. Hopefully, when the two of them were living at home they’d give each other a little space.

Whatever the case, it didn’t seem like it was a sexual attraction or even a romantic attraction – not saying that it might not happen in time, but it didn’t appear to be right now, unlike Shay and Bethany. She knew Bethany and, when you got right down to it, wasn’t all that impressed with her; the girl seemed rather bossy and demanding, and there had been some times that things hadn’t gone all that well between the two. She’d been relieved when the two went to different colleges, and she had hopes that each of them could find someone else while they were separated, but apparently that hadn’t happened yet. It would be interesting to see what happened over break.

But with Cody and Janice it was too early to tell, too early to make a judgment. At least nothing seemed likely to happen right away, and the dynamic could change once they got to know each other. We’re just going to have to cross that bridge when we get to it, she thought.

“It’s time you got out of that bed and walked a little,” the nurse told Janice.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” the middle-aged woman smiled. “I’m your nurse, after all. We would have had you up and around earlier, but you had visitors.”

“Cody’s a visitor,” she teased.

“I know better,” the pleasant woman with the short blonde hair teased back. “Cody is my assistant, for now. We’re going to get you all set up. You’ll have to take your IV stand with you, but we’ll let him worry about that. I see they brought you a bathrobe.”

“Yes, Cody’s mother did,” Janice smiled. “It was very nice of her.”

“It’s very nice for you,” the nurse teased. “That means you won’t have to go walking down the hallway with your bare fanny hanging out in the breeze. Of course, Cody may not think that.”

“You’d really make me do that?” Janice giggled.

“Sure, this is a hospital. We make you do all kinds of things you don’t want to do. Now, can you sit up by yourself?”

“Oh, yes,” Janice giggled again. “Cody has even helped me to the bathroom a couple times.”

“In your hospital gown?” the nurse asked. “I guess that means that he’s already checked out your rear end.”

“Hey, I’ve been good,” Cody protested. “I haven’t snuck a peek.”

“Are you sure you’re a teenage boy?” the nurse laughed. “Was she walking without too much trouble?”

“It seemed to me she got along if she leaned on me,” he said. “I offered to carry her but she said it would hurt too much.”

“Well, yes, I can understand that,” the nurse smiled. “Anyway, Janice, you know the drill. Now, let’s get you walking.”

It proved that Janice could walk, if unsteadily. The nurse watched for a few steps, then said, “Maybe you’d like a cane. It might help you walk a little better. I could go get you one.”

“It might help,” the girl said.

Janice could walk a lot more steadily with the cane. With Cody dragging the IV stand, she made it down to the end of the hall and back without too much difficulty. “You’re right,” she said. “That actually makes me feel better. Maybe I’ve been lying in the bed for too long.”

“I’m sure you have,” the nurse said. “Would you like to walk some more?”

“Yes,” Janice smiled. “It actually feels kind of good.”

“Good,” the nurse said. “If you’re tired of looking at the inside of your room, and you feel up to it, maybe Cody could take you down to the cafeteria for something to eat.”

It took a while to get Janice down to the cafeteria. It really wasn’t that far – Cody figured less than a hundred yards to walk – but she was happy to just plop down in a chair and rest when she got there. “I’ll be glad to go get something for you,” he told her. “Anything in particular you’d like?”

“No, whatever you have will be fine,” she smiled. “I trust you.”

Cody told her that he thought that the hamburgers and fries were mediocre the day before, but that the beef and noodles had looked pretty good. “That all right with you?” he asked.

“Sure, like I said, whatever you decide.”

It turned out that the cafeteria had the beef and noodles again, and again they smelled pretty good, so he got good portions on a couple of plates. Reasoning that they should have some vegetables, he decided on some mixed vegetables that didn’t look that appealing, and threw in a plate of macaroni salad for each of them, along with the cherry pie and chocolate milk. Amazingly, the bill wasn’t too bad. He carried the overfull tray back to the table where Janice waited and started to set things down in front of her.

“That’s a lot of food,” she said wide-eyed as he passed the plates around. “Is that all for me?”

“You don’t have to eat it all if you don’t want to,” he told her. “I was just guessing. It’s not steak, but it looked pretty good. Better than the cafeteria at school, anyway.”

“Then it’s got to be pretty good,” she said. “I think the school cafeteria meals are pretty good. I don’t know what I’d have done without them.”

Cody wanted to roll his eyes, but kept his face impassive. If she thought the school cafeteria meals were good, everything else that she’d had to eat had to have been pretty terrible, which made him understand why she was so thin. Over the course of the last day or so he’d come to realize that life for her had been even worse than he’d initially understood. “I think you’ll find this is better,” he said. “And you’ll find that Mom’s cooking is better yet.”

“I can hardly wait,” she said. “Thank you so much for buying me lunch. You’re just unbelievably good to me, Cody.”

“No big deal,” he told her.

“Cody, just you taking me out to lunch is a big deal,” she sighed. “Do you realize that this is the closest to a date I’ve ever had?”

It was not really that surprising to Cody, considering what he’d learned. “This isn’t really a date,” he smiled. “When you get better, I’ll have to see what I can do about taking you out on a real date.”

“You’d do that? For me?” she said with amazement as she started in on the food. “Oh, of course you would. You’re my guardian angel after all. Cody, this is the nicest meal I’ve had in a long time. I never dreamed that something like this could ever happen to me.”

“I keep telling you I’m not your guardian angel,” he smiled at her, “and I’m not. I’m not going to be able to be with you or watching over you all the time. I don’t mind doing it right now since you’re alone and hurting, but we can’t go on like this forever.”

“I know,” she sighed. “But it makes me feel so safe that I wish it could.”

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