“Candy—hey, you didn’t answer the previous question!” Tanya reminds me before tossing the empty protein bar wrapper into the trash bin like a basketball. When it goes in, she cheers, silently raising her hands over her head. And she calledmethe dork last night.
“I like everything sweet. And I choose chocolate over candy every time.”
“But how about Nerds, Swedish Fish, Mike and Ike, Gobstoppers, Lemonheads…would you really toss all those away to have a Snickers bar?”
“I probably would. How do you feel about that?”
“No comment.”
“C’mon, don’t be like that,” I say, humor evident in my voice.
Tanya sticks her tongue out in return before her next question. “I gotta know, pineapple on pizza, yay or nay?”
“Yay.”
“Really?” She questions my quick answer, narrowing her eyes to slits.
“Really!”
“I can’t believe we agree on thatandthe supremacy of burgers over pizzas. How about alcohol or non-alcoholic drinks? Which one do you prefer?”
“It depends, really. I don’t mind drinking water and soda.”
Tanya looks at me with amused wonder. “I sometimes forget that you aren’t from here, not because of your accent, but because I feel like I have known you for a long time. But then you say things likesoda.”
“Oh yeah, you call itCokehere. No matter if it’s a cola drink or not.”
“That’s right; all thanks to the Coca-Cola Company being from the South.”
“I forgot that! So, how about you—booze or something else?”
She taps her pointer finger on her cheek, contemplating it over. “I don’t drink much alcohol, but love having a margarita or other cocktails with friends on a special occasion.”
“Same. I mix the best bourbon-spiked hot apple cider during the holiday season.”
“I can’t wait to try it!” It’s easy to tell the moment she realizes what she just said. “I mean, I bet it tastes great.”
It’s endearing to see her this flustered. Even the idea that she thought for a moment that we would still be in touch months from now makes me smile. “It does, and you’ll get to try it one day.”
“One day sounds like a plan.”
* * *
It’s been an hour since we finished our breakfast—if you can call it that—and we’re both watching the small TV screen in the corner of the room. The nurse came by earlier for one last check and is gone to get my discharge papers.
“If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?”
Tanya turns my way. “Anywhere?”
“Yeah, if money wasn’t an issue, where would you want to travel first?”
“I would love to go to Florida. Oh wait, maybe somewhere warm like Hawaii or Cancun,” she sighs dreamily.
I chuckle at her pure, honest reaction. “You know, it’s a dream, so you don’t only have to choose one place.”
“Then I would say all of them. But first Florida.”
“Why Florida?”
