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Show 124. "Steph, I can't!" "She says it won't help Chic if you make yourself sick." "I've gotta stay here until we know something. God, he's my best friend and I did this to him." Carol Sue sat down by Stephanie on the black vinyl sofa, her eyes bigger than usual. "Nobody blames you for what happened, JD. It was just a freaky thing. Even Mike Butzow said so last night, didn't he, Stephanie?" JD went back over his own conversation with Mike after they'd raised Chic into the ambulance on the stretcher. He hadn't sounded so charitable then. "What in the hell were you kids doin' out here at midnight, anyway?" Mike had growled. "We were calling in UFO's," JD had said, knowing how insolent it came out. "UFO's?" "Yeah. And I got in a fit and ran down my best friend. See what you can make of that." He'd sounded like a smart-ass all right, but he knew he'd cry otherwise. "Get in there with him," Butzow had ordered. "We'll see the girls get home." And then the bumpy ride out to the road and the lonely stretch to the hospital, holding Chic's hand limp in his own, wishing to God he'd never heard of an unidentified flying object. "No, Stephanie," JD said deliberately, "tell Mom I have to stay here. I may come home tonight to sleep awhile. I want to be here tomorrow when they operate." "Should I go home and get you a sandwich?" "I'm not hungry." "JD," Stephanie said suddenly, shaking his arm, "what about that scholarship stuff?" "Oh, hell!" JD stood up and walked to the bank of windows. What a mess he'd made of everything. Everything! "It's not ready yet. Look," |