Free Done Being Friends by Trisha Grace

could never get into such exchanges that Faith and Zac always had. He didn’t understand the humor within and always thought Zac didn’t care enough about Faith to solve her problems; for he only teased her about them.
    Faith shrugged nonchalantly. “No, no, it’s fine. They’ll probably just give me a ticket.”
    Standing up, Dylan stretched out his hand. “Give me the keys.”  
    “Dylan, she can afford the ticket. She has too much money and nowhere to spend it.” That got him another jab. Zac was trying to lighten the mood, but Dylan seemed determined to be dense about it.
    Faith didn’t think it was a big deal, but that was Dylan; needing to fix everything to make it perfect. She dug into her handbag and handed him the keys.
    When the door closed behind him, Zac spoke again, “Actually, I think you skillfully took up three parking spots. I’m not sure how you did it, but I’m pretty sure it’s three.”
    “I’m that good huh?” she said as she leaned onto his shoulders.  
    His hand draped across her shoulders protectively, holding her firm. “I cannot tell you what will happen in the coming weeks, but I promise I’ll be right beside you when you need me. In turn, I want you to promise me something.”
    Faith closed her eyes and spoke without moving. “What is it?”
    “Call me. No matter the time, no matter if you know I’m busy. I want you to call me right away when you need anything, even if you’re just hungry and need someone to deliver food to you, call me. I don’t want to hear that something happened to you through another person’s mouth.”
    “But...”
    “No buts.” Zac sat up straight and turned to face Faith. “If I can be beside you 24/7, I will be. But I cannot. When I heard about what happened from George, I was so worried about you that I couldn’t think of anything else. I want to be here for you; I will protect you, help you or whatever you need, but you need to let me know.”
    Taking her hand into his, he sighed softly. “You were always there for me when things went wrong; let me be here for you now.”
    She nodded.  
    “Promise me,” he urged.
    “I promise.”
    At eight the next morning, the ambulance from the private hospital arrived. Faith shooed both Dylan and Zac home before driving behind the ambulance to the private hospital. Once they arrived, she made sure that her father was well taken care of before following another nurse to meet Doctor Leran.  
    Entering the room, she saw her mother and grandmother seated in the chair. Both their eyes were red and swollen; obviously, no one had gotten any sleep last night.  
    They waited for quite awhile before Doctor Leran came in. “Good morning Faith, ladies.” He wasted no time and immediately dived into the scans that he had seen. “I have arranged for another scan later this morning, but right now, it looks like the heart bypass is necessary.
    The discussion with Doctor Leran lasted nearly an hour. Throughout the whole time, Faith just sat and listened, nodding every now and then. The whole event seemed so surreal, just a few days ago; she was having breakfast at her house with her father at the very same time. She could still remember the conversation they had and the laughter they had shared.
    Yet there she was, listening to how her father would be cut opened and how his heart would have to be stopped when the actual bypass happened.  
    As they stepped out of the room, she felt a pair of cold hands on her shoulders. “You should go home and rest, dear.”
    “No, I can stay, I’m fine.”  
    “No, you’re not. You need to go home and rest,” her mother insisted.
    “Yes, go home and rest, dear. We’ll stay with your father.”  
    Knowing that they wouldn’t allow her to stay and coupled with the fact that she was completely exhausted, she nodded.  
    On her drive home, she couldn’t stand thinking about the surgery her father was going to go through. Each time her thoughts wandered to the