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Katie sat on the back-porch steps of the house on Bannerman road. The people she’d met so far had been friendly enough about trying to get her back home, though she couldn’t help but wonder if she would be here longer than she’d first estimated.  

When the blond man she’d met upon arrival returned her mobile phone after fiddling with it a bit (she had no idea what he’d done to it), she’d tried to call home again, but had gotten Butetown’s Jubilee Pizza delivery line.

Three times.

Katie began to wonder if she hadn’t gone a tad more nutters since finding out she had a brain tumor.

 Coping mechanisms tended to assert themselves in times of stress, and she’d probably start craving a cigarette again soon. Katie had been trying to quit for the past six months, and she’d been good about not smoking for the past few days.  Owen had even managed to tease her some about quitting, even up to the last meeting with Doctor Garrett about her illness.  But Owen wasn’t here, so why not just have one.

She finally pulled a cigarette out of the pack she had with her on the porch and lit it.