"Ha!" Hope smiled. "That's the hard part. The rest is easy," she said amused by her own strengths.

"Holy..." Michael whispered from Hope's opened door.

"Michael!" Alex said approaching room 729. "How's Marianna?"

Alex's voice surprised Michael. "Alex!" Michael said looking everywhere but his face as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I uh, was just.... Isabel’s coming," Michael said finally looking at Alex.

"Okay," Alex said trying to figure out why Michael was suddenly acting so strange.

"She's bringing you dinner later," Michael said with his eyes still wide open.

"That's good," Alex said shaking his head. "But, what about Marianna? How is she?"

"About the same," Michael finally spit out. "Gotta go." Michael turned around and virtually ran down the hospital hall.

"Wonder what's bugging him," Alex thought outloud. "Hey!" he smiled walking into Hope's room. "How's the Jell-o in this place?" Alex asked with his hands behind his back.

"Ahhhh.... so, so," Hope smiled wavering her hand back and forth in the air to nonverbally emphasize her "so-so."

"Well, I got something that might cheer up a lonely girl with a broken arm," Alex said moving to sit with Hope on her bed. "Pick a hand."

Hope smiled with anticipation. "Um.....this one!" Hope pointed to Alex's right arm.

Alex pulled his arm from behind his back and opened an empty hand.

Hope's smiled dropped as she looked at his empty hand. "Uncle Alex!" she shouted punching his other arm.

"Okay, okay!" Alex pulled his other arm from behind his back and handed Hope a Barbie doll box. "It just hit the stores!"

"Mommy!" Hope exclaimed taking the box from Alex. She looked at the doll that had tons of curly, blonde hair, bright red lips and long black eyelashes, and spiked high heels. She asked, "But why does she look like this?"

"Well, because it's a doll made to look like Marianna," Alex said looking at Hope's questioning eyes. He realized she had not yet fully grasped the difference between Maria and Marianna.

"But she's not at work," Hope said confused. "She only looks like this when she goes to work. Why does Mommy look like totally different when she’s at work?"

"Hope," Alex said reaching for Hope's locket to demonstrate a point.

"No!" Hope countered pushing Alex's hands away.

"Hope, I just wanted to..." Alex began.

"I'm never taking it off," Hope said caressing the locket. "Not until Mommy's back."

"Okay," Alex said putting his arm around Hope. He understood that Hope needed something to hold on to until she had Maria back. "But until then," Alex began. "You'll have to put up with me!" Alex said raising his hands into the air letting Hope know he was about to attack.