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Episode 12: The Phone Call
It's just another average day in the world of Hannah and her friends, except today young Amanda finds herself with a case of hiccups, something that's rather uncommon for her. Of course, that's something that is not at all uncommon for Hannah, as she continues to demonstrate. It all seems to progress smoothly until the shocking conclusion changes everything. Enjoy reading! --The Author
It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon in the small country town. A bright sun shone through the dirty window of 17-year-old Hannah Jamison's room, as she looked out onto the street. "How did this get so dirty?" she asked herself. Spraying some glass cleaner on it, she began wiping it clean. Yes, it was cleaning day for Hannah. Although the house in which she and her father lived was very much "low-class", and Mr. Jamison did nothing to improve it, Hannah insisted on keeping it as clean as reasonably possible. She had spent a good part of the day scrubbing, vacuuming, and sweeping various parts of the house, and now that she was almost finished, it looked surprisingly nice.
Hannah raised the window and reached outside to clean the upper pane of glass. As she struggled into a rather contorted position, trying to reach the top of the window, a sharp hiccup threw her back a little. She laughed a little at herself as she hiccupped again moments later. "They're back," she said aloud, although no one else was around. She had gotten hiccups a couple times earlier in the morning, but those cases had both been surprisingly short; now that they were back, she wondered how long they would last this time.
Nearly an hour later, the cleaning was finished, but Hannah's hiccups were still going strong. They were so loud today! Now that the cleaning was done, she decided she would give her boyfriend Chris a call. She knew he would love to hear from her, especially since she had the hiccups again, and she was a little tired of hearing nothing but her hiccups echoing through the otherwise silent house, anyway.
She was surprised to hear Chris answer the phone himself.
"Hey honey, it's me," she replied to his greeting.
"Oh, hey! How are you doing sweetie?" he answered happily.
"I'm *HUCK* doing ok; I've got like the *HUCK* world's loudest hiccups right now!" she laughed, and hiccupped again.
"Aww, that's so sweet of you to call me with them!" he said with obvious excitement. "How long have you had them now?"
"Oh man, like *HUCK* an hour now; *hic* I've been *HUCK* cleaning a little, and they *HURK* they've just gotten harder *HUCK* and harder."
They talked for a few minutes, until Chris suggested, "Hey, if you're done working there, why don't you come over and we can hang out for a little bit? It's just me and Amanda here right now, the others have gone out."
"Sure, I'd *HUCK* love to!" Hannah agreed gleefully. "As long as *HUCK* no one's trying to take *hic* a nap or *HUCK* anything."
Chris laughed. "You'd definitely wake them up, wouldn't you? But nope, no one's napping. And it would be a shame to let such good hiccups go to waste, wouldn't it!"
"*HUCK* That's right!" Hannah giggled. "I'll be over soon! *HUCK* Love you!"
"Love you too sweetie, can't wait to see you."
"Bye!" In just a couple minutes Hannah was ready to go, and began the walk to the Beloits' house. Just to be certain that her disagreeable father didn't get angry with her for not being there when he got home, she wrote up a quick note saying she was at the Beloits' and promising she would be back by 8. Considering how violent he could get when he was angry at her for even the silliest little reasons, leaving a note was definitely a very good idea.
It seemed like almost everyone she passed on the sidewalk gave her strange looks as she loudly hiccupped every few seconds. Stopping at an intersection, a well-dressed man who was also waiting for the traffic to clear gave her a similar look. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Oh yeah, *HUCK* I'm fine, it's just hic-*ULP* hiccups! I get th-*HUCK*-em all the time. *HUCK* Loud, aren't they?" she laughed.
"I'll say!" he agreed. "You should try holding your breath, I hear that works."
"Nah, *HUCK*" she disagreed. "Nothing stops my *HUCK* hiccups. I had them once f-*hic* for a whole *HUCK* week!"
The light changed, and while they crossed the street, the man asked, "Why, I think I've met you. Didn't Mrs. Burns from the high school take you to see a Dr. Armstrong once?"
"Yeah, but he *HUCK* couldn't... hey, *HUCK* you're Dr. Armstrong, aren't *HUCK* you?" she said, now recognizing him as well.
"That's me," he said. "Good to see you're still doing well, besides the hiccups, that is."
Hannah smiled. "Yep! Can't *HUCK* complain! And luckily *HUCK* I don't mind th-*hic*-e hiccups. *HIC-ulk* But hey, *HUCK* I'm headed up that *hulk* way," she said, motioning up the street that the Beloits lived on. "So yeah, nice to *HUCK* see you again."
"You too, Miss... Hannah, right?"
"Got it!" she answered. "Have a *HUCK* great day!"
"Same to you," the doctor replied, and they parted ways. "Gosh that's one chipper little girl," he chuckled as he continued on down the street.
* * * * *
In just a few minutes, Hannah was standing at the Beloits' door. Hardly had she pressed the doorbell when she heard a familiar voice from inside saying, "Come in!"
Hannah entered to find Chris and Amanda both in the living room, watching the TV. "Hey sweetie, how are you?" Chris asked as he rose from the couch and gave her a hug.
"I'm doing *HUCK* great! How about y'all? *hic* What are you *HUCK* watching?" she replied. Sitting down together with Chris, she quickly answered her own question. "Oh I should *HUCK* have known. *hic-ulk* You and your Br-*HUCK*-aves games!"
"Of course!" Chris responded. "They're playing in Saint Louis today."
"And it *HUCK* looks like they're w-*HUCK* winning!" Hannah noted, seeing the 6-2 advantage on the on-screen scoreboard.
"Yeah, Chipper Jones hit another *hmmk* home run!" Amanda cheered, looking up from her position on the floor in front of the couch.
"Awesome! *HIC-ulk* But don't tell me *HUCK* you have the *HUCK* hiccups too, sweetheart!" Hannah laughed.
"Yeah I do, *hulk* I've had them like all *hic* freakin' afternoon," Amanda complained. "I really wish they'd *hic* stop." She made a cute little pout, laid her head on the couch pillow she had with her on the floor, and then hiccupped once again. When Amanda got the hiccups, although it wasn't very often, they wouldn't stop for anything, and would usually last for hours on end, coming back continually for a couple days before vanishing without a trace. Since they had first come on the evening before, it could still be a while before they would stop for good.
The three talked and relaxed for a while, with Hannah and Amanda both hiccupping as if they would never stop. Although his younger sister's hiccups hardly excited him as much as Hannah's, Chris still found it pretty incredible to have two hiccupping girls in the same room with him! Between that and the presence of his beautiful girlfriend, he wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the game on the TV screen!
But Amanda, a pretty big fan of the team herself, was, and when Chipper Jones came to the plate again, she announced, "Chipper is *huck* up again! Maybe he'll *hic* hit another home *hic-cup* home run!"
"Wow, bases loaded, too," Chris added.
For once they paid attention to the TV announcer's voice as he gave the play-by-play. "And the 2-1 pitch is looped into right-center field. Grudzielanek is going out, Edmonds coming in - that ball might get down! Grudzielanek looks back over his shoulder and - oh! That didn't look good at all!" the announcer shouted as the two players collided painfully, leaving them both lying on the ground as the ball rolled harmlessly away.
"Oh my God!" Hannah exclaimed. "Are *HUCK* they ok?"
It appeared that Edmonds was only a bit shaken up, as he staggered to his feet shortly after the shortstop rushed out to retrieve the ball. The injuries to the infielder, however, seemed to be a little more serious.
"Man, *HUCK* why don't they like *HUCK* see or hear the other g-*HUCK*-uy coming?" Hannah wondered, watching the medical personnel hovering around the injured Grudzielanek.
"Oh it's *hic* hard," Amanda, who was on their school's very talented girls' softball team, explained. "You're like *hic* concentrating so hard on getting th-*hmmk* getting the ball that *hic-cup* you don't notice anyone else. *hic* Plus, for them, it's *huck* so noisy with the crowd. *huck* I ran into Ellie once last *hic* year the same way. *huck* It really hurts, too!"
"I bet it does," Hannah agreed. "Hey, how come it's 8-2 now?" she asked, noticing the change in score.
Chris had to laugh, "Well honey," he responded, "They don't stop running just because the fielders got hurt! So two of the guys that were on base scored."
"Oh, duh, I'm stupid," Hannah giggled sheepishly. After a few moments, she suddenly realized, "Whoa, my hiccups stopped! That's weird, I expected them to last a lot longer."
Chris was a little bit disappointed at that, but apparently not as much as Amanda, who suggested, "Man, you *hmk* wanna take mine instead? *huck* They're about to *huck* drive me crazy!"
"Aww poor thing," Hannah cooed with mock sympathy. "I think I'm gonna let you hang onto them, though."
"Arrrgh... *hurk*"
They returned their attention to the TV just in time to see the next batter produce "a drive, deep to left field. That one's way out of here! That makes it eleven to two."
Hannah nudged Chris and asked, "Ok, it's 11-2 in the eighth, you think maybe we can turn it to something else now? Oh yeah! Could we watch that new movie you said you had rented?"
"Obviously you haven't seen the Braves' bullpen lately," he joked, but figuring that even they could hold a nine-run lead, he agreed to turn off the game. "You remember where the movie is, Mandy?"
"Yeah, I think it's *hmk* in my room. I'll g-*huck* I'll go get it!" She bounced to her feet, and went to look.
Soon a loud clatter coming from Amanda's room, punctuated by the sound of her constant hiccups, confirmed that the search for the movie was on, and was going perhaps a little less smoothly than expected. "You think she's all right in there?" Hannah laughed. Then she turned a little and laid back into Chris's arms. Looking up at him, she yawned and said, "Man, I'm like really tired all of the sudden."
"Aww, were you really busy today, sweetie?" he asked, holding her closer.
"Heck yeah, I like cleaned the whole house! Between that and all the hiccupping, I guess I tired myself out!"
Chris leaned down to kiss his girlfriend's forehead. "Well if you want to lie down for a little bit, we can watch the movie later on," he suggested.
"Oh no, don't worry about it. I'll be fine!" Hannah assured him. Again they kissed, this time squarely on the lips.
"Hey! *hmk* Y'all cut that out! *hic*" Amanda interrupted, as she returned to the living room, movie in hand. "I can't e-*hic* even leave y'all alone *huck* for one minute, h-*hic* huh?" she teased.
"Oh stop playing miss righteous and put the movie in!" Chris retorted.
Amanda didn't take long to get the movie going. As she was about to return to her previous position on the floor, Hannah suggested, "You wanna sit up here with us, sweetheart? I'll scoot over a little and make some room for you." Amanda cheerfully agreed, and the happy boyfriend, sleepy girlfriend, and relentlessly hiccupping little sister settled in to enjoy the movie.
Little by little, Hannah's position became less of sitting between Chris and Amanda, and more like lying across Chris's lap. It was barely half an hour into the movie that Amanda looked down at her and whispered to Chris, "Aww, *huck* look, she's asleep!" Neither of them had the heart to wake her, so they just let her sleep as they continued to enjoy the movie.
A little later, Chris noticed that his sleeping girlfriend was gently bouncing periodically. Somehow she had started hiccupping again - in her sleep! She was always so beautiful when she slept anyways, and here on top of that, she had gotten the cutest little case of hiccups right in the middle of her nap! Even Amanda had to agree that Hannah's sleep-induced hiccups were totally adorable.
Hannah's gentle, rhythmic bouncing didn't awaken her, though. Neither did the extra noise that began when Mrs. Beloit and Sarah returned from their little shopping trip. Amanda got up from the couch, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl as she went to help her mom and sister bring in things from the car. When Amanda emerged from the house, Sarah looked up from the trunk where she was gathering things to take in.
"Oh hey Mandy, you want to help me bring this stuff in?" Sarah asked.
"OK," Amanda said, grabbing a few bags to take in. "What *hic* did y'all get? *huck*"
"Well, most of this stuff is just groceries," Sarah laughed. "Oh but we did go to the mall and I got the cutest little skirt and shirt; I'll have to show them to you when we're all done here."
"Oh cool, *hic* I want to see *hic* it!" Amanda replied enthusiastically.
"So what have you two been up to all this time?" Sarah asked as they both walked to the door, loaded with as many bags as they could carry.
Amanda giggled, "No good, of *huck* course! Well, *hic* Hannah's here; we've b-*hic* been watching a mo-*hulk* watching a movie, but *hic* she fell a-*huck* asleep."
"Oh, Hannah came over? I bet Chris is happy about that," Sarah teased, just as they passed where he sat with the sleeping Hannah. He conveniently failed to hear them, though. "Aww, Amanda honey, you still have the hiccups don't you?" she asked sympathetically, returning her attention to her younger sister. "Have they stopped at all?"
"Nope, *huck* I wish!" the hiccupping girl replied unhappily. "They *hic* don't hurt or *huck* anything, but after *hic* like what, six *huck* six hours, gosh th-*huck* they're annoying!"
Amanda made it a point to show Mrs. Beloit and Sarah how cute Hannah was sleeping in Chris's arms, quietly hiccupping. They had barely come to look, though, when her unconscious hiccups stopped, and she awoke, a little confused.
"Hey, how come y'all are - oh, I must have fallen asleep..." she mumbled. Looking sleepily over at the television, where the movie's ending credits were already scrolling, she asked, "Oh man, did I sleep that long?"
"Yeah, you've been sleeping for like an hour and a half, honey," Chris answered gently.
"Aww, I'm so sorry!" Hannah apologised. "I told you I'd stay awake, too."
"No, don't worry about it, we didn't mind," he assured her. "And you are so adorable when you sleep, too, you know."
"Oh whatever!" she laughed as she stretched a little and sat back up on the couch.
It wasn't long before, with the help of both Amanda and Hannah, Mrs. Beloit had prepared a little dinner, and they all sat down to eat. After a prayer for the food, and for safe travels for Mr. Beloit, who was on his way home from a business trip, they began serving up the meal. Knowing that Amanda might not be able to eat much with her hiccups, Mrs. Beloit suggested that she didn't have to stay at the table if she didn't want to.
"It's all *hic* right," Amanda said. "I don't think *huck* I'll be able to e-*hic* eat, but I'll stay *huck* around anyways."
For a few minutes, the table conversation centered on those constant hiccups that had practically taken over Amanda's day. Even Hannah, who was quite familiar with long hiccup cases herself, felt bad for her sweet young friend, who was obviously quite a bit more irritated with them than she herself almost ever got. She was amazed, nonetheless, by how cheerful and unagitated Amanda acted, despite the fact that the hiccups were getting increasingly bothersome for her.
After the meal was finished, with Amanda only eating a few morsels of food before deciding it was just too hard with the hiccups, they cleared off the table. Hannah - who, thanks to the food, had started up with yet another hiccup case of her own - and Chris went upstairs so he could show her some pictures he had taken recently. After helping straighten up the dining room, Sarah went to her room to be alone for a while. She still hadn't really recovered from her sudden, shocking break-up with Nathan, and although she tried her best not to let it show, it was still tearing her up inside.
It seemed like everything reminded her of him, when thinking of all the precious love that they had shared was the last thing she wanted to do. As much as she loved shopping, with every piece of clothing she had looked at, she couldn't help but think of what Nathan would say about it, and the style he liked best on her. When they ate supper, she thought of exactly what he would have chosen to eat. Even Amanda's hiccups brought to mind how he would smile and hold her closer when she would get them for him. It wasn't that she hated him for what he had done: she certainly had immediately after the fact, but she had quickly realized that he hadn't meant to hurt her; he had just let his passions go too far. She just felt betrayed, demeaned, incredibly hurt, and even a little unloved. Nathan's love had meant so much to her, but now it seemed like that apparent love had been for all the wrong reasons. These were the kinds of thoughts she suffered, pondered, and cried over as she sat alone in her room.
Despite her best attempts to hide her pain, Mrs. Beloit and Amanda both knew that Sarah was having a really rough time of it, and as they washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen together, they talked about how they could help her feel better. But the more they discussed it, the more helpless they both felt. There was nothing they could do to bring Nathan back, and even if they could, Sarah's trust in him was clearly broken, perhaps irreparably.
It wasn't long before they had all the cleanup work finished. Mrs. Beloit greatly appreciated Amanda's willing help, as well as the love and sympathy she could see that Amanda had for her older sister. Although of course, she loved all her children equally and immensely, Amanda had always held a special place in Mrs. Beloit's heart. She was the 'baby' of the family, and while Sarah had grown up as more of a "daddy's girl", little Amanda stayed close to her mommy, and their mother-daughter relationship had grown amazingly strong. Mrs. Beloit loved Amanda's sweet, caring disposition, and was so proud of her, as of course she was of each of her children.
When Mrs. Beloit went into the living room to watch the nightly news, Amanda and her hiccups went into Dad's little office, where she decided to get on the computer for a little while. She was also expecting her friend Chrissy to call soon, so she figured the office would be a good place to answer the phone and talk. While she waited, though, she chatted online with some of her other friends from school. When Anthony, one of the boys she was friends with in her class, greeted her with a "what's up?", her reply went something along the lines of "not much, i'm doin ok but i gots awful hiccups, i've had them like yea.. all day". He, as well as the other friends she talked to, was sympathetic, but she knew none of the cures they offered would work, so there really wasn't much any of them could do. She was amused, though, when Anthony told her it was cute when she got the hiccups. Her response? "well duh, im alwayz cute, rite?!"
Amanda's chatting with her friends was interrupted when the phone rang. Figuring it was either the friend she was expecting, or her dad, the hiccupping girl picked it up and answered cheerily, "Hello, *hic* Beloits' residence. *huck*"
It was neither Chrissy nor Mr. Beloit on the line. The deep male voice said, "Hello, my name is Robert Cutshaw; I'm with the county sherriff's office. Is a Miss Jamison there?"
Amanda was shocked to hear a policeman on the phone, for Hannah none the less! "Um, *hic-ulk* er.. yeah, she *hic* she is here, is *hic* something um.. *huck* is something wrong? *hic*" she stammered between hiccups.
"Yes, it's pretty urgent. May I speak with her, please?" the officer requested.
Without another word to the man on the line, Amanda practically burst from the office. "There's *hic* a police-*huck* man on the *hic* phone and he w-*hic* wants to talk *huck* to Han-*huck* Hannah!" she told her startled mother as she raced past.
"Wait! What does he want?" Mrs. Beloit asked, but trailed off as the oblivious Amanda disappeared up the stairs.
In the hour or more that had passed since supper, Chris and Hannah had run out of pictures to look at, but they had managed to find other things to do! Nothing bad of course, they reasoned - although they sure had done a lot of cuddling and kissing! Chris loved kissing his girlfriend at any time, but when she had the hiccups, as she still did - and bad, too! - it was truly unbelievable. And naturally, Hannah enjoyed it also! They hadn't just been kissing on each other and teasing around all evening, though. Without really having anyone at home to share her feelings with, Hannah found Chris, along with her best friend Juliana, to be someone she could really open up her deepest thoughts and feelings to. Talking a lot had a way of making her hiccups go ever faster, though, so before too long, she had been forced to let Chris do most of the talking, because it was just too much of a pain to try to get many words out between the rapid hiccups!
Hannah loved every minute they spent holding each other close and opening their hearts (as well as their lips!) to one another, but she unwillingly recognized that it was getting close to the time she had promised in her note to be home. The two had finally decided to share one last "good-bye" kiss when Amanda burst into the room. "Oh *hic* come on, *hic* you guys, *huck* stop making *hic-cup* making out!" she exclaimed as the two quickly extricated their tongues from each other's mouthes. Before either of them could respond, she breathlessly continued. "Listen, *huck* there's a po-*huck* policeman on the *hic* phone, and h-*hic* he asked for *huck* you, Hannah."
Amanda handed Hannah the phone and, still sitting on Chris's lap, Hannah bewilderedly answered. "He-*hic* Hello? *hic*"
Now it was the officer's turn to be a little confused. "Yes, uh, have you got Miss Jamison for me?" he asked, apparently mistaking Hannah's hiccup-broken speech for Amanda's.
"Yeah, *hic* this is H-*hic* Hannah," she clarified.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were the same girl," he apologised.
By now Hannah had regained her composure somewhat. "No," she chuckled, "Similar *hic* voice, a-*hic* and si-*hic*-milar hic-*hic*-cups, it's *huck* easy to *hic* get confu-*hic*-sed. But *hic* how did y-*hic* you know to c-*hulk*-all here, any-*hic*-way?"
"My name is Robert Cutshaw and I'm with the county sherriff's office," he began. "We looked for you at your house, but found only a note that suggested that you might be at this number. Do you know a Mr. Robert D. Jamison?" the officer asked.
"Well, *hic* yeah, he's m-*huck* my father," Hannah said. Then she gasped, "Oh no, *hic* what di-*hic* did he do?"
"I'm very sorry to have to tell you, but Mr. Jamison was in a very bad car accident out on Highway 411 just a short time ago. He's in the hospital in town right now, in highly critical condition. As his daughter and nearest relative, we thought you needed to know."
* * * * *
Hannah practically tiptoed into the intensive care room where her father lay. The shock of hearing of his accident had scared her hiccups right out of her, but they had returned just minutes later, so she had kept her hand over her mouth to stifle them as she had walked with Chris and Mrs. Beloit to her father's room. Now, just as she was entering the room, a surprisingly young-looking man in a white lab coat came appeared from behind a curtain and approached her.
As he spoke, his face showed obvious concern and sympathy. "Are you the daughter of Mr. Jamison?"
"Yes, *hmk* I'm Hannah; is *hic* he ok?" she responded worriedly. Even if he was far from the model father, she hardly wanted to see him injured or dying!
"Well, Miss Jamison," he began slowly, "Your father was in a very bad accident, and his injuries are quite serious." Hannah held her hand over her mouth in shock as he continued. "We are obviously doing all we can for him right now, but I'm afraid we may - well, why don't you come in and see him. You might not - you may not have many chances to do that again."
Hannah took a deep breath, trying to contain the mixture of emotions that welled up inside of her. "Is my *hic* father going to d-*huck* die?" she asked quietly.
The doctor took a deep breath of his own before answering, "Yes Hannah, we don't know for sure, but we're afraid he will."
She stood silently in the threshold of the room, her inconsiderate hiccups alone breaking the silence that enveloped her and the doctor, despite the busy activity all around. A tear slipped down her soft cheek, closely chased by another, and another. Just at that moment, Chris stepped rather tentatively to the door. Seeing the tears in his sweetheart's eyes, he gently put his arm around her and held her close to himself. She cried softly onto his shoulder as they stood there for some time.
Finally she spoke: "I want to *hic* see him," she requested.
Hannah gasped when she saw the state her father was in. He looked awful, and the nurses said that his consciousness had been coming and going intermittantly. Hardly a minute had passed, however, when his eyes opened and weakly attempted to focus on the form before him. "Who - who is here?" he asked in a rough, painful voice, obviously confused.
"It's m-*huck* me, Hannah," she answered softly.
"Oh, heh..." he coughed. "Hiccups - should have known."
"Oh daddy, *hic* I'm so -"
He tried to raise his hand, but finally just interrupted her. "Listen Hannah," he said, his voice a little stronger, although he still clearly was far from being all there. "I've been a - well, a crappy father. Been bad to you, to your mother when she was with us - and I guess you've probably hated me for it. I'd probably have hated me for it, if I'd cared enough to. But you won't have to worry about me hurting you any more." He paused to gather some strength, and then continued. "Tim and I agreed long time ago that if something happened to one of us, the other would, well, take up the slack. He and his girl, what's her name, Julia? They'll be better to you than I ever was. You know, I admired him for what he did, cleaning up and being good to that girl. He'll take care of you."
Then he looked up again, at Chris. "You, you're that boyfriend of hers, aren't you?" he growled.
"Uh, yes," Chris stammered.
Mr. Jamison shook his head ever so slightly. "Be good to my girl," he admonished, and then closed his eyes once again.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Amanda waited nervously at home. It was now very late at night, or more accurately, early in the morning. She had talked to her dad when he called, and then talked to her friend Chrissy for more than an hour, and finally gotten back on the computer for a while. Still there was no word from her mom, Chris, and Hannah at the hospital. So she continued to wait. Her hiccups hadn't even come close to quitting, so she couldn't go to bed anyways. She was exhausted: tired from being up so late, tired by nearly a whole day of incessant hiccups, and now very worried about Hannah. She knew how bad Mr. Jamison was to her, and how difficult he had made her childhood, but yet she also knew that Hannah still loved him, in some strange sort of way. She could only wonder how Hannah would react should something really serious have happened to him.
Then finally, the phone rang. "Hello, *huck*" she answered.
"Hi Mandy," Mrs. Beloit greeted her. "Are you doing all right there by yourself?" she asked.
"Uh, *hic* I'm ok," Amanda said in an obviously tired voice. "The *hic* hiccups are still d-*huck* driving me crazy, *huck* but oh well... *hic* So what's *hic* happened to Mr. Jami-*huck* Jamison? And how *hic* is Hannah doing?"
The sound of her mom's voice told it all, but the words only made Amanda more certain of the worst. "She's doing all right, but her father, he - he didn't make it."