Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original characters of Abby and Kelsey Winchester, as well as any other minor characters that may appear later, do.

A/N: This story's written by request of a friend of mine who love that wishes to remain anonymous. She really loved Fridays in May and Numbers and Letters and wanted me to write a longer story about Abby's time in the hospital that I mentioned in Fridays in May. I was thinking about writing it anyway, so here it is. :)

Sam and Dean don't appear in this chapter, but they will be in later ones.

Never Say Never Again is currently on semi-permanent hiatus.

Jess walked through the house, relishing the few minutes of silence before Abby and Kelsey got up for school. It felt strange now that they were both leaving in the morning for classes, but Jess was enjoying it. Abby was a handful for both her mom and dad, and as much as she loved Abby, she relished the few hours she had alone during the day. Abby's kindergarten ended at noon, so Jess also enjoyed the three hours the two of them had together before going to pick up Kelsey in the second grade.

As much as Jess liked to tell Sam not to favor Kelsey, she knew she did the same thing with Abby. She loved Kelsey, but felt a much closer connection with Abby. Kelsey had been a somewhat easy pregnancy. Abby, for some reason, had been high risk. Jess had gone into labor twice, once at four months and once at seven. Jess had been put on bedrest for the entire last three months of her pregnancy. Since Sam couldn't quit his job, Dean had moved in temporarily to help take care of Kelsey so that Jess could rest. The long days in the house, mostly by herself, had been spent talking to the, at that point, unborn baby Abby.

Jess carefully woke up Kelsey, who started to get dressed and ready for school. She walked down the hall to Abby's room, expecting to have to coax the gentle, tenderhearted five-year-old awake. But, to her surprise, Abby was already awake, holding her stuffed Oscar the grouch toy in her arm and holding a hand to her forehead.

"Hey, kiddo. You okay?"

"Mommy, I not feel very good." Abby said.

"What's the matter, baby?" Jess asked, moving inside to sit on Abby's bed.

"Feel sick." Abby said.

Jess was alarmed at how sluggish Abby sounded, and placed the palm of her hand to Abby's forehead. "Oh, honey, you've got a fever. You are sick. What else hurts?"

"Just feel hot. And cold."

"Shh. Okay. You stay in bed while mommy calls the doctor, okay?"

"'Kay, mommy." Abby said.

Jess tried to hide her panic, but it was hard. Abby didn't just look sick; she looked like it was hard for her to stay awake. Jess went into the kitchen and called her pediatrician. She was lucky, and found an appointment at 8:30. Jess rushed Kelsey along, put her in the car, then walked back inside. Abby had fallen back asleep, and felt just as hot as she had before. Jess wished that Sam was home. He was the only one who could pick up Abby or Kelsey when they were sleeping without waking them. Sure enough, as soon as she picked up Abby, Abby protested.

"No! Wan' seep!" Abby whined.

"I know, sweetheart. I know you want to sleep. But we need to take you to the doctor, okay?"

"No, mommy, pease. Wan' go back to bed!" Abby continued to whine, and Jess felt some tears make their way onto her shoulder.

"Abby, listen, baby. You're really sick, and mommy is taking you to the doctor. I promise, as soon as we take Kessy to school and take you to the doctor, you can come back and go to sleep. Okay?"

Abby sniffed. "Take blankie? And Oscar?"

"Yes." Jess said. "I'll wrap you up in the car. Here's Oscar."

Jess handed the toy to Abby and headed to the car. She buckled her in and wrapped her up in the blanket that she kept underneath the driver's seat. A concerned Kelsey asked,

"Mommy? Is sissy okay?"

"She's not feeling very well. We're gonna take you to school, then I'm taking her to the doctor." Jess explained.

"Okay." Kelsey said. "Are you still gonna be here to pick me up?"

"I don't know who's picking you up, sweetie, but I promise you someone will. Either me, Daddy, or uncle Dean. Okay?"

"Okay, mommy." Kelsey said. She took another look at her pale baby sister and asked, "Can I hold her hand?"

Jess started to say no, on the chance that whatever was wrong with Abby was highly contagious, but Abby was already starting to cry again from the lack of any contact. Thank God the doctor's office is only a few doors down from the school, Jess thought.

"Sure, baby. Hold her hand until we get to school."

"I'm here, sissy. You'll be okay." Kelsey said, trying to comfort the clearly uncomfortable Abby.

Jess drove over the speed limit to get to the school, even though it was only a few minutes away. Kelsey stepped out of the car with one more look at Abby. Jess, who normally walked Kelsey to the door and Abby to her classroom, apologized.

"I'm sorry I can't walk you to the door."

"It's okay, mommy. Sissy's more important." Kelsey said. "Bye, Sissy. I hope you feel better. I love you."

Abby, who'd started crying again when her sister let go of her hand, said nothing, so Jess tried to explain, "Baby, she loves you too, she's just…"

"It's okay, mommy. I know she loves me too." Kelsey said. The bell rang and Kelsey waved. "I gotta go or I'll be late, mommy."

"Okay. I'll see you later, sweetie. Bye."

As soon as Kelsey was walking into the building, Jess turned and headed straight for the doctor's office. Abby squirmed in her seat, but Jess said nothing until she brought the car to a stop and walked around to get Abby out of the car.

"Come on, sweetie, we're here…"

Jess jumped out of the way just in time. The second Abby was out of the car, she vomited. Jess held her long hair back, and when Abby was reduced to coughs and sniffles, Jess pulled a water bottle out of the car.

"Here, drink this."

Abby took a few sips but refused any more. "Hurts."

"What hurts?"

"Throat." Abby said. "Mommy, what's wrong with me?"

"I don't know. But I won't stop till we find out. Okay?" Jess said. "Come on, baby, let's go inside."

Abby held her arms up to be carried, something Jess hadn't seen her do in months. Though she was still so hot that Jess could feel the heat through Abby's clothes, she was also shivering. Jess pulled the blanket out from the car, wrapped it around Abby, and took her inside. When the admissions nurse handed Jess the clipboard of paperwork to fill out, Jess realized she had a new problem-she couldn't fill the paperwork out with Abby sitting in her lap, and Abby was still so clingy that she didn't want to be put down. A woman a few years older, with two children that looked to be around six and seven, sitting a few chairs down from Jess, cautiously approached.

"Can I help at all?"

Jess, startled at the intrusion, smiled when she realized the woman was just trying to help. "Um, it's okay."

"I can fill out the paperwork while you hold your daughter. My husband usually does that for me if one of the kids are sick."

Jess looked down and saw that Abby was close to sleeping again. Not willing to wake her by placing her in a hard chair, Jess smiled up at the kind stranger.

"Thank you. That'd be great." Jess said.

"My pleasure." The woman turned to the children, who were sitting at a table playing with some of the toys provided by the office. "David, Samuel, I'll be right here you two. Okay?"

"Okay, mommy." Both boys said together.

"They're cute." Jess said. "My husband's name is Samuel."

"Wow. That's cool. I'm Maxie." The woman said as she took her seat. "And this poor little thing…"

"Abby." Jess answered, taking her now second free arm and wrapping it around a sleeping Abby.

"She's adorable too." Maxie said. "Let's get started, shall we? What's her full name?"

"Abigail Joanna Winchester."

"Date of birth?"

Jess gave all the information to Maxie, relieved she didn't have to let go of Abby in the process. She gently rocked Abby back and forth, hoping to keep her asleep. The paperwork went much smoother than it would have if Jess had tried to do it on her own, and when Maxie gave the nurse the clipboard back, Jess thanked her again.

"No need for that." Maxie said. "Sick kids are the worst, aren't they?"

"Yes. I can't stand it. She's usually bouncing off the walls, and to see her in pain like this, it kills me."

"What do you think it is? The flu?"

"I'm not sure." Jess said. "It seemed to come on really suddenly."

"Can I offer a little unsolicited mom advice? For the sore throat after she throws up?" When Jess nodded, Maxie smiled and said, "Just in case this wakes her up like it does my boys, I'll spell it out. P-o-p-s-i-c-l-e-s."

"Really? That won't make her stomach hurt worse?"

"Not if you just give her a little. You might be throwing away quite a few half popsicles, but it'll keep her hydrated until she can keep down fluids again."

"That's a good tip. Thanks." Jess said. "I'll have to remember that."

"David and Samuel Owens?"

"Well, it was nice meeting you." Jess said kindly.

"Wait a second." Maxie replied. She turned to the nurse and asked, "Could my friend here go first? I don't mind waiting and taking her turn in line."

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that…" Jess said.

"I insist. My boys are just getting vaccines. You need this more than we do."

Jess turned hopefully to the nurse. "Is it okay?" When the nurse nodded, Jess carefully picked up Abby and said, "Thank you."

"Just help get that precious cutie feeling better." Maxie said. "And it was nice meeting you too."

An hour later, after being seen by the doctor and saying goodbye to Maxie, a frustrated Jess was laying Abby down on the couch for a nap. She had been diagnosed with a severe case of the flu, given two prescriptions, and put on bedrest. Jess couldn't pinpoint why, but she had the feeling that something else was wrong. Something worse than just the flu. She usually didn't believe in mother's intuition, and she hoped it was just her worrying. Once Abby was sleeping, Jess walked into the kitchen and pulled out her phone.

Abby's sick. The doctor says she has the flu, but I think it's something else. If you can, please come home early and look at her.

A few minutes later Sam's reply came through. I have a couple of meetings. Is four okay?

It's fine. I might just be worrying too much, but this is scaring me. If she's awake, she's crying. Just come home ASAP, please. Can you pick up Kelsey from school? Or do you want me to ask Dean to do it?

I'll get her. Take care of Abby. Love you xoxo

Love you more.

Abby hung up the phone and came to the living room where Abby was finally in a deep sleep. Jess had given her the first dose of the medication from the doctor, and was relieved to find that her fever had gone down slightly. It was slightly awkward, but Jess laid down beside her. Abby didn't have an appetite anyway, so making lunch could wait. Cleaning the house didn't seem that important anymore either.

"Mommy's here, baby. You fight whatever this is, and mommy'll be right here. I love you so much."