This is my first attempt at writing for Just Like Heaven. This is sort of a filler for between the scene where Elizabeth woke up in hospital and the scene where she's chasing her nieces in the park.
Elizabeth let her sister hug her while she looked around at her surroundings. She was confused. Firstly, she couldn't understand why she was in a hospital bed in the first place. She couldn't understand why the bed wasn't in a room either. Unless doctors were moving a patient, the beds were always in rooms. Secondly, she wasn't sure why everyone was just staring at her. She could see Fran nearby, but she seemed shocked. The guy that had tried to touch her hand- David, her sister had called him- was looking hurt, like she had said something to break his heart. Which was odd, since she had never met the guy before. Brett stood at the end of her bed, looking at her like she was a witch or something. Not that she cared, she hated the guy anyway, just like everyone else did. It was just weird, with everyone looking at her or seemingly shocked. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say. And her sister was holding onto her so tightly, like she thought Elizabeth was going to disappear.
"Abby?" Elizabeth managed to say through the bone crushing hug she was getting.
Abby let go and stood up. "Yeah Liz?"
"What's going on?"
Abby shook her head. Tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't bring herself to tell her sister what had happened. She just clutched Elizabeth's hand in her own until Fran stepped forward and took control.
"Get back to work, all of you!" she called. Her voice was commanding, and Elizabeth watched as her mentor's magic was worked. Everyone dispersed and they were left alone.
"Doctor, what do you want us to do with these two?" asked a security guard. Elizabeth looked over at him and his partner, holding David and a red-faced, sorry looking Jack.
"JJ?" Elizabeth asked softly. She was surprised to see him.
"Hey Lizzie," he said with a goofy smile. "I'm sorry Abby, but I couldn't let anything happen to Lizzie."
Abby just nodded. She understood and didn't really blame the two guys for attempting to steal Elizabeth. She didn't want to sign the papers to cut the life support, but she had thought she was doing what was best for her sister at the time.
"Let them go," said Fran. She understood their intentions too.
"Fran? What's happening?" Elizabeth asked again.
"I'll explain in a moment. Let's get you back to your room and check you first."
"My room? What are you talking about?"
Fran gave Elizabeth a reassuring smile as she wheeled the bed back to Elizabeth's room. Once they were back in the room, with Abby still holding her sister's hand, Fran closed the door and sat on the bed.
"What's the last thing you remember doing?" she asked Elizabeth.
"Uh, talking to Abby. I was telling her that I was on the way to her house for dinner, and that I shouldn't be more than half an hour. Why?"
"You had a car accident that night. You veered into the opposite lane and an oncoming truck hit your car. You've been unconscious for the last three months."
"What?" Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was no way that was even possible. She had just spoken to Abby the night before.
"Do you remember having dinner with Abby?"
She thought a moment, then Elizabeth shook her head. Suddenly, realisation dawned on her. She looked over at Abby, who was still crying silently, then back at Fran. "How am I even awake then? Three months is a long time to be in a coma."
"I don't have an answer to that, sorry. But, miracles do happen."
"What happens now?"
"I'm going to do a few tests, thoroughly check you out. Depending on the results, I don't see why you can't go home in a few days time. All of your injuries have healed, so I just want to keep you under observation for a little while. I'll be right back." Fran got up and left the room, returning a few minutes later with some water and a chart.
"What tests do you want to do?"
"Let's start with checking your vitals." Fran quickly went through the checkup and then sat on the bed again. "I want to do an MRI, if that's okay with you."
"Okay. Can Abby come?" Elizabeth was pretty sure she knew the answer to that question, but she asked it anyway.
"Normally, I would say no. But after everything you've been through, I guess she can come. Just this one time though."
Elizabeth smiled. "Thank you."
Fran nodded before leaving the room again. She came back ten minutes later to take Elizabeth to her MRI.
Abby finished packing a bag with clothes for her sister and walked into the living room, where her two girls were watching TV.
"Ready to go?" she asked them.
Both girls nodded, their smiles as wide as she had ever seen. The previous night, Abby had told Elizabeth she would bring the girls to the hospital for a few hours. When she had gotten home, Abby had asked the girls if they wanted to visit Aunty Elizabeth, and both girls had jumped up happily, ready to leave at that very moment.
"Is Aunty Elizabeth better now?" asked Lily.
"Not yet sweetheart. But she is awake and misses the both of you. Maybe you can bring your tea set and have a tea party with Aunty Elizabeth?"
Lily grinned. "Yay!" She ran into the next room, gathered up the tea set Elizabeth had bought her for Christmas the previous year, and ran back to her mother, all in less than a minute.
Laughing, Abby grabbed her daughters' coats and led them to the car.
"Aunty Elizabeth!" shouted Lily and Zoe in unison. They raced into Elizabeth's room and bounded onto the bed, both girls hugging her at the same time.
"Lily! Zoe!" exclaimed Abby as she closed the door behind her. "What did I say about running and shouting in a hospital?"
"Sorry mummy," said Zoe.
"It's alright. Just be careful. Aunty Elizabeth is still a little bit sick."
The girls grinned at their aunty, then burrowed themselves into her. Elizabeth smiled and wrapped her arms around them, glad that Fran had agreed to not keep her attached to any monitors.
"How are my two favourite little girls?" Elizabeth asked her nieces.
"We missed you," said Zoe as she snuggled into Elizabeth's side.
"I missed you guys too. And mummy."
"Mummy missed you lots. She cried."
"That's okay. Mummy can cry if she needs to."
Abby gave her sister a grateful smile.
"Aunty Elizabeth?" asked Lily.
"Yeah honey?"
"Can we play tea parties?"
"If you want to."
"Cool. I brought my tea set with us. Zoe, want to help me set it up?"
"Okay." Zoe let go of Elizabeth and took the cups from her sister. They set out the tea set and poured imaginary tea into the cups, making sure that their aunty had the first cup.
Two days later, Elizabeth was heading home. Abby had picked her up from the hospital an hour earlier, while Zoe and Lily were at school, and they had just gotten to Abby's house. It was where Elizabeth was going to be staying at the moment, until her apartment was ready to be used again. It meant she would be babysitting her nieces a lot more, not that it was a problem for her, and she would be around her family. It was better than she could have hoped for, and she was beyond grateful to her sister and the hospital for everything they had done for her in the last three months.