Holding onto Grace

Chapter 9

"Is she okay?" Rachel asked, as she, Danny and April gathered around Gabby.

"She's fine" Gabby replied. "She just wants to see her parents"

With that being said, Rachel, Danny and April made their way through the ICU doors to go and see Grace. In less than a minute, they were outside Graces ICU cubicle and were met with Emma, Grace's doctor and a nurse.

"I'll go and check on her" said April, placing her hand on Danny's shoulder.

April walked over to go and check on Grace and was met with a weak smile from her niece when she turned her head to face April.

"Hi Grace" said April quietly. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"It hurts" Grace replied, weakly. "Where's Mommy and Danno?" she asked.

"I know it hurts sweetheart, the doctor will give you some medicine help okay" April replied as she held Grace's hand.

"And Mommy and Danno are just outside; they just have to wait for little bit"

"Hey Emma, how's she doing" April asked.

"Everything's normal" Emma replied.

"BP's normal, heart rate's normal and her colour has already started to come back"

"When can her parents come in?" April asked.

"Well, we're all finished here, so they can come in now" Emma replied.

"I'm going to go and get Mommy and Danno now okay Grace" April said as she got up from Grace's bed side.

Walking through the curtain of the cubicle, April had a broad smile on her face and when she emerged from the cubicle; both Rachel and Danny saw it and automatically knew it was all good news.

"You can go and see her now" April stated, even though Danny and Rachel had already started making their way over to Grace's cubicle. April then stood where she was and watch as her niece was embraced by her parents for a while before heading back out into the waiting room.

"Mommy, Danno" Grace said quietly.

Rachel, so overwhelmed by her happiness, didn't say anything; she just leant over and gently hugged her daughter. Though Danny couldn't help but voice how happy he was to Grace.

"Hi Monkey" said Danny, presenting with a huge grin. "You feeling okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm okay" Grace replied. "The medicine stops my tummy from hurting"

Danny just sat there and smiled at Grace, while Rachel's eyes began to well up and didn't take too long for Grace to notice it.

"Why are you crying Mommy?" Grace asked, wondering why her mother was so upset.

"I'm crying because I'm happy that you're okay Grace" Rachel replied, wiping her eyes with the back of her free hand.

"They're tears of joy Grace" she added.

"I'm tired, can I go back to sleep?" Grace asked as she yawned and tried to rub her eyes with the hand attached to the IV.

"Careful Monkey" said Danny, moving her IV hand away from her face. "Use your other hand baby"

"There you go Sweetheart" said Rachel as she and Danny watched Grace rub her eyes.

"Goodnight Monkey" Danny whispered and leaned in to kiss Grace on her forehead.

"Goodnight Sweetheart" said Rachel before kissing Grace on her forehead too.

Rachel and Danny then just sat there and watched as Grace drifted off back to sleep.

Meanwhile, with all that had happened today, time had seemed to have been lost. While April was making her way back to the waiting room, she glanced down at her left wrist to check the time; and what her watch read, surprised her. It had just ticked over to 1am; it explained why she was so tired.

Walking through the ICU doors, again, April was met with five familiar faces that had all been waiting in anticipation of how Grace was doing. Before any of the five people could speak, April beat them to the chase.

"Relax!" said April, raising her voice.

"Grace is fine and I'm pretty sure she's gone back to sleep now. We should all go home"

Just as April had finished speaking, everyone stayed where they were and she then realized none of them, including her, were not going home despite the good news they all had just received.

"None of you are going home are you?" April asked, rhetorically. "Yeah well, neither am I" as she went to sit down in an uncomfortable plastic hospital chair. Sitting down, April glanced down at baby Charles; being a sleeping baby, he was completely oblivious to the day's events.

Within the hour, the seven people in the waiting room were all sound asleep. Back in Grace's ICU cubicle, all three of them were sound asleep too. Danny and Rachel slept with their heads resting on Grace's bed and both still with a firm grip on each of their daughter's hands.

At 5am, everyone in the waiting room was woken by the cries of baby Charlie. Stan reached down into Charlie's stroller and picked him up and did his best to settle his son. No matter how Stan tried, he just couldn't seem to settle Charles. It was at that point, everyone realized he wanted his mother.

"Do you want me to go and get Rachel for you?" Steve asked.

"Thanks Steve, that'd be great" Stan replied, surprised that Steve was the one to offer assistance.

Within seconds, Steve had disappeared through the swinging ICU doors and headed for Grace's cubicle. Once there, he pulled the curtain open slowly, trying not to disturb the peace. He slowly walked around the bed towards Rachel. Steve then lightly gave Rachel a nudge to try and wake her up.

"Rachel, Rachel" Steve whispered.

Because Rachel was only sleeping lightly, it didn't take too long for her to emerge from her sleep. When she raised her head and turned around to see Steve behind her, she wasn't as nearly as surprised as Stan was. Rachel knew it was only a matter of time before Steve somehow made his way into the ICU to see his honorary niece.

"Steve?" Rachel asked quietly. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Stan, asked me to come and get you" Steve replied. "He needs help with Charlie"

"What time is it?" Rachel asked.

"Just after 5am" Steve replied.

"Right on schedule" said Rachel.

"He always wakes at 5 o'clock in the morning. Do you mind staying?" she asked.

"Not at all" Steve replied as Rachel emerged from her chair.

Before leaving, Rachel kissed Grace lightly on her forehead and left the cubicle. Steve then sat in the chair that Rachel had just spent over four hours sleeping in. As he sat down, he immediately found that these chairs were much more comfortable than the ones in the waiting room. It wasn't long before Steve went off to sleep again.

Hours later, Steve woke up to his face being nudged by Grace's foot. Raising his head off Grace's bed, he wondered how he got there. Checking his watch, he saw that it was nearly 8am and Grace had just emerged from a definitely well earned sleep. She was still nudging at Danny's face, trying to wake him up too. Steve just sat there and smiled at what Grace was trying to do. He let it continue for a few more minutes at his own amusement before Danny woke from his also well earned sleep.

"Hi Monkey" said Danny as he lifted his head up from the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm okay Danno" said Grace with a slightly stronger voice than last night.

"Uncle Steve's been keeping me company for a while"

"I can see that" said Danny, rubbing his eyes.

"Where's Mommy?" Grace asked.

"Well, Mommy and Stan had to take your brother home for a little while" Danny replied.

"They'll come back to see you later"

"Hey, don't worry Gracie" said Steve.

"You've still got Danno, Gabby, Me, April, Kono and Chin for company"

"Where are they?" Grace asked.

"Right here Gracie" said April as she opened the curtain slowly to reveal herself and the three other familiar people.

Grace just laid there and laughed at the sight of all the tired yet happy people with all sorts of gifts and goodies around her hospital bed; everybody else soon followed and Grace felt more assured that everything was going to be okay; as long as the people she loved were around her; and that was all she was going to need.

THE END