Chapter 9
Mac and Stella sat in the lounge for a while longer, then decided to head back to their daughter's room. Stella felt a little nervous as they headed down the hall towards Angie's room. I was just looking out for her. She's my daughter, I was doing what I thought was best. She told herself. Mac reached out, took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be fine." Finally, they reached Angie's room. Mac opened the door and they went in.
Angie was still looking down at her sheets, when she heard someone come in. She looked up and saw her parents coming towards her. "Hi Angel." Mac said, looking down at her.
"Hi., Someone called me earlier but I didn't answer it. I didn't feel like talking to anybody."
"That's understandable."
Stella took a deep breath, then looked at her daughter. "Angela honey, Katie was the one who called you earlier. She called me too."
"Is she coming over?"
"She wanted too, but I told her mom that I didn't want her seeing you anymore."
"You what! You told her mother what?"
"That I didn't want Katie around you."
"I can't believe you did that!"
"She almost killed you and It's her fault you can't walk! I was doing what was best for you."
"By taking away my friend?"
"You have us, Danny, Lindsay, Don and your other schoolmates."
Angie glared at her mother, but didn't say anything. Just then, the door opened and six year old Lucy came running in holding a balloon; with Danny and Lindsay following behind her. "Lucy really wanted to see Angie." Danny said, looking at Mac and Stella.
"Hi Angie, this is for you.". Lucy said, showing her the balloon. It had a big heart on it and it said get well soon. "I picked it out myself."
"Thank you."
Lindsay walked over to the little table by Angie's bed and set the flowers down. "We got you some flowers too, how you doing?"
"I injured my spinal cord in the crash, Doctor Anderson said I have a 50/50 chance of walking again."
"Oh Angie, I'm sorry." Lindsay said tearfully as she walked over to her and gave her a hug. Lucy let go of the balloon and walked over to her daddy. "Daddy, why's mommy sad?"
Danny knelt down in front of his daughter. "Well, Angie's hurt right now and that makes mommy sad."
"But she'll get better right?"
"Yeah, she will." Danny said, giving his little girl a hug. He hugged her until she started squirming to get free. "Daddy, leggo."
He held her a little longer, then let go. Lucy looked at him and could tell he was sad too. "It okay." Lucy sad, putting her hand on her daddy's cheek.
"Thank you, baby." Danny said, smiling at her. Then he slowly stood up, took her hand and walked over to Mac and Stella. Mac knelt down in front of Lucy and gave her a big hug. "So, what else did the doctor say?"
"Well, once she's released to go home, she'll have to come back for physical therapy. He told her it would be very demanding and she'd have to work really hard. He thinks she'll be able to walk again if she's willing to do the work."
"I'm sorry, Stell. I'm so sorry." Danny said giving her a hug.
Stella hugged him back. "Thank you."
They hugged until Danny felt someone pulling on his shirt. "I think someone else wants to give you a hug too." Danny said, then slowly stepped back from her. Stella wiped her eyes, then knelt down in front of Lucy.
Lucy reached out and gently touched Stella's cheek. "It's okay, don't cry." Then she gave her a hug. Stella hugged her back as tight as she could until she started squirming and wriggling to get free. Then she kissed the top of her head and let her go. Lucy turned and ran over to her mom and dad. They talked for a while more then left.
After they left, Stella took Angie's water pitcher and poured some water on the flowers. "These flowers are really nice, and so is the balloon."
"Yeah, they're okay."
Stella sighed and looked at her daughter. She hated seeing her upset. She reached down and gave her a hug. "We'll come and see you tomorrow, okay."
"Okay."
"Love you sweetheart." She said then turned and left the room. Mac walked over to his daughter and gave her a hug. "Your mother's just upset right now, she's thinking with her heart instead of her head."
"This mess is partly my fault, too. I-I never should've went with her."
"It's okay. You just try and get some sleep and we'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, bye daddy."
"Bye angel. Love you." Mac said, then turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
