The whole drive over to the hospital both Gail and Holly are relatively quiet. Holly mentioned her sister and niece a few times to Gail but didn't say much beyond that.
As they pull into the hospital Holly gets out as Gail follows locking the car behind her.
When they go through the automatic doors they walk up to the reception desk to see what room Holly's sister and niece are in.
"My sister was brought in here with my niece they were in a car accident." Holly says trying to stay calm.
"Names?" the nurse asks.
"Sister's name is Marie Stewart and my niece's name is Ashley Stewart." Holly says tapping her foot out of nervousness. Gail just stands next to Holly not sure how to show her support.
"Your sister is in room 323 on the third floor, and your niece is in the children's section on that same floor." The nurse says looking up to both Holly and Gail.
"Do you know what condition they are in, are they okay?" Holly asks putting her hand on the counter.
"No we don't find out that information just the room numbers. You can go there now though." The nurse says pointing towards the elevators down the hall.
Holly starts making her way as Gail quickly follows behind. When they reach the elevator's Holly presses the up button. As they are waiting Gail takes Holly's hand in hers interlacing their fingers and caressing the outside of Holly's hand with her thumb. Holly doesn't look down but is very grateful that Gail is there with her.
When the elevator doors open they both enter still holding hands as Gail presses the button for the third floor.
Once they get there they see a nurse and Holly stops her. "Excuse me, my sister and niece were brought in tonight and we were told they were on this floor." She says looking up at her.
"Was the little girl about six, dark brown hair?" The nurse asks.
"Yes she is." Holly says nervously.
"Well she is in this room 325 and she didn't have any major injuries. Just a few cuts and bruises and she seems a little shaken up." The nurse says pointing to the room on the left.
"Okay thank you." Holly says making her way over as Gail follows behind.
When she goes in she sees the little girl fidgeting in the bed while a nurse checks her out.
She looks over and sees Holly and gives her a weak smile. She hasn't seen her aunt in a couple of years due to other issues, but she acts like she recognizes her.
"Hey Ashley, I'm your Aunt Holly, I don't know if you remember me it's been a couple years." Holly says slowly walking closer to her while Gail stands in the back not wanting to startle the little girl.
"You look a lot like my mommy. I've seen a lot of pictures of you." Ashley says staring up at Holly.
"Yes I do." Holly says giving the little girl a wide smile.
"So are you doing okay?" Holly asks pulling up a chair to sit next to her niece.
All Ashley does is shrug her shoulders and look away.
Holly tentatively takes Ashley's hand as she looks over.
"You'll be okay sweetie, I promise, I'll be here until your mom gets back." Holly says smiling sweetly with tears in her eyes.
"Where is my mommy?" Ashley asks still holding onto Holly's hand.
"Um she is...she" Holly says trying to figure out how to say what's happened to a six year old. Seeing Holly struggle Gail walks over to where Holly and Ashley are sitting to help.
"She is a couple rooms down the hall resting right now, but when she wakes up we will take you to go see her okay?" Gail says smiling at Holly's niece.
"Okay." she says satisfied with the answer.
"This is my friend Gail she is the one that drove me here so that I could see your mommy and you." Holly says looking at Gail and back at Ashley.
"Hi Gail." Ashley says smiling at her.
"Hello Ashley, it's nice to meet you." Gail says smiling back.
Ashley looks back to Holly, "Do we have to stay here all night?"she asks.
"I'm not sure yet, I need to go talk with the nurses first okay?" Holly says to the little girl rubbing her hand to comfort her.
"Ashley would it be okay if Gail stays with you for a minute while I go see, then I'll be right back." Holly asks slowly standing up.
"Yes. I like Gail." Ashley says grabbing her stuffed animal that is lying next to her bed.
"Is that okay?" Holly asks Gail as she turns towards her.
"Of course. Let me know what they say about your sister." Gail says giving Holly's hand a squeeze before going to sit next to Ashley.
Holly goes into the hall to find one of the nurses to take her into her sisters room and get an update.
"Ma'm, my sister is supposed to be in room 323. Is it okay if I go in there?" Holly asks hoping that her sister is okay.
"Yes that should be fine, but she is resting now because she is on some heavy antibiotics." The nurse says taking Holly into the room.
When Holly goes in she sees her sister and thinks about what it was like when she was lying in a hospital bed and how hard it must have been for Gail. She steps closer towards her sisters bed and sees her with a few IV's running through her hand and both her legs in casts. Holly can only assume that the front of the car must of gotten the most damage.
"Hey sis, it's been awhile hasn't it?" Holly says reaching for her sisters hand.
" I know we may have our differences, but you have to wake up for that little girl in the other room." Holly says starting to get tears running down her face. As Holly wipes at her eyes she sees what must be Marie's doctor coming in.
"Hi you must be Marie's sister." The doctor says coming in to shake Holly's hand.
"Yes, hi I'm Holly Stewart, what is wrong with her?" Holly asks wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Well she was in a car accident as you know, she was hit from the side and lost control and ran into the ditch. She crushed both of her legs which is why they are in casts. She has a few broken ribs, and cuts and bruises. It was a very good thing that they both had their seatbelts on or neither of them would have made it." The doctor says trying to inform Holly about the situation.
"Will she wake up soon?" Holly asks feeling like she understands now what everyone was going through when she was in this position.
"It depends on her. If she feels strong enough then she could wake up tomorrow, if her body needs more time to heal it could take a week. We just have to monitor her until she does." The doctor says going to check Marie's vitals.
"Is there anything that I can do, or is waiting the only option." Holly asks knowing that Ashley isn't going to want to stay in this hospital for very long.
"Not at this point, I know she has a daughter that will probably be released tomorrow after monitoring her for the night." The doctor says talking about Ashley.
"Okay thank you. I appreciate everything you have done for my sister." Holly says smiling weakly.
"Of course if you have any questions have one of the nurses page me." With that he leaves as Holly goes back in to check on Gail and Ashley.
As she enters Ashley's room she hears laughter coming from the bed. She sees Gail telling silly jokes that Ashley seems to find hilarious. As she gets closer she just smiles knowing that Ashley is just fine and enjoying Gail's company.
"Aunt Holly!" Ashley says smiling wider.
"Hey Ash, what's all this laughing I here. Something funny?" Holly asks going to stand next to Gail.
"Gail is funny Aunt Holly. She knows lots of jokes." Ashley says looking at Gail.
Gail looks up at Holly and just smiles, Holly smiles back before touching her shoulder.
"Ashley I'm going to talk with Gail in the hall for just a second and we will come right back. You will be able to see us from the door." Holly says as Ashley just nods playing with her stuffed animal as Holly and Gail go into the hallway.
"What did the doctors say about your sister?" Gail asks concerned.
"He said that her legs were crushed in the crash and she has a few broken ribs, but she is fine other than that which is a miracle. She could wake up tomorrow or next week they aren't sure." Holly says leaning her head back trying to stop the tears from falling.
"Hey, it's going to be okay." Gail says grabbing Holly around the waist and giving it a squeeze.
"Gail what am I supposed to do? Ashley shouldn't have to stay here for the next couple days, but someone has to stay with my sister." Holly says feeling overwhelmed by this situation.
"Holly, we will figure it out, for right now we need to just stay with Ashley and make her feel comfortable. What about your grandmother? Could she come?" Gail says looking in to see the little girl still playing in her hospital bed. Gail has always had a soft spot for kids, but seeing how this kid is related to Holly makes her even more special.
"I guess I can call my grandma but she is getting a lot older and I'm not sure if she will be able to stay with her." Holly says shaking her head.
Holly just leans into Gail putting her head on her shoulder needing to feel her comfort. Gail instantly wraps her hands around Holly rubbing her back letting her just relax for a moment. After a couple minutes Holly pulls away and takes a few deep breathes.
"Okay we can do this. Let's stay with Ashley for tonight and I'll give my grandma a call in the morning since it's too late now." Holly says before walking back into Ashley's room.
"Aunt Holly I'm hungry." Ashley says looking up with a pouty lip.
"Why don't I go get you some food from downstairs, then come right back. You have to promise me that you will go to sleep after you eat though." Holly says rubbing Ashley's hair out of her face.
"I will Aunt Holly, promise." She says with a grin.
As Holly starts to head out for some food Gail stops her. "Hey why don't I go get the food and you spend some time with your niece." Gail suggests.
"Okay that sounds like a good idea." Holly says.
"Do you want anything?" Gail asks knowing Holly may be hungry.
"Maybe just a soda? I'm not hungry right now." Holly says glancing back at her niece.
"Okay I'll be right back, if you need anything while I'm gone just call my cell." Gail says caressing Holly's cheek.
"Thanks babe, and I will." Holly says before going to sit next to Ashley again as Gail exits the room.
As Holly sits with Ashley she starts playing with her and talks to her like they haven't been apart for two years. She is pretty bright for her age and knows a lot more that most six year olds should.
"Aunt Holly?" Ashley says looking up at her.
"Yes sweetie?" Holly says in a calming voice.
"Why didn't I see you for so long?" Ashley says wondering why she has only seen pictures of her Aunt instead of seeing her all the time.
"Ashley. That's a great question. Your mom and I used to be really close, but when we went off to school we stopped seeing each other all the time. We should have kept in touch but our lives were different. I'm sorry for not coming to see you more, but now that I've seen you and your mommy I want to spend as much time with you as I can." Holly says not really sure why she hasn't seen her niece in so long. Life got in the way and they just started drifting apart.
Ashley just nods and sees Gail coming into the room behind Holly smiling.
"Okay they didn't have much to eat, but they had a turkey sandwich and I got you some chips and a water. I hope that's okay." Gail says handing the food to Holly so she can give it too Ashley.
"Thanks Gail! I love turkey sandwiches!" Ashley says eagerly waiting to eat.
Holly starts to unwrap the sandwich to give it too Ashley. Ashley takes it and starts to eat it like she hasn't eaten in days.
"Here drink some water too." Holly says as Ashley sets her sandwich down to pick up the water bottle with both hands and takes a big gulp.
"I'm going to pull out this couch, so that we can have more space to sleep." Gail says as she tries to figure out how to make the couch that's in the room into a bed for the night.
Holly just nods and focuses back on Ashley. Once she is done eating she is stuffed so Holly takes her to the restroom before she lays her down.
"Try to get some sleep Ash, Gail and I will be right here if you need us." Holly says as she kisses her forehead goodnight.
"Thanks Aunt Holly for coming." Ashley says looking up at Holly with a smile.
"Of course sweetie, I always will." Holly just smiles sweetly at her niece with watery eyes.
"Where's Gail?" Ashley says sitting up some.
"Right here." Gail says walking up to stand next to Holly.
"Goodnight Gail, thank you." Ashley says repeating what she said to Holly.
"Goodnight Ashley, we will see you in the morning." Gail says smiling as Ashley closes her eyes to go to sleep.
Holly covers her up and turns towards the couch/bed Gail tried to figure out.
"I could only find this one blanket in the cabinet and they don't have pillows, so we will just have to do the best with what we have." Gail says as she goes to lay down. She lifts her arm up so Holly can lay into her. Once Holly seems comfortable Gail wraps the blanket around both of them and lays her arm over Holly's.
"Goodnight babe, I love you." Gail says giving the back of Holly's head a kiss, she doesn't get a response so she assumes Holly is extremely exhausted and need's the sleep.
The next morning Holly hears the nurses coming in to check on Ashley to see if she can be released from the hospital.
Holly starts to get up as Gail slowly opens her eyes also. Once Holly is out of bed she walks over to Ashley who is slowly starting to wake up herself.
"Hey Ash. Did you sleep okay?" Holly asks as she sees the nurse checking her vitals.
"Yes Aunt Holly, I didn't wake up once." Ashley says excitedly.
"Well that's good, Gail and I slept pretty well too." Holly says as she looks up at the nurse to see what she will say.
"How is she?" Holly asks the nurse who is on the opposite side of the hospital bed.
"She is doing really well, the doctor will probably be releasing her in the next couple of hours." The nurse says before heading out of the room.
"Should you call your grandmother?" Gail says sitting up to get off of the couch.
"Yeah let me do that real quick. Can you stay with Ashley?" Holly asks as Gail just nods going over to where Ashley is laying.
"I'll be right back." Holly says before going into the hallway to call her grandmother.
After a few rings it picks up.
"Hello" her grandmother says wondering who would be calling this early.
"Hi grandma it's Holly." Holly says shyly into the phone knowing that she hasn't spoken with her grandmother for a while.