Hey babes! I know what you're all probably thinking, she's uploading a day early? What? I know, I know. But I'm on vacation, and I think we're gonna be super busy tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll be able to upload tomorrow. So I'm uploading today. :)
As for that cliffhanger, I'm glad none of you were expecting it. It means I did job correctly. So here's the next chapter for ya. Hope you enjoy!
"We're here for Skye Coulson," Phil announces when he and Melinda reach the receptionist desk in the hospital. Both of them are breathing heavily, having run as fast as they could from the parking garage to the front of the hospital.
"One moment," the woman behind the desk says and then begins typing away at her computer. After a quick moment she stops and looks up at them. "She's up on the third floor. Elevator is that way." She points towards a section just off to the side.
"Thank you," Phil nods his head at her once in appreciation and then grabs hold of Melinda's hand to drag her off behind him towards the elevators. When they step inside, Phil presses the number 3 button and waits as the doors close before letting go of his wife's hand to put his arm around her shoulders. "She'll be fine, Mel," he tries to reassure her, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her arm.
"You can't be sure about that," she tells him and then gives him a small smile, "But thank you for trying."
When the elevator stops on the correct floor the doors open and both adults step out, quickly making their way down the hallway towards the waiting area.
"Phil, Melinda." The two adults turn their heads to see Jemma standing up in the waiting room, worry clearly written across her face. They both rush over to the young woman they view as a second daughter and envelop her in a hug, the three of them holding tightly to one another.
When they pull back, Phil speaks, "Jemma, what happened?"
Jemma swallows thickly before speaking, "We don't know exactly. The doctor called Leo earlier and asked us to come down. All we know is that Grant was driving and Skye was in the passenger seat. Some people saw their car after it crashed called it in. They think that they were hit, because of the condition the car was in. The medics arrived and then they were both brought straight here. That's everything we know right now."
"Have you heard anything on either of their conditions yet?" Melinda asks.
Jemma shakes her head, "No. We're still waiting for the doctor to come back out and talk to us."
"Jemma?" A small voice says. All three heads turn to see Sara curled up on Fitz's lap, his shirt balled up tightly in her tiny fist, "Where's my daddy?"
Jemma sighs and walks over to her, kneeling down so that she is at eye level, "You daddy was hurt very badly, Sara," Jemma tells the little girl. "Don't you remember? But the doctor's here are working as hard as they can to make him all better so he can come home to you."
"No! Uncle Fitz!" Sara starts crying, burying her face into her Uncles' shirt, "She's lying! Jemma's lying! I want daddy! Where's daddy?!"
Fitz frowns and rubs his hand up and down Sara's back, "Shh," he says, "I know you want your dad, Sara. But I'm afraid that Jemma is right. The doctors are with him right now; they are making him better so that he can come back home with you, okay?" Sara nods her head silently, but continues to sniffle.
Jemma stands up and runs one of her hands through her hair. She turns to look at Phil and Melinda, "She's been like that the entire time. She refuses to believe that Grant was actually injured."
"She's eight, Jemma," Melinda reminds the young woman, "She's confused and scared. Just give her some time."
"Yes," Phil agrees. "But in the meantime all we can do is wait, right?" Jemma just nods her head and returns to her seat next to Fitz.
Phil and Melinda each take a seat in two empty chairs next to each other. They intertwine their fingers together, trying their best to comfort each other in this difficult time.
"Family of Skye Coulson?" Phil, Melinda, and Jemma immediately stand up from their chairs at the mention of Skye's name.
"We're her parents," Phil says as he steps forward with Melinda. "What's going on? Is she okay?"
"Skye is fine," the doctor tells them and everyone in the room visibly relaxes. "She was very lucky. The side of the car she was on received the lesser of the impact from the crash. She only has a slight fracture of her ulna, in the forearm, a few cracked ribs, as well as a few cuts and bruises in a few different areas of her body, mainly her torso. But other than that she should be perfectly fine."
"Oh thank goodness," Melinda breathes out a sigh of relief, allowing Phil to pull her into a side hug.
"What about her boyfriend?" Jemma speaks up suddenly. "Grant Ward?"
The doctor's face falls. "Is Leopold Fitz here?"
"I'm right here," Fitz supplies from his spot in his chair, holding his hand into the air. "And before you ask, he only has his daughter and his grandmother. I'm on his emergency contact sheet, but you already know that because you called me. You can go head and tell us all what's going on though; I can assure you that he won't mind."
Doctor Evans sighs, "Very well then. Unfortunately, Grant was not quite as lucky as Skye was. Because he was on the driver's side, he took the brunt of the hit. He survived the crash, but just barely. When we brought him in he was barely alive, but we managed to stabilize him enough to get him through the surgery."
"What happened to him?" Jemma asks cautiously.
"Both of his legs were pinned when the car they were in spun and flipped over. We were able to repair the minimal damage that was done to his right leg, but unfortunately there was too much damage done to his left leg so we had to amputate it. He has a minor concussion from all of the rolling of the car which caused some swelling in the brain, which we were able to stabilize for now and we're hoping it will slowly start to go down. He also has a few cracked ribs as well as some major cuts and bruises along his abdominal area."
"Oh my goodness," Jemma says in shock, feeling the tears prickling at her eyes. She sinks back down into her chair and leans into Fitz as he manages to wrap one of his arms around her in comfort, while still holding onto Sara who is fast asleep.
"Can we go and see them?" Melinda asks the doctor, desperately needing to see her daughter.
"I can only take you back to see Skye right now, if you would like. But Grant has just been moved into the ICU to allow him to recover from his surgery and his injuries. We have him in a medically induced coma at the moment, and we'd like to keep him alone for a little while. Too much stimulus to his brain could hinder his recovery, so I'm afraid that you can't go and see him just quite yet."
"Thank you," Phil says to the doctor. "Please keep us updated on his progress."
"Of course. And I'll have one of our nurses come out and escort you to Skye's room."
Standing outside of Skye's hospital room, everyone looks through the window to see her lying completely still in her bed with a white blanket pulled up to her chest. Her eyes are closed.
"I'm going inside," Phil says, grabbing his wife's hand within his own, holding tight. "Are the three of you coming in as well?" He directs his question to Fitz, Jemma, and a still sleeping Sara.
"Oh," Fitz says, "I don't know, sir. This seems like such a, such a family thing to do…"
"Of course we we'll come in," Jemma smiles, squeezing Fitz's hand reassuringly.
"Great," Phil smiles briefly and then makes his way inside of Skye's hospital room, walking straight up to her bed. He stands over her for a moment and watches her rest peacefully, his mind flooding with memory upon memory of her as a newborn baby, sleeping soundly in her crib and in his arms.
"Daddy?"
Phil pulls himself from his thoughts and looks down to see Skye looking back up at him groggily. "Hey, baby girl," he smiles with tears shining in his eyes, taking her closest hand in his. "How are you feeling?"
"Like crap," she says, and then laughs for a moment before wincing.
"What's wrong?" Phil asks, worried about his daughter.
"Nothing," Skye tells him. "It just hurts to laugh."
"Well you did crack a few of your ribs," he tells her. "But uh, there are some people here who really want to see you."
"Who?" Skye asks.
Phil nods behind him and Skye looks to see four of the most important people in her life. "Mommy," she says with a smile, holding her good arm out to the older woman.
Melinda steps forward and carefully wraps her daughter in a hug, "Oh sweetheart. I'm so glad that you're okay."
"I am too," Skye smiles weakly.
Then she turns to face Jemma, Fitz, and Sara, "Jem. Fitz. Sara." She holds her arms out towards them.
Jemma and Fitz walk up to her bedside and Jemma immediately grabs Skye's hand in her own, while Fitz just smiles at her, holding Sara carefully in his arms. "You had us all worried sick," Jemma informs her. "We didn't know if you, if you were—"
"Hey," Skye cuts her friend off, "Stop that. I'm fine, okay? Just a little banged up is all."
Jemma smiles, "Yes. And you will be much better very soon."
"That's what the doctors told me. They said that I'm lucky I wasn't driving because the dri—" Skye's face suddenly drops. "Wait! Where's Grant?" She asks everyone in the room.
"He's in the ICU, sweetie," Melinda tells her daughter.
Skye's eyes go wide, "What? Why?"
"He was severely injured, Skye," Phil tells her. "They had to do an immediate surgery on him when he was brought in. They had a lot of damage to repair and they um, they had to amputate one of his legs."
"What?" Skye whispers, tears filling her eyes. "Take me to him, please. I have to see him."
"You can't right now," Phil tells his daughter. "The doctors put him into a medically induced coma because there was some swelling in his brain due to it being rattled around so much. And until they think that he's stable enough for people to go back and visit him, we can't."
"This is my fault," Skye mutters to herself. "It's all my fault."
"What?" Melinda asks suddenly. "Skye, do not blame yourself for what happened. It was a terrible accident and nothing could have prevented it."
"But that's the thing," Skye says, tears rapidly building in her eyes, "It is my fault. Grant was driving us to Fitz's place to get Sara after the party was over and we got into an argument. I don't even remember what it was about, I think it was about something that happened when we were getting ready to leave the party, but we were both yelling pretty loud and I'm sure that we both said some things we regret. He was looking at me and we were yelling at each other. Neither of us saw the headlights of the other car until it was too late. And when the car was flipping, he grabbed my head in his arms as best he could so that I wouldn't get hurt. He saved me from getting seriously injured, but now he's, he…" Skye trails off as the tears fall freely from her face.
"Hey now," Melinda steps forward and pulls her daughter into a comforting embrace, "Shh. It's okay."
"No, it's not," Skye says from within her mom's hold. "It's my fault. If I hadn't been stupid enough to argue with him while he was driving then we wouldn't be here right now. And Grant wouldn't be in the ICU, fighting for his life. And Sara," she says suddenly, remembering the sleeping girl in Fitz's arms. "He's all that she has. Besides his grandmother, but she's getting too old to care for a growing little girl. And her grandparents, but they don't live here. And oh my gosh! What if I just took away a little girls dad. I'm such a horrible person!" Skye drops her face into her hands and continues to cry, while both of her parents try and soothe her, trying to convince her that it isn't her fault.
"Sorry to interrupt," a nurse says, stepping into the room. "But I was told to come in and tell you that Grant Ward is stable now and ready for visitors."
Skye's head shoots up; tear tracks running down her face. "I can go and see him?" She immediately asks, without hesitation.
"Yes. But I'm afraid that you won't be able to talk with him because he is still in his coma."
"That's fine," Skye says quickly. "I just really need to see him."
"Very well then," the nurse smiles. "I'll be back in a moment with a wheelchair for you."
"Thank you," Skye smiles back as the nurse exits the room.
A moment later, the nurse returns to the room with a wheelchair and stops it by Skye's bedside.
"Mom? Dad? Will you help me?" Skye asks her parents.
"Of course, baby girl," Phil says, and he and Melinda help their daughter from her bed and into the wheelchair. Phil begins to push Skye when she stops him. "What is it?" He asks her.
"Sara," she says, "I'm pretty sure she wants to see her dad."
"She's still sleeping," Fitz points out.
"I really don't think she'll mind waking up if she gets to see her dad. And I'm sure Grant won't mind if we wake her up. If she gets to see her dad, it won't matter. And she'll probably fall right back to sleep, anyways. When she wants to sleep, she sleeps."
"If you insist," Fitz sighs heavily. "Sara?" He whispers gently into the little girl's ear. "Sara." He gently shakes her shoulder, "Hey monkey, do you want to go and see your dad?"
That catches her attention and Sara's eyes slowly begin to open, "Daddy?" She asks.
"Do you want to go and see him?" Fitz repeats. Sara gives a small smile and nods her head. "Good. Because Skye is going to take you to go and see him. But you won't be able to talk to him right now because he's asleep."
"Okay," Sara says quietly. Fitz smiles and then leans down to transfer Sara to Skye's arms.
"What happened?" Sara asks, noticing the bandages wrapped around Skye's torso, as well as the sling on her arm.
"I got hurt," Skye tells the little girl in her arms, "but I'm okay. I'll be fine really soon, just watch. But your dad got hurt more than me, so I think that we should go and see him to try and make him feel better. What do you think?" Sara smiles even bigger and nods her head. "Alright. Hold on tight, okay? But be careful." Sara nods her head again and wraps her arms around Skye's neck, holding onto her as Phil begins pushing the wheelchair once more, Melinda walking right beside them.
When they finally reach Grant's room at the ICU, the nurse allows Phil to push Skye and Sara inside but then instructs him wait to outside of the room because of the very strict ICU visitor policy.
"Daddy?" Sara calls out quietly when she sees her dad lying in the bed with his eyes closed and bandages all over his body. He has a few different tubes and wires attached to his body, leading to a couple of machines sitting around his bed. "Daddy?"
"He's still asleep, sweetie," Skye tells the little girl as they take their place next to Grant's bedside.
"When is he going to wake up?" Sara asks her, wanting to see her dad awake and happy again.
"I don't know," Skye tells her sadly. "It all depends on when the medicine they gave him wears off. It's a type of medicine that keeps him asleep to let his body fix the things that need to be fixed on the inside. If everything works like it should, then he should wake up in a few days."
"Oh," Sara says, looking down and starting to play with the hem of her shirt. Skye looks down sadly as well, hugging the small child to her as best as she can without injuring herself further. Looking up at her boyfriend lying in the hospital bed, it takes all of the strength that she has to not start crying. She wants to, oh how she wants to, but she decides that she needs to keep herself together for Sara's sake. She needs to be strong for the little girl that looks up to her in so many ways.
She desperately needs Grant to get better quickly and wake up. She doesn't know if she'll be able to go on for very much longer if he doesn't wake up. She needs him to wake up, he has to. If not for her, then for Sara.
So? What did you all think? I really hope you enjoyed it and it made you get at least a little teary eyed.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!