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Chapter Twenty-Six
Waiting
The journey to the hospital dragged by for the girls. Ethel was trying not to think about the pain in her body and tried not to worry about her injuries, she knew worrying would make it worse because she would be so worried she would not be able to cope. Finally, ten minutes later they arrived at the hospital and soon Ethel was being wheeled into the room.
"This is Ethel Hallow, she suffered a fall of her broomstick and is now complaining about pain in her legs and back" the paramedic said as they rushed her down the corridor.
"Right first things first lets do a scan, see if there is any damage" the doctor who had gone to meet them said, suddenly Ethel felt even more fearful.
"A scan? "Is that going to hurt?" Ethel asked not sure how the scans worked and worried about them.
"Can I go with her please?" Esmerelda asked, looking at Narcissa as she seemed to be nice and let her and Sybil ride in the ambulance.
"Sorry, no-one is allowed in the room unless they are the patient or the doctor, she will be fine" Narcissa reassured Esmerelda as she saw the eldest girls face drop.
"Okay Ethie don't worry we will be waiting right here, try not to worry" Esmerelda said kissing her head as Ethel was pushed out of sight of the eldest and youngest Hallow sister. Esmie didn't want to cause a scene because Ethel needed help quickly, she was going to be okay at the scan by herself she was sure of it.
"Would you be able to fill in some forms?" a lady asked Esmerelda, needing information about the patient. Esmie nodded and sat down with a clipboard with the form attached to it. Sybil sat next to her in silence, the only sound was the sound of the pen scratching the paper.
Most of the questions were basic. Ethel's name, address, age and then there was some more detailed asking if she had any allergies or previous medical conditions. Esmerelda wrote down as much as she could, wanting them to be able to help Ethel as much as they could.
After the form was filled in, Esmerelda returned it to the woman and that was when the waiting game began. Esmerelda and Sybil sat side by side, not talking, both to shocked and worried to say anything to another.
"I am sure everything will be fine, I mean magic is brilliant and medicine is advanced these days, they will probably be able to heal her" Sybil said as she bit her lip, not believing her own words but needing to believe what she was saying was true.
"Let's hope so" Esmerelda told Sybil as she put her arm around her, knowing her sister was upset and trying to comfort her, she only hoped the scan was not to much of a horrible experience for Ethel, she didn't want her to be upset and alone.
"How long do you think it will take?" Sybil asked her sister finally, looking at her with fearful eyes, clearly worried about Ethel.
"I don't know Sybie, let's hope it is not to long though" Esmerelda said, inside panicking but trying to refrain from showing it, she had to be strong for Sybil right now.
They waited for about an hour and Esmerelda started to really panic then? What was taking so long, surely it didn't take an hour to do a scan, yes they had to get the results but did that really take a long time? Esmie didn't know much about medical stuff but the waiting was killing her.
"Why don't we go get a sandwich Sybil?" Esmerelda asked her sister, really hungry and needing to take her mind of what was happening. Sybil nodded so Esmerelda went to reception and told the woman that if there was any news to call her straight away, she needed to know what was happening and did not want Ethel to think they had uped and left, the woman nodded and the two girls made their way to the cafe down the corridor.
Ham and cheese sandwiches were all three girls favourite, it was about the only food they actually all liked and agreed on so Esmerelda brought one for herself and one for Sybil and then a bottle of water to share as they couldn't manage a whole one between them. They took a seat at one of the plastic tables provided and placed their food on the table.
"Come on Sybil, don't pick at your food, it is your favourite" Esmerelda told her sister as she watched her just picking at the crust on her sandwich but not making any attempt to eat it.
"I can't eat, it doesn't feel right" Sybil said looking at the chair next to her which was empty that Ethel normally occupied, Esmerelda knew what Sybil meant. They always ate together and it felt completely odd for Ethel not to be with them and Esmerelda realised she couldn't eat either, Ethel was having a scan to see if there was any lasting damage, it wasn't the right time to eat.
"Come on then" Esmerelda said putting the sandwiches back in the plastic packaging. She was not going to throw them away though when she had paid for them, she would try do a good deed later and find a homeless person to give them to, right now though the only thing that mattered was Ethel, not food.
They therefore went back to the waiting room and sat back down, they both hoped that things were not going to be to long but no matter how long it took they would both be there waiting, it was the right place for them to be.
Finally, just after they returned a nurse came out to see the girls. She was not giving anything away with her expression, so the girls could not be sure if there was something serious or not.
"Are you Ethel's family?" she asked and Esmerelda stood up along with Sybil, both looking at the woman expectantly.
"Yes, is everything alright?" Esmerelda asked, needing to be told Ethel was just bruised and would soon be healed and up and walking again.
"If you can follow me, we have the results of Ethel's scan" the woman replied and with that Esmerelda felt her heart drop to her stomach, if everything was fine she was sure the woman would of just said outright, which meant Ethel must be injured. Esmie and Sybil looked at each other but said nothing, only nodded to tell the woman they would follow.
The walk felt like an eternity as they followed the nurse, they didn't know where Ethel was or if indeed she had even being told these results yet.
"Where is Ethel?" Esmerelda asked the nurse as they walked down corridor after corridor.
"Ethel is in a ward being settled by some of the nurses, she is going to have to stay here overnight because of her injuries" the nurse said but said nothing more about the injuries in question.
"Ethel has to stay in? What is wrong with her?" Sybil asked as tears streamed sown her face. The nurse stopped and turned around, seeing how upset the little girl was.
"Look if there is something wrong with Ethel just tell us, we have being waiting for ages to find out news and the waiting is killing us, please we need to know what we are facing" Esmerelda told the woman as she hugged Sybil and tried not to start crying herself again.
"I am not allowed to tell you I am just the nurse, look the room the doctor is in is right here, go ahead in, I am sorry I couldn't be more helpful" the woman said and Esmie nodded, feeling the anger she had being holding in as to be kept in the dark rise but she did walk into the room indicated, knowing they were about to find out exactly what was wrong with Ethel.
"Hello there please take a seat" the doctor said and Esmerelda and Sybil took a seat, not feeling right, something felt wrong and they knew the results would be bad before the doctor even started to speak.