A/N: Thank you for all the feedback! I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the HSM characters. This story is pure fiction!
August 9th, 2015 9:00 am
I was released from the hospital on the 4th and quickly got situated at home. The kids got adjusted to having both Troy and I home again instead of Hannah, Cameron, Jack, or Dana.
"Momma!" I heard Anna call from downstairs. I was upstairs folding and changing loads of laundry.
"Just a minute, Anna." I called back as I heard the door open and in walked someone.
"Gabi, are you here?" Hannah called as I looked down the stairs.
"I'm up here. Will you see what Anna needs?" I called down to her as I shut the top of the washer before going downstairs.
"Momma! I hurt." Anna said holding up her arm as I descended the stairs.
"What did you do?" I asked looking at 20 month old.
"Bray hit me." Anna told me as I sighed before sitting on the couch.
"Brayden, we don't hit your sisters. Look at me." I told him gently.
"Momma!" Brayden cried as I picked him up and put him on my lap.
"We don't hit your sisters. That's not nice. Now say you're sorry." I told him gently.
"I sowwie." Brayden told his sister as I smiled at them.
"Ok. Play?" Anna asked Brayden as I shook my head at the two of them.
Hannah and I walked them tot off to the corner before I turned my attention to Hannah.
"What brings you by this house so early in the morning?" I asked her with a smile.
"Troy told me the other day that you wanted to talk to me. Cameron's gone with his family so I decided to come over and see what you guys were doing." Hannah told me.
"I have a favor to ask of you." I started as she smiled at me.
"Ut oh whenever you say that I'm not going to like what's going to happen." Hannah teased as I smiled.
"Oh be nice. This I think you'll like. I need to talk to one of my patients." I told her as she looked at me.
"What's do I need to talk to them about?" Hannah asked me.
"Kennedy Anderson was in a car accident 18 months ago. The parents are thinking of taking her off of therapy but Kennedy wants the chance to walk again. I need you to talk to Kennedy and her parents and try to convince them to keep her on therapy." I asked Hannah as she nodded.
"I guess I could do that for you. When do you want me to meet with them?" Hannah asked me as I smiled.
"I've got to get it set up but I wanted you to agree with it before I set anything up." I told her.
"I'm pretty much free. I don't start classes for another 3 weeks." Hannah told me.
"I'm hoping you can convince them. I've talked to all three of them and Kennedy wants to walk again but her parents are worried that she's getting her hopes up too high." I told her.
"Parents want what's right for their children and Kennedy's parents don't want to watch their children suffer, am I right?" Hannah asked me as I quickly nodded my head.
"That's it exactly. They're worried about her suffering and I told her parents that she's starting to walk on her own." I told her.
"Just let me know when I need to be there." Hannah told me as I nodded.
"Thank you, Hannah. You have no idea how much you're helping me out." I told her.
"You're my sister in law. I'll help out when I can. Moving on, how are you feeling?" Hannah asked me as I shook my head.
"I'm doing pretty good. I'm still on the medicine so I'm not 100 percent back yet." I told her.
"I was glad when you were released. Anna and Brayden were asking about you." Hannah told me.
"They were sad when I came home because you and Cameron had to go back to the apartment. They had fun with their aunt and uncle." I told her grinning.
"What can I say? The kids love me." She told me as we both laughed.
"Who's making that racket in there?" We heard Troy ask as the kids ran into the foyer to greet their father.
"DADDY!" We heard both kids' voices yell as they ran into their father's arms.
"Hi guys. Were you good this morning?" Troy asked Anna and Brayden while picking them up.
"We good, daddy." Anna said nodding her head. Troy looked over at me to confirm it.
"They were good." I said as Troy came into the living room to see Hannah and I there talking.
"Well if it isn't my sister whom I haven't seen in a while. What brings you by?" Troy asked putting the kids down and leaning over to kiss me.
"Gabi asked me to come over and since Cameron is out of town, I agreed." Hannah her older brother.
"That's cool." Troy said before walking into the kitchen and leaving us alone.
"What are you doing home?" I yelled from my place on the couch as he came into the living room munching on something.
"There was a bomb threat at the school so they sent everyone home. We think it was some kid who didn't want to be in school." Troy said rolling his eyes.
"Nice. Well I need to run to work; do you want to stay with the kids while I do that?" I asked him.
"Sure. Hannah what are you up to today?" Troy asked as she looked at me grinning.
"Actually Hannah is coming with me to work. She's going to talk to Kennedy." I told him smiling.
"All right. Have fun ladies and I'll keep an eye on the kids." Troy told me as I kissed his cheek.
"We should be home by 12. I'll call you if I'm going to be later." I told him grabbing my purse and heading out the door.
Hannah and I headed down to the hospital. I pulled into a spot and parked before getting out. Hannah looked a little nervous so I gave her a reassuring smile.
"You'll be fine. I totally forgot they were coming in today." I told her smiling.
"My butt you forgot. This was probably your whole plan all along." Hannah accused as I smiled.
"You've been my sister in law too long." I told her as we walked upstairs to the Physical Therapy unit.
"Gabi, I didn't know you were coming in today." Amanda, the receptionist, told me as I smiled.
"I didn't think I would be able to make it but I did. Is Kennedy and her parents here?" I asked her.
"Yeah they are in your office as a matter of fact. Go on; they're waiting for you." Amanda told me as I smiled.
"Come on Hannah. It's your turn to shine." I told my nervous sister in law.
"Are you sure I can do this, Gabi?" Hannah asked me as I smiled at her.
"You're a Bolton for goodness sakes. Of course you can." I told her as we stopped in front of my office.
"Are you ready?" I asked looking at her for a minute before she gently shook her head yes.
I pushed opened the door of my office and saw the Anderson family sitting there patiently. Kennedy smiled at me as Hannah and I entered the room.
"I'm sorry you had to wait." I said before taking a seat in front of the family. Hannah stood off to my right and looked at the family before I started talking again.
"I've asked my sister in law Hannah to come talk to you guys about your decision to quit therapy. Hannah this is Kennedy, Alexis, and David Anderson. This is my sister in law, Hannah Bolton." I said introducing the four with each other.
"I don't know why you've brought your sister in law in but we're here to talk about Kennedy's progress." Alexis said looking at me.
"Hannah was in an accident similar to Kennedy's a couple of years ago. It took her about 6 months total, with therapy, to get back to normal." I told them.
"Gabi's got me some what caught up on what Kennedy's been going through. Now in my case, it wasn't as sever but if my parents wanted me to go off therapy because they hated seeing me hurt and cry I would fight it with all my might. I wanted to regain a normal lifestyle again and for me that was through therapy. I was a huge basketball player and after I had my accident I wanted to regain that back so I could show people that I was stronger than that." Hannah said looking at Kennedy.
"Miss Bolton, we are worried that our daughter is getting her hopes up too high." Dave said looking at Hannah.
"A lot of people told me I was getting my hopes up too high when I said I wanted to walk again. I turned that into determination and now look where I am. I'm in my sophomore year at UNM and I'm playing on the basketball team." Hannah told them.
"So what are you saying?" Alexis asked looking between Hannah and me.
"If Kennedy stays with therapy, she's going to regain a normal life. If she doesn't, then she'll be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. It's Kennedy's life; why doesn't she make the choice?" Hannah asked Dave and Alexis.
"We're going to have to talk this over as a family and get back to you. Thank you for your time, Gabi, Hannah." Dave said quickly as they stood up and left, leaving Hannah, Kennedy, and I all in the room.
"Thanks for that attempt." Kennedy said looking at the ground.
"I know you want to continue therapy, Kennedy. We've just got to get your parents to understand that there is still time for you to walk." I told her smiling.
"They were talking about going to another specialist." Kennedy told me as I shook my head.
"The specialist going to tell them the same thing I've been telling them for weeks. You're going to get better and resume a normal life." I said looking at Kennedy.
"Mom and dad can't stand to see me in pain. They don't like seeing the frustration on my face." Kennedy said shaking her head.
"It was the same way with my parents. If it wasn't for Gabi, I think my parents would have pulled me away from therapy. But Gabi was there and she helped me through it." Hannah told Kennedy.
"Well I better go. Thanks for everything." Kennedy said getting ready to wheel out of the room.
"I'll see you later, Kennedy." I told her before she wheeled away.
"At least you tried." Hannah told me as I scrunched up my face.
"Do you see why I get frustrated at work?" I asked her as she shook her head.
"Parents are going to do what they think is best for their children. They're blind sometimes; that's why you bring in other people to help." Hannah told me.
"If Anna, Brayden, or Gracie ever needed help, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to help them in anyway I could. Kennedy's got the help and the parents are blind because it's causing her pain." I told her shaking my head.
"You're trying your best to help them, Gabi. That's all you can do." Hannah told me.
"I just wish there was something else I could do." I told her shaking my head.
"You'll have to think about it for a while and then something will come to your mind. Just wait and see." Hannah told me.
"I guess you're right. You ready to head home?" I asked her as she shook her head.
"Yeah let's go. I think you've had a hard enough time for one day." Hannah told me as I gathered up my stuff and walked out of the door.
We got in the car and headed home. I pulled in the driveway, grabbed my stuff, before tip toeing into the house. I put my hand over my mouth trying to muffle my giggle as I walked into the living room. Troy was sound asleep with Anna and Brayden lying next to him. All three were quietly snoring.
"I guess they tired him out." I whispered to Hannah as we went into the kitchen.
"I guess they did. What are you guys going to do tonight?" Hannah asked me.
"I think we're going to chill tonight. We might take the kids to the park to wear out some energy before coming back here, giving them baths, and putting them to bed." I told her smiling.
"Sounds like a good plan. I've got some homework that needs to be completed." Hannah told me.
"Summer session is almost over isn't it?" I asked her as she nodded.
"I've got another week, then a week off before school starts all over again. Again, why did I pick majoring in medicine?" Hannah asked me as I laughed.
"It's a lot of work now but it's so worth it in the end." I told her grinning.
"I still have to figure out my emphasis." Hannah told me as my eyes went wide.
"I thought you didn't have to figure that out until you started Medical school?" I asked her.
"You don't; I just want to have it figured out." Hannah told me.
"What do you have it narrowed to?" I asked her as she smiled.
"Either Emergency Medicine or Family Medicine. I'm leaning more towards Emergency Medicine." Hannah told me grinning.
"You'll be a great ER physician. Can you handle all the 12 hours shifts?" I asked her.
"It'll be great because I'll only work two or three days a week." She told me grinning.
"All ready thinking about your work schedule." I told her as she smiled.
"I'm going to have to. I want to have a family and I'll have to plan all that too." Hannah told me.
"You'll have it all. Just like Troy and I have it all." I told her smiling.
"So anymore kids for the Boltons?" Hannah asked me as I smiled a little.
"Troy and I want at least one more but we want to wait a while. There's 18 months between these three so we want Gracie to be 3 or 4 before I get pregnant again." I told her.
"So you'll be pregnant by the time I get into med school. That's going to be exciting." Hannah told me laughing.
"That's one way to look at it. I could never give up that many years to become a physician. I didn't have the patience." I told Hannah shaking my head.
"It's going to be a long haul. I'll be grateful if I make it through the entire thing without killing anyone." Hannah told me.
"You'll be fine; don't worry. You'll all ready have a whole crew lined up to be your patients." I told her as we both laughed.
"I don't think I would want some of those people you're thinking of to be my patients. That would be just creepy." Hannah told me as we both laughed.
Hannah stayed around for the better part of the afternoon. After she left, Troy and I gathered the kids up and took them down to the park to play. Gracie was a bit fussy which wasn't all that unusual. Troy and I took them out for dinner before coming back home and giving them baths. After they were put to bed, Troy and I curled up with a movie. We made out for the majority of the movie and ended up taking it upstairs.
Let me take this opportunity to say I'm extremely sorry. My mind went blank half way through this chapter so I've been putting it off hoping I could come up with a better chapter. I think I've ran out of ideas for this story, so any ideas you come up with, would be much appreciated!!! Feedback would be most appreciated! Thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers!!!