Chapter LI
''Oh, George - how could you?'' Alice looked at her husband, worry and disappointment written all over her face.
''I swear...I only turned away for a second,'' he said, inwardly berating himself for his carelessness. He had taken Gracie to the hospital canteen to get something to drink. They had talked for a while, George wanting to make sure she was all right in light of everything that had been happening around her, and after some time had passed, she had asked for another juice. The cashier had been just a few steps away from their table, so he really hadn't thought twice about leaving her alone at the table for a few seconds. But how wrong he had been. Turning around with a new bottle of juice in his hand, he saw their empty table, but no sign of Gracie anywhere. He had immediately started looking for her, but to no avail. In the end, the best he could do was to find Alice and tell her everything.
''For god's sake, George! I asked you to look after her. Anna already has enough on her mind with John in the ICU, and now this? What if something happens to her?'' Alice burst into tears.
''Alice...'' George stepped toward her in an attempt to calm her down, but she just moved even further away from him.
''Just don't!'' She wiped the tears from her cheeks. She was so angry with him, and worried about Gracie and Anna. Anna had been through so much in the past year, and now having Gracie missing made things even worse.
''I'm sorry,'' George said, after a few moments of silence. He was just as angry with himself as she was. He knew he should not have left Gracie alone, but he had never imagined that she might disappear like that. And what if Alice was right? What if she had gotten hurt...or even worse? What if...
''Mum? Dad?'' His daughter's voice pulled him out of his increasingly negative thoughts, and he saw Anna walking toward them with Barnaby right behind her.
''Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry,'' George quickly began. It hurt him deeply to see her so exhausted and frightened.
''Dad, what happened?'' she asked when she finally reached them.
''I don't know. She asked for another drink and I went to...I swear I only turned away for a second...and she was gone.'' His voice caught. ''I tried to find her, but she...''
''OK, Dad, calm down,'' Anna said. She could see how sorry he was, and she knew that panicking would only make things worse.
''Has anyone notified hospital security that she's missing?'' Barnaby asked.
''Yes, yes, we did.'' Alice turned to him. ''Robert went to talk to them just before you arrived.''
''I'll go and see if there is anything I can help them with,'' Barnaby said, before walking away and leaving the trio alone.
''Anna...'' George began again.
''Dad, just...'' She took a deep breath. ''...try to remember - is there anything you two talked about...something that might tell us where she's gone?''
''I don't think so. We...''
''Oh, George - you don't think so?! Surely you...'' Alice exclaimed, but Anna needed the conversation to be constructive.
''Mum, please - just let him think.'' She looked at her mother, surprising both of her parents with the steel in her voice.
Looking at them, George tried to remember his conversation with Gracie.
''Uh...we were talking about today...about John and everything that had happened.''
''Did she ask you anything out of the ordinary?'' Anna prompted.
It wasn't in Gracie's nature to wander off without telling anyone where she was going. So if something had caused her to slip away, it must have been very important to her.
''No, she didn't.'' George shook his head, then paused. ''Although...''
''What?''
''...she seemed very interested in what happens to patients after surgery.''
''What do you mean?'' Alice looked at her husband, trying to understand.
''You know...where they take the patients afterward, who takes care of them, how long they stay in the hospital...things like that.''
''Maybe she just wanted to know...'' Alice began, when Anna interrupted.
''Mum?''
''What?'' She turned to face her. ''Anna, what is it?'' she asked again, when she saw the expression on her daughter's face.
''Call Robert and tell him to stop the search.''
''What? Why...?'' Alice asked, but Anna was already walking away from them. ''Anna, where are you going?!''
Turning around, she smiled. ''I know where she is.''
xXx
''Come on, come on,'' Anna muttered, as she waited for the lift. ''Oh, for god's sake!'' She jabbed the button a few more times.
''Finally!'' she exclaimed, when the lift door finally opened. Stepping in, she pressed the button for the 5th floor and quietly prayed that she was right about Gracie's whereabouts.
It took just a few seconds for the door to finally open again, and even fewer for Anna to reach the place where she hoped to find Gracie. Quietly pushing the door open a crack, the familiar sounds of medical equipment and monitors filled her ears, with the sound of her daughter's voice immediately following.
''Thank god!'' Anna thought to herself, before she opened the door completely and saw her.
Gracie was sitting calmly on the edge of John's bed, and from what Anna could hear, she was telling him the same story that he had told her when she had been sick a couple of weeks earlier.
His appearance didn't seem to scare her or make her uncomfortable, even though he was badly bruised, surrounded by all kind of machines, and had various tubes coming out of his body. She was simply sitting on his bed, her small hand resting on top of his large one, and telling him a story to help him get better.
Silently closing the door behind her, Anna leaned back against it and waited patiently for Gracie to finish. No matter how upset she was about her sneaking away to see John, she was also proud - proud to call herself the mother of this amazing little girl, who knew no fear and who loved so much.
''...and they lived happily ever after,'' Gracie smiled at John. Slowly and carefully, she hopped down from the bed. She pushed a chair to the head of the bed, careful not to touch or move any of the machines, then climbed onto the chair and placed a kiss on John's bruised cheek.
''I love you, Daddy,'' she declared, and it took all of Anna's strength to hold back the tears filling her eyes. ''I need to go now, or Grandpa will wonder where I am. But I promise I'll come visit you again.''
She slid off the chair with a smile, but froze when she looked up and saw her mother standing by the door. Both of them were quiet for a moment, neither knowing what to say, until Anna walked to her, knelt down, and wrapped her arms around her daughter.
''Do you think Daddy liked my story?'' Gracie asked innocently.
''I'm sure he did.'' Anna chuckled and ran her hand through her daughter's golden hair. ''But I'm not sure if Grandpa liked you sneaking away from him like that.''
Gracie looked up, shame written all over her face.
''Is Grandpa angry with me?'' she asked carefully, knowing that what she had done hadn't been right.
''No, not angry. Just worried - very worried. We all were. Gracie darling…'' Anna let go of her, so she could sit down. ''…you can't just disappear like that…''
''But I wanted to see…'' the little girl protested.
''I know you did, but that doesn't mean that what you did was OK. What if something had happened to you? What if you'd gotten lost?''
''I'm sorry, Mummy.'' Gracie's gaze fell to the floor, her face full of shame.
''Just don't do it again, all right?'' Anna said firmly.
''Yes, I promise.'' She nodded, then looked up at her mum.
''Good.'' Anna smiled and extended her hand. ''Come on...let's find Grandpa and let him know you're all right.''
''Can't I stay with Daddy?''
''No, but you can visit him tomorrow, all right?''
''All right.'' Gracie smiled, feeling a lot better about everything. Her mummy wasn't mad at her, her daddy was OK, and she could come back tomorrow to see him again. Taking her mother's hand, they walked out of the room and took the lift back down to the canteen.
As soon as she spotted George and Alice at the end of the hall, Gracie ran into their open arms, and the tears shed by everyone in that moment were very happy ones, indeed.
thank you annambates! :) THE beta! :D
and thank YOU for reading! :D :D please review if you can :) thanks! :D
