A/N- What's up everyone? I sincerely apologize for not updating sooner, but my laptop was acting weird and wouldn't let me edit. So I also apologize for this chapter being short, but it's better than nothing right? Anyways, here's chapter 30, and I think it's a bit of a doozy.
"Laura, I can't," I croaked out. I did the coughing and breathing exercises, which weren't too bad. A bit exhausting, but they were alright. Now, Laura was having me use an incentive spirometer, and I felt dizzy and just plain old tired.
"Yes you can Emma, come on, just three more," Laura coaxed.
I weakly shook my head since it hurt a bit to talk.
"Come on Emma, three more times. That's it. I promise, you can rest after."
"Laura, I can't. I don't feel good."
Laura frowned. "Do you feel dizzy?"
I nodded.
"Alright then, go ahead and rest. We'll try again later."
I thanked whoever was listening and leaned back against my mountain of pillows, taking in slow, deep breaths.
"You did good kid," Laura said as she was putting the incentive spirometer away and on the little table next to my bed.
"Really?"
"Really," she confirmed. "Here, drink some water."
I took a few sips from the cup through the straw before weakly pushing it away, signalling that I was done.
"Laura?"
She hummed, so I took that as a sign to continue.
"How long will it be before I can walk? I'm tired of lying in this bed all damn day," I said, feeling a little frustrated.
She gave me a sympathetic smile, and I sighed. "Sorry Emma, but you won't be able to walk for a while. You better get used to that bed kid, because it's gonna become your best friend."
"So are the sucky food and the boring tv channels," I groaned.
Laura chuckled. "Well, now that we're done with those exercises, would you like to meet your PT?"
"Why not? I've got nothing better to do," I grumbled.
She gave me another sympathetic smile before leaving my room and coming back with a blonde haired man with a muscular frame and a height about 6'1" with a bit of stubble. He was wearing black boots, jeans, and a plaid shirt tucked into his pants. But what was most troubling to me were his baby blue eyes. They looked familiar, but I couldn't place them. I shrugged it off when he introduced himself. "Hi Emma, I'm David Nolan. I know you don't remember Kathryn, but she's my niece."
"I'd shake your hand but as you can see I'm a bit tied up at the moment," I said dryly.
David chuckled and shot me a smile which I easily returned.
"Is it alright if I sit?"
"Go ahead."
He sat in the chair at my bedside and we just stared at each other awkwardly.
"So Emma, what do you like to do?"
"I don't know," I frowned. "My family says that I've got a great singing voice and that I'm really good at playing piano. But I can't remember."
"Why don't you sing me something?"
"Ok, any suggestions?"
He leaned his head on his arm and stroked his chin in thought before his eyes lit up. "I know. Only You by Yaz. It's me and my wife's song. If you know the lyrics."
"I think I do." I cleared my throat and began to sing.
Looking from a window above
It's like a story of love
Can you hear me?
Came back only yesterday
I'm moving further away
Want you near me
All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew
Only you
Sometimes when I think of her name
When it's only a game
And I need you
Listen to the words that you say
It's getting harder to stay
When I see you
All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew
Only you
All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew
Only you
This is gonna take a long time
And I wonder what's mine
Can't take no more
Wonder if you'll understand
It's just the touch of your hand
Behind a closed door
All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew
Only you
David was smiling softly at me when I finished, and I could feel my cheeks become hot.
"That was wonderful Emma. You're a natural," he praised, causing my face to heat up even more.
"Thanks," I said shyly.
"So, what can you tell me about your family?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I make it a point to get to know all of my patients, that way they feel more comfortable around me. I'll go first. I met Mary Margaret, my wife, when we were in high school, junior year. We got married after we graduated college, so we've been together for 16 years and married for 9. We've got a small farm with horses, and we've got a brown collie sheepdog named Wilby. We adopted him two years ago after he had been left at the shelter, saying that his owner couldn't afford to take care of him anymore."
"That's quite the story David Nolan."
David chuckled again. "It sure is, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"Do you have any kids?" I questioned curiously.
His whole demeanor changed. His shoulders dropped, his eyes became sad and tear-filled, and he scratched at the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I'm sorry if that was insensitive," I apologized.
"No, no. It's alright," he sighed. "Mary Margaret became pregnant at 17. When we found out, we were overjoyed. We had already had the discussion about kids, and both of us wanted at least 3. But that joy quickly turned to sadness when we realized that we were only 17. We were still kids ourselves, how were we supposed to take care of our own? So we decided, even though it killed both of us, to put our baby girl up for adoption. When Mary Margaret gave birth, I swear we had never laid eyes on something as beautiful or as precious as our Emma."
"Emma?" I whispered to myself.
"Mary Margaret and I may not have been able to keep her, but we wanted to give her something that was ours. So, we named her Emma and wrapped her in a blanket. Her name was embroidered in purple at the bottom. We gave her to the family, and we never saw her again. You know what's funny?"
"What?" I asked quietly.
"I imagine Emma to look somewhat like you," David said sadly.
"Really?"
"Yeah," he chuckled humorlessly. "But do you want to know something else?"
"What?"
"We had another kid, this time a boy, that we also had to give up for adoption. We were struggling because we just finished college, at age 24, and we didn't have a place to live or a job. We couldn't afford to keep him. Although this time, we didn't get a chance to name him."
"Wow," I said softly. "That really is quite the story."
"The worst part is not knowing. We don't know if they stayed with the families we picked for them or anything that's happened to them."
"I'm sorry," I said, not really knowing the proper response to such a deep and intimate explanation.
David wiped away the tears that were gathering at the corner of his eyes, threatening to fall, and gave me another smile.
"I think that's enough about me. What about you?"
"Well, I'm apparently 15 years old, good at singing and playing piano, I'm being fostered by this family and they want to adopt me and my brother, Neal. Stef and Lena are my foster moms, and Callie, Brandon, Mariana, Jesus, and Jude are our foster siblings. Brandon and Callie are 16, Mariana and Jesus are 15 like me, Jude is 14, and Neal is 9. My friends are Belle, Ruby, Kathryn, and Regina. I haven't seen Regina or Kathryn here yet, and I don't remember any of this, but it's what everyone has told me about myself."
"I can't imagine being in your situation. Not being able to remember anything about yourself or the world around you must be terrifying, especially for a kid."
"You've got no idea," I said exasperatedly. "I know they're trying to help me and that they want me to remember, but forcing everything down my throat doesn't help. If anything, it's hindering my recovery because it makes me more frustrated at myself for not knowing."
"You're right. Do you want me to talk to them?"
"No!" I winced at my loud protest. "No," I repeated. "Dr. Hill and Laura have already informed them that it will take time."
David frowned. "If you say so." He looked at his watch. "I'm sorry Emma, but I need to get going. I've got an appointment in ten minutes," he apologized.
"It's alright David. It was nice to meet you."
"You too kiddo. I'll see you around." He winked at me before leaving my room.
I sighed once he had left. No offense to David, I feel bad for him, I really do, having to have given up two kids and all, but that's a lot to dump on a 15 year old who is recovering from getting run over by a car. I needed to destress. I picked up A Wrinkle in Time, courtesy of Belle, and began reading it. I fell asleep twelve pages in, no doubt due to the medicine. My last thoughts went to David, hoping he would get the chance to meet his kids one day, just so he and his wife could finally get some peace, seeing that their children were ok despite being given up.
David
David was lost in thought. He couldn't understand why he had revealed the fact that he and his wife had given up both of their kids for adoption to a fifteen year old. A fifteen year old that seemed to have Mary Margaret's nose, chin, and smile, yet his hair color. He shook that thought away very quickly. It was most likely just his longing and desire to see his daughter talking. Emma, his Emma, was adopted. This Emma is in the foster system. There was no possible way this could be his daughter. He texted Mary Margaret and told her he had met his newest patient today.
Oh? How was it?
It went fine. Her family seems to think she has walls, but she was perfectly open and alright talking to me.
Well of course she was! You are such a good listener and an easy person to talk to :)
David smiled. Of course Mary Margaret knew exactly what to say.
If you say so my love.
I do. Now get back to work, I know you have an appointment coming up. I'll see you when you get home.
I love you honey.
I love you too.
Stef
Stef perked up when a nurse finally arrived with Emma's lunch. She had gotten her a bowl of chicken noodle soup, crackers, a side of bread, and a small bowl of vanilla ice cream.
"I'm sorry it took so long, we're a bit understaffed at the moment," the nurse apologized.
"It's alright," Stef said, taking the tray from her.
"I hope your daughter likes it," she said before she rushed back to the kitchen.
Stef nudged the door open with her foot and placed the tray of food on Emma's table which was attached to her bed. She watched Emma sleep for a moment before waking her up, taking note of the book and page number. "Emma, sweets, wake up. Your food is here."
Her daughter groaned before her eyes fluttered open. "I'm not hungry," Emma grumbled.
"Well that's too bad. You've got food and you're going to eat it," Stef said firmly.
"And how am I supposed to do that? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit of an invalid at the moment."
"I saw you eating that bear claw earlier. If you can figure out a way to eat that then you can figure out a way to eat your lunch."
Emma groaned and glared at Stef as she took a hold of the spoon like she did with the bear claw and began eating her soup. She ate about half of it, a few of the crackers, and the bread. Stef was withholding the ice cream until Emma finished eating everything else.
"Stef please, I really can't eat anything else," Emma whined.
Stef arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Then how will you be able to eat the ice cream if you can't eat anything else?"
"I've got a separate stomach for dessert," Emma deadpanned.
Stef rolled her eyes but placed the ice cream on Emma's tray, hiding a smile as Emma devoured it in about 5 seconds. Her daughter yawned and tried to deny she was tired, but within ten seconds of Stef coaxing her to sleep she was out. Stef shook her head fondly at her stubborn child. Lena had taken the kids home about an hour ago to get them to shower and catch up on the schoolwork they had missed because of this, so Stef was at the hospital by herself. Her mother had gone with them to help out and to meet Will at the house. Stef watched Emma sleep until she dozed off herself, not realizing she had done so until she woke up to the sound of Emma growling at the tv for something a character had done that was apparently "stupid" and "reckless" and "dumb."
"Oh hey, I was wondering when you were gonna wake up," Emma told her. "I was getting bored watching this dumbass show."
"Language," Stef scolded.
"Isn't that what Captain America said in Age of Ultron?"
"How do you know that?"
"It came on while you were asleep. It's like 8 o'clock."
"Wow," Stef blinked. She had slept for almost five hours. That had to be a record, at least for sleep in a hospital.
"You know visiting hours are over soon. You should go home, get some proper sleep. I'm still going to be here in the morning," said Emma.
Stef raised her hands in defeat. "You're right. I'll see you tomorrow, sweets." Stef placed a quick kiss on Emma's forehead and she was gone.
Emma watched Stef as she left. Her lie detector was telling her that Stef was most likely going to wait in the hallway until tomorrow. Emma pressed the button on the side of her bed, which would alert the nurse's station, and soon enough, Laura showed up.
"Everything alright Emma?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.
"Yeah. I've got a feeling that Stef is going to sleep here again. Will you tell her to get her ass home? Otherwise you'll call Lena to come pick her up."
Laura chuckled. "Sure thing Emma."
"Thanks."
She chuckled again before leaving Emma's room, therefore leaving her alone once more. Emma settled deeper into her bed and scrolled through the channels before she saw another Marvel movie, this one called Captain America and the Winter Soldier. She had liked Age of Ultron, so she figured why not? Emma clicked on it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. She fell asleep as soon as the end credit scene had finished, her exhaustion and the medicine allowing her to fall into a dreamless one.
A/N- Thoughts? Also, I saw Black Widow a few days ago and while Natasha will always be my favorite, Yelena is most definitely a close second. She's so hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing at her lines throughout the movie. You should definitely see it if you're a Marvel fan, it's now one of my favorite Marvel movies. Also, can we talk about how it should've been Clint? No? Just me? Alright then. I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope to see you next time!