"Tootie, didn't your mom teach you to look both ways before crossing?" Natalie asked, her voice in a joking manner, her hands rested on her hips like she was scolding her daughter. Her eyes told a different story, concern showed through. It was a very stupid thing to do and yet another mistake added to the tally.
"Yes Nat, I'm sorry. I'll be fine." Tootie replied. "What's up with Jo?"
Everyone got way to quite then. Natalie looked at the floor and Blair stared blankly at the wall. Nobody spoke and Natalie licked her lips acting as if her shoes were very interesting. Nobody spoke. The silence in the room was so thick, a person could cut it with a knife. A shiver ran down Tootie's spine.
"What's wrong?" Tootie asked quietly looking at her hands.
"Jo's got polio." Blair answered.
"Polio? I thought they got rid of that disease. How bad is it?" Tootie asked trying to keep the panic out of her voice. She hadn't heard about a polio case in her life, but she had seen people who had polio, their legs were skinny and fragile. THey sat in wheelchairs... Don't people get vaccinated for that? "Didn't she get a vaccine."
"Ya know, some people can't afford those things Tootie." Blair spat almost disgusted at herself. For the first time in her life, she saw Blair disgusted with money. The girl seemed to have changed a lot today, almost like magic, but then she remembered whenever Blair was concerned about someone else she had a rapid change that lasted until they got better.
Tootie sat there trying to comprehend everything. It was so weird, a few days ago everyone worried about what to get their friends and families for Christmas and Hanukah. Whatever happened? In fact tomorrow was Christmas! Why were there some many people here on Christmas eve? Letting a tear roll down her cheek, she let out a sad sigh.
* * * * * *
Blair slowly walked up to her friend's bed. It was seven pm and Blair wanted to let Mrs. Garrett take a brake. The girl she had once known since ninth grade, was not here, only her body remained in the bed. Her hair spread out on the pillow like the hair you saw on a Egyptian art. She was hooked up to so many machines that it boggled your mind. Jo looked so fragile, nothing like she acted whenever she was awake.
Jo was sleeping or so she thought. When Blair sat down on the chair, the girl opened her eyes and smiled. The smile seemed to show gratefulness and her eyes seemed to sparkle with Jo's unbroken spirit. Could anyone brake her spirit? No, hers was like a wild horses, wild and free.
"Hey Blair." she said quietly and then closed her eyes.
"Hey Jo." Blair answered back trying to sound happy. "Hey, you want me to catch Santa Claus? He's supposedly making some rounds in the hospital. Figured, hey Jo would want to tell him want she wants for Christmas."
Jo opened her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, I'd ask him to get you... to stop annoying me."
"Well then I guess your getting coal in your stocking." Blair said smiling. Jo frowned at that.
"I wont be getting anything in my stocking this year except..." She winced and cried out in pain and then smiled again. "...except a new IV bag. Which actually isn't to bad of a present since I've been feelin' pretty bad."
"Jo, do you know how stubborn you are?" Blair asked shaking her head.
She grinned quickly and then winced again trying not to cry out, tears ran down her face and her back arched. What should I do? Blair looked around panicked. Jo was now pale as the hospital sheets and she was drenched in sweat.
"Nurse?!" Blair yelled as loud as she could. A young lady, maybe 25, came running in and looked at Jo then ran back out. Two seconds later she came in with a needle inserted it into one of the openings in the tube of her IV. It took about a minute before Jo was totally calm. "What happened?"
"This is just some pain medication, that should stop the pain temporarily. Just one of the things that happens." The lady said reassuring Blair with a soft honey voice. Her long brown hair reminded Blair of hippies. She was short but skinny. Slowly she helped Jo relax by stroking her face and telling her it was going to be ok. "I'll be back in a little while to check up on her. Call if you need anything. I take the night shift around here. My names Ann"
She left and Blair stood looking at Jo as her facial features slowly came to peace. Everything happened so quick that Blair had barely realized what had happened. She had only reacted with reflexes. Now she slowly understood what happened.
"Jo, you ok?" Blair asked quietly, but Jo was beyond worry and was now in a deep sleep. Looking at her, Blair let out a deep breath and then sobbed. It was Christmas Eve, it was not time to be in the hospital, but it was time to be at home in bed waiting for presents.
* * * * * *
Natalie looked out the window as small flakes of snow drifted to the ground. It was ten pm and Mrs. Garrett dropped Blair and Natalie off at the house and went back to the hospital. All her spirits had died when she saw both her friends in the hospital. This could be about the worst holiday season she had ever had.
Blair sat quietly on the couch sipping hot chocolate. Neither of the spoke on the way to the house nor entering the houses. The warmth of the house seemed so cold now. She knew Tootie was going to be fine, but Jo? And what about her grades? Those were the lowest they could ever get. Everything that worried her seemed to tumble into her mind.
"Merry Christmas Eve." Blair grumbled to herself.
Natalie nodded agreeing with the irony of that statement. Nothing seemed right today, absolutely nothing. Blair seemed to agree. She wondered how it went with the homeless shelter. "How was the homeless shelter?"
"As homeless as you could get." Blair grumbled.
Natalie sighed figuring that that was the wrong thing to say. So she kept quiet. Blair stood up and went to the kitchen. Should Natalie turn on the Christmas lights? Nah, no point there.
Blair came back in and went to the Christmas tree. She stood there looking at the ornaments. A couple of times she reached out and touched one. "I need to wrap my presents."
"So do I." Natalie responded.
"I figure all of us do." Blair said kneeling down to the few presents under the tree. Natalie walked up to the tree and looked at what Blair was doing. She was looking at the tags. "Whatcha think is in here?"
"I don't know, maybe a book." Natalie said smiling.
* * * * * *
"Mrs. G?" Jo whispered.
"Yes?" Edna asked as the girl opened her eyes.
"I need you to do something for me." Jo looked straight into her eyes.
"What would that be?" Mrs. Garrett asked worried about what the favor might be.
"Go to my room and get the presents from under my bed and the money from my pocket. Then in the morning buy as many stuffed bears as you can and ask Blair to take 'em over to the shelter you guys were at. Would ya bring the wrapped presents ovah here so I can give 'em to the girls. Would ya do that? I know that's a lot to ask but I'm sorta stuck here tonight." Jo asked. "There should be about two hundred in my wallet."
"Yeah Jo, I'll do that for you." Mrs. Garrett smiled relieved tat the girl didn't ask her to take her home. That would have been awkward and painful. Everyone should be home, it was Christmas Eve.
"Thanks, Merry Christmas." Jo said smiling and then closed her eyes. Mrs. Garrett nodded her head and waited to hear her breaths come into a slow rhythm. She wanted to grab the girl up and hug her, tell her everything was going to be ok. Sort of like she did when the girls were young. Now something stopped her, she didn't know what.
* * * * * *
In the dark, Blair sat in her bed thinking. Natalie was sound asleep and no one else was there. There came a creak in the door and someone entered. She figured it was Mrs. Garrett.
"What are you doing Mrs. Garrett?" Blair hissed.
"I have to get some things from under Jo's bed." Mrs. Garrett said bending down to the other bend that was ghostly empty. She shuffled things around and started placing boxes onto the bed. They were wrapped nicely in beautiful wrapping paper. Then Mrs. Garrett took a wallet out and emptied it.
"What are you doing?" Blair asked again puzzled.
"Jo asked me to bring her the presents from under the bed and bring them to her. She also asked me to get the money out of her wallet and buy some stuffed bears for the homeless shelter that we visited. She was wondering if you could take them there." Mrs. Garrett said putting the presents into a bag.
"Yeah, of course." Blair said quickly.
"Good night." Mrs. Garrett paused for a minute. "Merry Christmas."
"You to." Blair replied as her mentor left the room.
* * * * * *
Tootie woke up when two people came into the small room. It was a doctor and Mrs. Garrett.
"She can go now, she seems to be fine. Call if anything appears to be wrong within 24 hours. She should be just fine though." The doctor smiled seeing that Tootie was awake. "Good news, your being discharged. You can go home now."
"So I can go?" Tootie said still a little sleepy.
"As soon as you change." Mrs. Garrett spoke as if she seemed rushed, which she probable was.
* * * * * *
Jo woke up when she heard carolers start singing. That was something that was annoying at first but after a while she was grateful. She needed some uplifting, after all today was Christmas. A nurse Came in to see if Jo was a wake and then opened the curtain.
A group of maybe ten to fifteen people came. They included young kids to adults. All of them held candles and all of them smiled. Jo smiled an forgot about the pain that started to grow in her back. She saw other patients around her grinning, some mouthed the words, while others just listened. One mother started to cry, her son was in a coma and was maybe eight years old.
"...Noooelll, Noel, Nooooooel, Noel. The first born angels..." they sang. This seemed to make Christmas a little more fuller.
After they finished a lady stepped out from the pack. "We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope that all of you to get well."
That was a little dumb but they had taken their time out from their families to come here today so Jo didn't want to complain. They finished with 'We wish you a Merry' and then left. Everything went back to normal and the pain came back to Jo full blast. Maybe this pain thing was all her mind. Maybe if she didn't think about it, it wouldn't feel so bad.
Nope, didn't work. She winced and closed her eyes. Again she lost control and yelped. She was a wimp, oh well. She heard voices far away and then slowly the pain faded as a person stroked her face and hair. Yeah this is great, im being treated like a baby. She had no more energy to expand so she just lay there as her mind started to cloud from the medicine.
Maybe five minutes later she heard people coming towards her curtain. She figured it was probable Mrs. Garrett. She was right.
"Jo you awake?" she whispered.
Jo opened one eye to show she was listening and then closed it because the world seemed to spin.
"I'll put the presents under the bed. Blair is taking the bears over to the Shelter. Tootie has been discharged from the hospital and is sitting in the lobby with Natalie. They're allowing more people to come in because it's Christmas. Do you want them to come in?" Mrs. Garrett asked softly.
Jo opened her eyes and let the wall spin. Mrs. Garrett seemed to be spinning with it. "Sure."
"I'll get them in a little bit. There's some breakfast here do you want some of in?" Mrs. Garrett asked smiling.
"Nah, not right now." Jo closed her eyes.
* * * * * *
Blair walked into the shelter. Many of the people slept as she walked towards the kitchen. Nick was already there mixing some ingredients together. He looked up and smiled.
"Didn't think I'd see you here. Most don't ever come back." Nick said with a smirk.
"I didn't come here to volunteer. Jo's sick so she wanted me to deliver some stuff over here. She does this every year and ironically this year it was this shelter." Blair said sighing.
"Ah, so what's wrong? A cold or something?" Nick asked as he started to put some of the mix into the pan.
"You know what? I'm tired of the crap out of your mouth, ok? I'm not bad because my parents have money. Just because you use to live on the streets does not make you better then me and just because I have money doesn't mean I'm better then anyone here. Got that? So get off my ass." Blair snapped.
Nick stepped back and then smiled. "You figured that out before most people do. Congrats. Now I can call you a human. So what is wrong with Jo?"
Blair stopped about to yell at him but then he said that which confused her. Then she sorted everything out. "Your a real jerk, you know that?"
"Ah yes, now that you got that out, are you going to tell me or not?" he said going back to his cooking. Blair hasted and looked at the floor. He turned back around and looked at Blair for a second. "That bad?"
"Jo... Jo has polio." Blair said reluctantly.
"What?" He looked straight at her. "That's impossible, she got a vaccine."
"Apparently not. Her records say she hasn't." Blair responded.
"Is she in the hospital?" Nick asked concerned. Blair nodded. "Which one?"
"St. Francis'" she said. "I have Teddy bears for all the kids here."
"She sent Teddy Bears while she was in the hospital. Jo's a crazy one I tall ya. Always has. But she never got sick, wonder how she got sick. Is she going to be ok?" Her asked turning over five pancakes.
"I hope so. Where should I put the bears?" She asked.
"Give 'em to the kids. If their not awake, put it next to them... Tell her thank you." Nick said. Blair left and started to bring in one bag at a time. She gave them to each kids. One of the mothers had tears in her eyes and thanked her. It was very emotional, more then Blair could ever think it could be.
By the end she had tears in her eyes. She left and drove to the hospital with peace through out her body. No wonder Jo did this every year. It seemed to make everything worth while.
* * * * * *
Blair entered the hospital. There were decorations everywhere and with those decorations came smiles. Blair didn't know what Jo wanted to do with the rest of the bears so she brought them with her inside.
Entering the ICU was different, more somber then the rest of the places. Maybe that was because none of the people could get up like the people in the other parts. These people were in worse shape. She went to curtain ten where Jo stayed and found that everyone was there. Jo was supported up so that she could sit.
"Merry Christmas." Blair said smiling.
"Thanks Blair for doing that Blair." Jo smiled seeing that there were extra bears.
"No, actually it was great.. or fun to do. To see their faces smile." Blair said with satisfaction.
"I know." Jo said sadly. "I see there are extra bears in there."
"Yeah, you got a lot of bears." Blair laughed.
"I've been saving up for it since June. Anyway, would you go around and see if you can find some kids to give these to? I'm sure you can find some in here that would be glad to have a bear or two." Jo said.
"Your so bossy sometimes." Blair laughed and went to work on giving the bears away.
"Yes Nat, I'm sorry. I'll be fine." Tootie replied. "What's up with Jo?"
Everyone got way to quite then. Natalie looked at the floor and Blair stared blankly at the wall. Nobody spoke and Natalie licked her lips acting as if her shoes were very interesting. Nobody spoke. The silence in the room was so thick, a person could cut it with a knife. A shiver ran down Tootie's spine.
"What's wrong?" Tootie asked quietly looking at her hands.
"Jo's got polio." Blair answered.
"Polio? I thought they got rid of that disease. How bad is it?" Tootie asked trying to keep the panic out of her voice. She hadn't heard about a polio case in her life, but she had seen people who had polio, their legs were skinny and fragile. THey sat in wheelchairs... Don't people get vaccinated for that? "Didn't she get a vaccine."
"Ya know, some people can't afford those things Tootie." Blair spat almost disgusted at herself. For the first time in her life, she saw Blair disgusted with money. The girl seemed to have changed a lot today, almost like magic, but then she remembered whenever Blair was concerned about someone else she had a rapid change that lasted until they got better.
Tootie sat there trying to comprehend everything. It was so weird, a few days ago everyone worried about what to get their friends and families for Christmas and Hanukah. Whatever happened? In fact tomorrow was Christmas! Why were there some many people here on Christmas eve? Letting a tear roll down her cheek, she let out a sad sigh.
* * * * * *
Blair slowly walked up to her friend's bed. It was seven pm and Blair wanted to let Mrs. Garrett take a brake. The girl she had once known since ninth grade, was not here, only her body remained in the bed. Her hair spread out on the pillow like the hair you saw on a Egyptian art. She was hooked up to so many machines that it boggled your mind. Jo looked so fragile, nothing like she acted whenever she was awake.
Jo was sleeping or so she thought. When Blair sat down on the chair, the girl opened her eyes and smiled. The smile seemed to show gratefulness and her eyes seemed to sparkle with Jo's unbroken spirit. Could anyone brake her spirit? No, hers was like a wild horses, wild and free.
"Hey Blair." she said quietly and then closed her eyes.
"Hey Jo." Blair answered back trying to sound happy. "Hey, you want me to catch Santa Claus? He's supposedly making some rounds in the hospital. Figured, hey Jo would want to tell him want she wants for Christmas."
Jo opened her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, I'd ask him to get you... to stop annoying me."
"Well then I guess your getting coal in your stocking." Blair said smiling. Jo frowned at that.
"I wont be getting anything in my stocking this year except..." She winced and cried out in pain and then smiled again. "...except a new IV bag. Which actually isn't to bad of a present since I've been feelin' pretty bad."
"Jo, do you know how stubborn you are?" Blair asked shaking her head.
She grinned quickly and then winced again trying not to cry out, tears ran down her face and her back arched. What should I do? Blair looked around panicked. Jo was now pale as the hospital sheets and she was drenched in sweat.
"Nurse?!" Blair yelled as loud as she could. A young lady, maybe 25, came running in and looked at Jo then ran back out. Two seconds later she came in with a needle inserted it into one of the openings in the tube of her IV. It took about a minute before Jo was totally calm. "What happened?"
"This is just some pain medication, that should stop the pain temporarily. Just one of the things that happens." The lady said reassuring Blair with a soft honey voice. Her long brown hair reminded Blair of hippies. She was short but skinny. Slowly she helped Jo relax by stroking her face and telling her it was going to be ok. "I'll be back in a little while to check up on her. Call if you need anything. I take the night shift around here. My names Ann"
She left and Blair stood looking at Jo as her facial features slowly came to peace. Everything happened so quick that Blair had barely realized what had happened. She had only reacted with reflexes. Now she slowly understood what happened.
"Jo, you ok?" Blair asked quietly, but Jo was beyond worry and was now in a deep sleep. Looking at her, Blair let out a deep breath and then sobbed. It was Christmas Eve, it was not time to be in the hospital, but it was time to be at home in bed waiting for presents.
* * * * * *
Natalie looked out the window as small flakes of snow drifted to the ground. It was ten pm and Mrs. Garrett dropped Blair and Natalie off at the house and went back to the hospital. All her spirits had died when she saw both her friends in the hospital. This could be about the worst holiday season she had ever had.
Blair sat quietly on the couch sipping hot chocolate. Neither of the spoke on the way to the house nor entering the houses. The warmth of the house seemed so cold now. She knew Tootie was going to be fine, but Jo? And what about her grades? Those were the lowest they could ever get. Everything that worried her seemed to tumble into her mind.
"Merry Christmas Eve." Blair grumbled to herself.
Natalie nodded agreeing with the irony of that statement. Nothing seemed right today, absolutely nothing. Blair seemed to agree. She wondered how it went with the homeless shelter. "How was the homeless shelter?"
"As homeless as you could get." Blair grumbled.
Natalie sighed figuring that that was the wrong thing to say. So she kept quiet. Blair stood up and went to the kitchen. Should Natalie turn on the Christmas lights? Nah, no point there.
Blair came back in and went to the Christmas tree. She stood there looking at the ornaments. A couple of times she reached out and touched one. "I need to wrap my presents."
"So do I." Natalie responded.
"I figure all of us do." Blair said kneeling down to the few presents under the tree. Natalie walked up to the tree and looked at what Blair was doing. She was looking at the tags. "Whatcha think is in here?"
"I don't know, maybe a book." Natalie said smiling.
* * * * * *
"Mrs. G?" Jo whispered.
"Yes?" Edna asked as the girl opened her eyes.
"I need you to do something for me." Jo looked straight into her eyes.
"What would that be?" Mrs. Garrett asked worried about what the favor might be.
"Go to my room and get the presents from under my bed and the money from my pocket. Then in the morning buy as many stuffed bears as you can and ask Blair to take 'em over to the shelter you guys were at. Would ya bring the wrapped presents ovah here so I can give 'em to the girls. Would ya do that? I know that's a lot to ask but I'm sorta stuck here tonight." Jo asked. "There should be about two hundred in my wallet."
"Yeah Jo, I'll do that for you." Mrs. Garrett smiled relieved tat the girl didn't ask her to take her home. That would have been awkward and painful. Everyone should be home, it was Christmas Eve.
"Thanks, Merry Christmas." Jo said smiling and then closed her eyes. Mrs. Garrett nodded her head and waited to hear her breaths come into a slow rhythm. She wanted to grab the girl up and hug her, tell her everything was going to be ok. Sort of like she did when the girls were young. Now something stopped her, she didn't know what.
* * * * * *
In the dark, Blair sat in her bed thinking. Natalie was sound asleep and no one else was there. There came a creak in the door and someone entered. She figured it was Mrs. Garrett.
"What are you doing Mrs. Garrett?" Blair hissed.
"I have to get some things from under Jo's bed." Mrs. Garrett said bending down to the other bend that was ghostly empty. She shuffled things around and started placing boxes onto the bed. They were wrapped nicely in beautiful wrapping paper. Then Mrs. Garrett took a wallet out and emptied it.
"What are you doing?" Blair asked again puzzled.
"Jo asked me to bring her the presents from under the bed and bring them to her. She also asked me to get the money out of her wallet and buy some stuffed bears for the homeless shelter that we visited. She was wondering if you could take them there." Mrs. Garrett said putting the presents into a bag.
"Yeah, of course." Blair said quickly.
"Good night." Mrs. Garrett paused for a minute. "Merry Christmas."
"You to." Blair replied as her mentor left the room.
* * * * * *
Tootie woke up when two people came into the small room. It was a doctor and Mrs. Garrett.
"She can go now, she seems to be fine. Call if anything appears to be wrong within 24 hours. She should be just fine though." The doctor smiled seeing that Tootie was awake. "Good news, your being discharged. You can go home now."
"So I can go?" Tootie said still a little sleepy.
"As soon as you change." Mrs. Garrett spoke as if she seemed rushed, which she probable was.
* * * * * *
Jo woke up when she heard carolers start singing. That was something that was annoying at first but after a while she was grateful. She needed some uplifting, after all today was Christmas. A nurse Came in to see if Jo was a wake and then opened the curtain.
A group of maybe ten to fifteen people came. They included young kids to adults. All of them held candles and all of them smiled. Jo smiled an forgot about the pain that started to grow in her back. She saw other patients around her grinning, some mouthed the words, while others just listened. One mother started to cry, her son was in a coma and was maybe eight years old.
"...Noooelll, Noel, Nooooooel, Noel. The first born angels..." they sang. This seemed to make Christmas a little more fuller.
After they finished a lady stepped out from the pack. "We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope that all of you to get well."
That was a little dumb but they had taken their time out from their families to come here today so Jo didn't want to complain. They finished with 'We wish you a Merry' and then left. Everything went back to normal and the pain came back to Jo full blast. Maybe this pain thing was all her mind. Maybe if she didn't think about it, it wouldn't feel so bad.
Nope, didn't work. She winced and closed her eyes. Again she lost control and yelped. She was a wimp, oh well. She heard voices far away and then slowly the pain faded as a person stroked her face and hair. Yeah this is great, im being treated like a baby. She had no more energy to expand so she just lay there as her mind started to cloud from the medicine.
Maybe five minutes later she heard people coming towards her curtain. She figured it was probable Mrs. Garrett. She was right.
"Jo you awake?" she whispered.
Jo opened one eye to show she was listening and then closed it because the world seemed to spin.
"I'll put the presents under the bed. Blair is taking the bears over to the Shelter. Tootie has been discharged from the hospital and is sitting in the lobby with Natalie. They're allowing more people to come in because it's Christmas. Do you want them to come in?" Mrs. Garrett asked softly.
Jo opened her eyes and let the wall spin. Mrs. Garrett seemed to be spinning with it. "Sure."
"I'll get them in a little bit. There's some breakfast here do you want some of in?" Mrs. Garrett asked smiling.
"Nah, not right now." Jo closed her eyes.
* * * * * *
Blair walked into the shelter. Many of the people slept as she walked towards the kitchen. Nick was already there mixing some ingredients together. He looked up and smiled.
"Didn't think I'd see you here. Most don't ever come back." Nick said with a smirk.
"I didn't come here to volunteer. Jo's sick so she wanted me to deliver some stuff over here. She does this every year and ironically this year it was this shelter." Blair said sighing.
"Ah, so what's wrong? A cold or something?" Nick asked as he started to put some of the mix into the pan.
"You know what? I'm tired of the crap out of your mouth, ok? I'm not bad because my parents have money. Just because you use to live on the streets does not make you better then me and just because I have money doesn't mean I'm better then anyone here. Got that? So get off my ass." Blair snapped.
Nick stepped back and then smiled. "You figured that out before most people do. Congrats. Now I can call you a human. So what is wrong with Jo?"
Blair stopped about to yell at him but then he said that which confused her. Then she sorted everything out. "Your a real jerk, you know that?"
"Ah yes, now that you got that out, are you going to tell me or not?" he said going back to his cooking. Blair hasted and looked at the floor. He turned back around and looked at Blair for a second. "That bad?"
"Jo... Jo has polio." Blair said reluctantly.
"What?" He looked straight at her. "That's impossible, she got a vaccine."
"Apparently not. Her records say she hasn't." Blair responded.
"Is she in the hospital?" Nick asked concerned. Blair nodded. "Which one?"
"St. Francis'" she said. "I have Teddy bears for all the kids here."
"She sent Teddy Bears while she was in the hospital. Jo's a crazy one I tall ya. Always has. But she never got sick, wonder how she got sick. Is she going to be ok?" Her asked turning over five pancakes.
"I hope so. Where should I put the bears?" She asked.
"Give 'em to the kids. If their not awake, put it next to them... Tell her thank you." Nick said. Blair left and started to bring in one bag at a time. She gave them to each kids. One of the mothers had tears in her eyes and thanked her. It was very emotional, more then Blair could ever think it could be.
By the end she had tears in her eyes. She left and drove to the hospital with peace through out her body. No wonder Jo did this every year. It seemed to make everything worth while.
* * * * * *
Blair entered the hospital. There were decorations everywhere and with those decorations came smiles. Blair didn't know what Jo wanted to do with the rest of the bears so she brought them with her inside.
Entering the ICU was different, more somber then the rest of the places. Maybe that was because none of the people could get up like the people in the other parts. These people were in worse shape. She went to curtain ten where Jo stayed and found that everyone was there. Jo was supported up so that she could sit.
"Merry Christmas." Blair said smiling.
"Thanks Blair for doing that Blair." Jo smiled seeing that there were extra bears.
"No, actually it was great.. or fun to do. To see their faces smile." Blair said with satisfaction.
"I know." Jo said sadly. "I see there are extra bears in there."
"Yeah, you got a lot of bears." Blair laughed.
"I've been saving up for it since June. Anyway, would you go around and see if you can find some kids to give these to? I'm sure you can find some in here that would be glad to have a bear or two." Jo said.
"Your so bossy sometimes." Blair laughed and went to work on giving the bears away.