It was 7 in the morning and Eric and Annie just got Simon and Ruthy up to
go to school. Lucy was still sleeping and Matt and Mary were still sleeping
on the couch in the living room. Eric took over getting the kids ready for
school and Annie went down to the kitchen to start packing their lunches
and making breakfast for them. She decided not wake Mary and Matt up. She
thought it would be a good idea if they didn't go to school that day and
that they should stay home and rest.
Soon Eric left to take Simon and Ruthy to school. Annie was cleaning up the kitchen and wondering what Eric and her should do about Lucy. They really didn't know how to help her. Eric was hoping to get in touch with someone who knows how to deal with these kind of situations.
It was around 10 o'clock when Matt woke up. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that he was 2 hours late for school. He wondered why Eric and Annie didn't wake them up.
"Mary, wake up." He whispered into her ear. She blinked her eyes a couple times and realized that she had slept the whole night on the couch. She sat up and looked at Matt. "Mornin' Mare." He smiled at her. She looked at the clock and back at Matt in confusion.
"Aren't we supposed to be in school?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Maybe Mom and Dad decided that we didn't have to go to school."
"Or maybe something went wrong."
"Nothing went wrong Mary. They would of told us."
"Well, I'm going to go find Mom." Mary said.
"I'll go with you." The two of them went into the kitchen to look for Annie. They couldn't find her anywhere downstairs. They figured that she was up in the bedroom with Lucy. They walked quietly into the room. Annie was sitting on the bed with Lucy. To their surprise Lucy was awake and not crying or panicking. She was eating breakfast that Annie made her.
"Hey sleepy heads. I made breakfast for you too. It's downstairs in the kitchen if you want some."
"Thanks Mom." Matt said.
"Mom, aren't we supposed to be in school?" Mary asked.
"You guys were up awfully late last night so I decided that you too should stay home and rest."
"Oh." Mary said. She looked at Lucy. She was awfully quiet.
"Yeah, we'll go eat it right now." Matt said and pulled Mary by the arm out the room.
"Do you have any sense Mary?" He asked while walking down the stairs. "How could you ask Mom in front of Lucy why we weren't in school? Mom had to say that we were up last night. Now Lucy probably feels bad because she kept us awake."
Mary paused and looked at Matt. "I'm not hungry, I'm going to go for a walk." She said suddenly and then practically ran out of the house. Matt sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He decided to let her go, so since he had no appetite he cleaned the dishes and put the left over food in the refrigerator. After about an hour and decided to go look for Mary. To his surprise she was sitting on the swing outside on the porch.
"Are you okay?" He said as he sat next to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"I thought you went for a walk."
"Do you really think I would go out for a walk around the neighborhood in my p.j.'s?"
Matt chuckled a little. "I guess not. Look Mare, I'm sorry if I was too hard on you about Lucy. I'm just worried about her that's all."
"No biggy. Forget about it." She said like nothing had ever happened.
"All right. Let's go inside." Mary went upstairs. She had a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, but she figured it was just her nerves so she ignored it. Lucy was playing a game of checkers with Annie. It looked like she having fun. Mary was happy that she was actually having a good time.
"Mary do you want to play a game of checkers with me?" Lucy asked. Mary was surprised. Maybe Matt was right that she would be okay. She wasn't going to give up the chance to do something with her sister. "Sure." She said quickly. "I'll be right back I just got to take a quick shower then I'll play."
"Okay sounds good. Thanks Mary."
"You're welcome Luce." Mary went and took a shower and changed into her clothes. Her pain was becoming worse, but still she ignored it.
When she came back Lucy had just gotten done winning a game against their mom.
"Okay Luce, I'm going to go downstairs and do some laundry. I be up a little later to play another game if you're up to it."
"Sounds nice Mom." Annie left the room and Mary sat at the other end of Lucy's bed.
"Are you ready to be beaten by your little sister at a game of checkers Mary?" Lucy said. She sounded so happy and bouncy.
"You're not gonna beat me I'm gonna beat you."
"We'll see about that." Lucy laughed. They started the game of checkers and half way through the game Mary was winning.
"Haha Luce I'm beating you." Mary snickered.
"Not for long." Lucy made a move and was now winning the game. They both laughed. Matt came in the room confused about all the laughter.
"Hey, what's going on?" Matt asked as he entered the room.
"Oh we're just playing a game of checkers. After I beat Mary would you like to play?" Lucy said and Mary laughed.
"Sure. But, who said you were going to beat me?" He said jokingly.
"Well, I have beaten Mom at two games and now I'm beating Mary. No one seems to stand up to my challenge." She laughed.
"All right then. You'll see Luce." He smiled at her and she smiled back. He was glad to see that she was having fun and not having so much pressure on her. He stood over Mary watching them play the game.
"Haha I won Mary."
"I'll beat you next time." Mary laughed. Matt and Lucy played the game of checkers. Lucy won of course. After they played the game she fell asleep again. A lot of excitement made her exhausted. It also, made Mary exhausted too. She fell asleep on the couch.
Meanwhile Matt helped Annie with making lunch for everyone.
"Lucy seems a lot better. I wonder what made her feel that way." Matt said looking at Annie.
Annie sighed. "Don't be so sure that she's feeling better. There is no doubt in my mind that she feels bad for keeping everyone awake and worried about her. I think your Dad and I helped her a lot with letting her feelings come out last night, she might not want to talk about things right now. I think she wants to forget everything that happened. For now we have to go along with her until she gets stronger then we can push her a little. Once she realizes that there is nothing to worry about she'll be to herself again."
"If only she knew that we aren't going anywhere and that we'd always be here for her."
"That's what we need to work on with her." Annie said. Mary came into the kitchen and sat at the counter and rested her head in her hands and let out a huge sigh. Annie smiled at her. "I thought you were sleeping?"
"I was. I can't sleep. I don't feel all that good." Annie walked over to her and put her hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"You feel a little warm. You want me to make an appoint for the doctors? Just to make sure?"
"If you really think it's going to help me feel better." Mary suddenly put her hands to her mouth and ran out of the room and towards the bathroom.
"Oh no." Annie sighed and ran up the stairs after her. Mary had gotten sick and her fever had gone up. Mary sat down on the couch to rest while Annie called the doctor.
"Mary, your appoint for the doctors is at 2 o'clock do you think you can hold on till then?"
"I guess so." She mumbled.
"All right sweety." Annie said and walked out of the room to the phone again to confirm Mary's appointment. "Matt, would you be able to take Mary to the doctors at 2? I need to be here when the kids get home from school and for Lucy."
"Sure."
"Thanks honey." Annie said as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Your welcome Mom." He laughed.
************************************************************************
"Wake up Mary." Matt said to her, she had fallen asleep on the couch. "I gotta take you to the doctors."
"I don't wanna go." She moaned trying to sit up. "I'm too tired."
"I know, but you want to get better don't you?"
"Yes." "Then you're going. Come on." Matt helped Mary get to her feet. She was awake by now so she got her shoes on and said good-bye to Lucy and Annie. She looked really bad. Her face was pale and eyes looked like they were almost to disappear. When they got into the car Mary started to cry. She quickly wiped her tears away. She didn't want Matt to know that she was crying because she thought that he would think that she was making a big deal about suddenly being sick. But, she wasn't making a big deal about it. Her stomach started to hurt really bad again. She tried to brush it off. It worked for a little while, but soon she was screaming out in pain holding her stomach, crying hysterically. Matt quickly pulled the car off to the side of the road.
"Mary what's wrong?" He panicked.
Mary screamed. "It hurts! It hurts so bad! I can't stand it anymore! I feel like I'm going to die! It hurts Matt, it hurts!"
************************************************************************
"Hey, kids how was school?" Annie asked as Simon and Ruthy walked in the door.
"Good, I got an A on my astronomy project!" Simon said.
"And I made a knew friend! Her name is Victoria. She's real nice." Ruthy exclaimed.
"That's great guys! Simon do you have any homework to do tonight?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Annie laughed and Simon smiled.
"What about you Ruthy do you have any homework?"
"Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I finished it already."
"How could you of finished it? You don't have a study hall like Simon does."
"Recess?"
"I don't buy that Ruthy Camden. Get over here work on it and I'll help you okay?"
"Oh all right." Ruthy sighed and sat next to Annie at the kitchen table.
Ring Ring. The phone rang.
"I'll get it!" Simon said as he ran towards the ran. "Hello?"
"Simon where's mom?" It was Matt.
"Right here."
"Give the phone to her!" He yelled.
"Okay." Simon said in a cocky voice. Simon walked over to the kitchen table and gave the phone to Annie. "It's Matt. He sounds really mad."
"Hello?" Annie said.
"Mom, something is seriously wrong with Mary. She's in a lot pain, she says her stomach hurts really bad, I'm going not going to take her to the doctors office I'm going to take her to the emergency room, meet us down there please." Matt said as fast as he could.
"Oh my gosh, she'll be okay Matt. Just take her there and tell her that your father and I will be there soon."
"Okay Mom, thanks. Bye."
"Mom, something is seriously wrong with Mary. She's in a lot pain, she says her stomach hurts really bad, I'm going not going to take her to the doctors office I'm going to take her to the emergency room, meet us down there please." Matt said as fast as he could.
"Oh my gosh, she'll be okay Matt. Just take her there and tell her that your father and I will be there soon."
"Okay Mom, thanks. Bye."
"I'll be there as soon as possible. Good-bye." Annie hung up the phone and dialed Eric's church office number. She explained to him that Mary was sick and to come home right away so they could go to the emergency room. Meanwhile Simon, Lucy, and Ruthy were listening on to her conversation. Their faces were filled with worry and fear. Annie hung up on the phone.
"Mom what's going on?" Simon asked.
"Mary is sick and Matt is taking her to the emergency room. She'll be fine so don't you all start worrying about it. Your dad and I are going down there as soon as he gets here which will be in a few minutes."
"I want to go with you." Simon said firmly.
"No, all of you are going to stay here."
"Mom, we want to go. I promise we won't be in your way at the hospital we can take our work and things to do. And I'll watch Ruthy for you. I promise." Lucy said so very kindly.
"All right, but you have to stay out of the way do what you are told and finish your school work. All of it." ************************************************************************
Two hours later at the hospital. Mary had to have her appendix taken out and she just got into surgery thirty minutes ago. It has been 2 hours since they have been there. First they made her drink some kind of juice so when they took a CAT scan they could see inside her stomach. Her stomach couldn't hold it so it caused her to throw it up. They took her to a CAT scan then back to the prep room for surgery and finally to the operating room.
"Really, kids I think you should go home. I'll give you money for dinner and you can go out and get something to eat. Then go to the video store get some movies go home and watch them. We will be staying here over night and we'll come home for a little while tomorrow." Eric said to Matt, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthy. Mostly directing it towards Matt.
"I'm not going anywhere without you." Lucy said to Eric and Annie. She didn't like the idea of being without three of her family members and knowing what is going on.
"Lucy, sweetheart you will be fine and so will we and Mary. There's nothing to worry about." Eric said looking straight into his daughters eyes and praying that she will get over this fear of hers. Lucy shook her head no.
"If she's not going then I'm not going." Simon said. "Then if he's not going then I'm not going either." Ruthy exclaimed.
"I guess no one is going." Matt said with a sigh.
"No, you will all go and do what I have said. Matt, here's some money and my movie card so you can rent a movie. Take the kids and do whatever you want then go home." He said as he shoved the money and the card into his hand.
"Come on guys let go." Matt said as he picked up Ruthy and put his hand on Lucy's back to guide her away.
"No, I don't want to go. I want to stay here. Please Mom, Dad. Don't make me go." Lucy pleaded as she held on to her father.
"Lucy, please go with Matt. Everything here is going to be fine and so will you with Matt. Mary is going to be fine too. I guarantee you'll have fun if you go. We'll be home tomorrow morning sweetheart, and we'll see you then." Eric said as he kissed her on her forehead. Annie did the same and pushed her towards Matt.
"Come Luce." Matt said as he put his arm around her. They said their good- byes and started walking. As they were walking towards the elevators Lucy kept looking back at Annie and Eric. She really didn't want to leave. She wanted to cry but she couldn't. She didn't want to seem so insecure and have people think that she was being a baby.
************************************************************************
In Matt's car Lucy is sitting in the passenger seat and Simon and Ruthy are in the back. Lucy is beginning to feel embarrassed and a little more upset than she was before so she didn't talk or look at anyone she just looked out the window.
"Where do you guys want to go get something to eat at?" Matt asked looking in the mirror to see Simon and Ruthy but then quickly returning his eyes onto the road.
"I want pizza. I don't know what you guys want but, I want pizza." Ruthy said.
"I guess pizza's fine if it is all right with you two." Simon said.
"Lucy, what and were would you like to go?" Matt asked. She didn't respond she just kept looking out the window. She pretended that she didn't hear anything. "Luuuccyy." Matt said in a funny voice to see if she would laugh. She didn't and again she pretended that she didn't hear anything. "Come on Luce, speak up. Be happy Lucy."
"Yeah, Lucy! Your troubles can't be as bad as all that when you're sad as all that no one loves you! Be optimistic! Don't you be a grumpy when the road gets bumpy just smile!" Ruthy sang the song be optimistic from a Shirley Temple movie. Simon and Matt laughed.
"Luce, what's wrong?" Simon asked. Her lip quivered a little bit so she bit it so she wouldn't cry. She didn't answer or look at anyone either. Matt looked in the mirror and shook his head to tell Simon not to go on and just leave her alone for now. Simon nodded his head back to say that he understood. Matt decided to go to the pizza parlor to eat since everyone agreed and he didn't think that Lucy would mind. He pulled into the parking lot and everyone got out of the car except for Lucy. She had convinced herself that nothing was going on around her. She was in her own little world. Matt let Simon take Ruthy inside the pizza parlor without him and Lucy. Matt opened Lucy's door.
"Hey, come on Luce lets go get something to eat." Lucy heard him but she didn't want to get out of the car she wanted to pretend she was back at the hospital with her parents and Mary. She wanted to feel their safe presence around her. She looked at Matt. Her eyes almost about to spill over with tears. "Oh Luce, you're fine. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you or anyone else in this family. Come on lets go eat." Matt grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the car. They walked towards the door of the pizza parlor.
"I'm afraid." Lucy whispered. Matt looked at her confused and worried.
"Afraid of what Luce."
"Something is going to happen. Something bad." She whispered again.
"Nothing is going to happen Luce, your mind is playing tricks on you." Matt told her. Lucy nodded her head and they walked on into the pizza parlor.
*******************************************************************
Soon Eric left to take Simon and Ruthy to school. Annie was cleaning up the kitchen and wondering what Eric and her should do about Lucy. They really didn't know how to help her. Eric was hoping to get in touch with someone who knows how to deal with these kind of situations.
It was around 10 o'clock when Matt woke up. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that he was 2 hours late for school. He wondered why Eric and Annie didn't wake them up.
"Mary, wake up." He whispered into her ear. She blinked her eyes a couple times and realized that she had slept the whole night on the couch. She sat up and looked at Matt. "Mornin' Mare." He smiled at her. She looked at the clock and back at Matt in confusion.
"Aren't we supposed to be in school?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Maybe Mom and Dad decided that we didn't have to go to school."
"Or maybe something went wrong."
"Nothing went wrong Mary. They would of told us."
"Well, I'm going to go find Mom." Mary said.
"I'll go with you." The two of them went into the kitchen to look for Annie. They couldn't find her anywhere downstairs. They figured that she was up in the bedroom with Lucy. They walked quietly into the room. Annie was sitting on the bed with Lucy. To their surprise Lucy was awake and not crying or panicking. She was eating breakfast that Annie made her.
"Hey sleepy heads. I made breakfast for you too. It's downstairs in the kitchen if you want some."
"Thanks Mom." Matt said.
"Mom, aren't we supposed to be in school?" Mary asked.
"You guys were up awfully late last night so I decided that you too should stay home and rest."
"Oh." Mary said. She looked at Lucy. She was awfully quiet.
"Yeah, we'll go eat it right now." Matt said and pulled Mary by the arm out the room.
"Do you have any sense Mary?" He asked while walking down the stairs. "How could you ask Mom in front of Lucy why we weren't in school? Mom had to say that we were up last night. Now Lucy probably feels bad because she kept us awake."
Mary paused and looked at Matt. "I'm not hungry, I'm going to go for a walk." She said suddenly and then practically ran out of the house. Matt sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He decided to let her go, so since he had no appetite he cleaned the dishes and put the left over food in the refrigerator. After about an hour and decided to go look for Mary. To his surprise she was sitting on the swing outside on the porch.
"Are you okay?" He said as he sat next to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"I thought you went for a walk."
"Do you really think I would go out for a walk around the neighborhood in my p.j.'s?"
Matt chuckled a little. "I guess not. Look Mare, I'm sorry if I was too hard on you about Lucy. I'm just worried about her that's all."
"No biggy. Forget about it." She said like nothing had ever happened.
"All right. Let's go inside." Mary went upstairs. She had a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, but she figured it was just her nerves so she ignored it. Lucy was playing a game of checkers with Annie. It looked like she having fun. Mary was happy that she was actually having a good time.
"Mary do you want to play a game of checkers with me?" Lucy asked. Mary was surprised. Maybe Matt was right that she would be okay. She wasn't going to give up the chance to do something with her sister. "Sure." She said quickly. "I'll be right back I just got to take a quick shower then I'll play."
"Okay sounds good. Thanks Mary."
"You're welcome Luce." Mary went and took a shower and changed into her clothes. Her pain was becoming worse, but still she ignored it.
When she came back Lucy had just gotten done winning a game against their mom.
"Okay Luce, I'm going to go downstairs and do some laundry. I be up a little later to play another game if you're up to it."
"Sounds nice Mom." Annie left the room and Mary sat at the other end of Lucy's bed.
"Are you ready to be beaten by your little sister at a game of checkers Mary?" Lucy said. She sounded so happy and bouncy.
"You're not gonna beat me I'm gonna beat you."
"We'll see about that." Lucy laughed. They started the game of checkers and half way through the game Mary was winning.
"Haha Luce I'm beating you." Mary snickered.
"Not for long." Lucy made a move and was now winning the game. They both laughed. Matt came in the room confused about all the laughter.
"Hey, what's going on?" Matt asked as he entered the room.
"Oh we're just playing a game of checkers. After I beat Mary would you like to play?" Lucy said and Mary laughed.
"Sure. But, who said you were going to beat me?" He said jokingly.
"Well, I have beaten Mom at two games and now I'm beating Mary. No one seems to stand up to my challenge." She laughed.
"All right then. You'll see Luce." He smiled at her and she smiled back. He was glad to see that she was having fun and not having so much pressure on her. He stood over Mary watching them play the game.
"Haha I won Mary."
"I'll beat you next time." Mary laughed. Matt and Lucy played the game of checkers. Lucy won of course. After they played the game she fell asleep again. A lot of excitement made her exhausted. It also, made Mary exhausted too. She fell asleep on the couch.
Meanwhile Matt helped Annie with making lunch for everyone.
"Lucy seems a lot better. I wonder what made her feel that way." Matt said looking at Annie.
Annie sighed. "Don't be so sure that she's feeling better. There is no doubt in my mind that she feels bad for keeping everyone awake and worried about her. I think your Dad and I helped her a lot with letting her feelings come out last night, she might not want to talk about things right now. I think she wants to forget everything that happened. For now we have to go along with her until she gets stronger then we can push her a little. Once she realizes that there is nothing to worry about she'll be to herself again."
"If only she knew that we aren't going anywhere and that we'd always be here for her."
"That's what we need to work on with her." Annie said. Mary came into the kitchen and sat at the counter and rested her head in her hands and let out a huge sigh. Annie smiled at her. "I thought you were sleeping?"
"I was. I can't sleep. I don't feel all that good." Annie walked over to her and put her hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"You feel a little warm. You want me to make an appoint for the doctors? Just to make sure?"
"If you really think it's going to help me feel better." Mary suddenly put her hands to her mouth and ran out of the room and towards the bathroom.
"Oh no." Annie sighed and ran up the stairs after her. Mary had gotten sick and her fever had gone up. Mary sat down on the couch to rest while Annie called the doctor.
"Mary, your appoint for the doctors is at 2 o'clock do you think you can hold on till then?"
"I guess so." She mumbled.
"All right sweety." Annie said and walked out of the room to the phone again to confirm Mary's appointment. "Matt, would you be able to take Mary to the doctors at 2? I need to be here when the kids get home from school and for Lucy."
"Sure."
"Thanks honey." Annie said as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Your welcome Mom." He laughed.
************************************************************************
"Wake up Mary." Matt said to her, she had fallen asleep on the couch. "I gotta take you to the doctors."
"I don't wanna go." She moaned trying to sit up. "I'm too tired."
"I know, but you want to get better don't you?"
"Yes." "Then you're going. Come on." Matt helped Mary get to her feet. She was awake by now so she got her shoes on and said good-bye to Lucy and Annie. She looked really bad. Her face was pale and eyes looked like they were almost to disappear. When they got into the car Mary started to cry. She quickly wiped her tears away. She didn't want Matt to know that she was crying because she thought that he would think that she was making a big deal about suddenly being sick. But, she wasn't making a big deal about it. Her stomach started to hurt really bad again. She tried to brush it off. It worked for a little while, but soon she was screaming out in pain holding her stomach, crying hysterically. Matt quickly pulled the car off to the side of the road.
"Mary what's wrong?" He panicked.
Mary screamed. "It hurts! It hurts so bad! I can't stand it anymore! I feel like I'm going to die! It hurts Matt, it hurts!"
************************************************************************
"Hey, kids how was school?" Annie asked as Simon and Ruthy walked in the door.
"Good, I got an A on my astronomy project!" Simon said.
"And I made a knew friend! Her name is Victoria. She's real nice." Ruthy exclaimed.
"That's great guys! Simon do you have any homework to do tonight?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Annie laughed and Simon smiled.
"What about you Ruthy do you have any homework?"
"Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I finished it already."
"How could you of finished it? You don't have a study hall like Simon does."
"Recess?"
"I don't buy that Ruthy Camden. Get over here work on it and I'll help you okay?"
"Oh all right." Ruthy sighed and sat next to Annie at the kitchen table.
Ring Ring. The phone rang.
"I'll get it!" Simon said as he ran towards the ran. "Hello?"
"Simon where's mom?" It was Matt.
"Right here."
"Give the phone to her!" He yelled.
"Okay." Simon said in a cocky voice. Simon walked over to the kitchen table and gave the phone to Annie. "It's Matt. He sounds really mad."
"Hello?" Annie said.
"Mom, something is seriously wrong with Mary. She's in a lot pain, she says her stomach hurts really bad, I'm going not going to take her to the doctors office I'm going to take her to the emergency room, meet us down there please." Matt said as fast as he could.
"Oh my gosh, she'll be okay Matt. Just take her there and tell her that your father and I will be there soon."
"Okay Mom, thanks. Bye."
"Mom, something is seriously wrong with Mary. She's in a lot pain, she says her stomach hurts really bad, I'm going not going to take her to the doctors office I'm going to take her to the emergency room, meet us down there please." Matt said as fast as he could.
"Oh my gosh, she'll be okay Matt. Just take her there and tell her that your father and I will be there soon."
"Okay Mom, thanks. Bye."
"I'll be there as soon as possible. Good-bye." Annie hung up the phone and dialed Eric's church office number. She explained to him that Mary was sick and to come home right away so they could go to the emergency room. Meanwhile Simon, Lucy, and Ruthy were listening on to her conversation. Their faces were filled with worry and fear. Annie hung up on the phone.
"Mom what's going on?" Simon asked.
"Mary is sick and Matt is taking her to the emergency room. She'll be fine so don't you all start worrying about it. Your dad and I are going down there as soon as he gets here which will be in a few minutes."
"I want to go with you." Simon said firmly.
"No, all of you are going to stay here."
"Mom, we want to go. I promise we won't be in your way at the hospital we can take our work and things to do. And I'll watch Ruthy for you. I promise." Lucy said so very kindly.
"All right, but you have to stay out of the way do what you are told and finish your school work. All of it." ************************************************************************
Two hours later at the hospital. Mary had to have her appendix taken out and she just got into surgery thirty minutes ago. It has been 2 hours since they have been there. First they made her drink some kind of juice so when they took a CAT scan they could see inside her stomach. Her stomach couldn't hold it so it caused her to throw it up. They took her to a CAT scan then back to the prep room for surgery and finally to the operating room.
"Really, kids I think you should go home. I'll give you money for dinner and you can go out and get something to eat. Then go to the video store get some movies go home and watch them. We will be staying here over night and we'll come home for a little while tomorrow." Eric said to Matt, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthy. Mostly directing it towards Matt.
"I'm not going anywhere without you." Lucy said to Eric and Annie. She didn't like the idea of being without three of her family members and knowing what is going on.
"Lucy, sweetheart you will be fine and so will we and Mary. There's nothing to worry about." Eric said looking straight into his daughters eyes and praying that she will get over this fear of hers. Lucy shook her head no.
"If she's not going then I'm not going." Simon said. "Then if he's not going then I'm not going either." Ruthy exclaimed.
"I guess no one is going." Matt said with a sigh.
"No, you will all go and do what I have said. Matt, here's some money and my movie card so you can rent a movie. Take the kids and do whatever you want then go home." He said as he shoved the money and the card into his hand.
"Come on guys let go." Matt said as he picked up Ruthy and put his hand on Lucy's back to guide her away.
"No, I don't want to go. I want to stay here. Please Mom, Dad. Don't make me go." Lucy pleaded as she held on to her father.
"Lucy, please go with Matt. Everything here is going to be fine and so will you with Matt. Mary is going to be fine too. I guarantee you'll have fun if you go. We'll be home tomorrow morning sweetheart, and we'll see you then." Eric said as he kissed her on her forehead. Annie did the same and pushed her towards Matt.
"Come Luce." Matt said as he put his arm around her. They said their good- byes and started walking. As they were walking towards the elevators Lucy kept looking back at Annie and Eric. She really didn't want to leave. She wanted to cry but she couldn't. She didn't want to seem so insecure and have people think that she was being a baby.
************************************************************************
In Matt's car Lucy is sitting in the passenger seat and Simon and Ruthy are in the back. Lucy is beginning to feel embarrassed and a little more upset than she was before so she didn't talk or look at anyone she just looked out the window.
"Where do you guys want to go get something to eat at?" Matt asked looking in the mirror to see Simon and Ruthy but then quickly returning his eyes onto the road.
"I want pizza. I don't know what you guys want but, I want pizza." Ruthy said.
"I guess pizza's fine if it is all right with you two." Simon said.
"Lucy, what and were would you like to go?" Matt asked. She didn't respond she just kept looking out the window. She pretended that she didn't hear anything. "Luuuccyy." Matt said in a funny voice to see if she would laugh. She didn't and again she pretended that she didn't hear anything. "Come on Luce, speak up. Be happy Lucy."
"Yeah, Lucy! Your troubles can't be as bad as all that when you're sad as all that no one loves you! Be optimistic! Don't you be a grumpy when the road gets bumpy just smile!" Ruthy sang the song be optimistic from a Shirley Temple movie. Simon and Matt laughed.
"Luce, what's wrong?" Simon asked. Her lip quivered a little bit so she bit it so she wouldn't cry. She didn't answer or look at anyone either. Matt looked in the mirror and shook his head to tell Simon not to go on and just leave her alone for now. Simon nodded his head back to say that he understood. Matt decided to go to the pizza parlor to eat since everyone agreed and he didn't think that Lucy would mind. He pulled into the parking lot and everyone got out of the car except for Lucy. She had convinced herself that nothing was going on around her. She was in her own little world. Matt let Simon take Ruthy inside the pizza parlor without him and Lucy. Matt opened Lucy's door.
"Hey, come on Luce lets go get something to eat." Lucy heard him but she didn't want to get out of the car she wanted to pretend she was back at the hospital with her parents and Mary. She wanted to feel their safe presence around her. She looked at Matt. Her eyes almost about to spill over with tears. "Oh Luce, you're fine. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you or anyone else in this family. Come on lets go eat." Matt grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the car. They walked towards the door of the pizza parlor.
"I'm afraid." Lucy whispered. Matt looked at her confused and worried.
"Afraid of what Luce."
"Something is going to happen. Something bad." She whispered again.
"Nothing is going to happen Luce, your mind is playing tricks on you." Matt told her. Lucy nodded her head and they walked on into the pizza parlor.
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