Sammy paced the living room. Helena had been gone for two hours and Laura wasn't back yet. He had tried to get Alfred's attention but the guy just didn't seem to be paying attention. What will I do if she is hurt, or worse? Laura will never let me forget this. I am going to be in so much trouble.
Laura unlocked the door to the apartment and saw a flash of black. Sammy pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. "Sammy what on earth do you think you are doing? You know you are two big to do that. And your claws..."
"She is gone." Sammy interrupted her scolding.
"What!"
"Helena. She decided she needed to see Barbara and jumped out of the window about two hours ago. I tried to get Alfred's attention but he didn't understand. I am so sorry."
Laura pushed Sammy off her and ran towards the bedroom. "Alfred, Helena is gone!"
"What, she was just there." Alfred looked in the room and saw she was gone. "Oh no, Miss. I am so sorry. Where could she have gone?"
"I have an idea." Laura walked over and picked up the phone. She quickly dialed Barbara's hospital room number.
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The phone rang and Helena partially woke up. Barbara leaned over and picked it up before the nurses heard. "Hello?"
"Babs, it is Laura. Helena is missing. Is she with you?"
"Yes, she is here. Don't worry about it. The nurses haven't found her yet so I think she is going to stay tonight. You better show up in the morning though I don't know how things will go."
"Ok. Night Babs." Laura hung up the phone feeling relived.
Barbara leaned over and hung up the phone. Helena stared at her. "It is ok, it was just Laura wondering where you had gone. Now go back to sleep."
Helena nodded and laid her head back on Barbara's shoulder. The pair fell back asleep.
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The next morning, the pair were abruptly woken up by the yell of a nurse. "What in the hell do you think you are doing in here? This is no place for a kid."
"She is my daughter and she can be here if she wants to." Barbara fought for Helena.
"I don't care if she is your daughter or no, she is too old to be in here. I am calling security." The nurse yelled for security and ran into Mr. Gordon.
"What on earth is going on in here? I can hear you yelling from all the way down the hall." James Gordon walked in the room.
"Helena snuck in last night and spent the night with me. She is too young to be in this ward." Barbara informed him while stroking Helena's hair.
James saw the love and comfort Barbara gave the young lady. "Well then, we will just have to do something about it."
The nurse returned with two security guards. "Remove this child from here, immediately." The guards moved towards Helena.
James stepped between them. "She is wanted here. The girl is what Barbara needs and being here comforts Helena. You WILL not remove her."
"What's wrong?" Laura walked into the room with a change of clothes for Helena.
Laura walked over and stood next to Barbara's bed. "She is a hurting child, can't you just leave her alone?"
"No, it is against the rules. It is bad enough you are allowed in here. I thought I told you to get her out of here!" The nurse yelled at the guards.
While James argued with one of the guards, the other made his way around James towards Helena. "Come with us, miss." He grabbed Helena's arm and pulled her off the bed.
"NO!!" Helena struggled with the guard while Laura yelled at him to let her go and Barbara tried to calm her down.
Helena's eyes changed and she began to fight back harder. Laura glanced at Barbara to see if she noticed the change. Laura's eyes seemed to pass a message to Barbara. See what we are dealing with Barbara. Barbara nodded her head seeming to accept the message.
Helena put all her strength into escaping the guards hold. This is just like when they pulled me away from my mom. I never saw her again. Now they are trying to take me away from Barbara. What if she dies too? Helena started to cry and shake. Her eyes got wide like she was afraid of something.
Barbara realized Helena wasn't going to calm down. "Laura, do something!"
Laura's eyes changed as she prepared to fight for Helena.
A Doctor walked in from the hallway. "Hey! What's with all the noise? We have critical patients on this floor." He looked at the seen and was surprised by what he saw.
"This child snuck in during the night and she is too young to be in here. I am attempting to remove her." The nurse filled the doctor in on what was happening.
"Didn't you get my memo? Miss Gordon is supposed to be moved to recover this morning. So I don't really care at the moment if there are visitors in here. Now I have other patients on this floor and I don't want them disturbed. So get back to your work. Now!" The doctor yelled at the nurse.
She lowered her head and walked from the room. "This means you can leave too!" He speaks to the security guards.
The guard released Helena and she flew into Barbara's open arms. Barbara held Helena tight trying to sooth her. She whispered calm sounds into her ear.
"I am sorry about this, Miss Gordon. They should be coming to move you in a couple of hours." The doctor shook James' hand and walked out of the door.
Laura glanced at Barbara and Helena. "Babs, we will be outside if you need us. Let's go, Mr. Gordon." Laura linked arms with James and they walked out the door. When Laura turned around to shut the door she caught Barbara's eye. Barbara mouthed, "thank you" and Laura closed the door.
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Barbara held Helena till her crying slowed down. Helena sat up on the bed and took a Kleenex from the box. "Helena will you talk to me?" Barbara lifted Helena's face to look her in the eyes. "Please."
Helena slowly locked her eyes with Barbara. She spoke in a very soft voice. "They were trying to take me away from you. Like they took me away from my mother. Then she died."
Barbara understood what Helena was thinking. "Helena, look at me. I am fine. Just as healthy as ever. I am not going to leave you. You don't have to worry about that. I won't leave you and you can stay as long as you want. Ok?"
Helena gave a little half smile and nodded her head.
"Will you go let Laura in? I need to talk to her and you need to eat something."
Helena walked to the door and Laura came in. James took Helena to go get something to eat and find a place for her to change her cloths.
"Laura, I need you to make arrangements for Helena to stay the night here with me if she want to. And I want her to be a part of my therapy. I think it would make her happy to be involved, give her something to do."
"Don't worry. I will take care of it."
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When Barbara wheeled into her new room she was surprised at what Laura had done. Laura arranged for a double room to be turned into a private room. There was one hospital bed in the middle for Barbara and a cot in the corner for Helena. Laura had brought pillows and blankets from home for Helena to use. There was a suitcase containing cloths for Helena and a basket with books, magazines, and things to entertain Helena. For Barbara, Laura had brought her a laptop computer and connected it to the phone jack. Some of Barbara's cloths were in the closet and her pajamas were on the bed. There were plants and balloons dressing up the room. On the table was a small Batgirl doll. Alfred had brought in a plate of cookies and some bread.
After everyone had left for the light Barbara laid in bed watching Helena sleeping in the cot. Well if this is to be my home for a while I am glad I have a roommate. Barbara fell asleep knowing tomorrow would be the first day of her new life.