A Prayer for Every Year

December 24th

It was Christmas Eve and Sue didn't feel Christmas-y at all. Who would when the love of their life was holed up in a stark white hospital room? That had given Sue the idea she was about to put into action. She'd cleared it with the hospital and with Garrett – who had given the entire team Christmas off anyway. She and Lucy were now setting up Christmas in Jack's room, one he'd been moved to after he'd awoken. He was out at the moment, getting checked by doctors, though that was Lucy's doing in persuading them to do so.

"I feel bad," Lucy signed suddenly, dropping a hand on Sue's arm to get her attention.

"Why?"

"Jack has to spend Christmas in a hospital bed," she explained, hugging herself. Sue smiled at Lucy's compassion.

"That's true but he's still got all of us," Sue reminded her, lifting another ball to the tree. Lucy smiled, though Sue couldn't see it.

Lucy admired Sue greatly. For a woman who was never given the benefit of the doubt because she was deaf, Sue had an amazing out look on life. She hadn't been dealt a very good hand of life cards but she'd made due with what she did have and Lucy was more than amazed. Now, when things were once again piled against her, she was making the best of it. Instead of bringing Jack to Christmas – or letting him miss out on it – she was bringing Christmas to Jack.

"You're amazing you know," Lucy told her suddenly, signing rather than speaking. It was a compliment above all else to tell her she was special in her language. They'd made an effort, the whole team, in learning as much sign language as possible. The doctors chose that moment to wheel Jack's bed back in. Sue stiffened.

"We're going to keep him out for a while to let him heal. He wanted to jump out of bed last night," the doctor said with a smile. Both girls exchanged a look. They knew very well that Jack would have wanted to be out of bed and the hospital as soon as possible. He had work to do! Sue smiled at the doctor.

"Will he be okay for tomorrow?" she asked. The doc nodded.

"Sue is bringing Christmas to Jack tomorrow and I'm sure any of our team that isn't celebrating with family tomorrow morning will be here to celebrate with him," Lucy explained. The doctor smiled.

"That's pretty special. Most of the kids here don't really get a Christmas," he told them and left. Lucy turned to Sue and noticed the look in her eyes.

"What?"

"Remember when Jack and I wrapped presents at my church?" she asked, her eyes gleaming. Lucy nodded.

"Well, the agency we were going to give them to was overloaded before we got all of our gifts there. Maybe some of these kids would like them," she said with a grin. Lucy smiled and linked arms with Sue, both leaving.

"I think that's an awesome idea."