May 2nd 2022
Chapter 122
Our Development of Support
Maya had not needed the reminder in order to be turning the matter around in her mind, but as Monday rolled around and she drove on toward school, she thought about Kelsey. She wouldn't be there today, no. She'd be at the hospital, with her mother. This past weekend, her friends and bandmates had been doing their part, thinking about her as they had to take the stage, one member short, but there'd been more to it than thoughts, hadn't there? They'd been worried, made to feel just… powerless, and Maya understood that part maybe most of all. She so wished that she could do something to help Kelsey and her family, to make it so that they weren't all living with this pain, but there was nothing she could do, nothing that could actively leech the ill from Haruna Farrell and in turn relieve the hearts of her husband and children. She couldn't do that, so instead, she'd have to do what few things she could do.
"I was thinking about going to the hospital to visit Mrs. Farrell today," she told Lucas when she called him at lunch. "Either after class with the freshmen, or after last period, but then I thought about Marianne, her card… I figure she'd like to see her, too, and…"
"She would," Lucas agreed. "I'd like to go with you two. I can find someone to take my place with green group this afternoon."
So, when the time came, Lucas went out to the preschool to pick up the girls, as he usually did. What was unusual on this day was the conversation he had to have with his daughter and her best friend. First, he explained how Annie's mommy wanted to go visit Kelsey's. Before he could ask her if she wanted to go, Marianne's whole demeanor became as telling as anything. She definitely wanted to go. This left them with a conundrum. What would happen with Winnie? It was up to her, as Lucas told it. If she still wanted to go to the ranch, he would bring her there, and he would come and get her later, as her mother would still be picking her up from their house after her work shift. Or she could come right with them to the hospital. He'd already spoken to her mother, and she was okay with either scenario.
Winnie preferred to stay with her best friend, so they made their way to the hospital, the three of them together. Marianne was briefly concerned, seeing as she didn't have her card with her, but Lucas reassured her. Maya had used part of her break that afternoon and gone to pick it up from the house. She would meet them there.
Winnie Grayson had never been in a hospital, or at least she hadn't been in one recently enough to recall it, so she was very impressed with the size of it as they approached. The vast majority of Marianne's experience with hospitals in her young life had been to go and visit family members when they'd just had babies, so she had a generally favorable view of them. She took her best friend's hand and led her along, promising that everything would be fine. They went and waited where they were to meet Maya, and she arrived within minutes, carrying the very important card, and presenting it to her daughter.
"I thought about bringing the triplets, but under the circumstances, it might have been too much," Maya told Lucas as they went toward the elevators. He smirked, understanding, and agreed with this notion. "Maybe when she's back home…" she added, and they remained quiet at this. Would she get home?
"Hey, guys…" The first to see the four of them coming along was Olivia Zhu with an awkward smile. Neither she nor Ava had been present in last period art that day, and while Miss Nash was no longer at the hospital, it didn't take much for Maya to guess that she had been here, her and Olivia both, when they'd been meant to be in class. "I'm sorry," she told her teacher. "Ava had to work this afternoon, but she wanted to come, so…"
"Here, can you make sure Ava gets hers?" Maya stopped her by passing over a pair of diaries from her bag with a look that showed she'd fully expected to find them here.
"Sure," Olivia shyly smiled before turning back to speak quietly into the room. A moment later, Kelsey emerged. When she saw the new visitors, she was visibly happy to find them.
"Hi, Annie," she smiled to the girl stood before her. "And you're Winnie, yeah?" she asked of the other girl, who was holding to her friend's hand like the size of the building hadn't quite become manageable to her yet. Still, she nodded, looking at Kelsey's chair with curiosity.
"I have a card for your mommy," Marianne informed Kelsey as she showed it to her. The sight of the turtle on the front made her smile. In all the time the two of them had known each other, they had been a shared love between them, a point of reference. When Marianne had her birthday a few weeks back, Kelsey had gifted her several different sheets of little turtle stickers, and the small blonde had looked ready to cry for joy. Turtles were their thing, and here on her card it was as good as her sending well wishes for Kelsey's ailing mother.
"That's so nice, Annie," Kelsey told her, looking over her shoulder. "Come on, you can give it to her, but we have to use quiet voices, yeah?" she asked and both girls nodded.
The card was given and received with many thanks, then given its due inspection… Marianne had not drawn a single turtle she hadn't then named. By now, she had a few 'favorites,' so they would return. They all had their own personalities, and the more she drew them, they'd have enough specific traits that her family was getting very good at identifying them. For Haruna Farrell, she had drawn Billy the turtle because he was the funny one and Alma the turtle because she was very kind. While Lucas went and briefly spoke with Mrs. Farrell and her husband in turn, as she'd already done the same, Maya sat out in the hall with Kelsey. Olivia had taken the little girls down to the cafeteria for snacks – and for Marianne to show it to her best friend – and she'd convinced Max Farrell to accompany them at the same time.
"I didn't tell them to skip school," Kelsey told her teacher.
"I know. It's okay," Maya promised. "Here…" She pulled the last diary from her bag and presented it to its owner. Kelsey took hold of it like she'd forgotten it. Actually, she'd given it to Ava to pass on to their teacher when she'd seen her on Friday afternoon. Now that it was back with her, she looked relieved.
"Part of me thinks I should just go back to school. It's not like I do much more than be there, but… ever since they brought her back here, I…"
"You're afraid of what might happen while you're gone," Maya easily guessed, and Kelsey's head barely tipped into a nod. Maya put her arm around her shoulders, feeling the girl ease at once into the hold. "I've been where you are. I know that feeling, I do, and the thing is…" She sighed, searching for the right words. "If something did happen, hypothetically… very hypothetically… You wouldn't be at fault for not being right there. You wouldn't love your mother any less, and she wouldn't think that you did. But if things were to take a turn and you were at school, we would get you here as soon as possible, any one of us." There was no choice in the matter but to be direct, was there? And by the look that Kelsey gave her, she appreciated this. It was saying out loud what everyone else might be tempted to tiptoe around, as though she wasn't already closest to this whole situation. "As long as she's here, if you want, I'll drive you out as soon as class is done."
"Thank you," Kelsey nodded at once, and Maya smiled at her. After a moment, it looked as though a thought had come to her and, whatever it was, it was making her nervous.
"Hey…" Maya squeezed her shoulder.
"Oh, it's not about…" Kelsey slowly sat back up to look at her. "Well, not exactly… it's just… Cara came to visit this morning."
"She did?" Maya smiled.
"Yeah," Kelsey went on. "She came and… she brought me something, sort of to help pull my mind off all of this, you know?" she gestured around. Maya nodded, trying not to smirk so much. The further her little sister got into this pregnancy they would see her maternal instincts not only kicking in but going into overdrive. It was as sweet as it was hilarious to watch. "I think she might have gotten mixed up though. The way she talked about it, I figured she was giving me music she liked and thought I'd like, too. So, I started listening to it, and pretty soon I recognized her voice, and your voice, and a couple of guys…"
Maya blinked. Following her assumption, she hummed the first few notes of the opening song, and Kelsey's recognition was immediate. She sighed and shut her eyes. Cara had brought Kelsey their musical.
"It was wonderful," Kelsey went on, her smile as bright as she'd seen it in a while, and Maya just smiled back. If anyone had to be let in on it like this, she was glad that it was her.
"You thought so?" Maya asked.
"I listened to it all twice already, I was listening a third time when Olivia and Ava showed up. I haven't told them about it," she admitted in a whisper.
"Good, good. Let's keep it between us for now, yeah?"
"I promise," Kelsey told her. It was clear to see how much the music, inadvertently shared as it was, had done her some good on this day.
In that spirit, Maya felt able to keep talking about it, explaining briefly how she had been working on it, with Cara, and Sam, and then with Teddy when they had done the recording she now had in her possession. She also explained how they had been meaning to have a workshop, possibly with kids from the high school, or from Stage Ready… As had been the norm with this entire musical process, life had gotten in the way, just a bit, so that they hadn't gotten around to this part as of yet. This time, through no one's fault, the thing that had gotten in the way was the preparation for Cara's wedding, and then her going off on her honeymoon, and then the… unexpected expecting of her unborn son. By now, it was just how they went, periods of focus, then some down time… Maybe this right here was their signal to move forward.
"I'd like to be a part of that, if I can," Kelsey told her teacher, and Maya smiled, taking her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"I'd like you to be a part of it, too." Olivia was still holding her place in the school's musical, but the way things were going, there was still no guarantee that Kelsey would ever end up claiming this spot, in which case Olivia would in all likelihood end up being part of the entire production despite herself. From what they'd seen, she was actually enjoying herself, so that was something. And if Kelsey was going to take part in the workshop, she just might be willing to do this, too. "Tell you what, I'll look into it, and I will keep you posted. In the meantime…"
"I'll see you at school tomorrow," Kelsey promised.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
