Kurt sat at his teenage daughter's bedside, his hand in hers, doing his best to try to keep her distracted while they waited for her mom. Jane had traveled to try to bring in a suspect, and Kurt had to make the dreaded phone call while she was in the field - that their daughter was in the hospital and asking for her, and if she could, she needed to come home. Jane had been on the first plane out that she could find.
"Honey, there was a time when your mom was really sick, and she had to be in the hospital just like this. And Dad sat by her side, just like I'm doing now," Kurt explained, brushing the back of her hand with his thumb.
"I'm scared," she admitted quietly.
"She was scared too," Kurt reassured.
Lina took a deep breath and paused as she again adjusted to the thin tube that ran through her nose to her stomach. "You're okay - if it hurts, just squeeze my hand," Kurt coaxed, keeping her calm through her discomfort.
"Will Mom be here soon?" she asked.
"Just a little bit longer," Kurt delayed, mentally calculating that it would probably be about four hours, but not wanting his daughter to closely monitor the clock.
"How did Mom stay occupied?" she wondered, finding it difficult to sit still as the minutes ticked by. Surely the room would swallow her before her mother arrived. Like mother, like daughter.
"She had me to distract her," Kurt pointed at himself with his free hand, and Lina rolled her eyes, "I told her I'd take her on a second honeymoon."
Lina perked up with curiosity. She hadn't heard this story before. "Did you?" she wondered.
"Yeah. We went to South Africa," he shared.
"Where Mom was born?" she paused, trying to put the puzzle pieces together in her head, "Why?"
"So she could explore what the country was like," Kurt said, gesturing outward into the air with his free hand, "So we could have some closure."
What would they need closure from? "Closure?"
"You know it was really hard for Mom growing up. We went back there after her brother and adoptive mother died," he explained, not going into the details of the circumstances. Though they had shared general information with their children, they had agreed not to unearth the details. Fifteen years later, there wasn't a point.
"That must have been," she paused, taking another deep breath, "hard."
"It helped. Mom felt," he reconsidered, "we both felt, a lot better afterward."
She held her stomach and reached toward her nose, yet Kurt stood and stopped her hand. "Let it alone," Kurt scolded.
"It's uncomfortable," she complained.
"It's a vast improvement over nonstop vomiting," he compared, recalling the hours he had picked up his daughter, brought her home, gave her emetrol, and still couldn't stop the vomiting.
She rolled her eyes and Kurt smoothed back her hair, sitting in the chair again. "C'mon, let's think about a trip for when you feel better," Kurt encouraged, trying to take her mind off the hospital setting again.
She took the bait. "Can we go hiking in another national park?" Lina asked.
"Sure. Which one?" he brainstormed.
"Acadia," she said the park she had been thinking about since one of her friends had gone.
"We could stop in at Portsmouth on the way, and you and your Mom could paint pottery. And get her favorite vegan sandwiches," he recalled.
"I thought your cooking was her favorite," she rebutted.
"She has a lot of favorites. Just like you," he responded, squeezing her hand.
"Board games?" she wondered.
"Yep, there's a shop where you can play lots of indie games," he replied and smiled when he remembered his favorite part, "And a bookstore where I can get a beer and read at the same time."
"Sounds perfect for you, Dad. You can go there while Mom and I have girl time," she decided.
He chuckled. "Sure."
She quieted, squeezing his hand again. "You're a lot like your Mom," he continued, "Strong. Resilient."
She turned her head away from him, resting against the pillow. "I need Mom," she whispered, regulating her breathing to will herself not to cry.
"I know honey, I know," he soothed, returning to brushing his thumb across the back of her hand.
Jane landed back at Newark, took the train, the subway, then walked to the hospital. The intake desk directed her to the right floor and room, where she found her husband holding her daughter's hand.
"Mom!" Lina exclaimed, holding out her arms.
Jane crossed the room to hug her, and Lina's tears let loose into her mother's sweater. "Honey, it's okay. You're okay," she soothed, rubbing her back.
Kurt stood behind Jane, mirroring the action, rubbing Jane's back. After a few minutes in Jane's arms, Lina coughed and winced, her throat raw. "Honey, take a deep breath," Jane coaxed, "you're starting to feel better. You don't want to disturb the tube."
Lina took a few deep breaths and wiped the tears from her face. "You can let me go now, Mom," Lina advised, ready for distance now that she had let it out and pulled herself together.
Understanding her need for space, Jane turned away, and Kurt pulled her into a hug. "Are you okay for a minute for me to talk to your Mom outside?" Kurt asked Lina over Jane's shoulder.
"Yeah, Dad," she replied. Her parents taught her to be strong. Of course she was.
Kurt led Jane to the hallway, and she rested one shoulder against the wall, her fingers dabbing at her eyes, taking the water away. He rested next to her, holding her arm just above the elbow. "She's going to be fine," Kurt reassured, "her small intestine shut down. Unknown cause - they say it might be from food poisoning, but they're not sure. The tube is keeping her stomach clear, and they'll check her again tomorrow to see if the pain in her abdomen starts to clear. She should be out of here within a few days."
"I wasn't here," she whispered, pressing her finger to one eye again as a tear threatened to escape.
"You're here now," he reasoned, moving his hand to run up and down her back, "all I did was pick her up from karate, bring her home, and when she couldn't stop vomiting, bring her here. You would do the same if I was away."
"Thank you," she returned.
He kissed her forehead and hugged her to his chest, giving her a moment to regroup.
They reentered Lina's room, Kurt sitting in the chair and Jane sitting sideways on his lap. "Mom, we're gonna go to Acadia," Lina shared excitedly, "and Dad's gonna let us stop in Portsmouth on the way."
"Sounds like you've been busy," Jane laughed, smiling at them both.
"Dad told me that when you were sick, he planned a trip with you," she explained, "so we planned a trip while we waited for you."
Jane remembered her trips in and out of the hospital, their second honeymoon, their time off while they contemplated what was important in their lives. The time that Kurt never left her side and offered whatever she needed to make it through to the next day. The time when her memories overwhelmed her, and instead of running, she held onto him tight and talked to him until his voice was louder than theirs.
Kurt squeezed Jane's knee in support, bringing her back from her reverie. "So tell me about our next adventure," Jane said, taking her family on a journey to worlds outside the hospital room.