-1I woke up the next morning and saw Sean sitting next to me, his arm around me protectively and a cup of coffee in his hand. He smiled at me and brushed my hair back out of my eyes. "Hey." I said, clearing my throat. I sat up a little and smoothed my hair before accepting a cup of coffee from Sean. He looked at me sadly and took my hand in his. "What's wrong?" I asked, taking a sip of the hot coffee. It was black, just like I liked it.

"Nothing, I'm just worried about you. Did you sleep okay? I mean, I'm sure sleeping in a chair isn't exactly comfortable-" he rambled, scratching the back of his neck. I gave his hand a light squeeze and leaned in to give him a small kiss.

"You don't have to worry about me." I said, sighing when I saw the skeptical look on his face. "I'm serious, I'll be fine. I just really want to see her." He nodded slowly and pulled me against him. "I didn't even-" I paused, "you know."

"Good, but are you sure you're ready to see her? She's going to probably be.. I don't know, I just know it's going to be hard." He admitted, showing a bit of vulnerability. I knew that he'd been through this dozens of times with his own parents, and it made me feel terrible.

"Sean, I'm sorry." I said softly, leaning my head against his shoulder. "This must be hard for you, after everything with your parents. If you want to go, it's fine. I'm just going to go in and make sure she's okay, then I'm going to hopefully get her home and settled in. I can call you later, okay?" I said, taking another sip of coffee.

"Ellie, it's in the past. I would never leave you to deal with this on your own. I just understand what you're going through, alright?" He smiled. I returned the smile and stood, offering him a hand to help him stand. He accepted it and followed me to the front desk.

"Excuse me, um, I was just wondering if I could go in yet?" I said hopefully to the receptionist. She'd been so nice to us the previous night, she woke us and offered us a more comfortable place to sleep but we kindly refused, deciding we wanted to stay together. The woman looked up at me and smiled her gentle smile.

"Yes, I'm sure that would be fine if you went in now." She said, pointing down the hall. "Room 233, it's down the hall to the left." I nodded a quick thank you and started down the hall, Sean following close behind.

"Do you want me to come in or would you rather have some alone time with her?" Sean asked once we reached the room. I bit my lip, trying to decide what would be best. I wanted to go in alone, but I didn't want to have to face her without someone there to back me up. "Go, you'll be fine." He said, as if reading my mind. I sighed but nodded and gently knocked on the door of her room. There was no answer so I slowly opened the door and slipped in quietly.

"Mom?" I asked, surprised to see her up out of bed. She looked at me briefly and went back to what she was doing, she looked like she was getting ready. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in bed?" I asked, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. She shook her head and massaged her temples slowly.

"Nope, the doctor said I can go home, Eleanor." She said. I was taken back by the normalness of her voice, there was no sign of a slur at all which was different. I smiled a little and stood, walking over to where she was standing. "What?" She asked.

"I was so scared," I started but was interrupted with a long sigh. She shook her head at me and muttered something under her breath. I cocked my head to the side, trying to figure out what she'd said. "Huh?" I asked.

"I said why are you making this worse for me? I mean, haven't I suffered enough since last night? Why do you always insist on making me feel guilty?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was serious. She was making this out to be all about her, again. "We're going home, okay?" She slipped her shoes on and ran a hand through her hair once more before laying a hand on the doorknob of her room to open it. It wasn't until then that I saw how badly her hands were shaking.

"Mom, you're shaking." I pointed out nervously. She looked down at her hands and shrugged, opening the door. Sean shot me an utterly confused look as I followed her out of her room. We'd heard she might be able to go home today but we didn't realize it would be so soon. "I guess she's been released." I said, watching her walking toward the main desk. We followed her, hand in hand. The sweet lady looked up at us and handed my mother the sheet to sign.

"Here are your prescriptions, be sure to read over the directions carefully and if you have any questions, our number is there on the paperwork." She said, pointing to the bottom of the paper as she handed it to my mom. My mother nodded and grabbed it from her, seeming to not even to listen to her.

"Do you have money for a cab?" She asked me, holding out her hand expectantly. I frowned and shook my head, money hadn't been the first thing that popped into my head last night while waiting for the ambulance. Sean dug his hand in his pocket and handed her some money, more than enough for a cab. "What is this?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Uh, money for a cab. It's no big deal, really just keep it." He stuttered, looking at me nervously. After a few seconds of awkward silence my mother nodded slowly and walked out the doors of the hospital. "You sure you're going to be okay? Just be careful. If you want I could-" He started but I put a hand up to stop him.

"No, really I'll be fine. Thank you so much, Sean. I owe you for everything." I said, kissing him lightly. He smiled and nodded as I hurried to catch up to my mother. The entire ride home was both silent and awkward, and I was so grateful when we finally arrived home.