A/N: I am SO!!!!! Sorry! I didn't mean for this chapter to be such a long wait. The last two weeks have been so busy that I've barely had time to write, and I've been trying to with every free moment I get.
As promised, I touched on how everyone else was doing in this chapter. I really hope you enjoy it. There is definitely more to come soon, and this chapter takes the drama down a few notches, to give your little hearts a rest ;). And not to worry, we'll get really moving in a few chapters, once we get past the initial "omgah how is this person doing, are they okay, they'll survive, right?" emotions.
In the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy.
AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!! :)
Chapter 4
Tracing Patterns Across A Personal Map
The rustle of people talking, and shuffling in and out of the room awoke him, sometime early in the morning. It started out slowly. He could hear people talking about him, and about her. Everyone kept talking about GSW victims, whatever that meant. Outside the room, some people were arguing about something, and an alarm went off down the hall.
But the more he surfaced from his drugged sleep, the more pain he felt. It started in his leg, and then moved into his arm. Before long, it spread to his back, neck, and chest. Something in the room began to beep quickly, and loud. He could feel his body tense under the blanket draped over half his body. After about a minute, he felt a cold stream of liquid in his arm, and then the beeping slowed to a normal, regulated beat. Once it did, he began to feel the fullness of the pain throbbing in his body.
He tried to move, but the pain only got worse. He felt like he was wide awake, but he hadn't even opened his eyes. He groaned loudly, and his eyes fluttered, but he squinted from the bright light hitting his eyes. His eyes fluttered again, and everything faded in like a blurry movie.
First he saw the light from the window, and then Amy, laying faced away from him. Her gray t-shirt told him that she'd been awake earlier, maybe last night.
Ricky looked above him and saw the heart monitor - the source of all the beeping he'd been hearing.
He finally turned his head, wincing at the throbbing pain in his neck that reminded him that his whole body was hurting. He winced, four different voices chiming in at once. Shakur and Margaret were asking if he was okay, and he couldn't quite make out what Amy's parents were saying. Ashley lay sleeping on a cot at the foot of his bed.
"Pain," was all he said, and Shakur had left the room. Everything that was going on bewildered him. Why was he here? Didn't they have school today? Something wasn't right.
Margaret stood from where she sat at a table with Anne and George, and walked over to the bed. She reached up and grabbed Ricky's hand. He tried to squeeze hers, but could barely muster any strength to move his fingers.
"What happened?"
Margaret smiled lightly, brushing her thumb over the back of his hand. "What do you remember?"
Ricky forced a shrug, trying to sit up. Margaret reached across the bed and pushed the button to sit the bed up. "Umm…I left the school counselors office and got a text from Amy. I got pushed into a locker by some kids and got hit in the face," he winced, feeling a throb in his face as if his body knew what he was talking about. "Then I went to the band hallway and I… I don't know, I heard some really loud pops. After that, it gets really fuzzy." Ricky winced again, feeling a full-body throb wrack through him. "Everything else is just…pieces."
Shakur walked back in with Billie, who was carrying a small vial of medication. She screwed it on to the open IV line and the medication administered into Ricky's IV. He shivered once again as the cold liquid ran into his vein, remembering the feeling from when he was waking up. Billie smiled and cupped his left hand, rubbing it between her own. "Your body temperature is still stabling. If your hands or feet are feeling cold, that's why," she explained, though his icy fingers already told her that was the case.
Ricky furrowed his brow, confused. "Temperature stabling? Why?"
Margaret sighed heavily. "There was a shooting at the school yesterday."
Ricky scrunched his face even more, shaking his head. "N-no. No, I got hit in the head-"
Margaret cut him off, shushing him gently. "Sweet heart, there was. Your arm, your leg-"
Ricky shook his head again. "No." None of this made any sense to him. How could a shooting have happened? He groaned and threw his head back against the pillow, closing his eyes.
"Shouldn't we help him?!" Someone screamed as another person kicked the kid on the floor, and other stepped on him, all in a rush to get out of the building.
"Just leave him. He's dead at this point anyway," someone else screamed.
The memories in his head cut to something else quickly, before he could even grasp who was saying what.
"This isn't really helping any. Its just soaking up blood. We need to get out of here."
"I know."
--
"You did so good." Pain radiated through his body so badly, he wasn't sure he could feel anything else.
"I didn't. I let this happen."
Ricky opened his eyes, still not entirely sure that what he'd heard was true, but the little he remembered did piece some parts together.
"The doctors said bits and pieces will come back at different times," Margaret spoke softly. "It might be a while before you remember fully what happened."
Ricky nodded, looking down at his arm for the first time, and then his leg. Both were so heavily bandaged from the gunshot wounds that he could barely see any part of either one of them, though he did notice the bruising that coated both of them. Probably from being trampled and drug around, he guessed.
Ricky looked back up at his mother, not wanting to ask about Bob, but he knew he had to. He had to know if Amy had told them what happened after everyone else left. "What about…Bob," he asked, forcing his 'fathers' name past his lips. Saying that name was like swallowing poison if you asked him.
Margaret smiled. "He's on the medical floor. Apparently they had some trouble disarming him, but as soon as he's released, he'll be booked into jail. Court proceedings probably won't start for a few months, because the Superintendent wants to press charges for endangering the welfare of all the students."
Ricky shook his head, feeling like she wasn't getting what he meant. "But what about-"
Margaret shook her head. "The doctors did a full examination. It took a while, with all the blood loss, but they did it. Now I have to run home for a few hours with Shakur. You'll be okay here with Amy and her family?"
Ricky nodded, slumping down as he laid back against the pillows again. He was sure someone was going to lecture him now.
Margaret kissed his forehead and smiled, patting his hand before she walked over to the table where Anne and George were still sitting. She slipped her coat on and walked out of the room with Shakur.
Ricky closed his eyes, exhaling heavily as the pain medication began to set in. It didn't completely wipe out all the pain he was feeling, but just mostly made him numb. "Are my toes moving," he mumbled, though his eyes were closed.
George raised an eyebrow at him, laughing lightly. "Yeah, why? It was a shot to the knee. I'm sure your parents would have stuck around if there was bad news like if you were paralyzed."
Ricky's eyes shot open and he whipped his head around, looking over at the Juergens. George raised his hands in a surrendered motion.
"Hey, I said if. You've got a couple of rounds of surgery to look forward to today, but that's about it. You'll be walking again in a few months, but you'll probably be in a wheelchair for a while, given that you can't use your arm for crutches." George paused for a moment, raising his eyebrow at Ricky. "Now what was up with that question you asked?"
Ricky shrugged only his left shoulder. "Dunno. Most of my body is going numb. I just wanted to make sure."
A heavy silence fell over the room for a bit as Ricky stared at the wall in front of him. He wasn't quite sure what to say to the Juergens, when the last time he'd seen them, he'd been getting yelled at for even being in their home. "Be careful what you wish for, or you just might get it," he mumbled softly.
George and Anne looked up when Ricky whispered, both having heard what he said. They looked at each other, and then back at him after a moment. "What?"
Ricky sighed heavily, looking over at them. "I used to tell my parents that sometimes I wish Bob had killed me, after he'd done all he had."
Anne and George both nodded, understanding what he meant, at least loosely. Ricky stared at the wall again, wishing this dense silence would just stop. It was so thick, he was sure he could cut it with a knife.
"So you're seconds from death and you decide to ask my daughter to marry you, without my blessing," George exclaimed.
Ricky couldn't help but smile, vaguely remembering the words passing his lips right before she'd stepped out of his grasp and he'd fallen to the floor. "I didn't know if I was going to survive. I wanted her to know I was in this for good."
George raised an eyebrow at his possible future son-in-law. "Well I hope you know that the entire time, the only thing she was thinking was that she had nearly killed you and the only thing that mattered was that she'd pushed you."
Ricky shrugged, finally turning to face them. "Whatever. She pushed me. It hurt a lot less than anything else that happened yesterday. In my personal opinion, I'd been wanting to be unconscious since the first time I was shot yesterday. By the time my head hit that tile floor, it was kinda nice."
"Only you could find the humour in something so dark."
Ricky, Anne, and George all looked up to see Ashley pushing herself into a seated position on the cot at the end of Ricky's bed. She yawned and lightly stretched before running her fingers through her mussed hair. "I was hoping yesterday had been a bad dream."
"At least you remembered," Ricky retorted.
Ashley raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't remember yesterday?"
Ricky shrugged. "Bits and pieces. I remember getting to school, getting Amy's text, and going into the band hallway. Everything else is a blur."
Ashley nodded, taking in what he was saying. "But you remember proposing to my sister?" She smirked, shaking her head at him as she teased him. The minute she'd heard Amy say that the day before, she knew Ricky would be catching hell from George.
"Is this what I'm going to be known for, for the next few years? They guy who didn't get the blessing from the father," Ricky questioned.
George smirked. "It's a step up, don't you think? From the kid who knocked up a 14 year old, to the guy who got with the girl he knocked up, and then asked her to marry him without the grandfather's blessing."
Ricky shook his head, covering his eyes with his left hand. "I'm never going to live any of this down. My grandchildren will be telling this story. They'll be saying I belonged in a mental institution."
"Well you are certifiable most days, these days," Ashley egged George's teasing.
Ricky rolled his eyes. "I give up. Three against one is no match for me on any day."
Anne stood then, turning her watch over. "I'm going to go get some coffee and breakfast for everyone. Wake Amy?"
Ashley nodded, throwing her legs over the side of the cot. She stood as her parents walked out of the room and stretched fully, shaking her arms and legs a bit to get the blood flowing.
Ricky looked over at Amy, watching her back waist rise and fall as she faced away from him. "I really hope she's okay."
Ashley walked around his bed, sitting on the side of it, at the foot of it and pulled her legs up with her. "She was pretty out of it when dad moved her last night. The doctors kept upping her morphine."
Ricky raised an eyebrow at Ashley. "Why's she on pain killers?"
Ashley whipped her head around to look at Ricky, surprised. "Uh, because she was shot? She got hit when she threw your arm over you. You don't remember?"
Ricky's eyes went wide at her. "One, she was stupid to do that, and two…no. I was unconscious the minute I hit the floor."
Ashley considered that fact, tilting her to the side as she looked back over at Amy, and then nodded. "Well she said it was better for her to take one wound, than for you to be shot in the head. She was terrified you were going to die before you got out of school."
Ricky simply stared at Amy, trying to swallow away the guilt that he felt for putting her through that much agony the day before.
"I'm not sure she would have been okay if you hadn't," Ashley continued. "You….everyone looks at her and says 'oh she's so strong because she's a teenage mother', but she's got zip for self esteem. I'm not sure the idea of even staying on this planet for another minute would have mattered to her."
Ricky shook his head, though he still kept his gaze on his girlfriend. "She would have gotten through it. Amy may not have much for self esteem, but she's got a strength I haven't seen in anyone else. She pulled through everything, even when all she wanted was for someone to rescue her. She made it through all of last year, and this year too. She's got more in her than you give her credit for."
Ashley shrugged. "You two carry each other more than either of you see. You give each other a strength that I haven't seen others be able to do. Like…soul mates."
Ricky smiled, feeling a blush fill his face from behind his ears. He rested his head back against the pillow, yawning. Though he felt better than he had the day before, he still physically felt very weak and low on energy.
Ashley hopped off the bed and walked over to Amy, a few feet away, and sat down next to her, gently shaking her. Amy simply groaned, turning her face further into the pillow, hiding under her web of matted hair and away from the light, and into the pillow her head was on.
Ashley chuckled softly, shaking her head. She shook Amy again, leaning over so she was right over her sister's ear. "Wake up, sleepyhead. Your boyfriend wants to see you."
Amy groaned again, pulling the blankets even tighter around her; or at least as best she could, trying to fight the reality of being awake. Ashley turned around, facing Ricky again, and settled comfortably near Amy's legs. After about half a minute, Amy suddenly whipped her head around, throwing a hand into her wildly messed hair. She sat up just as quickly, looking up at her sister, and then over at Ricky. Ashley couldn't move fast enough as Amy flew off the bed and the six feet between her and Ricky, flinging herself into his arms.
Ricky winced at the sudden force on his body, but he welcomed her warmth, breathing heavily in the scent of her shampoo. Amy clung to him, unable to hold back the sobs that she hadn't already let out the day before, and Ricky soothed her, trying to calm her. He should have expected this.
After about a minute, Amy pulled back, wiping her tears away. She was going through a full range of emotions so fast, she couldn't get a hold of herself. One minute she wanted him to hold her, the next, she wanted to yell at him, and then she wanted to kiss him, to slap him, to scream, to cry… She grabbed his hospital gown and pulled him forward about a foot, pressing her lips tightly to his as she wrapped her right arm around him, careful of his wounds that she knew all too much about.
When she couldn't breathe anymore, which didn't take long, she pulled away from him, gasping for air, and rested her head against his. Ricky's fatigue got the best of him and he fell back against the bed, letting Amy's face fall against his chest. She closed her eyes, trying to stop another set of fresh tears from falling. They were safe now, and he was alive. So why couldn't she just get it together?
Amy finally sat up again a few minutes later and looked at Ricky, biting the inside of her bottom lip. Normally she probably would have chewed the outside of it, but their fall had caused a cut on the outside of her lip. It wasn't deep enough for stitches, but enough that it hurt her, and the doctors were watching it for infection.
Ricky reached his left hand up, brushing his thumb over the scab just below her lip. Amy winced slightly, but she didn't move. "Tell me what happened. Everything after being in the hallway is a blur."
Amy took in a slow, deep, breath, and nodded, lacing her right hand in his left. "Jack said that a lot of people were running up and down the halls and you got pushed around and kicked a lot. Adrian came in with Grace I guess because she helped her when the door gave way-"
Ricky cut her off, shaking her head. "Door?"
Amy shrugged. "One of the glass doors by the main office hallway. I think they were all broken before the end of the day though. There was glass everywhere. Jack said he dropped his water bottle and-"
"And I slipped on the water and got cut too," Ashley finished her sentence.
Amy nodded, pulling her hand away to brush her hair back. "My parents yelled at me after you left yesterday, so they made me bring John to school and told me to have you drop him off. Most of first and second period I was waiting for you to show up, and then Ben came in and told me what happened. I wanted to find you, but then Adrian and Grace came in, like I said, and we were helping her, and then Jack came in with you, and I freaked out and hugged you."
Ricky nodded, slightly remembering her hug and how he'd slumped against her body from the pain.
"Most of the rest of the time was spent trying to keep you awake and alive. Ashley came down right before we left," Amy finished.
"And what about everyone else? Are they okay? What about Bob? Did he hurt you? At all?"
Amy shook her head. "I don't know. And no. I did as you asked."
Ricky nodded, closing his eyes again.
"Grace, Adrian, and Ben said they'd be back today. I heard mom talking to them last night," Ashley chimed in again as she hopped off of Amy's bed and walked over to the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower fast and then I'll help you," Ashley asked Amy as she opened the door.
Amy nodded, and turned back to Ricky as Ashley shut the door behind her.
Ricky opened his eyes a moment later, moving his hand up to Amy's left arm. Amy looked up at him, shaking her head. "This isn't your fault."
He looked up at her. "Your arm for my life, right?"
Amy nodded, but she knew that somehow he would still try to turn it around to make it his fault.
"See, that doesn't flow well with me. You shouldn't have been hurt at all. I'm supposed to keep you and John safe," Ricky insisted.
Amy shook her head. "Husbands do that. We're not married yet."
Ricky stared at her for a moment, considering what she said before the right side of his mouth curled up a bit into a smile. "Yet. Does that mean you're considering it?"
Amy blushed, feeling a smile pull her face up. A knot formed in her throat. She was afraid to answer his question. What if something went wrong in surgery? She gulped hard. "I-…I'm considering it," she suddenly found herself saying. She didn't know why she couldn't tell him yes, but the panic radiating through her was too much to give a definitive answer right now.
Ricky nodded, pulling her gently down against him again. Amy pulled her feet up onto the bed and rested her head against his shoulder, breathing in his scent. A part of her was still panicking that something might happen to him in surgery, but for now, he was here with her.
She found her self being shaken awake again, maybe ten minutes later, and looked around the room with bleary eyes to see that her mom was back. She rubbed the sleep from them as Ashley helped her off the bed and led her into the bathroom, helping her to disrobe. Anne walked in a moment later and wrapped her arm quickly up with plastic wrap. She made sure it was secure before Ashley helped Amy into the shower. Amy quickly washed up and then stepped out of the shower and slipped her robe on, while she moved over the sink so Ashley could quickly wash her hair, while the entire time they were careful to not get her IV or cast wet.
Once she was finished, Ashley wrapped Amy's hair up into a bun and helped her out of her robe, into a pair of sweat pants and a light t-shirt. By then, Amy was completely exhausted, and found herself sitting down on the floor to regain some of her energy.
Ashley sat down next to her. "So did you tell Ricky yes?"
Amy looked up at her confused. "About what?"
Ashley's face dropped. "He proposed?"
Amy sighed heavily as she remembered what her sister was talking about. "Oh. That. I told him…that I was considering it."
Ashley's brow furrowed, suddenly confused. "Yesterday you were terrified that you wouldn't be able to tell him that you did want to be with him, and today you told him you were just considering it?"
Amy rested her head against her good hand, resting her elbow against her knee. "I panicked. He still has to have surgery today. All they did yesterday was treat his wounds and bring his blood volume back up. They said if they'd done surgery, he could have died."
Ashey nodded. "I know. Mom and dad told me. Still begs the question, why not say yes?"
Amy shrugged, looking at her sister. "I honestly don't know. I…If he dies today, instead of yesterday," she gulped, feeling the knot rise in her throat again. "If he dies today…at least I'll know. If I say yes, it means I'm waiting on something. I can't put myself through that."
Ashley turned more to face Amy. "The way I see, that reason alone should be enough for you to tell him yes. Because if something did happen today, he'd go into it knowing that you wanted to be with him for the rest of your life. For the rest of his life."
Amy shook her head, feeling the tears that had been threatening to fall, now spilling over. She covered her face with her hand as a sob escaped her. "I feel like such a basket case."
Ashley sighed and wrapped her arms around Amy, hugging her gently. Amy wrapped her arm around Ashley, hugging her bag.
"It's okay to feel like a basket case. You've both been through a lot in the last 24 hours," Ashley soothed.
Amy shed one more tear before she forced herself to recompose, and pulled herself to her feet with the help of the sink. Ashley followed her in suit, moving away from the door and then standing up. She opened the door for Amy and followed her out of the room. Adrian and Grace had both arrived since they'd left gone into the bathroom and seemed to be full fledged into a conversation with Amy's parents and Ricky while everyone seemed to be picking at breakfast.
Amy sat down on Ricky's bed next to him as Anne stood, placing another plate of food on his tray. Assuming it was for her, Amy grabbed a piece of toast off of it and began to pick at it with her good hand, while she held as tightly as she could to it with her apparently broken arm. Considering what the doctor said had happened when the bullet hit her though, her grip was about as good as her son's.
The thought of him made her whip her head around in search of him. "Where's John? Why isn't he in here," she questioned quickly.
Anne looked up at her daughter. "John and Robbie are at home with your father. He's going to bring them up later after they've napped and had some lunch. Neither of them slept much last night."
Amy nodded after a moment, conceding that it was probably better for her son to be resting now. She continued to pick at her piece of toast while Adrian and Grace continued talking with Ashley.
Ricky rested his chin on Amy's shoulder, looking down at the piece of toast. "Gimmie a bite."
Amy turned her head slightly, looking at him. She smirked. "Are you allowed?"
Ricky brushed his left shoulder, giving her the smile he knew well enough to work. "Maybe. Just one bite."
Amy giggled softly and shook her head. "After surgery. I'll save you a piece."
He pouted, but then nodded, knowing it was better to wait. He then looked up at Grace and Adrian. "I'm a little lost on what happened yesterday still. Are you two okay?"
Adrian and Grace looked up simultaneously.
"We're fine. Just bumps and bruises for me," Adrian answered.
Grace shrugged. "I got cut up by some glass, but nothing too bad. We don't really know about anyone else."
A knock came at the door as soon as Grace finished her sentence, and everyone looked up to see Jack and Ben standing there. Amy and Grace both raised their eyebrows, confused at the two showing up together.
"We didn't come together," Jack quickly dismissed. "We met up in the elevator," he explained as he settled two trays of coffee on the table. "I brought one for everyone, incase anyone wanted one," he added.
Amy quickly stood and snatched up a coffee for herself, before settling back on the bed next to Ricky. He smiled and leaned his head towards the cup, but she pulled it back so he couldn't get a drink. "I promise. I'll have someone get you breakfast for dinner and a coffee as soon as you're awake and out of surgery," she spoke softly.
Ricky huffed, pouting at her dismissal at his chance at coffee, but nodded once again and laid his head back against the pillow.
"So, how are you guys," Jack asked quickly. Grace and Adrian both stated that they were okay before they all turned to Amy. She momentarily looked over at Ricky and then realized he'd passed out again and rolled her eyes, sipping her coffee. "We're okay, I guess. He has to have surgery today."
"I thought he had surgery yesterday," both Jack and Adrian spoke at the same time.
Amy shook her head. "They couldn't without bringing his blood volume back up. They did their best to bandage things up and put in temporary solutions, but he has to have surgery today."
Everyone nodded silently while sipping their coffees as if it could give a reason for the tense silence that was falling over the room. They all worried for the same reasons, and no one knew what to do about it.
Amy finally set her coffee down when she'd chugged half of it while trying not to say anything, and began picking at her breakfast again. She looked up at the four people standing in front of her, whom she claimed as her friends, and wondered what they knew that she didn't. They'd gotten out of school before her and Ricky, and they'd also been wide awake and at home in front of the news last night. They had to know something that she didn't. They just had to.
"So was anyone else hurt," she finally said, breaking the tense silence.
Ben, Adrian, Jack, and Grace all exchanged glances before looking over at Anne and Ashley, and then back at each other again. Ben finally spoke.
"A lot of people were hurt. Mostly minor bumps, bruises, and cuts. I think they said two or three dozen people had to have stitches because they all slipped on that water in the hallway," Ben nudged Jack as he finished his sentence. Jack simply rolled his eyes.
"Well you're all here, so I know none of you are dead. Did anyone get killed?"
Everyone fell silent again, and Amy grew frustrated. "Tell me. Who's hurt? Who got killed?"
Anne stood and walked over to the bed. "A lot of people were in and out of the school yesterday, Amy. A lot of people were hurt."
Amy looked up at her mother, not buying her answer. "You know something and you're not telling me. I might have gotten hurt but, I deserve to know just as much as anyone else. So tell me, or I'll find someone with a newspaper."
Anne sighed heavily and nodded at the kids before she exited the room. Amy turned her focus back to Grace, Ben, Jack, and Adrian. They all looked at each other again, as if they could make each other talk.
Once again it was Ben who finally broke the silence. "Most of the students who had guns, I think the news said there were four or five…commit suicide after they saw you guys coming out of school. That's what we were told."
"My dad said they had to shoot Joe because he's the one who shot at you and Ricky. He's in the ICU too," Adrian added.
Amy huffed, shifting on the bed so that she was holding her injured arm gingerly. "I don't care about them. I care about other students. Did anyone we know get hurt?"
"There's no easy way to talk about it," Grace conceded. "Two senior girls were killed. I think the news also said one senior and three junior boys were killed. They haven't released anything about other kids who were shot, yet."
Amy nodded, but she still felt like there was something they weren't tell her. "Anything else? What about Madison and Lauren?"
"We don't…know," Ben dragged out. "We didn't see either of them here yesterday, but their parents might have taken them home."
Amy sighed heavily. She wanted to know about her other two friends, but she had given in to the fact that being in this situation was a process, and they would have to wait.
A knock came at the door, and everyone looked up in time to see it opening. Anne entered the room, followed by a different nurse than the one who had treated them the night before.
"Where's Billie," Amy asked.
"Billie's shift ended around midnight," the nurse replied. "I'm Paige, and I'll be treating you while you're in the ICU," she spoke softly.
Amy shook her head. "I'm not. I just refused to stay away from him. He's the one who's in need of the intensive care."
Paige nodded. "Well you're due for another dose of pain medication, and Dr. Bailey would like Mr. Underwood to be prepped for surgery. The attending on call today, Dr. Kosh also requested that you get some rest before he comes into examine your arm later today."
Amy yawned, but nodded anyway. She'd been exhausted from the minute she'd stepped out of the shower. She stood from the bed and removed her hand from under her elbow so that she could drag her IV pole behind her. The other kids moved aside, and then sat down at the table by the door.
Amy settled into her bed while the nurse found her open IV port, and injected the pain reliever into it.
"Should we leave," Grace chimed in.
"You can sit and talk with Ashley-" Anne started, before the nurse followed.
"We're going to need you to stay out of the way though. If you can stay generally with in one place, because we're going to moving in and out of here a lot throughout the day."
The kids all nodded, agreeing to what Paige was saying before they all sat down at the table. Ashley followed in suit, bringing her coffee and breakfast over with her, while Anne sat with Amy, trying to keep her comfortable. With each passing minute however, Amy was growing more exhausted.
"He wants breakfast, mom. I promised him toast and coffee," Amy yawned.
Anne nodded, rubbing Amy's hand between her both of her own. "Just get some rest sweetie. We'll take care of it."
Amy nodded wearily, pulling her arm away and rolling onto her side. She pulled the blankets tighter around her, dozing off to sleep as she did.
Anne stood and walked over to the overbed table that was still next to Ricky's bed, and pulled it aside. She grabbed Amy's half-eaten breakfast plate, and set it on the table the kids were sitting at. "You'll all be good while I call home," she asked quickly. They all nodded at her.
Anne moved towards the door as three nurses - two female, and one male, (including Paige) entered the room and walked over to Ricky's bed. She shook him lightly awake. He groaned and did his best to stretch, waking himself up. "Hmm?"
"We'll be taking you down to surgery now." Paige turned to Anne. "I'm assuming you're the adult in charge at the moment?"
Anne nodded. "His parents should be back within the hour."
The male nurse, who introduced himself as Jake, explained. "Until they return, we'll have him in surgical prep. Once they arrive they'll need to come sign some papers, and then we'll start surgery."
Anne nodded again. "Okay. I'll give them a call."
She turned and walked out of the room finally, while the three nurses wheeled Ricky out of the room, and down towards the surgical wing…
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