Wow, thank you all for your many reviews! Because you guys are so awesome, the first thing I did this morning was write this chapter. Hopefully I'll have time to write one for tomorrow as well. Enjoy. :)
"I think she's awake!"
"Shhhh! Sydney! Be quiet!"
"I can see her eyeballs. She's definitely awake."
"Max, get off her bed! Leave her alone!"
Amber recognized the voices before she could even focus on the faces. Her eyes fell upon her cousins, Max and Sydney, who were quite literally inches away from her face. Sydney was smiling, Max appeared to be studying her.
"Hi…" she said through a false smile. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Mommy told me to watch you so I could tell 'em when you woke up." Sydney said, leaning in she whispered. "I think we used her last nerves."
"You sleep weird." Max said, matter-of-factly.
Amber's eyes widened with amusement. "Is that so?"
"Yes." Max responded, not clarifying what he meant. "Mom, can we get some breakfast now?"
As Sydney and Max scrambled off her bed, Amber glanced around the room, not really paying attention the dozen family members; her eyes were glued to roof where it appeared nearly every balloon in the hospital had managed to find its way to. She blink rapidly, then squinted her eyes, and when she had confirmed she was not crazy, looked at her mother for an explanation. "What the hell?"
"Language!" Sarah muttered, her eyes gesturing towards the younger kids.
"Who…? Did you rob the gift shop?" She looked back at them. "There's like a hundred…"
"Forty-two!" Her family corrected simultaneously.
Amber stared at them, looking a little worried.
"We, uh, we had to count them all…" Adam explained. "Someone couldn't handle being in a room with any more than forty-two. Sorry. Tinkerbell was given to some other kid."
She snickered. "Well, um, thank you guys… that was, uh, really thoughtful. And weird, but thoughtful."
Sarah smiled, moving to her daughter's side. "Aren't they just so cheery and happy-go-lucky?"
"Shut up," Amber whispered between her teeth.
"That false smile doesn't suit you, sweetheart." Sarah whispered back, her grin growing larger as she toyed with her daughter.
Amber rolled her eyes. "Don't expect any witty comebacks from me today. I just had surgery, if you forgot, so I'll be a bit slow."
"You had surgery an hour ago, sleepyhead." Sarah retorted. "Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"
"Fine… tired, sore… hungry…"
"Yeah, that sounds really fine to me." Sarah shook her head.
"Hey, Sarah? We're going to take the kids to get some food; we'll be back in a minute." Kristina said above the screams of Max and the groans of Sydney and Jabbar. "And Amber, it's great to see you awake again."
Amber smiled. "Thanks."
In less than a minute the room was nearly emptied of its occupants, leaving only Sarah, Camille, and Drew at Amber's side.
"Hey…" Drew said after a moment of silence. "You look good… for just getting out of surgery."
"Um, thanks… I think." Amber chuckled slightly.
"I uh… I was worried about you. We all were. Mom drove to Fresno to find you."
Amber looked at her mom, confused. "Why would you do that?"
Sarah shrugged. "Because I thought you'd find your way back to Damian or something. Oh, another speaking of which, we kinda walked in on him and some other girl. She was pretty. I'm not sure how you left things so I didn't like bust him or anything…"
"We broke up," Amber nodded. "Good for him, finding someone."
Camille moved closer to her granddaughter, obviously feeling a little left out in the conversation. "Hey, angel."
"Hi grandma." Amber greeted as the woman pulled her into a hug.
"I'm sure your mom already gave you the scolding of your life, but it's my turn. Don't you ever do that to me or this family, young lady. I'm getting too old for this. No more hospital trips, you got it?"
Amber smiled and nodded. "Got it… so, when can I get out of here anyways? This place is too cheerful and sad at the same time."
"They have to keep you here for twenty-four hours before they can release you," Sarah answered.
"What for? I feel fine."
She shrugged again. "Procedure. They have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't die or something." She winked. "The doctor said for observation."
"Observation?" Amber repeated, seeming weirded out. "They're going to observe me? Doing what exactly?"
Sarah and her mom chuckled at Amber's response, Drew just hung his head.
"Not for anything creepy, dear," Sarah assured. "You just had head surgery, which is so close to the brain I might even call if brain surgery, but I wouldn't mention that to your friends—they may think you've gone coo-coo and the doctor's had to fix it."
Amber rolled her eyes.
"I called your boss," Drew informed her out of the blew. "I knew you were working today, I let him know what was going on…"
"Thanks, bro."
Sarah smiled. "I didn't even think to do that."
"That's just because you're a horrible mom," Amber retorted sarcastically. She sighed. "Man, I really could have used that money…"
"What for?" Sarah questioned.
"Oh, you know, to buy some drugs and cigarettes… maybe some vodka." She deadpanned. "The thought of it is just so refreshing."
"Oh stop it," Camille hit her playfully as Sarah rolled her eyes.
"There's good news too." Drew piped again. "The doctor said you can't do any kind of PE… you'll have a legitimate excuse to be lazy."
Amber pulled out the pillow from under her head and hit him. "Shush, you."
"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed, pulling the fabric covered fluff away from her. "I think this would be considered strenuous. No more pillow fights for a month."
Amber held up her hands in mock surrender. "Fine. Oh, shucks, that means I can't do dishes on Thursdays either…"
"No, you still have to do that." Sarah laughed.
"So, um…" Amber began, sounding serious. "Will I have a scar?"
Sarah frowned. "I don't know, sweetie…"
There was short pause, then Camille started patting Amber's hand and attempted to make her feel better. "With all the new medicine and stuff they have coming out every day, I'm sure they'll be something to get rid of it."
Amber smiled. "No, I want a scar. It'll make me look tough. Nobody will mess with me now."
Sarah shook her head, grinning. "What is wrong with my kids?"
Stay tuned—more coming soon! Out of all the chapters so far I think in this one the characters may be a little OC... hopefully not too bad though...