AN: Here is a little more to keep the story moving.
Aaron and Lester pulled at Barb's arms, they wanted to run but they knew that wasn't allowed in the hospital. They were on their way to visit their mom and they had a surprise for her, something which they were sure she'd like and would make her smile. Making her smile was what they wanted to do more than anything, sometimes she did, they'd get the tiniest hint of a smile when they'd show her drawings but she hadn't really smiled, they wanted a real smile, they wanted her to light up. They missed that part of their mom, she was always so sad but they thought they had just the right things.
Their mom was asleep when they reached her room, she was always sleeping, always tired. Their dad was sitting with her writing in a note book; he smiled at them and stood up.
"Boys try not to wake your mom up," he told them before ushering Barb out the room.
They smiled at each other, pulled the chair their dad had been sitting in right up to the side of the bed and climbed up. Their dad always told them to try not to wake their mom but they always did.
"Mom, it's morning, time to wake up." Aaron called but she didn't wake.
"Mom wake up," Lester followed poking her in the arm, she groaned but her eyes stayed closed.
"Mom," they said together and they both poked her. "Wake up." She let out a louder groan and her eyes flicked open.
Margie blinked a few times taking in the faces of her sons. They had mischievous little grins on and she could just feel the energy and excitement balled up inside them waiting to explode.
"Hey boys," she said giving them the tiniest of smiles. It wasn't a real smile but it was something, her boys loved it when she'd smile, they'd light up and it was almost enough to make her happy. "What have you brought today?"
They always brought her something, she loved the little things they'd bring, she loved listening to them tell her all about them. They were on a constant mission to make her happy, smile, laugh. They'd got her to smile a few times, but not laugh, and happy seemed like such a foreign thing, she was having a hard time imagining ever being happy again.
They reached into the pockets of their jackets and each pulled out a small jar. "We found them in the garden," Lester started telling her. "This is Herbie."
"And this is Mary," Aaron finished. They held out the jars and she reached out and took the one with Herbie in it. Her boys smiled eagerly at her waiting for her reaction. She turned the jar over in her hand starting at its content, there were leaves and twigs and rocks and the tiniest bit of water. It took a while for her to spot the creature they had brought and then she saw it, a tiny frog.
She let a smile spread across her face; it was the tinniest cutest frog she'd ever seen. "You caught this in our garden?" she asked.
"Yep," Lester nodded, "he was in the swimming pool. Ben helped us get him out."
"Wow, I've never seen a frog in the swimming pool before." She said mustering all the enthusiasm she could. "And what about Mary is she a frog too?"
"Nope," they both shook their heads and Aaron handed her the jar. "Look."
She placed Herbie's jar on the table by her bed and took Mary's. Again the jar was full of leaves and twigs, it took a while for her to spot the creature, and then she saw the red poking out from under a leaf. "A ladybug," she exclaimed and she felt her smile spread to her eyes.
"Yep," her boys nodded and their faces lit up. "Do you like them?"
"I love them," she told them. "Come up here and give me a hug." She patted the space on either side of her and the boys quickly pulled off their shoes and climbed up. They snuggled in tight beside her and she wrapped her arms around them. "I love you boys so much," she told them kissing each of them on the head.
"We love you too mommy," they said back to her and for a while they just sat there holding each other. Margie breathed in their scent; she wanted to hold on to as much of her boys as she could.
"Mommy," Lester said after a while, "when are you coming home?"
"I don't know sweetie," she kissed his head again. "Soon I hope."
"Me too," Lester continued. "Barb and Nikki say we have to sleep at their houses. We miss our room."
"I do too," she said back. "I promise it won't be much longer, I'll be home soon."
"Mommy," Aaron was the one asking questions now, "Are the police going to find Nell?"
For a moment Margie felt her breath get taken away, she couldn't help reacting that way when anyone mentioned her girl. She wasn't ready to give up hope but she was aware of the statistics. "I hope so," she told them, "I hope they find her," and a tear ran down her cheek.
"Me too," Aaron said back, "I miss her."
Margie gulped, she felt a lump form in her throat and she couldn't speak, she kissed both her boys and pulled them tighter to her. They just sat there holding her, they knew they'd made her cry and they wanted her to make her stop but they didn't know how.
-8-8-8-
Bill led Barb out the room and down the corridor to a small waiting area where they could talk. He wasn't worried about leaving the boys alone with Margie though he knew they would wake her up. They always woke her up but waking to her boys was the best thing she could wake to.
"How was Margie last night?" Barb asked.
"Okay," Bill answered trying to recall the night before, the days and night were starting to blur into a continuous loop for him too. "Her fever spiked again and she woke up screaming but it's come back down a bit."
"What did the doctors say?"
"Not a lot," he shrugged. "The infection is still there, they're going to try a different antibiotic see if that helps."
"Okay," Barb nodded, Margie's condition worried her but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
"How's everyone at home?" Bill asked he'd been at the hospital since noon yesterday.
"Okay," Barb said before she reconsidered her response. "The kids are starting to ask more questions. Cara-Lyn asked what would happen if the police don't find Nell."
Bill gulped and ran his hand though his hair, he didn't want to talk about this anymore than his wives did. "What did you tell her?"
"I told her I don't know, that we'd worry about it if it happens."
"Good," he nodded, he liked that. "The police are still looking it hasn't happened yet."
"I know," Barb responded, "not yet but Bill..."
"I know," Bill answered reading her thoughts. It hadn't happened yet but it could very soon. He ran his hands through his hair again, trying to think what he should do and then his phone started ringing. He pulled the device out his pocket and stared at the caller ID. "The police," he mouthed before answering. "Hello."
Barb waited almost holding her breath as she listened to Bill's side of the conversation. It had been a few days since the police had phoned; they said they wouldn't phone unless they had some information.
"Yes...Okay...You found her? ...Okay, right when will you know...Now? ...Okay I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Bill hung up the phone, looked at Barb and gave her the biggest smile. "They might have found her," he said trying to contain the excitement he was feeling. "A couple got stopped trying to cross the border into Canada this morning with a girl they didn't have paper for. They match the description."
"Wow," Barb's mouth hung open, they'd finally got the call they'd been waiting for.
"They want me to go down to the station right away," Bill started saying. "I have to go." He stepped forward and gave Barb a kiss; she pulled him tight and hugged him.
"It's going to be okay," she whispered,"it's Nell; it's going to be Nell."
Bill smiled and nodded, he wasn't going to disagree with her, he felt the same way but there was still that slither of doubt. "I have to go," he said again letting go of her. "You can't tell Margie anything until we know for sure."
"I know," Barb told him and she watched him take off down the corridor.
She was smiling like she hadn't in days and she could feel bubbles of excitement building inside of her. She bit her lip and told herself to contain her feelings. They didn't know if the girl they'd found was Nell, it could be someone else's child, there were lots of children missing and they were all the way up near Canada. Canada was a long way from Sandy, these people if it was them had already got around many road blocks. She had this feeling of disbelief, like why weren't they stopped sooner, she'd expected them to be found so much closer to home. She had a good feeling about it but she didn't want to get her hopes up and more importantly she didn't want to get Margie's hopes up. If Margie got her hopes up and it turned out this little girl wasn't Nell, she was afraid it would send her into a downward spiral not even her boys would be able to get her out of.